Light for inspecting cars with tinted windows ?

One of my more enjoyable tasks on second shift (4:00 PM to 12:00 M) is escorting female co-workers to their cars in our parking garage. I originally started doing this on my own, but a recent flurry of parking garage incidents in our area, has caused management to encourage this courtesy in our newsletter.

Our parking garage is dimmly lit, but there is sufficient light to see through un-tinted car windows. Vans and SUVs with tinted side windows, however, are causing me a problem.

LED light seems to be either absorbed or reflected by the window tint and does a poor job of lighting up vehicle interiors. So far, Surefire E2L and Mag 2C LED work best among my LED lights, but are not optimal. My Surefire E20 showed some promise, so I upgraded the bulb to a MNO3, but have not tested this combination.

I'm certain that the Law Enforcement Officers on the forum have far more experience than I do in dealing with this problem. What works best ?

I am not an LEO, but I can tell you that the Surefire incandescents(60+lumens) work very well for looking inside tinted windows of cars/vans/SUV's. Both my car and van have tinted windows and when the kids lose stuff, I use my 6P(65 lumens) or my 9P(105 lumens) to look in the vehicle through the tinted windows to scan the interior so I don't have to open/unlock the doors. I favour the 9P because I use the Pila rechargeable Li-Ion (2 168s cells) in it. I love my 9P for many reasons and this is one of them. I would say your best bet is the 9P. It is a good size for EDC for me (I am 6'5", 300 lbs) but with the velcro/nylon belt pouch from Surefire, it should work well for anyone. The 9P being about an inch longer than the 6P is a small price to pay for the jump from 65 lumens to 105 lumens. Also, the 9P has a bigger hotspot than the 6P, so you will really light up the car interiors quite well. Good luck and stay safe.

agreed. I use a D3 with a P90 fed by 2x17500's from AW. free light that is bright enough for most anything.

Thanks for your quick replies.

The closeout sale on the discontinued Surefire D3 for $56 looks like a good solution.

Is the pocket clip on the D3 easy to remove?

Get someone to shine the torch from the other side of the car, through the window.

Then you can see inside clearly.

If on your own, shine through window to side of one you're looking through.

the D3 clip comes off easily... where are they selling for $56.00?

Well, tint just blocks light transmittance. So get the brightest thing you can comfortably carry/afford. What about a ROP Low in a 2C body? Mines become one of the favorite dog walk lights lately.

Ive got a SFp6, a SFp9.... both do a better job than other lights... but there are some tints that these lights just won't puncture. I work second shift, and 3rd shift, so I usually spend 4-8hrs a night walking around in the dark. 2 hours of that is spent poking holes in glass with lights. There were some I would find that the SF just wouldn't do... my personal car's rear window being one. What did solve the problem however was a ROP, and naturally that would be my reccomendation if you don't mind carrying the bigger light.

It's probably more a case of the amount of light that is being emitted from the LED lights that you're using. The Mag 3 cell LEDs do penetrate window tint, though you'll usually have to put the light right up against the window. If you're on foot, you probably don't want to carry something the size of a 3 cell light like a Mag, Streamlight SL-20, or Mag Charger on your belt all the time. That being the case, you might want to look at the Streamlight Stinger or UltraStinger. If you prefer primary batteries, perhaps the Streamlight TL-3 might be a good choice. The Stinger or something with that level of output is probably what you'll need minimally if you'll be using this light for this purpose.

Culhain said:

LED light seems to be either absorbed or reflected by the window tint and does a poor job of lighting up vehicle interiors.

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One night last summer while I was walking out of the adult beverage store I walked by a car with really dark tinted windows and some gangstas a.k.a. disadvantaged youth inside were giving me "hard" looks. My Surefire had an MN02 in it.

That's when I decided I only use MN03's from now on. Well that was part of the reason anyways.

Even though I use E-series lights alot, I don't really go through THAT many batteries to justify the MN02, even though I think it's a great lamp. Much better than the MN01 anyways.

highorder said:

the D3 clip comes off easily... where are they selling for $56.00?

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Don't keep us hanging. $56.00 is an excellent price.


Blades

Brighteyez said:

It's probably more a case of the amount of light that is being emitted from the LED lights that you're using.

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Not the amount of light, but the focus. Lux wins here.
The TL3 and Ultrastinger are great suggestions, IMO.
SF beams don't have tight spots unless you get into turboheads and more $$.

In my experience, some window tints absorb different parts of the spectrum, I would expect this to be mainly in the blue/UV end, which is where a lot of LED lights tend to output most of their light.

Incans put out light in more parts of the visible spectrum (and IR/heat), so have a greater chance of penetrating a narrow band filter/tint. Obvioulsy, more power helps, whatever the light source.

If you're looking at 9v incandescent lights, which seems sensible, you might like to consider some of the Wolf Eyes offerings. Just take a look at Buz's threads on them in the incandescent forum.

If you're going to be using your light a lot take a good look at runtime. Most lithium powered lights only run for an hour or so on a set of cells - so rechargeables are a very sensible option. For your purposes a Wolf Eyes M90 might fit the bill (80mins runtime per set of cells).

That's probably why the MagLEDs (and LEDBeams) seem to work okay for this purpose, since they're most usable when focused to a spot.

On the other hand, the Streamlight SL20s with their excellent spill has worked well for the past couple of decades, and no doubt the focused spot of a Mag Charger would be quite piercing And as RAF_Groundcrew mentioned, both window tint and the aftermarket film is intended to filter/block blue and UV light transmission, so the higher color temperature from LED lights would most certainly be impacted.

Owen said:

Not the amount of light, but the focus.

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Quote:
Originally Posted by highorder
the D3 clip comes off easily... where are they selling for $56.00?



Don't keep us hanging. $56.00 is an excellent price.




check the Dealers Corner -- OpticsHQ -- Its under "Interest Thread discontinued Surefires"

I work security graveyard shift at a hospital. We have three good sized parking ramps plus several out lying buildings that we patrol. We often come across vehicles with pretty dark tint. A couple of weeks ago, I saw an older bi-color chevy pickup with every window allmost blacked out. My two best lights for penetrating tinted windows are my mag 85 and my 24 HID Powerlight. The next best that does a pretty good job is my Surefire M3 with the 225 lumen bulb.

Thank you all for your replies. I'm regularly humbled by how little I know and the vast pool of knowledge and experience in this forum.

Earlier today, I was hot to get one of the discounted Surefire D3s from Optics HQ (see this thread: http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=140589).

I stopped by my local Surefire dealer to check out the size of the 3 cell Surefires and realized that it was to big for needs. Now, I'm looking at the Streamlight Strion.

I've not read much about the Strion on the forums, but it appears to be a good mix of throw, output, size and price. Will it work for my purpose?

I can't comment on the Strion, just that I've heard good things about it on the forums and in person from associates.

This thread interests me in that I currently brushing up my resume to apply for a 3rd shift security job at a local college. I'd probably use my UltraStinger or maybe just whatever is issued. (I hope it's not 2D Mags.)

Have you thought about shining the light through the non-tinted windshield?