Best LEO "patrol duty" flashlight

Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

Hello all,

I am an LEO that works mostly patrol duties on all different shifts (days, afternoons and midnights) I currently use 2 lights for this: Ultra stinger (main light for traffic stops, checking building during hours of darkness, pedestrian contacts in the evenings etc.) SF G2 which I keep on my duty belt. (back up light and also use in conjunction with my weapon when I deploy my pistol during hours of darkness or clearing dark buildings etc.) I was wondering if any of the other LEO's on this forum (or others familiar with LEO operations) could recomend lights for these 2 purposes that they feel would be better choices. The only criteria that I would like is that the main light (for lack of a better term) needs to be rechargeable (incandescent or LED). I really like the looks of the SF Dominator with the two stage switch but have not had the opportunity to see one in person. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. As a side note if anyone could PM me with companys or thoughts on an effective manner to get lights for test and evaluation purposes I would also be in your debt. Many thanks in advance.

Light Junkie

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

I'm not a LEO but I'd say if you like the Ultrastinger, you should stick with it. It's a very popular duty light and there's good reasons for that.

The 10X Dominator is kind of a weird light. It's never caught on very well because of its strange shape and kludgy handling (it feels like it's a made of vacuum cleaner parts or something). It's big and heavy to use if you're mainly using it on low beam. But it's amazingly powerful in the high beam. By all means, try one out if you get a chance, and see how you like it. I'd advise against ordering one before trying one out first.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

I use a PILA GL4R as my bat belt light. and the Ultrastinger as my long throw search light.
The GL4R is a bit large but it has a 80 minute run time, is plenty bright for traffic stops and can be easily tucked under an arm. It makes the violator wince when pointed at them. It has enough side spill to make vehicle searches easy. I also carry a Surefire G2Z and 3Z in the battle bag as back ups.

For traffic accidents and directing traffic I use a pelican M6 LED with a surefire G2 traffic cone.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

I am not an LEO either, but FWIW, I know that many LEO's like the TigerLight, and if you're considering only stock lights, it's the hands down winner for brightness and throw and runtime and size. The 10X is certainly brighter and I'm sure it's a great light. In fact, I'd like to get one at some point (but not for duty use, obviously). But as was mentioned, it's a bit weird in shape and is somewhat difficult to carry by some reports.

The SF M6 is also a very, very nice light. Lightraven, an LEO, uses this. And soon you will be able to convert it into a regulated rechargeable.

And if you want to go into cutsom mods, I do upgrades of the TigerLights. You trade some runtime for increased brightness, but you get a lot of brightness. I'll be working on the 2nd generation of mods which will make them more reliable and immune to insta-flashing.

Hope this helped. Do a search on these topics and you should find half a dozen threads with good info.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

madecov,

GL4R? Can I find this on the acronym list? I don't dislike the UL stinger but the beam quality seems a bit shadowy. (for lack of a better term) Thank you for your response to my post.

Light Junkie

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

The GL4R that madecov is referring to is a Pila product, and sold by jsburlys.com, bugoutgear.com and a few others - go to the Groupbuy and Passaround section and look for the "GL3R Passaround" discussion to see what people think of the 9V brother of the GL4R (passaround generously provided by jsburlys.com).

I have worked the odd night shift in my 29+ years (like last night - 14-MN, and tonight - 18-04!) and am not really fond of the dark. I have had 2 duty sidearms in those years, only drawn them out 6 times total, and never fired either of them at a human. I have, however, gone through a few flashlights, either my own-purchased or issued lights.

I now carry:
- Streamlight Polystinger: issued to my patrol car, so I try to use it first;
- Koehler Brightstar 3 D: issued to me. Yellow and black. Modified to use a KPR112 bulb and 3 x 123A lithium disposables. It COULD also be powered by 2 x 150A lithium ion rechargeable cells by Pila. This was the light I used right after the Polystinger;
- Mag-light 3 C: Purchased by my wife and kids. Modified like the KB 3 D, plus covered in step grip tape for more grip. Kind of a 3rd back-up;
- Pelican M6 xenon (silver): Modified with a clicky switch for momentary/continuous on. My always-on-the-duty-belt light;
- Dorcy 9" LED wand: for traffic control.

I also have a Dorcy Spyder, but it was left on one shift and got kind of fried, so it is off-duty-sick for awhile until I clean it up.

There are a few others I would like to buy, but I am cheap!

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

If you want a small rechargeable, the Streamlight Strion is pretty nice and reasonably affordable. It's about the size and brightness of your G2, though I think a bit heavier.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

Js,

Thanks for the info I will check out the tiger light site for more info. I am not opposed to modifications to lights but would like my main light to be as stock as possible. Would like to modify my G2 possibly though (new lamp and reflector maybe)if you could PM me any numbers on the mods you do or a link to a site (if you have your own )it would be appreciated.

Light Junkie

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
There are a few others I would like to buy, but I am cheap!

[/ QUOTE ]

Pete,

Thanks for the info you provided. I am cheap as well (must be a cop thing /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif) I will check the suggestions you made. Stay safe.

Light Junkie

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

LightJunkie,

Well, at the moment I am doing the SF M6-R but I have not started on the Gen 2 TL mods. You can see the summary thread for info on the Gen 1 mods, if you like.

In any case, the stock TL is very nice, especially for the money.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

I don't understand why more officers aren't switching to powerful LED's such as the TriStar Phazer for their main duty belt light. The spot/flood it throws out to 30-40 yards is awesome which is plenty for searching a backyard or house etc.. Led's are superior in durability/life expectancy and battery life. How often do you really need a small handheld spot that will reach out to 150-200 yards? At that distance you have the car mounted spot or keep a big Surefire or Wolfeyes in the trunk. I see it as the same situation as your .40 caliber or 9mm duty weapon on your belt and having a 12 gauge in the rack and AR-15 in the trunk.

Troll

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

Troll,

The simple fact of the matter is that incan light is full-spectrum and provides better definition and vision in many situations. Around the house, use LED's. Fine. But out in the field with ambient light, icans win. dano and other LEO's have posted about this more than once, and although I am not an LEO, my experience confirms this as well.

Also, above 2 or 3 watts, LEDs are not more efficient. And at power levels of 15 or 20 or 30 watts, LED's are impractical in a handheld light because all of the waste heat must be dissipated into the die. Incans, on the other hand, forward radiate most of the waste heat as IR and less heat gets dissipated into the head and body of the light.

I hope this doesn't explode into a flame war, as it almost always does, but it's simply the truth of the matter. LED's are great and have obvious and significant advantages over filaments, but they are not better across the board and for all uses.

I started out with LED lights, but experience with them lead me into high-quality incans. Keep in mind that there is no comparison between a yellow stock mag beam and a well-driven incan. If you've never experienced 500 lumens of bright white icandescent light, you're missing out and you likely won't understand where I'm coming from. I'm not trying to put down LED's, only to defend incans.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

LED all the way ! No bulb to burn out or filament to tear if you drop it "hot". If you pick the right light you won't need to carry a back-up. All the lights mentioned above are great, and you might want to consider an Inova T3 with rechargeable batteries.

Bright enough for tactical use, good throw,long run time, and still small enough to use in conjunction with your deployed pistol.

I recently gave one to a friend who is a Captain with the Newark NJ PD and he loves it. (he was carrying an Ultrastinger and a back-up SureFire E2E until now)

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

I'll second Pete's comments about the Pila lights. The GL3 is a great light!!

I've also tried the Strion (also rechargeable and small), and I know the Corrections Officers and Sheriff Officers 'round here use them.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

When I used to work security I usually ended up using flashlights that took off the shelf sized rechargeable batteries.
This way, If I had a busy week and forgot to recharge them,
relief was just a set of alkalines away to finish my shift.
There are also rechargeable 123's and 123 replacement batteries for the smaller pocketrocket lights that are bright, easy to carry and aim.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
Dr_Joe said:
LED all the way ! No bulb to burn out or filament to tear if you drop it "hot". If you pick the right light you won't need to carry a back-up.

[/ QUOTE ]

The LED itself may be more durable than a hot wire, but the electronics and solder connections in the LED lights can be subject to failure resulting from small drops and can be much more difficult to troubleshoot and repair than replacing a blown bulb. My Costco 1w dropped just 2ft onto it's bezel on my sidewalk and something broke or came loose inside the electronics pill and it is dead and may stay dead. Sure it's a cheap light, but the LED is fine and the elctronics are broke.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

3rd, that is one of the big reasons I went with the TSP, if I am deer hunting in the woods in East Texas and the nearest Wal-Mart is 50 miles away but the little Pawn shop or Mom and Pop market is 5 miles up the road Alkaline C's will be available. JS, no worries on a flame war, I have just been noticing since I got the TSP while out at night the nice white wall it throws out to 40 yards or so and I don't see a COP needing more than that on a regular basis. Also like I said I see the LED's as being more rugged, I have dropped my MAG C 3X123 kpr mod while out on a dog walk and had to make my way home in the dark. As far as full spectrum and better vission issue I realy don't see an issue. The other night while out with the dog I spotted something move up the trail about 30 yards, I lit up the racoon as he scurryed up a tree. I stopped to let him make his escape so the dog would'nt attack and kept him lit up, I could make out every detail and could have easily picked him off if I had my rifle, not that I would have.

Troll

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

[ QUOTE ]
js said:
Troll,

The simple fact of the matter is that incan light is full-spectrum and provides better definition and vision in many situations. Around the house, use LED's. Fine. But out in the field with ambient light, icans win. dano and other LEO's have posted about this more than once, and although I am not an LEO, my experience confirms this as well.

Also, above 2 or 3 watts, LEDs are not more efficient. And at power levels of 15 or 20 or 30 watts, LED's are impractical in a handheld light because all of the waste heat must be dissipated into the die. Incans, on the other hand, forward radiate most of the waste heat as IR and less heat gets dissipated into the head and body of the light.

I hope this doesn't explode into a flame war, as it almost always does, but it's simply the truth of the matter. LED's are great and have obvious and significant advantages over filaments, but they are not better across the board and for all uses.

I started out with LED lights, but experience with them lead me into high-quality incans. Keep in mind that there is no comparison between a yellow stock mag beam and a well-driven incan. If you've never experienced 500 lumens of bright white icandescent light, you're missing out and you likely won't understand where I'm coming from. I'm not trying to put down LED's, only to defend incans.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sums it up nicely I think.

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

I would have to agree with js on his opinions using LEDS in ambient light. I'm not a LEO, I'm just a humble paramedic, but I've personally gone back to using an E2e on the duty belt just because it allows me much better colour definition and isn't washed away by ambient light. I've no experience of high output LED lights such as the TSP and from what I've read they do have uses in law enforcement. In fact I might get a high powered LED light for the potential reliability that LED's offer. However IMHO as there is nothing complicated about an incandescent and bulbs are easily replaced. Yes I know that bulbs can blow, sometimes at inopportune times, however a back up light should be available to take care of this eventuality, dont you think?

As light obsession rightly points out LED's are generally really reliable but the more complicated the more potential for things to go wrong!

Doug

Re: Best LEO \"patrol duty\" flashlight

LightObsession, you have touched a point I guess I have taken for granted and pressumed was a bug that has been worked out. I hope the circutry and soldering in my TSP has been well done, if I drop that thing from any more than normal holding height and it takes a dump and I have to really dig into it to fix it I'll be bummed. As far as all other issues, for now I have to stand my ground. JS, the one point I will give you is I do have a SureFire (G2 Nitrolon I believe it is) and can only imagine the wall from a M6 Guardian but you'd have to have a Pez dispesser for CR123's plus I just can't justify 400.00 right now to the wife.

Troll