aricooperdavis said:

One thing to watch out for:- if you want to do any surveying try and avoid magnetic end pieces (which seem weirdly popular in these little torches from cheaper manufacturers) - they're a gimmick that you'll very rarely use and will muck up your compass readings!

Click to expand...

This got me thinking; would it be possible to modify my backup light (the Olight S2 Baton) to remove this magnetic source of annoyance? The answer, it turns out, is yes - the casing isn't magnetised itself, instead the end piece contains a small rare-earth magnet held in place by the positive battery terminal, and it's very easy to remove this magnet entirely! The terminal is held inside a small bezel, so it can be replaced easily once the magnet is removed.



This leaves a small gap in the end piece where the rare-earth magnet once sat. You could probably stick a little bit of plastic, or some desiccant board, behind the spring if you wanted to reduce the likelihood of the contact slowly deforming over time, but I have left this space free and the contact is firm, even when I turn the torch on and shake it as hard as I can.

I hope that this modification is applicable to other torches that suffer from the same gimmick.