Asked to help local PD

I have logged on to this site just about everyday for 4-5 months now although I have only posted a few times. I live in a small town about 60 miles north of Seattle WA. I'm writting this because I have been asked by some friends in our local PD for some help to educate them on upgrading their rifle mounted lights. What better place to obtain the information they need than this site of vast flashlight knowledge. What I will do is insert parts of a couple of the e-mails I have recieved from their Tactical Officer outlining their needs. Two of the e-mails follow.

I'm a firearms instructor for as well as the armorer for our patrol rifles. I'm looking at replacing our existing attached flashlights to our rifles. The lights we now have are TAC III older push on and momentary on tail switches. They are not very durable as they were claimed. I was looking at a INOVA Tac III because of its LED lamp and same switch as our existing lights. Do you have any information you can share with me of LED lights that are at least 85 lumens and aren't so outrageous in price? The same 1"diameter light I'm looking for with a tail switch.

Thank you for your quick response. The older lights we are using are from a company called TACMIII www.tacm3.com. Had 105.5 lumens in a 6 volt Xenon lamp. These old lights have a crappy tail switch that wear out in minimal use. The tail switch needs to be a click on as well as momentary, No twist on or pressure switch. I have it mounted on the forearm of AR-15 rifles. Obviously it needs to be water resistant and shock proof. We use the CR123 batteries but I'm not opposed to any other batteries i.e. AA or AAA.. I know LED's have come a long way( I personally use a 1 watt rugged cheap little sucker from Wal Mart brand called DORCY). I'm always partial to USA built products or ones that are recognized such as Steamlight, Sure-fire, Mag-Light etc but reality is this is a global market and good old USA farms out the laborer. From what Pete told about you, I dare say you have a intense interest in flashlights. You be the man I need to help me. Yes you can put my questions in any site to enquire what is available. I'd love to find a LED 5 watt light with as close to a spot light focus as possible that doesn't cost what a car payment is.


Thank's to all for any information you can provide. I'm thrilled to be asked to help our PD keep updated and be able to keep our community safer. Of course all of the credit in this regard will go to this great place called CPF.
thank much to all, Bruce

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Consider..........

looking at the LedLogic - Striker VG .....(the improved model just now coming available)(new switch)

Link to LedLogic website for info. Price around $120.oo ea.

Sold by batteryjunction.com . Price around $110.oo

So far thats the only source I've found that sells em .

Reviewed at flashlightreviews.com , a good site for info.



Made for Police , prison guards and border patrol uses .


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It might be a good idea to find out what the budget is and how many lights will be purchased to get a possible discount. Timeframe is also important.

Leds are great but still don't have the punch of incands. They may be picking a bad time to buy since K2 hasn't been exploited in weaponlights or anything else for that matter.

There really aren't any LEDs that I'm aware of that have the throw for a rifle light. You want decent illumination out to 50yrds+, which means while LEDs are great for a pistol, xenons still hold the rifle market.

For a patrol rifle, if I weren't, and even if I were, going to buy Surefire, I'd probably buy Pentagon instead. The clickie tc's are favored as it avoids accidental illumination when you're hopped up and squeeze the grip, but it's pretty tricky to use if you're not running a vertical foregrip.

You could go all out bling with a MD2 Duo which has a rail mount, LED nav and Xenon main light, or on the cheap, get an X2 for ~$60 and throw on a 1" light mount from Daniel defense for ~$50.

AR15.com has a lights & lasers forum that will give you a lot of information on weapon-mounted lights.