I worked for a wholesaler of Law Enforcement products while in college, late 60's and early 70's and maintained a business relationship after I graduated for years while I worked for "the government". The Kel-lite was a favorite of mine until the Bianchi B-lite came out. It had a faceted reflector. My first experience with beam improvement. They were supplied with clear, red and amber windows too! The windows had three or four concentric circular ribs that apparently had no optical affect, just a trade mark feature I guess. Often my cohorts refered to defensive tactic techniques as "advanced Kel-lite". Some folks got the long 6 D's just for the defensive aspect but the popular size for handling and illlumination was the 4D. I had a 4D B-lite (circa 1974) that saw tactical service. There were not many choices for bright bulbs. Some tried over driving standard PR bulbs. Eventually I had a streamlight, SL-20 and I put SL-35 bulbs in it. Was that my first hot wire mod? When the Mag Charger hit the street, I got one, got it still. That is over 20 years ago. It is featured in a few of my posts. The Mag Charger must be my favorite.
Because of the nature of the wholesaler I associated with I had met and worked with John Bianchi of Bianchi Leather and Neil Perkins of Safariland (Kel-Lite) along with personalities from the firearms industry. I miss the days of shot shows and IACP conventions and getting my hands on the new "toys" first! I spend all my time now, for the last 20 years working exclusively for the "G". You know, some time in late 2005 I wanted a better flashlight, I accidently found CPF, well, you know the rest, happened to all of us.
PS, Thanks for the picture of the B-lite, Niteowl, brings back flashbacks, and I still have one of those Radio Shack grey 5 cells, they were given away free with a clipped coupon from the Radio Shack flyer that would arrive in the mail.