So first people are saying that this isn't full UHMWPE. Yeah of course it's a mix, as are Tangies. People were quick to call this out from the very first images released of the switch. True 100% UHMWPE is extremely opaque and is most commonly white. The colored translucent housing can only be achieved with UHMWPE by mixing it with another polymer. How much of a mix is anyone's guess. Even TKC doesn't know how much UHMWPE is in the Tangie housing. They are pretty much forced to trust what the manufacturer tells them; there is a substantial amount of UHMWPE in the housing polymer mix, because JWK isn't stupid enough to release their proprietary "formula" for making literally the first UHMWPE switch housing in existence. This is a hot topic of discussion and has been ever since Tangie V2s were announced. The truth is the public will never know with 100% certainty what the mix is unless 1. JWK releases the "formula" or 2. Someone wants to spend and ungodly amount of time and money to have the housing tested at a lab and reverse engineer the mix. I realize the main point of contention for UHMWPE switches are for marketing the switch as "UHMWPE housing" when the exact amount is unknown. But as previously mentioned, the point is moot and we'll run around in circles discussing it. At the end of the day, it's a very good switch for a good price.
Yes, the housing color is different. If you're upset about it I would like to point you in the direction of literally every single JWK & Durock recolor that has been made in 2019-2020. From Alpacas and H1s to Dogikons and Moss, they're all more or less the same housing with varying spring weights and different colors. There is clearly a market for these. From my perspective, this OA falls under the same category as a recolor.
The main difference here would be the top housing. A large point of dissatisfaction with the Tangie V2s was that they were very clacky, particularly on the upstroke. This is why many people opt to swap to a different top housing like Cherry or Cream tops. The polycarb top housing on this would eliminate the clack in much the same way, making the upstroke sound closer to an Alpaca than a Tangie.
While I don't necessarily have a problem with the material or color, what I am concerned about are the rights to another UHMWPE housing switch. I highly doubt that TKC/C3 simply allows anyone to use their same process to create another UHMWPE switch in direct competition with their own. I imagine that would be similar to someone asking Gateron to make their own variation on the Ink. Obviously JWK is no stranger to working with third party clients to make a switch custom to their specifications. But to use the same bottom housing molds as C3's Tangies...sounds like a bit of a stretch to me (unless any mold created and used by JWK just becomes a part of their "mold library" so to speak, or these bottom housings are from JWK's own proprietary molds). If it were really that simple I would think we would have seen another IC/GB about another UHMWPE switch, especially given the popularity of the Tangie V2s. Please feel free to clarify/correct me if I'm wrong on any of these points.
All that being said, I look forward to the samples and hope a sound test will be available soon.
