Cops not happy with Pelican Black Night

I had a training class today with several coppers from a large urban So Cal agency. They are issued the Pelican M11 Black Night rechargable. Their comments ranged from "they suck" to "50% of them don't work." It was the first time i had handled one, i'll admit it felt pretty cheap in the hand compared to a streamlight or Mag charger, but it had a pretty good beam quality.

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AR15Fan said:
I had a training class today with several coppers from a large urban So Cal agency. They are issued the Pelican M11 Black Night rechargable. Their comments ranged from "they suck" to "50% of them don't work." It was the first time i had handled one, i'll admit it felt pretty cheap in the hand compared to a streamlight or Mag charger, but it had a pretty good beam quality.



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Other than the fact that 50% of the issued Pelicans did not work did they have any other issues? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

In the last few years Pelican has marketed their new line in LEO periodicals. I used to subscribe to one of them here in Ontario. (Canada)

Checking out the usual range of suppliers to police in southern Ontario, very few carry the pelican line. Pelican has always had an excellent beam with a very hot spot and marginal (or little) spill. IMHO a better-than-marginal sidespill is needed for the LEO to identify threats outside the hotspot, and the transition had better be smooth. The hotspot transition to spill is not smooth on all of the pelican lights that I currently own. (SSabreX1, StealthliteX1, Mity lite MagnumX2, SuperPeliliteX1)
In fact, I swapped out the lamp module in my EDC Magnum for a "Modified Spot" (wider spot) module because there was almost no spill with the stock "laser spot" module and I found it very hard on the eyes in the dark.

I worked as a Paramedic for nine years and carried a 4C m*g (before I realized the grotesque error of my ways!) and the ability to focus wide is very necessary, particularly when assessing a patient with the light tucked under your arm. I expect for a LEO doing close up work, focusing wide is very useful.

IMHO (very humble indeed...) opinion, I would not recommend a black knight for anyone in the emergency services for this reason.

Techmedic

I work security, and I was not happy with the one I bought. The switch does not work well, and it barely put out more than my Scorpion. I took it back for a Stinger, and I couldn't be happier. I sacraficed a litlle size for more reliablilty, and money saved by recharging. Plus better output.

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Techmedic said:
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Checking out the usual range of suppliers to police in southern Ontario, very few carry the pelican line. Pelican has always had an excellent beam with a very hot spot and marginal (or little) spill. IMHO a better-than-marginal sidespill is needed for the LEO to identify threats outside the hotspot, and the transition had better be smooth.

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I think that's a great observation and excellent comment, to which I wish more manufacturers would pay attention to (excluding the obvious usual suspects - SF, Streamlight... who have long since identified this need) - I used the Pelican M11 for about two hours before I relegated it to 'round the house duties. As mentioned before, it does have a quality beam, just not suited to my particular needs.

-Jim

Use one on duty, works fine.

Pelican has updated the lamp module, and now has a much wider "hot spot" compared to the original "laser spot" beam.

--dan

As a civilian I'm happy with my M9. It's very bright with an adequately wide beam, solidly built with an instantly locatable switch (unlike Stinger), has an intelligent charger with idiot proof lock-in cradle and has proven 100% reliable for my use.

Brightnorm

I just bought a Pelican M11 for a Xmas gift for my brother. Of course I had to charge it up and test it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gifand so far it is nice.Is there a problem with these lights,or is it just that other lights are better suited for the LEO type tasks? His main use will be walking his dog,so if it quits it is not a life threating situation. I also got him a Streamlight 3C 10LED which should be the perfect dog walking light and a good light to have for blackouts. The M11 was just to show him what you get when you spend more than $2.99 on a flashlight. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif If I have any problems, I will be sure to keep everyone updated.

Dano, Brightnorm,

Thanks for the update, I was unaware that Pelican had updated their modules. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif

Bladerunner,

Great! Please let us know if there are any troubles!

Techmedic