The vintage California cop light company thread

[LiftdT4R]

There have been a lot of twist-on lights before and since. and Mag doesn't seem to have tried anything funny. And as Sween mentions the mechanism is different. Would be interested to know if the design of the lanyard ring was a trademarked feature. That's been present on several Mini-Mag knockoffs that got sued, but I don't recall the ring being part of the suit.

I think Mag's big beef was the 2AA format and twist on/off design. I can't find it but there was a link on YouTube where they used an excavator to roll over all of the Mini Maglite clones that were seized after the lawsuit. They were all 2AA, aluminum body twist on/offs.

The Surefire is very very simple in design. I'm not a fan of how far the light has to be twisted off to turn off. It's really just 2 springs and when tight they make enough contact with the batteries to let current flow. I think these were discontinued by 1991 because they aren't in the 1992 Surefire catalog. There appears to be only 7,000 or so made based on the highest serials I've seen. There were 18,000 7D Maglites made over 3 years and I see those come up for sale way more often at prices way lower than the Surefire 6Cs.

I'd take a Surefire 6P over one of these any day of the week if I was actually using them in the field so it's not hard to see why so few were produced and why they weren't produced for long.

 

[LiftdT4R]

I've been very lucky lately!

I also scored a second Kel-Lite BTL 26 for $80. To be fair this one had 2 batteries stuck inside. However, I was able to remove them and the light surprisingly didn't need anything else. Most of the corroded Kel-Lites I've fixed have bad reflectors and the reflectors almost make them not worth it to repair because a reflector is $50+ if you can find one. This one had a good reflector tho!

The batteries are tough to remove on these long lights but I use a very long, small blade common screwdriver and a small ball peen hammer and work my way around until it gets loose. I drill out the batteries if I can first so they have a way to collapse in. It's important to set the light on wood when hammering so you don't mushroom the barrel at either end. This one had a lot of tough corrosion and I usually use a wire brush to remove it but I tried something different and bought a very small hone on Amazon. It worked even better than the wire brush but I had to buy an extension to get it all the way down into the barrel.

Here's my 2 BTL 26s with one of my smallest lights, a Maglite Marquis! (The resolution is a little too low to see the Marquis logo on the light) This BTL 26 has the less desirable aluminum bezel instead of the heavier stainless steel one. I probably tripled my money with an hour's or so work. Buying these lights broken with stuck batteries is often the only way I can afford them anymore because like most other things since Covid the prices have jumped up crazy high.

 

[russprechtl]

I've been very lucky lately!

I also scored a second Kel-Lite BTL 26 for $80. To be fair this one had 2 batteries stuck inside. However, I was able to remove them and the light surprisingly didn't need anything else. Most of the corroded Kel-Lites I've fixed have bad reflectors and the reflectors almost make them not worth it to repair because a reflector is $50+ if you can find one. This one had a good reflector tho!

Holy crap! Can you imagine trying to actually CARRY that monster on duty? It looks like you would need your own trailer. The poor officer couldn't chase anybody, either. That thing would stick in the ground and the officer would be running in circles around it!

 

[ABTOMAT]

Unless we can document it otherwise, I'm pretty sure the black bezel is a replacement. The stainless or chromed steel bezels were always a signature advertising point over the years. Going by the serial number that's a kinda-but-not-really-early example, maybe '74 ish.

By the way, if you need Kel-Lite parts it's easier just to buy common ones with cosmetic issues. Like a beat-up 5D light with a good reflector might sell for $10.

Holy crap! Can you imagine trying to actually CARRY that monster on duty? It looks like you would need your own trailer. The poor officer couldn't chase anybody, either. That thing would stick in the ground and the officer would be running in circles around it!

It's the same size as a large nightstick or riot baton. Most of the body is hollow so it "carries light" for all its length. They must have managed to sell enough since they were in the catalog until the end of the company. I don't think police departments were too keen on aluminum batons for very long, though. Someone tried this back in the olde days too--I don't know much about the period, but there was least one long wooden baton with a built in 2-3 cell flashlight from around the 1930s.

 

[LiftdT4R]

Unless we can document it otherwise, I'm pretty sure the black bezel is a replacement. The stainless or chromed steel bezels were always a signature advertising point over the years. Going by the serial number that's a kinda-but-not-really-early example, maybe '74 ish.

By the way, if you need Kel-Lite parts it's easier just to buy common ones with cosmetic issues. Like a beat-up 5D light with a good reflector might sell for $10.

Thanks for the info! I've always had trouble dating the baton lights! Most of the Kel-Lites I end up restoring are C cells which seem like they were the bigger sellers. I've tried to buy used C cells before for parts but the reflectors are usually corroded on them too and C cells are going for around $50 now. I usually just end up springing for the parts from Don that way they're guaranteed to be in good shape and only a few dollars more.

 

[ABTOMAT]

Small head D-cell Kel-Lites use the same reflectors as standard C-cells. You might want to shop around a little more, a lot of Kel-Lites these days don't sell for much unless something flukey happens. I won an open auction for an early 6C last month for $5.

 

[knucklegary]

Small head D-cell Kel-Lites use the same reflectors as standard C-cells. You might want to shop around a little more, a lot of Kel-Lites these days don't sell for much unless something flukey happens. I won an open auction for an early 6C last month for $5.

Photos or it never happened;-)

 

[ABTOMAT]

Photos or it never happened;-)

That one didn't have a great reflector but it has some rare manufacturing details (probably second year of C-cell production, thin tailcap with lanyard ring stud) I need represented.

Just on a related tangent, I've noticed the "rarity" of a lot of these things is hard to judge via eBay. For something to get listed on eBay a lot of stuff has to happen for a seller to decide it's worth listing, and random old flashlights don't trigger that in most people. Like, every month you might see 5-6 examples of a collector knife they only made 500 of, and just one example of a flashlight made in the 100,000s. You're more likely to find them in "Box of used flashlights $10" listings on Craigslist or whatever. The last few weeks I got two 1979 Mag-Lites different people were selling within driving distance of my house. And I'm 2500 miles from California.