Similar to Kel-Lite?

Howdy
I have an old 5 D cell Kel Lite from law enforcement. I really love the simple design, and I was wondering what might be an easier to find, cheaper to aquire equivilant. I'm more specifically looking for something aluminum that might be newer but still has the old screw on/off slide switch, keeping in mind I'd prefer it to be all metal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, and if perhaps anyone would be willing to part with some old D cell Kel Lites that might not even be in the best condition that'd be super. Thanks in advance for any info!

Hi and Welcome to CPF!

I think the 5D Maglite is the obvious current replacement for your 5D Kel-Lite. The same basic layout and commonly and cheaply available.

You might look for some posts by CPF member ABTOMAT. He is very familiar with and knowledgeable about Kel-Lites.

Mark

Aluminum flashlights with slide switches had their last gasp around 1982-84. Even Kel-Lite converted to a Mag-style internal rubber pushbutton shortly before they went under. The reason was simple--internal switches are more reliable. I'm not aware of anything modern or cheap that uses the old style. I think you'll find that original Kel-Lites are rather uneconomical and hard to find, even in poor condition. At least I have.

Current name-brand aluminum, incandescent D-cell flashlights are Mag-Lite, Brinkmann, and Nordic, off the top of my head. Rechargables are Mag-Lite and Streamlight. High-tech LED models are made by Elektrolumens. But they all have pushbutton switches.

If you're willing the live with the switch, the most solid traditional lights made were pre-1990 Mag-Lites. Put everyone else out of business. They have no special collectible value, too, so they're dirt cheap on eBay. Look for ones without ram's head bezel logos and no letters in front of the serial number.

The one light that would fit into that category, that you can probably still find are the Streamlight SL20s. The original SL20 (no X) Pre-86 version. They are rechargeables and use the same battery and lamp assembly as the SL20X, and you can still get both chargers and slide switches for them. While the switch is a bit more vulnerable to both dirt and damage, there is no problem grabbing the light and finding the switch in a hurry. It shouldn't take all that much looking, there are still plenty of them around.

ThanatosK said:

I'm more specifically looking for something aluminum that might be newer but still has the old screw on/off slide switch, keeping in mind I'd prefer it to be all metal. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,

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Back in the 1970s we equipped an entire fleet of cars with the SL20 flashlights. The slide switches were problematic, and we were constantly replacing switches. All of the problems went away when we upgraded to the SL20X.

My first Kel Lite from the early 70s had occasional switch problems as well, and does to this day. I much prefer the push button switches.

To say they don't make 'em like they used to is true. And that's a good thing in my opinion.

I have a couple of those pre-86 SL-20s, and I've only had to replace the switch on them once. These days they've retired to personal usage but they just seem to keep going and going.

DrMaserati said:

Back in the 1970s we equipped an entire fleet of cars with the SL20 flashlights. The slide switches were problematic, and we were constantly replacing switches. All of the problems went away when we upgraded to the SL20X.

My first Kel Lite from the early 70s had occasional switch problems as well, and does to this day. I much prefer the push button switches.

To say they don't make 'em like they used to is true. And that's a good thing in my opinion.

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Brighteyez said:

I have a couple of those pre-86 SL-20s, and I've only had to replace the switch on them once. These days they've retired to personal usage but they just seem to keep going and going.

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I don't doubt your experience at all, but our vehicles were in use 24 hours a day and the lights had extremely heavy use. My point was to make the comparison between the old slide switches and the later pushbutton switch. In heavy use the pushbutton switch was far superior.

Both of mine came out of police service as well, and I replaced the switch on one light because it was erratic when I got it; I replaced the switch on the other one (mine) just out of principle, because it was over 20 years old at the time and there was a chunk of plastic that had broken off. That was about 7 years ago. I don't doubt that the current switches are more durable, reliable, and less prone to damage, I wasn't disputing that.

DrMaserati said:

I don't doubt your experience at all, but our vehicles were in use 24 hours a day and the lights had extremely heavy use. My point was to make the comparison between the old slide switches and the later pushbutton switch. In heavy use the pushbutton switch was far superior.

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DrMaserati said:

I don't doubt your experience at all, but our vehicles were in use 24 hours a day and the lights had extremely heavy use. My point was to make the comparison between the old slide switches and the later pushbutton switch. In heavy use the pushbutton switch was far superior.

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I'm curious, what parts did you have trouble with? The slide breaking apart?

ABTOMAT said:

I'm curious, what parts did you have trouble with? The slide breaking apart?

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I don't recall anymore. That was a lot of years ago. I just remember that when they quit working we sent them to the shop and they came back with a new switch.

When we went to the SL-20X we no longer had switch problems, but then the mobile charger unit was sometimes a problem. The external charging contacts on the switch had to make contact with two tabs in the charger which would sometimes fail to make contact, so people would wedge things like match books into the charger alongside the light to tighten it up so the tabs would make contact. It wasn't as big a problem as the slide switches had been, but it was a bit annoying.

Look at Koehler-Bright Star lights.
http://www.flashlight.com/bright_star/industrial.htm