Re: What is currently the best torch available for a Police Officer ?
He said he want's a police light, not a toy. Really people. It's so annoying to see people recommending some Chinese flavor of the month light to someone looking for a serious light. It's also dangerous as that individual might not know enough about lights to understand that the Xt**, Tc**, whatever flavor of the month thats being discussed is a toy. Not a serious tool.
For a general duty light the Streamlight Scorpion or Strion is as good as it gets at the lower price ranges, as would be the Surefire Lawman. Some of the smaller Surefires / Malkoff combos are good for tactical entry uses and such. Especially the Z models. A Chinese light would be OK as a backup utility light.
Tells us Brasso how you really feel about manufacturers other than Surefire and Streamlight.
I'm not sure which "flavor of the month" company/lights you might be referring to but all of the ones I have seen in this thread so far are good quality lights....some of them are good enough for me to use myself and if you knew me...you would know what that means. Most of them have also been around for a while, not some new upstart that just entered the market.
I have been out of LE for a while now and still occasionally do private security...which is sometimes more demanding on the equipment...1) Because you don't have backup immediately available 2) Because most companies don't provide the proper equipment, ever...so you use what you can afford, and afford to lose. 3) Because sometimes the people you work with don't bother to get their own so you end up loaning out in a situation where you want them to have one.
Brasso I think you missed the part where the OP is not an American LEO, while I'm sure they can get Surefires over there...it will be at a premium, likely quite a bit more due to the import taxes. It's likely that Floppy Legs isn't going to need a combat light for daily duty, if I recall correctly you still do not arm every Officer there...unless things have changed?
If I were to go back to LE work I would confidently carry Sunwayman, Olight, Jetbeam (older ones), Fenix, Klarus or even Niteye (these look like some of the old Jetbeams) as easily as my Surefires and not feel ill-equipped to handle any given situation I might be placed in. I could definitely see using my Jetbeam III M or Olight M21for traffic control and keeping my Surefire C2 for clearing the buildings/rooms.
In truth I do not believe there is any one BEST light for Police work any more than there is one BEST sidearm or one BEST vehicle for Police work....are some better than others? Most certainly, but I think it's up to the individual officer's (or dept's) needs and preferences to decide what works best for them. Just because the tool is durable doesn't mean it's the best for the job.
