I’ve not had a problem with the switch turning itself on. Also, the holster that comes with the EA4 has padding on two sides (front and back).
I took my EA4 and tried bumping it against my hand, palm, back of my hand, wrist all on the button to see if I could get it to turn on. It didn’t even turn on to the half click position and I was hitting it pretty hard. I’m sure that if I was hitting it against something harder than my hand it or if I put it in my pocket with hard things in there, it could happen. However, it’s easy to lock out the light by turning it on and then holding the button all the way down for 2 seconds. Then to get the light back on you have to hold the button all the way down for 2 more seconds. It takes some force to do and I really don’t see that happening very easily. If I felt I needed more pertection, it’s a simple matter to loosen the tailcap slightly and the light can’t come on by accident.
I use the lockout mode too.
For people who know how to use such a light and have used or owned such things it’s not likely to be an issue. That said not all people are so tech savvy. And if you’ve never used a torch with “modes” you’d not know that it could do such things.
So it wouldn’t surprise me if it could become an issue for some.
Using a light is no different than using any other tools of the trade. One needs to become familiar before they use them on the job. It’s not nearly as complicated as using power tools, computers or other things more high tech than a pencel. Good grief people. Is there one person on this site that couldn’t or hasn’t learned to use the basic functions of a EA4 or EA8 in 2 minutes? I did and I don’t think I’m any smarter than the average person. I don’t think a person has to be tech savvy to read instructions for 5 minutes or push a button.
I’ve said it before, but I thought the EA4 UI was going to be too complicated, but it really isn’t, when you have one to try. When I got mine, the feeling was “ah, this makes sense!” rather than frustration or confusion.
On my EA4, holding down the button at the half press position will exit lockout. Very little pressure required. Also the tail cap has to be loosened more than half way to break contact. Again, I’m not saying it can’t be used in this situation, just that it can be irritating for some. Especially if they have to constantly deal with lockout mode.
KuoH
I suppose it is different if you are going to be turning it off and on a lot, using lockout mode.
Gary I was just looking poppas now ill run this by firechief andn ans see what he thinks
I’m sure it does, but this thread is for search and rescue volunteers.
that was the point I made above.
they wont be using them on a shout apparently, so its not a concern. since they also have to provide them themselves, I’m not seeing them going for $200+ lights.
If you want a real search and rescue light, a TK70 fits the bill. Not everyone needs to have one, but maybe 1 per truck?
They run on 4 D batteries. They CAN use alkalines though the top mode won’t work and it will fall back to the 900ish lumen mode. For cost reasons, I’d highly recommend using NiMH rechargables. All they have to do is get the GOOD ONES…the 10k mAh, not the normal crappy ones in stores that are a rip off (rewrapped AAs).
The TK70 has a ridiculous amount of lumens (2300), great throw, and strong spillbeam, with good runtime. You can use it with 3xD batteries too instead of 4. No loss in brightness and turbo works fine with my AccuEvolution 10k mAhs.
TK40/41/45 would make better general purpose lights. They aren’t very big and use 8xAAs. Alkalines work fine since each battery wouldnt be pulling very much amperage. Since they are older lights, one might be able to get a discount.
Finally, the older itp A6 Polestar is a great light using 6xAAs and an MC-E emitter. Thats 600ish lumens on high mode, mostly floody but enough throw to be useful. It was also half price of the TK40….the men in my family all have one now for past Xmas presents.
I have not used a Defiant 3C but it seems to fit the bill. 
Is it really heavy?
I have the Poppas W-878 (as seen in the review thread). I don't use it often nor do I use it with AAA's. I'm thinking it may be ok with 4AAA alkalines. Mine (as seen in the link post #21) powered up with 3 new Duracell alkalines, but I didn't run them long. I think 4AAA's would help with voltage sag too. Still wouldn't expect great runtime and it would have 5 modes (including flashies).
Beware of some having the hollow pill (read TomE's posts at that link).
And I also have the 57mm UltraOK I mentioned above. That one I do only run on 4AAA's.
-Garry
My bad, missed some vital info on that.
So they will have separate torches then, some for searching in safe environments and others for volatile environments. Weird.
It’s okay. Forums can be a bit like that.
Fortunately there are kittens:
Maybe they have different gear because they are search and rescue volunteers, and don’t actually do any firefighting?
Perhaps, wonder why they call themselves fire fighters then and have a fire chief…in Australia we have a separate agency to police, fire and ambo’s, they are called SES: State Emergency Service, this might be the equivalent??
I don’t know. Here in the UK I think SAR volunteering is handled by separate organisations:
http://www.alsar.org.uk/
http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-searchandrescue/mcga-volunteering.htm
They are getting contracts for wild land most structure fires are handled by regularf, fd they respond to car accidents health issues and a couple of months ago they they did have a small structure fire in a trailer the space heater ignites carpeting they were 1st responders until Green valley FD showed up at that point the turned it over to them I don’t know how else to explain better than what I have been told what they want and limited budget I was just trying to help them find better brighter lights
chloe, you forgot 4x4response, another voluteer group.
the 3c is heavy enough shall we say. it would certainly serve well in a search and rescue situation. plus you could buy 6 for the price of one tk70….