Stand by for LED cop light "goodness"

[knucklegary]

Yes, I am retired military my friend.

 

[bykfixer]

FL2 LE -- OEM Milled Saw Cut (Sharp Edges) PK Design Labs Crenellations -- Body knurling is so aggressive Mechanic gloves grab with a secure grip bite.
Imo, functional, work of art, I wouldn't have it any other way.
View attachment 37670
This particular flashlight has been upgraded to Osram White W.1 tuned to FOP reflector and H17fx UI

PK said it was designed to be grippy with bloody hands. I remember when it was new after carrying it my hands felt like I'd been handling cinder blocks without gloves on. But after a few hours the edges seemed to be less abrasive.

 

[knucklegary]

During summer months, oddly enough I actually enjoy bare hand grip on FL2. Sorta feels like knurling on a Powerlifting or Olympic bar.
When I switch to a smooth knurled, especially Malkoff, bare palms feels like I need to chalk my hands. @kerneldrop will understand (-;

 

[bykfixer]

Is your FL2 one setting now?

 

[knucklegary]

I have it set on high/med/lo 450/80/20lm Always comes on high. Toggles fast to low when needed
Imo PK clicky switch has perfect pressure. I keep it well lubed in fear of it wearing out and no replacement. Other than my backup which is still NIB. I would hate to cannibalize a new light for spare parts.

 

[bykfixer]

This is probably my most friendly duty light. Starts on nice gentle low, no strobe, friendly color but even this one has a fresh parmisian cheese grater at the end.

 

[michiganstud]

LOL I always assumed any plus 300 lumen incan would cause a post-apocolytic zombie's head to explode, and faster and more violently from father away with more incan lumens, something like 200 yards with 1200Lm, but they'd catch on fire from up to 2 miles.

But do you really crenellate, Bro?

 

[michiganstud]

View attachment 37681
This is probably my most friendly duty light. Starts on nice gentle low, no strobe, friendly color but even this one has a fresh parmisian cheese grater at the end.

Using words like friendly and gentle just doesn't work! I want "eye melting bright" and "insanely projected".

 

[chillinn]

But do you really crenellate, Bro?

Just MHO, I think multitasking tools do more than one thing not as well as two or more single purpose tools. I believe there are better tools and/or weapons for what crenellations are supposed to do, and I think that IRL, they're never used. I think if they were ever used in the US for their intended purpose, even in self-defense, the chances are about even the self-defending victim is getting charged with something and just as likely convicted, even in Texas. For these reasons, I think crenellations are tremendously impractical. That they are found on most and nearly all flashlights drives me bananas.

Why can't flashlights be like knives? Sure, you might find a knife with a light on it, but most of the folks that know and carry and/or collect knives don't go in for that sort of thing. Knife folks like their knives to be knives and don't want a light on them, probably because it's tacky and there are better lights. But for inscrutable reasons, most flashlight folks seem to want a really bad knife, one might say a dysfunctional and mutated knife, on their flashlight, that they can't really use, or at least can't use well, like they could use an actual single purpose knife.

So it seems to me that nearly everyone is wearing an onion on their belt, and that's fine, but I'd prefer to keep my pants up without the onion, and onion-less belts aren't easy to find. Maybe a better metaphor is spurs. Some do wear spurs on their boots even though no one really uses them anymore. But imagine if there were no horses and yet most boots came with spurs. Sure it would be wicked cool, but it's just not all that practical or functional.

 

[Dave D]

Real life doesn't always mimic youtube or the interwebs. Pretty sure most of those lights don't strobe either.

Strobe on a flashlight can be used as a distraction, however most Police departments don't train with it, except the Dutch.

I never trained with strobe as a distraction technique and therefore never bought a flashlight solely because it had a strobe mode.

A strobe can also be used to warn approaching traffic with a wand attached but they are usually used with a constant light output and waved around.

When I was on Air Support a simple flash of an officers flashlight at night would quickly have us eyes on target, certainly no need for strobe for that either.

 

[bykfixer]

To me, strobe is good if you're lying in a road side ditch with a busted leg or some other scenario where you need to get somebodys attention. I see bicycles with strobes, which that is very effective for.

Now when I first got the Stinger LED I'd wait until somebody leaving the room we were in was near the door frame and do two quick clicks to activate strobe just to see how many people would walk into the door frame. It was about a 50/50 ratio but I don't think it was they were disoriented as much as they were distracted and looking for the source of the flashing light.

Mrs Fixer did not see the humor like she did when I stuck peanut butter crackers to the roof of the dogs mouths.....she asked me to stop strobing the family and friends.

 

[g8trwood]

Never saw anyone with a cren light or saw a strobe used. Simple works every time. Great hotspot with spill. The smaller lights became popular especially with non nightshift folks. In my time (long gone) everyone mostly had bigger bodied lights at night, better runtime and the bodies are easier to hold onto. Working a 6p with gloves and rain, no thanks. Your light was always in your hand.
Back in the day, the magcharger switches were way more reliable than streamlights, but the thinner body of the stream rechargeables were nicer. The newer, cough, C cell sized tubes are much nicer.
The massive lumen lights are great outside in a rural setting but inside cause too much bounce back. Now get off my lawn

 

[chillinn]

To me, strobe is good if you're lying in a road side ditch with a busted leg or some other scenario where you need to get somebodys attention.

I never thought I could be shown such a good use case for strobe. It never occurred to me that strobe could be an effective survival tool. But there it is, the rare and elusive sound argument. Well done.

 

[rwolfenstein]

Good question.

I like the direction this one is going as a fan of cop lights. Some of us here talk of old school cop lights, sometimes in great detail from a historical perspective.
Michigan started out this one showing the lights that bridged the gap between the old school and new school and others added to that. It's not like on a Tuesday the cop light was a 7D Maglite and Wednesday the Streamlight Stinger HPL DS. So to hear from the actual players who carried old school numbers upgraded with the 'tech of the time' is some more blanks of history being filled in by those who were there.

Now to the LED Lenser question: as a fan of cop lights in America, the LED Lenser name never really comes up. I'm sure some police carried them but over here Coast sort of took over any role the LED Lenser once held. And Coast lights dim... some rather quickly. I see young police starting out that use 511, Fenix or other more budget friendly products as a backup to go with their department issued Streamlights.

There was a time when there were LED Lenser/Coast lights were sold here in America but they seemed to separate at one point and Coast lights were all over the place while LED Lenser seemed to fade away. Where I live a small chain store carries LED Lenser, Nebo and Streamlight. LED Lenser products collect dust on the hangers because they are way more pricey than Nebo and nowhere near as updated as the Streamlight products. They are perhaps Germany's version of Maglite, minus the built in Germany part.

I can tell you a couple things about cops, they are fickle when it comes to their duty lights. They all get issued what ever the department buys, so big brands like Maglite and Streamlight are common practice. Even for a while, they were issuing these nightstick flashlights to the officers because this was the day and age prior to body cams. It had a built in camera. I know another agency in the area I am in bought a bunch of those Pelican 7060 LAPD lights or the 8060 lights which is the border patrol version. I was issued streamlight at my work over the years and they are just stingers. As far as personal owned lights that are used as back ups, I have seen cops carrying Nebo lights and sometimes coast zoomies. It really just depends on personal preference. My big thing is multifuel items, I cannot stand my light dying and having to throw it on a charger. I might throw a battery in it and go. Oh and to add, the state police here are issued a multifuel pelican 7620. It can run 18650s, 3 CR123s or 2 AAs. Granted they only use the CR123s , but thats a different conversation.

 

[chillinn]

I was issued streamlight at my work over the years and they are just stingers.

I have no affinity to Streamlight, though I own a dual fuel (more like penta fuel) ProTac 1L-1AA , and other than the emitter, it's ok, 2 modes and forward clicky, direct drive on high. I like these features. But it feels cheap.

I have never seen a Stinger up close irl, but I'd really love to own the old incan version. From what I can tell, it seems like a high quality, high durability, high intensity flashlight.

Maybe I am reading into things that aren't there, but you seemed to throw it out there like it was a cheap light, then go on to mention Coast and Nebo, which I didn't think were in the same class, as far as build quality is concerned. Coast and Nebo make some lights I like, but, again without personal experience with one, I thought that Stinger (and among Streamlight, only Stinger) was in a class head and shoulders above those brand models.

I'm not offended in the least, of course, just surprised because I'm convinced you know what you're talking about, but I just wanted to make sure I interpreted correctly what I did there, that you are not impressed with Stinger, and if it was years ago, that would be the incan model.

Can I have your incan Stinger? (half kidding, this is a joke, and jokes following, but of course I would take it.) I am very poor and only own about 20 incan lights at most, mostly Surefire, somehow. But I'll never be able to afford another authentic Surefire incan, that is the crux of my situation. Ok, maybe I can get a 6P if I hunker down. But that would be it, really.

edit: after some research, the model I was thinking of was probably not Stinger, possibly the 85Lm Strion. But I could have sworn Streamlight had an incan Stinger or a Strion model that ran on 2xCR123A. If they did, I can't seem figure out what it was.

 

[knucklegary]

I never thought I could be shown such a good use case for strobe. It never occurred to me that strobe could be an effective survival tool. But there it is, the rare and elusive sound argument. Well done.

Some headlamps, Petzl, Black Diamond offer red, blue, green with strobe options for exact reasons Byk has given. These features is designed for backpackers, used as a safety aid. Nothing to do with tactical users.

Just saying..

 

[chillinn]

Well, it never occurred to me, so just rub it in, why don't you?

Actually, remembering now that I knew that immersion and survival suits always have a strobe light built into them. I just didn't connect it to land emergencies. What I planned on carrying was a laser for the same purpose, but could not identify any laser that could be carried worth a dang, other than a Sanwu Pocket Laser, which seems out of reach due to requiring a CC# on a Chinese site. Hoping they get PayPal at some point.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Definitely wanted some kind of bezel ring, this one looked the best in spite of the jaggedness.

Remember that when standing on its head, crenelations allow light to be seen, indicating whether activated? Never thought that was a big deal.

We use this light over the main table.

 

[chillinn]

Remember that when standing on its head, crenelations allow light to be seen, indicating whether activated? Never thought that was a big deal.

I concede this point. Though it is something that should not happen, for inscrutable reasons, it definitely does happen. And for those flashlighters that are challenged with occasionally, frequently or constantly placing their activated flashlight on its head and forgetting about it while they sit in the dark wondering about what they were just doing that is escaping them, I can see this would be a useful feature.

 

[bykfixer]

One year at my work while checking on signs and such for a night lane closure on a main highway I came across a wreck where a young police officer was guiding traffic past. Being new to the LED flashlight world I offered him my flashlight with a traffic wand. I set it for strobe thinking attention getter. He said "please turn off that strobe" so I did. He started waving cars past with it and says "some say strobe causes some people to have an epilectic seizure and knowing my luck lately they'll be driving out here, see the strobe and go into a siezure and run over both our dum@$$es". I said "you saw that episode of the Simpsons too?" We both had a good laugh, but I've always kept that in mind.