I happened to go through my flashlight box yesterday, an old light i have is anodized aluminum (with an xp-e) and has anodized threads, i noticed it has no thread lubricant and never has in the 4 years i owned it and used it almost daily for almost 3 of them (till i discovered BLF)
The anodizing on the top thread has worn off but otherwise its fine
I can post a pic if anyone is interested, but why do our lights need lots of lubricant if they can be made to work without it?
O’rings should have a little lube on them to prevent damage. Lubricant in the ideal world stops contact between two surfaces preventing wear. In an unideal world it can also attract contaminants causing excessive wear.
It really depends on the light. I have some ano threads that glide with or without lube. I have some ano threads that squeak without lube. There’s no one answer.
If it’s a twisty, you should probably use lube just to save some wear on the ano. If the ano wears out, the twisty is toast, so it would be advisable there.
Best lubes are teflon based synth lubes like Superlube. There are other lubes that out perform it, but Superlube and similar have the best combo of low cost, performance, and compatibility - you can use it on anything and not have to worry about messing up the o-rings or the threads.
Honestly, if you haven’t tried Superlube and are still using silicone grease, you should try Superlube. It feels like a major upgrade.
My Goread CK36 needs something better than the silicone oil from DX. It’s still very squeaky. >.< I have some Jetbeam silicone grease which is less goopy than Servisol silicone grease (this stuff is better if you need it to stay put).
I haven’t lubed my Preon P0 yet but it’s stainless steel. I use it frequently too.