Ended up ordering a piston style palm tamper aka "cookie press" and kinda liking it. Was concerned with a possible vacuum effect due to non-tapered design, so far so good.

Capuchin Monk wrote:I use the same type for my puck prep. I like it because it's simple and effective.

What is non-tapered design?

Simple and effective, agreed. I went down this road because of your post, thanks!

The base is not "angled" like the LevTamp:



This is what I was thinking of as tapered.

Or other tampers such as the Pullman BigStep has a thin "edge" at the base which I understood was for the purpose of not creating a vacuum when lifting the tamper. The Force tamper also has a relatively thin "disc" at its base.