Tactical Flashlight help

Hi,

I am a Reserve Law Enforcement Officer looking for some options on a tactical flashlight. I have had to buy all of my own equipment and my wallet has been hurting. I will only be performing law enforcement services for 10 hours per month and will not be paid for it.

Looking to see if there is something cheaper/better than the 146 dollar Streamlight 75458 Stinger DS LED flashlight.

One of the problems that I see is that the tactical belt I was required to purchase has a holder which is designed to hold that particular flashlight.

Any flashlight suggestions?

Thanks.

Required flashlight holder "designed for sentinel flashlight"

https://www.copsplus.com/uncle-mikes-sentinel-stinger-light-holder

Sentinel Flashlight:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BD9OKC6/?tag=cpf0b6-20

3C Maglite from WalMart. About the size of a Stinger but a whole lot less expensive.

Put some Rayovac batteries in it. They too cost less and leak a lot less often than the copper top bunny brands.

bykfixer said:

3C Maglite from WalMart. About the size of a Stinger but a whole lot less expensive.

Put some Rayovac batteries in it. They too cost less and leak a lot less often than the copper top bunny brands.

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Wow, really? Thanks! I had asked about the use of maglights at this department alluding to what I had heard about them being banned for LE use. I could not get a straight answer, just that they would avoid it and go with a tactical flashlight instead.

I have a 3D maglight that I converted to LED so long ago and love it.

Btw....

Should I go LED or incandescent? Also, the stinger is about 8.8 inches long. The 3c seems to be around 11 + inches

Thanks.

Mr fixer knows his lights, i will add malkoff as not mentioned yet. Take a look over at Gene's lights, quite a few options. Granted not cheap, but buy once cry once(thanks Chris) and looked after for life.

Still a little pricey, but if you don't absolutely need the High Lumen model of the Stinger, you can get the 75711 for $93 (A/C Charger), the 75712 for $87 (12v DC Charger) or the 75713 for $102 (A/C & 12v Chargers w/2 holders). Prices from Amazon.

Have a look a Surefire's offerings, they have a couple of Tactical lights (Combat in the names) and they also have the G2X LE ( for Law Enforcement) light which may meet your needs. It can also be fuelled with a single 16650 rechargeable battery. Make sure you battery is fully charged before duty and carry a couple of CR123's as backup.

ukiltmybrutha said:

Wow, really? Thanks! I had asked about the use of maglights at this department alluding to what I had heard about them being banned for LE use. I could not get a straight answer, just that they would avoid it and go with a tactical flashlight instead.

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Look at your departments written policy and procedure to see what it requires. Most agencies will have fiscal size requirements for the light itself or the size and number of batteries allowed (2AA, 3C, etc.) as well as the number of lights you are allowed to carry. For instance I am only allowed to carry one flashlight on duty (yeah, I know). Most policies are out dated and doesn't take into consideration newer battery chemistries such as 18650. Most of us can take advantage of this and use more powerful lights. Hope this helps.

ukiltmybrutha said:

Btw....

Should I go LED or incandescent? Also, the stinger is about 8.8 inches long. The 3c seems to be around 11 + inches

Thanks.

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LED for certain. More drop friendly and much better fuel mileage.

I took a couple of photos to show how they stack up.

Stinger is right.
The Mag is just a tad larger in girth but...
The Stinger has a grippy sleeve added, where the Mag slides into or out of a holster easier.


2C, 3C and a Stinger LED.
I mentioned the 3C for added runtime. But the 2C does very well.
The Stinger shown is the original LED version that touts about 400 lumens on high.(For 3 hours) Being an older version, runtime is nothing near the 2C Maglite that is rated at nearly 500 lumens for 15 hours regulated to run full out a few minutes and reduce to about 75% after that.

The newer Stingers have larger heads for better light dispersion they call HPL. State Police in my state are issued Stinger HPL's since they can be placed in a car mounted charger and have belt holsters like you cite uklit. The C sized Mag will fit in those too.

Now to me the only qualm I have with the new Maglites for a need of insta-light would be the on button. Old Maglites had a squishy bulb that stuck out so finding it a glove on was easier.
In the photo you can see a painted area around the switch of the 2C. I used a glow in the dark nail polish with some glitter to make spotting the switch in low light easier. I would not reccomend using glow in the dark or glitter on a light used by someone needing to avoid being spotted in dramatic situations an enforcement officer may find themselves in. What you cannot see in the photo is where I scuffed the button to make it feel different than the slippery barrel. That helps in complete darkness.

The Stinger is a great light, no doubt. But for those on a budget, the new Maglite ML50's are a very good option at about 25% the cost of a Stinger with the time proven Maglite reliability.

At one point every cop had a Maglite or a Kel-Lite. Then Streamlight perfected the rechargeable light called the SL20. Later the Stinger and Strion became the choice for law enforcement. The Strion is a great backup light that to this day is hard to beat.

Others speak of the Malkoff light, which no doubt has a well deserved good reputation as they are designed around law enforcement use. Pelican also offers some really nice lights for use as a backup like the clip to inside pocket 2350 1xAA. Not bad at 175 lumens for about the same price as the Maglite ML50's.

I collect cop lights going back to 1912 and own lots of lights by SureFire, Streamlight, Malkoff, PK Design Lab, Rayovac, you name it. But I always reccomend Maglite to people just getting started. Available locally, reasonably priced, very reliable and manufactured in America.

Almost forgot that with a Stinger you get a fixed beam that does a great job of dispersing light. With the Maglite you have the option of a flood light, a spotlight or somewhere in between. Those ML50's now use a quarter turn to go from one to the other instead of twist, twist, twist like the classic design.

I would suggest you to go for a Flashlight Baton. I recently purchased this one. Its serves the purpose well.

I was going to suggest a Malkoff MD2 w/HiLo ring but it's in the same price range + the need for extra batteries and external charger.

But, it's worth a few extra bucks as it's a lifetime investment and should handle all the needs of an LEO well.

Dave D said:

Have a look a Surefire's offerings, they have a couple of Tactical lights (Combat in the names) and they also have the G2X LE ( for Law Enforcement) light which may meet your needs. It can also be fuelled with a single 16650 rechargeable battery. Make sure you battery is fully charged before duty and carry a couple of CR123's as backup.

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Agree, G2X or one of its variations. These are great lights. Indestructible, absolutely reliable, bright, long run times (600 lm for 1.5 hours), great beam pattern, and around $50. You probably can get a significant LE discount.

Gonna throw in my suggestion for a duty light in addition to the Surefire. Olight M2T. It's what I use now and has a ridiculous output for it's size. I know most every manufacturers will have one soon enough that fits this size and output level but I'd say Olight did it first. Okay mostly the reason I like it is because you can switch on a low output using the side switch while reading someone's DL and then immediately hit full power on the tailcap to light up the weird guy walking up to you and the light switches off once you release the tail button. They also make one that has a magnetic tail switch that is compatible with their awesome recharging system so you can charge it without removing the battery, the M2R but it's a bit more money and I personally have had my security access card rendered useless by a Sunwayman V11R so I try to avoid anything else with a magnet.

Thanks everyone. Reading, reviewing, and enjoying. Thanks so much!

You really want to carry a flashlight that large and heavy on your belt? Surefire makes a LE version of the g2x for 70 bucks. Holsters are readily available. Seems a lot better option. Thats just one among many that are designed as tactical lights and are reliable They're also much much smaller, and 4 times lighter than a 3c mag light.

I will add the First-Light USA LE. I m not sure if they do the Tomahawk LE still but you can get the older 150 lumen model on eBay for about $100.
Excellent throw considering the power and the size plus strobe plus safety beacon or wig wag.
I have the older one and the new 700 lumen TMax (was in Logistics Security) and it proved very useful

The 2C ML50 is a great lower cost alternative to a Stinger, my 2C ML50LX is one of my favorite and most used lights. You can get the standard 2C ML50L at some Home Depots (you can find out if your local store has them on the HD website). If you are buying on line, take a look at the LX version which has a hard type 3 anodized finish which will stay new looking much longer than the more common type 2 anno used on standard Mags and Streamlights and the cross grooves provide a more secure grip.

I am not totally sure if it will fit Uncle Mike's Stinger holster, length and barrel diameter should be OK but the head on the Mag is a bit larger in diameter than the Stinger. Open top Stinger holders like Bianchi Accumold work great with the Mag ML50's in both 2 and 3 cell configuration along with the Ultra Stinger.

https://www.galls.com/bianchi-accum...MIufXEzeXP3wIVR1cNCh0SRAy8EAQYASABEgLqQvD_BwE

Stinger, hands down. Rechargeable, so no continued battery cost.

Streamlight never let me down when I was on the job.

If you are interested in a used rechargeable Surefire Peacekeeper send me a pm. I'll set up a brother in blue.

Maglite ML 150 rechargable is a great light

I was going suggest a ML150 Mike, but figured uklit was after something a lot less expensive than a Stinger going in. The ML150 approches the cost of a Stinger.