need advice

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Hi,
I need some advice. I have $30-$40 to spend on a small light for my duty belt. I work the night shift, so this light will be used regularly in conjunction with the department issue rechargable mag light. So far I am thinking about either the Streamlight Scorpion or the batonlight. I know that one is xenon and one is L.E.D. but can anyone recommend one over the other on brightness, reliability, etc... Or, can anyone recommend an equally bright light of the same price range.
Thanks in advance

 

[Mr Ted Bear]

Hi hpdjim!

I can think of half dozen lights that would fit the bill. I would be very helpfull if you could give more details of your needs.

The two lights you mentioned fall into different catgories. The Scorpion is very bright, can be focused, uses relatively expensive batteries (2ea - 123), and the bateries may be hard to find depending where you are, has short run time (appx 60 minutes).


The Batonlight use 3 LEDS so forget about illumnating an object beyond 10 yards. Like all LEDS, the bulbs are virtually indestrutible. The Batonlight uses 3- "N" style batteries, and may be hard to find depending on location. Great for doing paper work, and has a long run time per set of batteries. Here is the link to Craig's review

PunishmentZone - Baton light

I am sure the other members of this board will be more than happy to make more recommedations, just tell us what you need

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Thanks, actually your advice helps. I did not realize that the batonlight would be so ineffective beyond 10 yards.
To give you more info., I am a police officer and although each cruiser has it's own Maglite they are often left out of the chargers and are therefore useless. So my goal is to purchase a bright light that can take some punishment and won't cost me a fortune. Good point about the expensive batteries, didn't think of that.

Hpdjim

 

[geepondy]

If you were to up your budget by $25 or so, that would get you into Surefire range. There are many police officers who frequent this group and they along with nearly everybody else agree that Surefires produce the best quality of light. Unfortunately the Surefires either take the 123 batteries or are rechargeable. The batteries can be had for around two dollars apiece online. The scorpion does get a pretty good write up though and is considered a poor man's surefire.

Surefire makes a whole line of "tactical use" flashlights, that is bright enough to confuse/temporary blind a suspect but they will run you a considerable amount of money.