I'm trying to figure out how you would use the tape switch. Nonfiring hand grabbing over the magazine automatic rifleman style? Best location I have found on my P90 is right under the charging handle. It is still a bit awkward but you can manipulate it on either hand and even with the trigger finger if you are holding it on the same side as the light.
Usage of a light is like the one major failure in the P90 design. I really can't believe they gave zero consideration to that. Even the aftermarket community only has that red laser which is largely useless.
I'm trying to figure out how you would use the tape switch. Nonfiring hand grabbing over the magazine automatic rifleman style? Best location I have found on my P90 is right under the charging handle. It is still a bit awkward but you can manipulate it on either hand and even with the trigger finger if you are holding it on the same side as the light.
Usage of a light is like the one major failure in the P90 design. I really can't believe they gave zero consideration to that. Even the aftermarket community only has that red laser which is largely useless.
Maybe it's an on/off switch rather than a hold to activate one.
Disclaimer: I know nothing about tape switches, this is my best guess.
Maybe it's an on/off switch rather than a hold to activate one.
Disclaimer: I know nothing about tape switches, this is my best guess.
That probably is what the artist intended. Tape switches are usually momentary though. On-off switches aren't favored anymore because light works both ways. The current convention is to only use as much light as you need, turning it off and pointing in different directions without streaking to make it harder to pinpoint your location. Momentary is also more reactive since a touch activates instantly rather than click-and-release.
If you could enlighten this gun-ignoramus here — what are tape switches? Are they flex-activated ribbon switches?
It is basically a momentary on off switch that connects to a flashlight. It is the flat little bar the wire to the flashlight leads to. I haven't ripped many apart but the few that I have just consists of a copper sheet spaced with an insulating plastic with a slot in it and a curved spring steel lead on top. You press it and it "clicks" and bends downward making a connection. The whole thing is either heat shrink wrapped or cast in silicone, so the switch itself is actually rigid unlike the "tape" would imply.
The whole point of the tape switch is to put the on/off switch somewhere other than on the flashlight and to give momentary on/off functions on flashlights that only click constant on or off. The reason you want the switch away from the light is because you want the light far front on the gun to keep the barrel or silencer from casting a shadow into the beam, your hand from blocking the beam, and to prevent illuminating the front of your gun (the latter of which is a minor concern). Tape switches can also act as a secondary switch for situations where you use the original bezel switch on the light with one hand, and a tape switch on the other when you switch hand dominance. In most rifles and SMG with a slim forend you can mount the tape switch on top which is accessible with either hand and it is the preferred option.
Lots of words but if I was with you with my P90 it would be super simple to demonstrate.
It is basically a momentary on off switch that connects to a flashlight. It is the flat little bar the wire to the flashlight leads to. I haven't ripped many apart but the few that I have just consists of a copper sheet spaced with an insulating plastic with a slot in it and a curved spring steel lead on top. You press it and it "clicks" and bends downward making a connection. The whole thing is either heat shrink wrapped or cast in silicone, so the switch itself is actually rigid unlike the "tape" would imply.
The whole point of the tape switch is to put the on/off switch somewhere other than on the flashlight and to give momentary on/off functions on flashlights that only click constant on or off. The reason you want the switch away from the light is because you want the light far front on the gun to keep the barrel or silencer from casting a shadow into the beam, your hand from blocking the beam, and to prevent illuminating the front of your gun (the latter of which is a minor concern). Tape switches can also act as a secondary switch for situations where you use the original bezel switch on the light with one hand, and a tape switch on the other when you switch hand dominance. In most rifles and SMG with a slim forend you can mount the tape switch on top which is accessible with either hand and it is the preferred option.
Lots of words but if I was with you with my P90 it would be super simple to demonstrate.
Oh, thanks for the detailed explanation. Especially the second paragraph regarding its purpose and function.
(Guess my intuition was right. We just call those ribbon switches, context-wise when used in circuits, scientific instruments and the like.)
Oh, thanks for the detailed explanation. Especially the second paragraph regarding its purpose and function.
(Guess my intuition was right. We just call those ribbon switches, context-wise when used in circuits, scientific instruments and the like.)
Yeah, I wasn't quite sure to say tape switch was a ribbon switch since I only knew of them as flex action, but apparently it applies to a broad category of designs.
