Accidental Activation a Big Problem--Got Burned Yesterday!

Gang, I am a libertarian / indepedent — I don’t outright ban what I don’t like, but I mean it should be a norm for all of us to recognize and reward lights using mechanical switches and/or lights with recessed switches that do not so easily activate. And I’ve had clickies that do also get clicked on in a pocket, but it’s by and large rare. So I’m saying, in anger mostly, where is all the rage? It can’t just be me noticing this.

I’m not about to give up tactical on/off and stop and lock something out and then unlock it again for mere momentary usage. A strong, stiff mechanical switch with a side switch for modes is enough to prevent most all issues.

I overreacted in my OP. I’m saying this should be outright common sense. And yes, I shouldn’t have bought it. All side switch lights I have must be programmable to go to a super-low mode to prevent this from happening again—that or I’ll get rid of the light altogether. I’ve got tons of reverse clickies with no separate mode button to get rid of anyway. Might as well start over.

I don’t know how anyone who carries any light hasn’t been cursed with this problem. Can’t believe I put up with it this long!

Because we lockout our lights.

I cannot imagine taking a light out of my pocket, unlocking it, flashing it (playing or working), and then re-locking it and placing it back in my pocket. I refuse to believe that anyone actually does that who enjoys casual use of lights on any flashaholic level.

That is a serious mental block you have there. :smiley:

Bottom line: I can’t use my light for emergency applications. Your mind doesn’t even consider this. You are a low-stress, passive analytical. I don’t have the patience for this kind of “baby steps” thinking. Lots of people don’t.

Emergency situations? You are not in a freaking war zone, you are not an operator in another country. We are dudes who use flashlights, I can’t even think about an EDC carry situation I would be in where I couldn’t quad click to unlock within milliseconds. Don’t pocket carry if you can’t handle it.

EMTs, police, security, first responders all need instant access to light. If you can’t see that, then what I said last post is for sure true. I don’t want lockout/unlock any more than I want programmable. UIs should be intuitive and ready to use. The vast majority of people feel this way, I’d say.

Well, although I am don’t have a profession that needs this kind of tactical activation, I like to have lights that instanly give me access to turbo or strobe for different occasions.

So I will give my opinion, some part going on side, some part going the other side.

That was one of the reasons why I bought the Olight Warrior Mini, that, by this time, people already knows it has some issues, specially with accidental activations through the tailcap (wether it is pressure on the switch, or contact between the + and - parts.
I decided that I would carry that light in my jeans with the battery a bit unscrewed so that it doesn’t activate and stays ON unnattended. Also, I make sure that before putting it in the pocket I light it through the side switch in Moonlight or Low modes, so that if it turns ON it doesn’t burn all of a sudden. Why? Because due to the way the side switch is done and the pocket clip is implemented, I already have it turning ON through the side switch.

When I don’t unscrew the tube, I make sure I configure it to have momentary turbo and strobe, not the possibility to have the momentary/continuois Turbo and Low.

So, in this way I recognize that some lights can have better lockout functions, namely locking the side switch while being able to activate the tailswitch (in the case of dual switches, of course).

A good example of this, and that is a light I’d suggest to Rusty Joe, would be the Brinyte PT18Oathkeeper, which has 2 tailswitches (1 for momentary/continuous Turbo only, 1 for momentary strobe or changing modes when combined with side swithc) and a side switch that allows:
a) starting on low
b) starting on last used mode
c) and also to lock this side switch while still being able to use the tail switches if needed.

This is one of the best options for me concerning tactical lights (and I ain’t that much tactical)!

I also will say that a light that freaked me out to carry whitout being locked was the Emisar D4, as I was always afraid of getting a hole in the pockets. The new version has a different option for the switch, which makes it eventually safer to carry.

Rusty Joe,

Many people piling up on you and I won’t add too much but reading through all of this made me chuckle;

“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.“

and from the OP;

“Yesterday, in my suit jacket pocket, my JKK20 (side switch) was accidently activated during a business meeting…”

Did you really think you needed “Tactical availability” during the business meeting? :slight_smile:
What was the response from the others attending the meeting?
Glad you were not injured.

And you are right, most of us have had this happen to us, for me recently it was at a restaurant and my son in law said “You pocket is glowing brightly!”
Yeah, it was my New Manker E14III and that flashlight does not provide mechanical lockout :slight_smile: And it turns on easy, should have known better but it was not screaming hot.
Would never trust the Lumintop FW3A in pocket armed, have had that light go psycho and refuse to turn off. Will not carry it without head and tail loosened big time.

Later,
Keith

Seems only Police out of your mentioned professions would need “instant” access to light and even that it seems limited since light would be in hand anyway for evening traffic stops or examining an area in the evening, EMT’s I don’t see why they need instant light either an extra second to unlock a light doesn’t seem that restricting as EMT’s generally work in pairs. Security would have light in hand for nightly perimeter patrols or indoor patrols so light would be unlocked anyway.

As others have stated I don’t see why you needed a light to be in “tactical” mode for your specific setting example in a business meeting while in a suit I assume midday.

Send me all your side switch lights. Problem solved. :Seriously, sorry about your suit. No thermal step down in that model? Be glad you don’t carry a Glock.

But I don’t NEED to be a policeman to be entitled to instant brightness. I don’t understand the holdout on this.

Lights don’t kill people. People kill people.

Of all my lights, I never had a twisty do that on me. Not little AAA lights, not 2×AA Minimags, either.

Anything with threads can loosen pretty easily, but I never saw one tighten on its own.

Now, maybe if you just baaaaaaarely unscrewed it enough that just touching the head could activate it, but not with the usual ¼- or ½-turn as usual.

It was your example I was refuting, I’m not saying your not entitled to have instant brightness but there is a time and place for everything. Using your example of how it has “wronged” you did you really believe whilst in a business meeting I assume occurring during the day you would be in a situation where you would “NEED” instant brightness of a TACTICAL nature ?

Background checks for lights. Mandatory waiting period or “cooling-off” period. Licenses to keep assault lights out of the hands of felons and children. Mandatory locked cases so that lights and cells are kept separate unless and until used in a designated lighting range. …

Mmmmmmno, just no.

If you hurt yourself with screwdriver because your clumsiness should all screwdrivers be banned? Seems logic :smiley:

You are making things difficult because you are attempting justify a faulty design—lights with tall side switches that get bumped on when in a loose jacket pocket. That is the problem. I want momentary-on — two switches, ideally — but at least a light that resists bumps and accidental turn-ons. Any design whatsoever (including clickies with exposed buttons) should be discouraged from being made by us.

If you are among the ilk of those who would carry a light and turn it off, lock it out, and then unlock it to use it every single time, then you are indeed anal-retentive and just ridiculous. Most of us want a normal on/off function that isn’t always succumbing to a bad design.

I am asking you to agree and end this.

Mmmmyeah, I think it is. :laughing:

I’d direct my rage at more deserving targets, like those who put blinkies in the main cycle.

Zanflare F1, then? Wonderfully stiff tailclicky, modes via sideswitch.

One man’s “common sense” is another man’s idiocy. Damn them Brits who drive on the “wrong” side of the road, those slobs who leave the cap off the toofpaste, those idiots who insist on having the toilet-paper go under the roll instead of over, etc.

Not even holstered anymore, my clipped MH20 rarely if ever turns on.

I explained better what I meant above.

Blinkies in the main modes don’t bother me too much. I will check out the Zanflare.