Friends, we’ve all had flashlights get activated in our pockets, I more so than many, it seems. Yesterday, in my suit jacket pocket, my JKK20 (side switch) was accidently activated during a business meeting and I ended up with a burned hand, upon finding it and trying to take it out and turn it off. Took 10 minutes to cool down enough to even handle it without a cloth or something. Thankfully, I avoided having to get actual medical attention.
These exposed side switches should be banned. I’ve always had this problem, which is why I never really buy them if I can help it (and won’t ever again).
I’m serious when I say I am about to find a way to build my own brand with twisty lockout tactical features to prevent this sort of sh And yet I hear so few complaints about it. I understand now why Surefire has their own twisty mechanisms. I suppose it took this to make me realize what has happened for years.
I’m serious; we should all be outraged about this. And Acebeam and so many of these clueless Chinese vendors keep putting out this junk, just for money and lumen obsession (we are certainly sharing in the blame here).
Every modern light should have a good physical lockout. However flawed basic design is such a shame. Many side switches exist that do not turn on this way. Yet so many makers ignore what has been learnt and offer up a badly compromised design.
You want side switches banned? Ummmm, no thanks. If you’re worried about that, either don’t pocket-carry, or lock out the light. Or, get something that protects the switch a little better. (I just bought a D4v2 and specified I wanted a raised switch ring. Easy.) I certainly don’t want things “banned”, just because someone is careless or unlucky.
Yup, there are lots of hotrod lights that can activate in a pocket too easily. So, don’t buy them.
If I’m carrying a light that activates too easily, I’ll carry it. Maybe put it on a lanyard if I’m not going to have it on all the time. I have never had a Zebralight come on in my pocket.
In fact, my biggest problem with accidental pocket activations is the FW3A, and it’s a tail-switch! Do you want those banned too?
Okay, so the way I see it, you want to start your own brand, and then have all other brands banned.
Well, the feature of “banned” would apply to exposed switches, and be not “banned” but “not made” as an industry prtactice. This would not apply to side switches completely (to be more accurate). I know it’s possible to have a switch that doesn’t activate accidentaly.
These stupid “lockout” features you are suggesting simply forbid tactical use of the light because then I have to go through steps to unlock it, and yet I wanted tactical availability.
I despise electronic switches. Mechanical is so much better. As flashaholics we need to allow the technology go its way, banning them would be a bad thing for the entire industry.
For me personally I always (ALWAYS!!) unscrew the tailcap ~1/4 turn on my lights. On backpacking trips I will unscrew BOTH the tailcap and head from the body tube for redundancy. I have NEVER had a problem with accidental turn on, as long as I follow this rule.
I absolutely do not (!!) pocket-EDC or pack carry a light that does not have mechanical power lock out. I am stubborn as a mule about this, having encountered several instances of accidental turn on myself… ALL of which were with tailcap located click switches. Fortunately for me none got hot enough to cause serious damage or injury.
I don’t disagree that many lights are way too easily activated. But, I strongly disagree that a “ban” is the correct approach to deal with that. Just don’t buy the light, or don’t stick it in your pocket.
I have no issue with a light that comes on in my pocket, if I never intend to use it that way. Sometimes, this is exactly what I want. If I’m using a light on a winter walk, I have gloves on, and an easily-activated switch is great!
And in general, for lights that are too big to EDC pocket-carry comfortably, I actually prefer the switches to be exposed and easy to trigger.
This is why we can’t have nice things. Calling for a ban is a bit extreme. Just lockout, either mechanically or electronically. If that’s not acceptable then don’t buy it, vote with your wallet.
With the exception of twisties, Every Single Light that I ever carried, has accidentally turned on, in my pocket and even in a holster(!). And that holstered light was a ’502 with recessed mechanical tail-clicky, yet. Bapped the switch hard enough with the protruding part of my office-chair’s armrest. Even my old bobofett light with mechanical side clicky (not any soft-touch e-switch), similar to a D Maglite’s (that protruding and hard to push down), that turned on more times than I wanted to think about. Ate a coupla expensive Li primaries that way, too.
And if a mfr makes a side-switch hard enough to activate by recessing the switch, or adding a raised ring around it, etc., you KNOW people will bitch about it, how hard it is to turn it on, whether by arthritic fingers, while wearing gloves, etc.
Lookit all those development threads. Ask 10 people, and you’ll get 23 conflicting must-haves. I remember commenting in one thread how poor Simon must want to hang himself after getting all those conflicting suggestions.
Don’t want a light to turn on? Mechanically lock it out. Done. I don’t see what’s the big deal or why people’d bitch about accidental turn-ons when the solution is so simple and easy. (People in general, not you specifically.)
Even my MH20, which I always manually reset to lowest anyway, if I don’t want to find it turned on even in moonlight mode, I just give the tailcap a half-twist and it’s locked out. Done.
So unless it’s one of those exceedingly rare lights that doesn’t have ano on the threads, Every Single Other Light can be so easily locked out manually with as little as a quarter-turn, if 4-clicks on a sideswitch is too hard to manage otherwise. So there’s zero excuse to blame a light for accidentally being turned on (well, unless it’s a finicky FW-series light).
Besides banning any and everything we don’t like (even if it isn’t a problem for most other people) let’s pass a law that flashlights have to be disassembled into all their components and the battery placed in a locked container before we can edc them
