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KEL-LITE INDUSTRIES
- Thread starter Cosmo7809
- Start date
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The mid 1980's abomination calling itself a Kel-Lite.
I had a 4 D-cell. It had the hated reverse clickie switch.
I gave it away.
http://www.imageocean.net/
edit to add for posterity - an ad from 1973
http://www.imageocean.net/
I had a 4 D-cell. It had the hated reverse clickie switch.
I gave it away.
edit to add for posterity - an ad from 1973
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The B-lite page from the 1976-77 Bianchi holster catalog.
I briefly had the shared use of an issue B-lite, but didn't much like it. It ran down the batteries too quickly ... but that's also a shared usage issue.
I briefly had the shared use of an issue B-lite, but didn't much like it. It ran down the batteries too quickly ... but that's also a shared usage issue.
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Cosmo7809
Enlightened
I love the internet.
Bimmerboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
Cosmo - Is the girl thigh holding the Kel-Lite the same girl who's wearing the titan?
Cosmo7809
Enlightened
Yes:nana:
Thanks for the scans, do you have hi-res versions of those? Great stuff.
I have some dirty paper around here somewhere I'll see about getting together.
I have some dirty paper around here somewhere I'll see about getting together.
Late '70s manual/parts list for standard C-cell models.
I don't actually have hard-copy of this, but here's a huge PDF of a bunch of catalogs and price lists are from a few years around 1972:
http://members.aol.com/abtomat47/flashlights/kelcat.pdf
http://members.aol.com/abtomat47/flashlights/kelcat.pdf
willrx
Enlightened
Very, very, nice.
Yes. How do you want them?
Bimmerboy
Flashlight Enthusiast
LOL! :thumbsup:
I remember the full size version in some thread around here. She'd make any flashlight look good... when you finally notice it.
Wow, that's quite a blast from the past!
I all forgot until I saw the Kel-Lite thread, and then it reminded me that I had a large head, 3-D/cell B-Lite way back in the mid 70's or so.
That was decades before I became a "flashaholic".
I've lived in the same house now since 1982, so I'm willing to bet that I might find that old relic buried at the bottom of my closet somewhere with all the other stuff that hasn't seen daylight since the Bee Gees "got down".
depusm12
Flashlight Enthusiast
Too bad Kel-Lite isn't still around. Would love to have a modern version of a 3 C Kel-Lite with a large head and 3 or 4 Cree Q5's.
Thanks.
I have one of those speedloaders for a J frame. Mine is marked "Hunt Engineering Inc." and that's how I remembered them.
I checked the magazine pile: Sure enough, the 1972 Law Enforcement Handgun Digest shows the Kel-Lite speedloader, distributed by ... Safariland.
I have a set of Kel-Lite FirePower speedloaders for a K-frame, I think. Leather by Tex Shoemaker.
Maybe it's because I've had so many of these lights, but I have no interest in a modern light using any of these unique designs. About the only concept I think still has merit is an external barrel switch to allow for a shorter light, but as was proven back in the '70s it's nearly impossible to make a good one. That's why internal pushbuttons like Mag-Lite and Streamlight took over.
Maybe it's because I've had so many of these lights, but I have no interest in a modern light using any of these unique designs. About the only concept I think still has merit is an external barrel switch to allow for a shorter light, but as was proven back in the '70s it's nearly impossible to make a good one. That's why internal pushbuttons like Mag-Lite and Streamlight took over.
One point about the aluminum lights of the 70's that the modern flashaholic might not recognize: how expensive they all were.
Buying a Kel-Lite was a serious investment. Their nominal price of $15 - $20 in 70's dollars converts to $80 - $100 now. Proportionally, that $20 would have been one third to one quarter of the cost of the average cop's pistol. Imagine paying $200 for a Mag-Lite!!
Buying a Kel-Lite was a serious investment. Their nominal price of $15 - $20 in 70's dollars converts to $80 - $100 now. Proportionally, that $20 would have been one third to one quarter of the cost of the average cop's pistol. Imagine paying $200 for a Mag-Lite!!
donkeller7
Newly Enlightened
greenLED
Flashaholic
:welcome: Don!
(Are you the Don Keller of B-lite, Kel-lite, and Maglite fame?) :bow:
(Are you the Don Keller of B-lite, Kel-lite, and Maglite fame?) :bow:
