New Style Clip for the Universal Clip

[Random Dan]

Id love to see what one of these looks like on an 18650 tube. Seems like if you slid the attachment down to the tail end of the head it might still work for deep carry.

 

[Scribe]

Testing has started

 

[thermal guy]

That is a BIG piece of metal! Bet in an emergency you could use it as a pry bar😄

 

[Modernflame]

So does the clip ride against the rotary dial?

 

[thermal guy]

I was thinking the same thing. Obviously it can't because they never would of made it in the first place but it looks dam close. Wondering with use if it will bend and CSU's rubbing

 

[nbp]

So does the clip ride against the rotary dial?

Not with any pressure. If you hold it close to your head and turn the dial you can hear a faint sound of the tailcap just touching the clip. I'm sure if you take it off and flex it the other way a little you could make it go away entirely. I may experiment with that.

 

[Johnnyh]

Here's couple of photos as installed on the rotary tail. I tried it both ways. I have never used a two way clip before so excuse my ignorance when it is apparent.

There are a couple of things I noticed if you like to adjust the output one-handed (my habit).
When I use the light in an underhand position, I adjust it by compressing the tail with my pinky and palm and use my thumb and forefinger to rotate the head/body. Having it attached at the bezel pretty much prevents this.
Conversely, attaching the clip on the rotary end prevents one hand adjustment in the overhand position. There is some adjustment available if you hold it just right but no more than 1/4 turn. I suppose it's no big deal if your always a "two hand adjuster".
Retention pressure in the pictured orientation with bezel-down in pants pocket is only slight. It does hang deeply though and for casually just walking/sitting I don't see it coming out. If you like to do back flips or stand on your head a lot, it'll probably fall out...
Lets just say that runners, rock climbers, cavers, acrobats etc. should consider some kind of lanyard-to-belt-loop or some other secondary form of attachment if they want to hang this configuration in their pocket with the bezel down. Again, this all may be normal for this type of clip...

In bezel-up carry, clipped to the pants pocket, retention is better.

In the attachment config as pictured, the light becomes very useful as a quick and dirty headlamp if you want to attach it to the bill of a ball cap. Retention is pretty good. Again, I would use it on the ball cap for more leisurely activities...car repair, hands-free night walking, stuff like that. In other words, its no replacement for a dedicated headlamp but will suffice in a pinch as long as you have the clip attached on the rotary tail. When attached to the bezel, retention is not sufficient to hold it onto the bill.

The only concern I have as attached to the rotary tail: is this too stressful on the rotary mechanism when the clip is pushed and pulled, thereby pushing pulling the rotary cap with it? Right now I feel it is not but it is one consideration I suppose.

 

[peter yetman]

I wouldn't fret about wear on the Roatay mechanism. I've one apart a few times, and they're pretty bomp proof.
P

 

[thermal guy]

That reminds me of that big old black clip that came with older hds lights can't think of the model off hand

 

[calypso699]

Initial thoughts on the clip are positive. It's nice to finally have an option to clip carry. Deep carry is always my favorite method of carry wether it's knives or flashlights. My screws holding the clip to the ring keep coming loose but that's probably my fault (I'm super paranoid about stripping the threads). More thoughts to come.

 

[Johnnyh]

I wouldn't fret about wear on the Roatay mechanism. I've one apart a few times, and they're pretty bomp proof.
P

Thanks Peter! Reassuring.

 

[Johnnyh]

...My screws holding the clip to the ring keep coming loose but that's probably my fault (I'm super paranoid about stripping the threads). More thoughts to come.

A little bit of medium strength loctite handles that pretty well. Worked for me. But ONLY medium...as I remember it's blue...never use the heavy-duty stuff unless your really sure you never want to remove it!

 

[calypso699]

A little bit of medium strength loctite handles that pretty well. Worked for me. But ONLY medium...as I remember it's blue...never use the heavy-duty stuff unless your really sure you never want to remove it!

Great tip! Thank you, I'll apply some. I think I have both purple and blue.

 

[scout24]

Yep. Never red, unless you want it to be permanent.

 

[Commodorefirst]

Here's couple of photos as installed on the rotary tail. I tried it both ways. I have never used a two way clip before so excuse my ignorance when it is apparent.

There are a couple of things I noticed if you like to adjust the output one-handed (my habit).
When I use the light in an underhand position, I adjust it by compressing the tail with my pinky and palm and use my thumb and forefinger to rotate the head/body. Having it attached at the bezel pretty much prevents this.
Conversely, attaching the clip on the rotary end prevents one hand adjustment in the overhand position. There is some adjustment available if you hold it just right but no more than 1/4 turn. I suppose it's no big deal if your always a "two hand adjuster".
Retention pressure in the pictured orientation with bezel-down in pants pocket is only slight. It does hang deeply though and for casually just walking/sitting I don't see it coming out. If you like to do back flips or stand on your head a lot, it'll probably fall out...
Lets just say that runners, rock climbers, cavers, acrobats etc. should consider some kind of lanyard-to-belt-loop or some other secondary form of attachment if they want to hang this configuration in their pocket with the bezel down. Again, this all may be normal for this type of clip...

In bezel-up carry, clipped to the pants pocket, retention is better.

In the attachment config as pictured, the light becomes very useful as a quick and dirty headlamp if you want to attach it to the bill of a ball cap. Retention is pretty good. Again, I would use it on the ball cap for more leisurely activities...car repair, hands-free night walking, stuff like that. In other words, its no replacement for a dedicated headlamp but will suffice in a pinch as long as you have the clip attached on the rotary tail. When attached to the bezel, retention is not sufficient to hold it onto the bill.

The only concern I have as attached to the rotary tail: is this too stressful on the rotary mechanism when the clip is pushed and pulled, thereby pushing pulling the rotary cap with it? Right now I feel it is not but it is one consideration I suppose.

Your findings mirror mine exactly, and I am still debating bezel vs tail mounting, your differences you mentioned are spot on.

 

[nbp]

I like bezel mount, so it's bezel down in the pocket. Plus, then there's nothing attached to that nice dial. The advantage of this one is you can have bezel down AND bezel mount at the same time! With the standard Univ clip you had to choose between the two.

 

[Johnnyh]

The only great advantage of the original Universal that I can discern is for clipping to a belt. It's far more secure on a belt than this two-way. If your belt is 1.5" or less, you really gotta pull it off your belt with intent for it to come off.

 

[Commodorefirst]

I think I have decided rotary mount, because I can still rotate the light settings when using the light in my hand by pinching 3-4 finger and palm, and rotating the main body, just the same motion as my old magnetic ring jetbeams.

The beauty of the system though, flexibility.

I encourage the HDS team to consider makng these available, but understand the cost effectiveness issues, but I like the design.

 

[caelyx]

After a few days' use, I really like the prototype clip. I prefer bezel down carry, but with the existing universal clip attached to the rotary dial it was more complex to turn the dial. The new clip is attached to the head, and allows for both bezel down carry in a pocket (and deeper carry at that!) while also preserving the easy use of the rotary dial.

Thanks for designing and making available the prototype run!

 

[Johnnyh]

Id love to see what one of these looks like on an 18650 tube. Seems like if you slid the attachment down to the tail end of the head it might still work for deep carry.

Sorry it took so long...Got lazy...Here ya go!

I think it's a winner on the 18650. I think it's gonna stay there.