Reddit reviews 200-503 CH Products Flightstick Pro USB 4-Button Joystick 8-Way Hatswitch

I had a similiar issue, my old stick was naturally a little loose and hyper sensitive, so just resting my hand on it caused it to input roll because it was loose enough that the idle weight of my tiny little hands was moving it. This resulted in having to make the deadzones WAY bigger than I wanted them to be.

If you're in the market for a new controller heres some options from least to most expensive as well as amazon links for buying them.

Xbox 360 Pad: $28

• Pros: CHEAP, works, comfortable
  
• Cons: Not enough buttons
  
• I own one and have played Elite with it
  
  Steam Controller: $50
  
  
• Pros: Cheapish, works, comfortable, plenty of buttons, overly customizable software options to ensure it just works with everything!
  
• Cons: Touchpad in place of traditional D-Pad/Right Joystick can be janky in some games and some people just downright don't like this.
  
• I own one and have played Elite with it.
  
  T-Flight HOTAS X: $50
  
  
• Pros: Cheap, well made, works with PS4 if you're a PS4 commander
  
• Cons: No mini analog stick.
  
  Xbox One Controller + Wireless PC Adapter: $63
  
  
• Pros: Upgrade to the 360 version
  
• Cons: Wireless, so batteries.
  
  Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS HOTAS: $108
  
  
• Pros: Cheap for a HOTAS, well made, mini analog stick on throttle.
  
• Cons: Mini Analog stick is in a weird place (subjective)
  
• I do not own this, but I would buy it if I needed another HOTAS
  
  Xbox One Elite Controller: $140
  
  
• Pros: upgrade over the standard xbone controller
  
• Cons: paddles can't be mapped to unique button presses but instead just can be set to emulate other buttons on the controller
  
  X-52: $150
  
  
• Pros: Looks like the joystick and throttle in Elite.
  
• Cons: No ministick on throttle.
  
  Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS: $449
  
  
• Pros: All Metal Construction, very solid piece of hardware
  
• Cons: No Ministick on throttle, No Twist Yaw on the stick, HOLY SHIT BALLS EXPENSIVE, your husband/wife might be angry with you for buying this if they aren't into this kinda thing.
  
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  Okay with the all in one box stuff out of the way there are some good mix and match options from CH Products which I'll list below. My current set up is CH Fighterstick, CH Pro Throttle, CH Pro Pedals, + HTC Vive for headtracking (or ED Tracker for headtracking when I don't want VR)
  
  CH Flightstick: $75
  
  
• Pros: Solid Build Quality, Ambidextrous
  
• Cons: Ugly, not a lot of buttons, no twist yaw
  
  CH Combatstick: $94
  
  
• Pros: Solid Build Quality, thumb button.
  
• Cons: Ugly, no twist yaw
  
  CH Fighterstick: $116
  
  
• Pros: Solid Build Quality, 4-way Hat thumb switch
  
• Cons: Ugly, No twist Yaw
  
• I own this and this is my primary stick for Elite
  
  CH Flight Sim Yoke: $120
  
  
• Pros: Can double as a driving wheel!
  
• Cons: No triggers, not a lot of buttons, some players have reported yokes don't work well for twitchy flight gameplay like combat.
  
  CH Pro Pedals: $121
  
  
• Pros: Solid Build Quality, Very Responsive, doubles as gas & brake pedals for driving games!
  
• Cons: Pedals are a bit close together, some male players have reported this is uncomfortable, the springs that recenter the pedals are really strong and take getting used to.
  
• I own this and it is my primary yaw pedals.
  
  CH Pro Throttle: $123
  
  
• Pros: Solid Build Quality, very responsive throttle, mini analog stick,
  
• Cons: Throttles Physical Range is a bit short, no center indent or tension control, Kinda ugly, mini stick might require high deadzones.
  
• I own this and it is my primary throttle
  
  CH Eclipse Yoke: $201
  
  
• Pros: Good for Flying & Driving, plenty of buttons, and flappy paddles for yaw or gear shifting
  
• Cons: No triggers, might not be ideal for combat.
  
• I want one.
  
  Also note that the joysticks and throttles from the Thrustmaster FCS and Warthog can be bought separately making them worth considering as options here.
  
  FINALLY I will leave you with a word of warning. The Saitek X-55 and X-56 might look tempting, but they have shoddy build quality and will break on you. I used to have an X-55, and I've seen the inside of the X-56 and they both have the same problems. They are a time bomb, do not buy them. Also someone will more than likely eventually comment saying they own one of these devices and have had zero issues out of them, lucky them I hope they never have an issue, but Saitek is known for terrible Quality Control and with the exception of the X-52 buying a Saitek product is not worth the gamble even though Logitech now owns them and is known for great build quality, there are too many items from when Mad Catz owned them floating around in the wild.

This is what I use. It feels good, it's got all the buttons I need, and it's comfortable in my left hand.

If you're looking for a joystick to use for aiming... just stop. All you'll do is kill your aim for an inflated price. I'll take a hammer to your fingers for a mere $10.

That said, I do have to admit playing with dual joysticks feels awesome, even if it turns you into a bad.

CH Flightstick Pro was my joystick of choice back in the days of Mechwarrior 2, X-Wing and Tie Fighter back in the mid to late 90's. Sadly PCs eventually didn't support the port it used anymore, until I found out it has a more current version pretty much exactly like the old one only now supporting USB.

https://www.amazon.com/CH-Products-Flightstick-4-Button-Hatswitch/dp/B00006B84V/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505551039&sr=8-1&keywords=ch+flightstick+pro

Flight sticks(2) might work well, I don't think your standard joystick would be enough, you'd need a couple extra buttons, probably 3, with a trigger on each stick, and maybe a thumbstick or direction buttons on one or both of them to scroll items.

Something like This.

The only other ambidextrous stick I know of is the CH Flightstick which is, even though very basic, still a better grip than the T16000M as it has an 8-way POV and three 4-way HATs all of which are better quality that the T16000M buttons...

...I have no idea what the inside of this one looks like but I bet it would fit the thrustmaster gimbal with a bit of...persuasion.

[EDIT] ...and you can pick a 2nd hand one up for pretty cheap too.

I have this bad boy and I love it. It's build quality is really really solid.

https://www.amazon.com/CH-Products-Flightstick-4-Button-Hatswitch/dp/B00006B84V/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1497910856&sr=8-8&keywords=ch+products

> I'm a lefty as well. I'd like to use main control with my left hand if possible. Are sticks designed to be for right hand use at all or are they amibidextrous tools?

Hello fellow lefty. As I am sure you already know the gaming industry always has, and always will, hate us. The best we can typically hope for are ambidextrous tools, though I hear one of the Thrustmasters is reversible.

The stick I use is very basic but suits all of my needs, and is also plug-n-play which is a bonus for me because I just lost usage of my favorite usb gamepad after over 10 years of faithful service due to abandoned driver support.

Unfortunately when it comes to throttles I have yet to find any that are ambi, so I use another usb peripheral for my right hand that is also plug-n-play. Like some one else suggested you could use two sticks, but I find that limiting actually.

they are replicas of real flight sticks, not sci-fi glowy joysticks.

and they are sturdy enough you could probably beat someone over the head with it and go right back to flying.

as for price they are in the middle ground.

$61 for flightstick

$78 for the combatstick

$98 for the fighterstick

it's pretty much the best quality you can get without spending multiple hundreds on a warthog or black mamba

CH Products Flightstick Pro is what i used back in the day. Also had their throttle, yoke, and pedals. They build quality stuff that is able to withstand, um, aggressive play.