Secondary light recomendation for police officer

[Avro]

Hey all;

A friend of mine was recently hired as a police officer.

Since he's a good friend, and I'm a flashlight nut, I figured it would be remiss of me not to get him a good light.

His department provides SL Stingers to their officers (they're not issued to the individual, but officers sign them out from the station each shift). What I'm looking to give him is a secondary/backup/tactical light.

I'm a fan of SureFire, so my ideas are based on the SF product line.

I'm thinking something along the lines of a 6P. Something that's small enough to be carried every day and all the time, but bright enough to be useful. Should I get the HOLA with it? What about the KL3 head? Or, should I go with something like the A2 or L2?

Any other products I should consider?

Price isn't a huge factor (I seem to be able to talk myself into buying almost anything...)


Thanks,

Avro

[LITEmania]

Please tell your friend this light is good when he signs on the paper in night [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]if he hangs this light up on shoulder by strong clip installed.

Definately this : Q-III

[daloosh]

Hey Avro,

You sound like a generous friend! Do you wanna be my friend?!?!

Since you are a Surefire fan, and price is not a factor, I would consider small and bright. So that's either the E2e, which is small and light and bright enough to be tactical. Or I'd go to the C2/Z2/G2Z line with a p61 HOLA. The lamp decision depends on what you're using it for. If it's a light to sweep the street the extra punch may be useful, but if it's to look into a trunk, that would be overdoing it. Then the p60, or even an LED head, if you really want to go overboard, might be a better choice.

I like the 6P, it's a great classic light, but I like the grip ring on the C2/Z2/G2Z, but it also depends on how your friend likes to shoot.

Finally, you might want to know if his department will provide 123s. I dunno if you would want to keep him in 123s, but many LEOs don't want the added expense of batteries that cost $2.50 CDN, if not much more.

good luck, and let us know what you choose,
daloosh

[bwaites]

Pelican M6 incandescent, but buy the LED and switch lamp assemblies to get the clickie tail cap!

Bill

[madecov]

I also reccomend the G2Z
It has pyrex, is bright and later if he finds that he uses it a lot he can convert to PILA. also it has the lock out tail switch , an important feature. He can get filters or traffic cones for it. Once he has a Surefire, he probably won't want to carry the department issued beat to hell stinger.

[juancho]

A LEO should carry the smallest and most powerful light available , since he already have the stinger in his car, the light in his belt has to be the smallest possible in order to have with him at all time.
Powerful, so it can blind an assailant and produced enough light to plenty illuminated dark warehouses .
You can forget about LED’s because they don’t fill these requirements. The only serious lamp that can be considered is the P-61 at 120 lumens.
The 6P don’t take the heat of this lamp as well as it has a Lexan lens that will bubble if used continuously for the 20 minutes of battery life.
The one to use is the C-2 Centurion that has the Pyrex bezel,.but that doesn’t take care of the “smallest” part of the equation.
Smallest will be an E2e body and an E2C adaptor with a Z-44 bezel (The bezel of the C-2) and the P-61 lamp.
That modified combination produce the same light (120 lumen) that the C-2 does, and is much smaller. In my biased opinion this is the best light for a gunfight in the dark.

Just because I happen to have two of them for sale in B/S/T.

Juan C.

[KevinL]

Newer 6Ps are pyrex, mine is - I got on the bandwagon pretty late. You can also purchase replacement Pyrex bezels.

The C2 is nearly the same size as the 6P, I'll find out in a couple of days when mine gets here. I was thinking of the E2C combo as well if you need absolute smallest size.

I intend to substitute R123s and a P91 lamp when that gets here too, in order to give me something like nearly 200 lumens in a C2 sized package (E2C compatible too), but if the light's going to be used for something as critical as life and death at the speed of lead, the user would be extremely strongly advised to review the suitability of such a suggestion for themselves.. in fact, any suggestion at all. I'm not qualified to comment in that area.

[Size15's]

The 6P and Z2 have had Pyrex for some time now.
The C2 is the same length as the 6P and Z2. It uses the same bezel and TailCap. The difference is that the C2 has a CombatGrip ring and PocketClip. Also, the C2 comes in HA which the 6P & Z2 don't.

Al

[BrightFlashlites]

The G2Z, C2 Centurion and E2E-HA or E2D are excellent choices. The G2Z and E2E are winners in my book because of weight savings which can be a plus when you're toting approx. 11+ lbs. of gear already.

A personal favorite of mine is to use the E2E or E2D with the lower output MN02 lamp which provides twice the battery life and to me has only 10-15% less visible output than the MN03.

[BOILER]

I did the same favor for a buddy of mine. His department issued SL PolyStingers which are carried on the gunbelt. I was looking for a light that was lightweight, relatively powerful, and inexpensive. I went with a plain old SF G2 in black. I added a Garrity clickie to the light, but his department made him go back to the stock switch. Apparently they were worried about being able to kill the light quickly in a tactical situation, or if the light was dropped.

[PeteBroccolo]

I carry a Dorcy Spyder instead of my issued Mini-Mag as a back-up. My Unit has a Polystinger with DC chargers mounted on the protective screen between the "office" and "client" areas of our patrol vehicle for each vehicle. I still have our issued Koehler-Bright Star 3 D Director-Lite, and use it, a 3 C Mag and a Dorcy 9" LED wand to direct traffic with snap-on wands.

[Josey]

I'd recommend the L4. It's a better beam (very bright, artifact-free flood) for searching cars and people and rooms, etc. It's very small and very reliable, which makes it an excellent, easy to carry backup. It's not a thrower, but a thrower makes a poor light to inspect things close up. The L4 would not replace the Stinger, but it would complement it.

[dano]

A secondary light shouldn't be rechargeable.

Currently, on duty, I'm using a Stinger (with 3600MAH battery fitted with a Strion bulb) as my primary duty light, and a Pelican M6 Xenon as my secondary light. I've been VERY impressed with the Pelican in terms of durability, light output and especially the throw of the beam, which is fantastic.

I think you have to consider carry options when talking about a secondary duty light. Holsters are easy to find for the standard round body two cell lights (i.e. Surefire 6P, Pelican M6, Scorpion, etc). They are tough to find when trying to carry one of the "tactical" bodied lights (i.e. G2Z, Streamlight NF-2).


--dan

[WB]

dano

What is the run time of your Stinger with the 3600 battery and strion bulb?

Bill

[SJACKAL]

Like Juancho, I will most probably avoid the LEDs. If one is just a flasholic then LEDs are very interesting, but for the job your friend does incandescents are more suitable, Luxs just lacks the punch and intensity. Any Surefire with P60 or P90 lamp is sufficent, the P61 and P91 have too short a runtime with 20 mins.

[oldtimer]

I know a couple of people that carries a Dorcy Spyder too. But they always complain about the battery drain. I know this one guy that change batteries twice every three weeks.

[paulr]

Of the lights mentioned I'd choose the A2. The xenon beam is about like the 6P and the led's are great for filling in paperwork for which the 6P or Stinger are too bright.

[Techmedic]

Avro,

Check out the B/S/T section, I listed an excellent price on currently available 9P's in Toronto. You can also get the SF V11 holster from them too. An excellent backup package.
If cost without compromising performance is the issue, get the SL TL-2 and an Uncle Mikes 8818-1 holder for it. The TL-2 fits in there perfectly, even with the clip on it, for just under $100 Canadian total. For the night shift, don't forget to carry a spare set of 123's in a plastic match case from Wal-mart (99 cents each)

[TonyBPD]

I carry a Pila GL3 and a Surefire G2Z with a KL5 bezel on my duty belt.

[Spike]

No competion, a G2z, it is light on a belt and very robust. Choose the P60 over the P61 every time as 20 minutes of light doesn't last long and the extra light is not that noticeable. You don't want your back up light to go out that quickly.

[AUTIGERS]

AVRO, as a police officer i too have been issued the stinger and love it. however i vote for a more unpopular choice because to me the stinger is a secondary light. you need to think about the mag-light chargeable and heres why- the light is good and very versatile. the spot to flood is worth its weight. i use my mag and to spot what ever and flood out for field sobriety test (so i can see those eyes without blinding the person)and for searching for objects on the ground. lastly and i will just say it, the intimidation factor. if a guy is thinking about fighting you and you have a stick/mag in hand...well he might think twice. if not i want a two foot metal light in my hand. with that being said, i hardly pull it out on day shift. and for vehicle searches its too bright. to expand on danos comment about not having a secondary light not being rechargeable again consider this- last week i bought my first surefire, a m3. i love this light. it will replace my stinger. the grip is great for shooting and for clearing rooms.it throws just as good but floods out so much better. i bought it because i worked so many different hours and i often forget to take my stinger out of my holster to charge it. often this meant having a dead light and not knowing it. the m3 gives me reassurance that i need. if the light goes down, pop, new batteries. anyway, thought i would share. my primary light is a mag-charger. then it would be my m3. i love that m3. for a cop, worth every penny.

[Blades]

So he is already carrying the Streamlight, I would say something small with a LED(no bulbs to break). He probably has plenty of other items on his belt, so lightweight is an issue. I would say one of the small single 123 battery lights. If he is only using it to back up his Streamlight, he shouldn't need it very often. Just an idea.



Blades