David Reeder, over at Recoil, reviews the Thrym Switchback. It is a ring that you slide onto your flashlight. Combat rings are not a new concept. SureFire put rings on their lights starting with the Combat designed Z series lights. SureFire developed the “syringe” grip. You hold the light like a cigar or a syringe. The ring around the body of the light is what you push your fingers up against. This method works but takes a bit of practice with a firearm. I dont like it because you have a light between your support hand and the pistol.

SureFire also made Combat Rings that you can slip onto their 1″ body lights. Here is an old pic I took of mine. The SureFire Combat Rings were great and inexpensive. $10 for a three pack. The one with the finger loop is most like the Switchback. However, the Combat Rings are rubber with a hard polymer stiffener molded into the rubber.  Also they only work for 1″ bodied lights, like the 6P, Fury series, C2, G2 etc. They do not work for the E-series of lights like the E1B, E2DL, etc.

Raven Concealment also made something similar and added a pocket clip. One of the short comings of the SureFire rings setup, is that it is not pocket clip friendly.

When using the SureFire Rogers/Syringe you would put the combat ring close to the end near the tailcap. Then having the light in between your fingers, you would grab your pistol as you would normally for support, all the while pulling the tailcap into a knuckle of your firing hand. This works but you have a 1″ flashlight between your support fingers. The Raven Concealment setup is just a rubber O-ring on a pocket clip. The ring is not indexed at the same position all the time, so using it can hinder your draw. Also it is only compatible with larger 1″ diameter lights. No love for the E-series lights.

Thyrm’s Switchback comes in two sizes. One for 1″ lights and the other for E-series sized lights. The concept of the Switch back is very intriguing. It seems to take all the best from the preceding ring designs and only taking the good aspects.  The only critique I have is the position of the pocket clip. I understand that its position makes it universal for righties and lefties. However I would have preferred the pocket clip to be 90 degrees from the ring. As I EDC a light with a pocket clip, the idea of having the pocket clip pointing backwards rather than parallel with my pocket just seems awkward.