Laserbtb/Sky laser PL locking tailcap is a worthless piece of trash.

If you get one of Skylaser's LP units, that is the pen-type lasers, be warned that the "3-way" locking tailcap is absolute garbage. Let's count the ways:

1) Cheap, brittle, fragile plastic. The entire switch body is made of this bargain-basement, poor quality plastic that breaks through normal use. My switch has literally come apart, due to the plastic body fracturing throughout, but especially on the outside, where the key is inserted.

Gluing it doesn't help; I used model glue to do it and it didn't really work. I did not try superglue (cyanoacrylate) due to the hassles involved in working with it. And before the "it was abused" comment comes up, let me make it clear that this laser has never been dropped or banged around, ever.

The laser itself is quite good. It's the PL450 that I got from Offroad's GB#2. I like it a lot, and nowadays use it with the non-locking tailcap. It's the locking tailcap that's bad.

2) The internals can actually slide out of the tailcap, breaking electrical contact, due to the cheap, poor quality glue used to secure it in place. Applying more glue did not help this.

3) Three way switch my ass. It is a three-position switch with two of the positions doing the same damn thing, i.e. power on. Gimmicky and utter crap.

4) Can't find a replacement part. Ebay? Nope. Google? Nope. Per usual, exact part needed to fix nowhere in evidence. Sigh.

In conclusion, this locking tailcap is exactly what I would expect from some discount, fly-by-night, chinky-chonk outfit, not a "reputable" company like Skylaser. The Laser 301's locking switch is superior by far, they are not even in the same category. I just wanted to let you know so that if you can avoid this locking tailcap you are better off doing so. It's more effective to just put a piece of plastic between the battery terminal and the non-locking cap, especially if you carry this laser around at all.

SkyLaser/Laserbtb would do well to stop using this locking switch and change to one that at least has a metal outer body. The piece-of-crap switch they are currently supplying is a blemish on an otherwise pretty good reputation.

Do you mean LP? The PL host is the big chunky one and only has the 3.5mm jack socket. If you are talking about the LP, I agree with what you say about it being cheap and nasty but then the whole entire LP host from laserbtb is pretty bottom end (which is putting it nicely).

I use the non locking tailcap on my remaining LP survivor, the 635 from gismo, and it's far better also shortening the length of the already long laser. IMO the LP series is the weak knee in the lineup of laserbtb products, the HL host alone is a huge step up in quality.

Ah, yes, I meant the LP lasers. The whole LP and PL thing confuses me, apparently. I corrected the original post.

The LP450 that I have seems decent enough. Other than the Lazerer LZCS-450 it seems to be one of the very few momentary 450nm lasers available. The only things wrong with mine are that the focus isn't quite as tight as I would make it, and the beam exits the host at an angle, which is noticeable if you look closely. I don't dare try to correct these issues though; I can only imagine how glue-crazy they must have gone putting it together.

That's too bad, if the whole LP line really is that low-end. The locking tailcap certainly is.

I removed the switch from my dead HL405. It fits into the LP450's key switch shell more or less tightly; it shouldn't take too much jerry-rigging to get it to work. Although I tested it and it does make the laser ridiculously heavy for its size, but I guess that's OK with me. (heh, I'm tempted to do a stainless steel C6 with the Flaminpyro heatsink, just because the thing will weigh a ton )

I dont even use the lockswitch on my LP laser dont see the need for a pen really.