I'm new to the collecting and could have swore that I posted this before but I can't find it anywhere. Basically, I'd like to collect and piece together the history of police duty flashlights. I've got a Maglite and a Streamlight Stinger but can anyone piece together the history of the common duty flashlights?Thanks,Tim
Duty flashlight collecting
- Thread starter Tim71
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Kestrel
Flashaholic
Hello Tim, :welcome:
My suggestion would be to start at this epic thread:
The ABTOMAT Police Flashlight Collection
My suggestion would be to start at this epic thread:
The ABTOMAT Police Flashlight Collection
It seems Bianchi began in 74 as a project between John Bianchi (a holster etc maker) and Don Keller formerly of Kel Lite and Kel-lite in 68/69-ish, Streamlight around the time Kel-Lite got going good, but were focused on mega output spotlights at first, mag in 78 or 79, SureFire in the late 80's.
But a fellow named Conrad Hubert passed out a bunch in the 1920-ish era and they were a big hit for Eveready. They did some 2C Soldier Boy models for soldiers in WW1 that were later used by police. Franco made some duty lights, and so did French Flasher/Rayolite, now Rayovac. CF Burgess did some and so did BriteStar way back then. By the late 50's Dog Supply House was doing search and rescue lights along with Rayovacs line of Sportsman. Fulton famous for the right angle light also did cop lights.
Some antique duty lights.
A Dog Supply House 6D with Hi-Bred extension.
This Olin had a built in traffic wand.
A really early Franco cop light circa 1915-ish.
Patent-kleptos Pentagon did some good stuff.
Pelican should be mentioned as well. But I do not know the beginings of either of those.
But the Bianchi and Kel-Lites changed the game to what we now consider duty lights.
But a fellow named Conrad Hubert passed out a bunch in the 1920-ish era and they were a big hit for Eveready. They did some 2C Soldier Boy models for soldiers in WW1 that were later used by police. Franco made some duty lights, and so did French Flasher/Rayolite, now Rayovac. CF Burgess did some and so did BriteStar way back then. By the late 50's Dog Supply House was doing search and rescue lights along with Rayovacs line of Sportsman. Fulton famous for the right angle light also did cop lights.
Some antique duty lights.
A Dog Supply House 6D with Hi-Bred extension.
This Olin had a built in traffic wand.
A really early Franco cop light circa 1915-ish.
Patent-kleptos Pentagon did some good stuff.
Pelican should be mentioned as well. But I do not know the beginings of either of those.
But the Bianchi and Kel-Lites changed the game to what we now consider duty lights.
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Wow, thanks guys. At first I'm not going to try and get each and every variation of each type of light but I first want to get an example of each "phase" if you will. Picture if you had a display set up to show the history of duty flashlights from beginning to current is what I want to do first.
Love the pictures and the thread. Gives me tons of information on what to try and obtain.
Thanks again.
Love the pictures and the thread. Gives me tons of information on what to try and obtain.
Thanks again.
Hey Tim,
The Bianchis and Kel-lites are going to be expensive. So are the really old Streamlights and SureFires. Be patient and you'll luck up on one here n there for a good price.
Be aware that bidding at eBay is frustrating thanks to folks with bidding software and mega-fast data connections. Can't tell ya how many times I was winning with 1 second left only to lose out.
Also it seems to fall in spurtz where you see items you want seemingly raining from the sky. Those times are fun but can get expensive quickly.
If you are curious about the values flashlight museum dot com is a pretty complete source. Not completely infalable they sometimes get dates wrong and stated values don't match the current market. I've found so called $75 lights for $20 shipped and seen $5 ones go for $45+.
Duty lights in the traditional sense (ie Kel, Mag, Streamlight, Bianchi etc) are highly sought after and tend to be out there in droves at ridiculous prices...
But mostly remember parts for many are really scarce. So obtaining a non working one for pennies on the dollar may lead to another dust collector in your home...
One thing I've learned in two years is that crud is your friend.
More times than not I've been able to get non working lights shining like new. It's things like broken switches or bulb assemblies that make the light difficult to get going. But I've gotten literally dozens of non working old lights going again due to clearing the electrical path from battery to bulb with a volt meter, dentist length q-tips and basic deoxidizing liquids.
You set your volt meter to ohms with sound, use the probes to poke various points in the path and listen for the chirp. It's very satisfying to get a silent light chirping end to end knowing that means it's going to go.
On the flip side sometimes unseen amounts of crud still plague things like rivets or hidden contact points. Those are the ones that cause fist pumping "haleljuahs" when they eventually light.
PR bulbs are not hard to find. Read the threads of interest in the incan section and you'll soon have a good understanding of what numbers jibe with what battery configuration. Keep in mind the idea then was to get a 2D maglite to outshine an automotive headlight. But the basics are hidden in there. When purchasing bulbs try for boxes not twin packs for PR bulbs. And study Streamlight and Maglite bi-pins as often times they will be just what the doctor ordered yet can still easily be found.
Happy hunting!
The Bianchis and Kel-lites are going to be expensive. So are the really old Streamlights and SureFires. Be patient and you'll luck up on one here n there for a good price.
Be aware that bidding at eBay is frustrating thanks to folks with bidding software and mega-fast data connections. Can't tell ya how many times I was winning with 1 second left only to lose out.
Also it seems to fall in spurtz where you see items you want seemingly raining from the sky. Those times are fun but can get expensive quickly.
If you are curious about the values flashlight museum dot com is a pretty complete source. Not completely infalable they sometimes get dates wrong and stated values don't match the current market. I've found so called $75 lights for $20 shipped and seen $5 ones go for $45+.
Duty lights in the traditional sense (ie Kel, Mag, Streamlight, Bianchi etc) are highly sought after and tend to be out there in droves at ridiculous prices...
But mostly remember parts for many are really scarce. So obtaining a non working one for pennies on the dollar may lead to another dust collector in your home...
One thing I've learned in two years is that crud is your friend.
More times than not I've been able to get non working lights shining like new. It's things like broken switches or bulb assemblies that make the light difficult to get going. But I've gotten literally dozens of non working old lights going again due to clearing the electrical path from battery to bulb with a volt meter, dentist length q-tips and basic deoxidizing liquids.
You set your volt meter to ohms with sound, use the probes to poke various points in the path and listen for the chirp. It's very satisfying to get a silent light chirping end to end knowing that means it's going to go.
On the flip side sometimes unseen amounts of crud still plague things like rivets or hidden contact points. Those are the ones that cause fist pumping "haleljuahs" when they eventually light.
PR bulbs are not hard to find. Read the threads of interest in the incan section and you'll soon have a good understanding of what numbers jibe with what battery configuration. Keep in mind the idea then was to get a 2D maglite to outshine an automotive headlight. But the basics are hidden in there. When purchasing bulbs try for boxes not twin packs for PR bulbs. And study Streamlight and Maglite bi-pins as often times they will be just what the doctor ordered yet can still easily be found.
Happy hunting!
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