Every spec sheet argues about lumens. Almost nobody talks about the part of the flashlight your thumb actually touches a dozen times a day. The switch decides how fast the light comes on, whether you can signal with it, whether you can cycle modes without blinding yourself, and whether the thing turns on inside your pack at 2am and cooks its own battery.
There are three switch types you'll run into, and on a Convoy the one you got isn't the one you're stuck with. Here's the whole picture.
Reverse clicky: what most of your lights already have
A reverse clicky only turns on when you release the button after a full click. Once it's on, a light half-press — a soft tap that doesn't click — advances to the next mode.
That's the standard tailcap on a stock Convoy S2+, and on most general-purpose lights. It's the right default for a reason: mode changes live on the tail, one-handed, without moving your grip. Work light, camp light, glovebox light, walking the dog — reverse clicky is fine and you shouldn't overthink it.
The catch is that you can't do momentary. To flash the light for one second, you click on and click off. There's no way to get a quick burst without committing to a full cycle, and there's no way to signal with it.
Forward clicky: momentary on, and why that matters
A forward clicky fires the moment you press it — a half-press gives you light for exactly as long as you're holding, and a full click locks it on. Release the half-press and it's dark again.
That single behavior is what "tactical" actually means on a switch, stripped of the marketing. It gives you three things a reverse clicky can't:
- Momentary bursts. Check a noise, check a lock, check a serial number — a half-second of light, no click-click.
- Signaling. Morse, flashing a partner across a field, waving down a driver. Impossible on a reverse clicky.
- Instant-on at the level you left it. It comes on at your last mode with no click-through delay.
The tradeoff is real: on a forward clicky you change modes by fully cycling the light off and on. Turbo to low means click, click, click. If you constantly ride the mode ladder, this will annoy you. If you mostly want light now and occasionally want it gone now, it's the better switch.
On a Convoy S2+ this is a two-dollar decision, not a new-flashlight decision. The forward clicky switch for the S2+ is a full PCB assembly at $1.99 — you're replacing the whole switch board in the tailcap, not soldering anything.
E-switch: the third option
An electronic side switch has no mechanical detent at all. It signals a microcontroller, which means the light can do things a mechanical switch can't: hold-for-off from any mode, direct access to turbo or moonlight, electronic lockout so it can't fire in your pocket, and a battery-level indicator in the button.
Two costs. First, parasitic drain — an e-switch light is always sipping a trickle of current, which is why lockout exists and why an e-switch light left in a drawer for six months comes out flatter than a clicky one. Second, e-switch UIs get complicated fast; some are genuinely worth learning, some are a puzzle box.
Practical read: e-switch is great on a light you carry and use daily. For an emergency light that sits in a bag for a year, a mechanical clicky is the safer bet.
The Convoy S2+ gotcha nobody mentions
Here's the one that costs people money. On the S2+, you get an illuminated tail switch or you get a forward clicky — not both. They're two different switch boards occupying the same spot. The illuminated tail switch puts a glowing button on the back of the light so you can find it in a dark room (and it's genuinely useful in a nightstand or a truck door), but it's built on the reverse-clicky board. Decide which feature you actually want before you order.
Second thing to check before you buy: not every S2+ tailcap comes apart the same way. Some hosts have a threaded retaining ring you can back out with a pair of snap-ring pliers in about a minute. Others are pressure-fit, and getting the old board out without wrecking it is a genuinely irritating job. Look at your specific light first — the finish and body colour you own determines which one you've got.
Worth knowing: if you buy the switch together with a light from us, leave a note on the order and we'll install it for you before it ships. The switch on its own is the assembly only.
Buttons are a separate decision
The button — the part your thumb hits — is not the same part as the switch. You can change it independently, and it changes how the light behaves on a table.
A rubber button is quiet, grippy, and lets the light tailstand. A metal button gives you a crisper, louder click and a harder press. Both come in colours, and swapping one is a thirty-second job that costs a few dollars. If you own several identical black S2+ bodies, colour-coding the tail buttons by emitter tint is the cheapest organizational upgrade in the hobby. All of it lives in Convoy parts & accessories.
When you don't want the switch on the light at all
If the light is mounted — on a bar, a barrel, a helmet, a tripod — reaching back to the tailcap defeats the point. A remote pressure switch replaces the tailcap entirely and puts a pad on a lead where your hand already is. It fits the S2+, C8, and C8+. It's the correct answer for weapon-mounted and hands-free setups, and the wrong answer for a pocket light, since you now have a cable to snag.
Pick in ten seconds
- General use, you change modes often — keep the reverse clicky. It's already on your light.
- You want momentary and signaling — forward clicky. Two dollars on an S2+.
- You need to find the light in the dark — illuminated switch, and accept the reverse clicky that comes with it.
- Daily carry, want lockout and instant turbo — buy an e-switch light; you can't convert a clicky into one.
- Mounted light — remote pressure switch.
The switch is the cheapest part of a flashlight and the one you interact with every single time. It's a strange thing to leave stock just because that's how it shipped.