lights for law enforcement

SUREFIRE CENTURION 2, CREE R-2 290 LUMENS (CLAIMED)

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FENIX T-1 CREE Q-5 225 LUMENS

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One word of caution with high intensity LED lights: most are not thermally regulated and they will suffer from their own heat if used for an extended period. They will get very hot and the tint will change. Short use of 5 minutes or less is recommended, especially in lights like the G-2 that has a plastic body and head.

All metal flashlights like the Surefire 6P are better at dissipating the heat, and in them a few more minutes of constant use can be achieved before the heat will damage the module.
The big heavy head of the Fenix acts as a heat sink, and this light can manage to run much longer without the heat affecting the module.

Besides, the Fenix has a second setting that will run the light at 60 lumens for 10 hours.
So, if you already have a Surefire you want to upgrade, the aftermarkets lamps are great.
If you need a new light look at the Fenix line.

If you need a truck, open spaces light, the Bear Cub is a great value as it is rechargeable and very bright as well as a 150 yards thrower.

Cheers

Black Bear
 
TERRALUX LIGHTSTAR 220
FLASHLIGHT

For the last two months, I have been using one of the Terralux Lightstar 220 lumens flashlights, which runs on two AA batteries.
This light has two settings on the click-tail cap; the first setting clicks on the light and emits 220 lumens for 1.5 hours.
The second setting of 100 lumens for 6 hours is accessed by softly pressing the rubber button switch.

The LED is a Cree RXE Q-4 and is controlled by a microprocessor for a constant light output. When battery juice is running low, the LED will flicker to let you know that is time for new batteries.
The unit comes with two Energizer AA batteries, a lanyard and a soft nylon holster. At an even six inches long, the light is quite portable and also features a clip to attach it to your belt or waistband.


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It is very similar to the popular 3 watt 80 lumens Ray-O-Vac Sportsman Xtreme (but is slightly longer as the click tail cap needs more room for the mechanism), and the head is smaller with a small orange peel reflector.
Due to the small reflector the beam throws quite a flood despite the 220 lumens figure. Small reflectors don’t really have much throw no matter how many lumens you make the light puts out. However, it is quite adequate for most chores inside a house and practical, too, for walking the dog or a walk in the woods.

LIGHTSTAR AT 20 YARDS WITH THE 220 LUMENS

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LIGHTSTAR WITH THE 100 LUMENS SETTING

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The really nice thing about these lights are that they are very inexpensive to feed as they use common AA batteries. As I use rechargeable AA batteries in all my lights, it is even more inexpensive to use.
The dark green anodized body is quite resistant to scratches as the light is still like new even after a couple months of sharing my pocket with keys and coins.

Cost of the light varies depending where you buy it, but it is around $35 to $40 USD; your best bet is to Google it to see who has a special on it.
I like this light to the point of recommending it to anybody that is looking for a light with these characteristics. The light is as good as the Ray-O-Vac Sportsman with the added power of the 220 lumen setting.
Cheers.

Black Bear
 
This light uses only one AA battery and weighs 1.7 oz w/o battery.
Uses a Cree 7090 XR-E LED

Mode-1: 9 lumens (34hrs)
Mode-2: 47 lumens (6hrs)
Mode-3: 94 lumens (2.2hrs)
Mode-4: 120lumens (1.5hrs)
Mode-5: Strobe

The LD-10 - - 17 days of survival use (2 continuous hours per day in Mode-1) About $58


Or the Military/Police 5.5zoz: 225 Lumens Tactical - TK11 -- $78

And what I like best is their: "NO QUESTIONS ASKED" - UNCONDITIONAL LIFETIME WARRANTY!
 
WHEN A LUMEN IS NOT A LUMEN

A lumen is not a lumen when somebody intends to throw a big bunch of them out of a small reflector the size of a dime or nickel. At least it seems to be that way.

It used to be easy to tell the power of a light by the lumens figure, not anymore. You could be an experience user of lights, say a policeman that had used for years a 200 lumens Magchager and is well acquainted with its capabilities. Now he reads about this small light the size of a thumb that also outputs 200 lumens and is all excited to get the new marvel.

He does and is promptly disappointed because the small light seems to throw a good amount of light, but all close by, and is nothing that can compare with his duty Magcharger that can illuminate objects at 100 yards.

Besides emitters in the 200 lumens bracket can kill themselves with the heat that they produce when they are used in small lights with poor heat sinking. It is mostly a novelty thing and it should be used with caution. Some of them come in lights with multiple settings, and that is fine when the literature advice you to use the 200 lumens sparingly, and you follow that advice.

To illustrate the point, here are a couple of pictures of beam shots at 20 yards, you can clearly see the superiority of the Bear Cub (reflector size 2”) over the Lightstar 220, (reflector the size of a dime) even when both lights are rated at 220 lumens.

LIGHTSTAR 220 LUMENS AT 20 YARDS

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BEAR CUB 220 LUMENS AT 20 YARDS

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Some manufacturers wishing to quote big numbers are now putting clusters of these small reflectors on duty size flashlights. Mind you these clusters that are from three to four are still all small reflectors with limited throw.
So, somebody putting a cluster of four reflectors in a big head can claim 800 lumens, but you know better now, knowing that those 200 lumens for each reflector are not really behaving like real lumens!

Unfortunately I don’t have one of those lights to prove the point. But I can get my own cluster of lights in the 200 lumens bracket, and demonstrate by picture what can you expect.

I have here two of the Lightstar220 lumens, plus a Fenix P3D of 205 lumens and an Ultra Fire with Rebel emitter of 200 lumens, all of which together in a cluster will throw the figure of 845 lumens.

The opposite number is a Black Bear 720 lumens flashlight, a light that is 10” long and weights 24 oz. and uses a 2” reflector that can throw several hundred of yards with a strong white light.

HERE IS THE PICTURE OF THE CONTENDERS

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The distance for both beam shots is in this case 35 yards to the target (The no trespassing sign tacked in the tree). The camera is 20 yards from the target.

CLUSTER OF REFLECTORS 845 LUMENS

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BLACK BEAR 720 LUMENS ONE REFLECTOR 2”

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Observe how the beam of the 720 lumens light travels beyond the range of the cluster lights, illuminating objects that the cluster lights are not capable of showing.
So, if you are in the market for a new light, this use of small reflectors in clusters to boost lumens figures is something you should be aware off.

Cheers
Black Bear
 
NEW BULB FOR THE BOREALIS FLASHLIGHT
750 LUMENS FOR 75 MINUTES

As you may know the Borealis 1050 lumens flashlight is the most powerful military/police flashlight in use today.
The Borealis will make 1050 lumens for 50 minutes on rechargeable batteries. Now a new bulb is available which will run the light for 75 minutes with a drop of only 300 lumens.

Lights in use by police today are the Magcharger, the Stingers, the SL 20 up to 200 lumens, the Ultra Stinger-295 lumens, the Pelican 7060-135 lumens, and the Fenix TK series up to 240 lumens.

Military forces use a variety of Surefires as weapon lights with 120 lumens and hand held like the Surefire M-4, 350 lumens and the Surefire M-6 at 500 lumens.

So, the above statement of the Borealis been the most powerful is not an exaggeration, many are been used daily by police and many are doing tour of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

What the new bulb does is extend the run time to 75 minutes without reducing drastically the output.

As no other duty flashlight with the same lumens is available, I decided to conduct a shoot out against a big two million candlepower spotlight, the one at hand was an almost new Brikmann Q beam Max million II (two million candlepower) with a reflector of five inches wide and a big bulb of 75 watt.
All this in competition to a bean sized 30 watt bulb and two inch reflector of the Borealis.

DAVID AND GOLIATH

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FIVE INCH VERSUS TWO INCH

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This particular Borealis has a Light Stippled reflector, a reflector designed to give a good balance between flood and throw, but given the semi custom character of the Borealis three other reflectors are available, smooth for maximum throw, orange peel for just a little less throw but more flood (also called side spill) and a medium stippled reflector designed for a big flood but with the range limited to 100 yards.

As the night was bitterly cold I decided to take the pictures and shoot the beams right out of my second story kitchen window, with the short tripod legs resting in the kitchen sink.
The target is the white and blue cabana which is the second building in the picture after the fence.

The target is 74 yards from my window, with back trees as much as 85 yards (they are still visible with both lights).

Due to the big reflector in the spot light, the beam is concentrated in the center of the picture and illumination from the side spill is not as great as it is with the Borealis 750 lumens bulb.

Observe both pictures and you will see more area illuminated by the Borealis 750 lumens bulb, than is illuminated by the two million candlepower spotlight.
Still the intensity of both beams is similar at the center of the target area.

Q-BEAM MAX TWO MILLION

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BOREALIS 750 LUMENS 75 MINUTES BULB

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In conclusion the new Borealis bulb of 750 lumens is worthy for those that will want a run time of 75 minutes. Even after loosing 300 lumens the Borealis still is the most powerful flashlight used by the police and the military.

The light can be ordered with the 1050 lumens bulb installed and the spare as the 750 lumens or vice-versa. You can also order the reflector most appropriate for you work, the only light in the Industry that offers you a choice of four reflectors.

Cheers.

Black Bear
 
SANYO ENELOOP LOW DISCHARGE
AA NIMH RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES

Here is a product that I can recommend highly.
The batteries are very low self discharge; the claim by Sanyo is that they will keep 85 percent of the charge for a year when they are left in the shelf unused.

They can also be used without charging right from the package the first time, as they are fully charged at the factory.

I recently had the opportunity to test their claims. Last year about this time I left a Borealis flashlight loaded with nine Eneloop batteries in my buddy’s fishing shack he has in the Adirondacks.

After a period of over a year, I tested the Eneloops and the powerful Borealis flashlight (1050 lumens, over two million candlepower) to see how much remaining charge it had left.

This particular set of batteries has been recharged and used quite a few times, and the run time of the Borealis with them was 40 minutes when fully charged. (Batteries gain capacity when recharged several times).

Under controlled conditions and watch in hand, I ran the Borealis until the beam started to weaken, and got a run time of 36 minutes, just 4 minutes short of full run time after a year of seating on the shelf. I say this is an amazing performance for a rechargeable battery that is also high current coping very well with the powerful almost 3 ½ amps of the Borealis’ bulb.

Ever since the Eneloops are in the market, some other batteries have come out with the same chemistry, however, I cannot comment on them as I haven’t used them to the extend I have used the Eneloops.

Cheers

Black Bear
 
Fenix TK40

Have you guys talked about the Fenix TK40. It is a great all purpose light.
Features/advantages:
- It will go from 13 lumens@150 hrs to 630 Lumens@2 hrs
- Runs on AAs. I use the NiMH LSD rechargeables and carry lithiums for back-up due to their shelf life. In a pinch I can get AAs also most anywhere.
- Strobe mode can be used at 630 lumens for self defense when no other weapon is available.

I bought one that I keep on my night stand. I liked it so much I stocked it at SunflowerAmmo.com
 
SOLARFORCE L-2 LED FLASHLIGHT
5 FUNCTION MODULE

I have lately been using some components of Solarforce flashlights to make me a couple of tactical lights (to use in a Remington 1100 shotgun and in a Kalashnikov rifle).

I bought a couple of loose bodies, heads, and modules, and for the remote cable switch I used a couple of Aimshot tail caps with pressure pads.
The modules are simple one function 200 lumen (or so) R-2’s, and have enough throw to make 50 yard shots possible. As the shotgun and rifle are intended for home defense, 50 yards are all I needed.

The bodies were intended for CR123 batteries and I loaded them with red Surefire batteries before mounting them on a Weaver 1” ring and clamping it to Picattiny’s rails in the long guns.

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More recently I received a Solarforce L-2 five function flashlight. It also uses the R-2 module and sports a reverse clicky tail cap, which, when activated, goes to the last function (or level) that was stored in the memory.

The levels are full power (about 200 lumens), medium power (about 100 lumens) low power (about 40 lumens), strobe in the 200 lumen level, and SOS also in the 200 lumen level.
To activate each level, you just press softly on the tail cap.

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The claims that I have seen advertised for the lumen output are much higher than the ones I am estimating here, but these estimates are based on my vast use of lights and in direct comparison with my Fenix TK-11 Q-5 flashlight that is billed as a 225 lumen light.

This wild throw of numbers of lumens is because the emitters are measured in Integrated Sphere Spectotometers without the reflector, head or lens, and are of course much higher than when the flashlight is used with these in place.

The true out-the-front numbers are much lower due to losses from the reflector and reflection from the lens.

The Solarforce model I have comes with the larger internal diameter body that will accept 18650 Lithium Ion rechargeable batteries, as well as the RC123’s and the rechargeable RCR123’s.

Having several 18650 batteries and a charger, I prefer to use the large Lithium Ion rechargeable battery.
Fortunately for those that will want to use the light on a rifle or shotgun, the Weaver 1” ring clamps to the 18650 body without a problem.

Prices of body components or entire lights vary depending where you purchase them. Your best bet is to Google the Solarforce name and see what is available and where at the time of your search.

I have been using the Solarforce L-2 for the last two weeks in my pocket and I don’t care for the sharp crenellated bezel that is very rough in my pocket’s liner. It was bothering me so much that I finally removed it in favor of a Z-32 Surefire bezel that I had in my spare parts box.

The strobe function is used in tactical lights with the hope it will bother the opponent more than the straight beam. To me it is of no value as a deterrent, but it is a good function to have if you ever are in need to attract attention and are unable to call for help.

I wanted to take some beam shots but the snow here has been so bothersome lately (we had 26 inches on the ground) and prevented me from doing so. In any case, the beam is so close to the beam shots I have made with other 200 lumen R-2’s that you can see them in the post titled “The 200 lumens battle,” and you can imagine the beams to be the same.
Cheers
Black Bear
 
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So glad I found this place. Ive been in the bar business for 16 years. My flashlight is my pocketknife. I take it everywhere! I swear by my Blackhawk Gladius (have 2 of them) and love the strobe option. I own a Surefire 6p which Ive had 11 years and have bought about 8 G2's for my security. I was going to treat myself to a new light and started doing research. I was origionally looking at the Surefire LX2 but it doesnt offer the strobe option. I want something with at least 200 lum. What is your opinion on the Blackhawk Gladius? Others I was looking at are the Jetbeam RRT-2, Insight HX200, Olight M21 or the Fenix Ta21. I was totally impressed by your lights but need something similar in size to the ones I posted. Thanks for any help
 
All the lights you mention are good. But I don't have personal experience with them.
For your particulars needs I would buy the Solarforce L-2 for about $30 right in this forum.
Here is the link (Jindo thread)
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=358790

The light has all the features of the other lights.
Get some good quality 123's or if you are using the light a lot get a 18650 battery and an Ultra Fire charger.

Cheers
Black Bear
 
I actually bought one of his lights tonight. Thanks for the honest info. I feel good about my purchase and cant wait to put it to work. I might make the company buy one of your lights. Im curious to see its power. I just know it will get lost, stolen or broken at work. Thanks again.
 
SOLARFORCE L2-P
5 MODE FLASHLIGHT

I recently reviewed the Solarforce L-2 flashlight and criticized the sharp crenellated bezel of this light, because it feels rough and uncomfortable in my pocket.

Solarforce has now introduced a new model that has a new bezel and tail cap. The new bezel have a low profile rounded crenellated that is great for you pants pockets.

It also sports a new tail cap that recesses the rubber button and it now sits flush with the edge of the tail cap.

This is good if you want to use your light in the candle mode; standing it on the tail cap so the light shine onto your ceiling and illuminate the adjacent area, much like a table lamp would.

However it precludes any use as a “tactical” light as my thumb cannot push the rubber button far enough to click it, I have to do it with my index finger, and the click switch is harder to push than the one in the previous model, the L2.

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This light was advertised as “the professional” and it is a little different as I explained in the tail cap and head-bezel, also the color is black matte instead of the black glossy anodizing of the L-2 model. This is called hard anodizing type III and is marked that way in the body of the new light, however I doubt it is the same quality anodizing that Surefire uses, as my sample is already chipped in the tail cap showing a bright spot.

This is no doubt due to the poor protection in packing the light, I received it in a bubble pack envelope which was broken and half the light was sticking out of it.

The interior of the light is anodized in a soft gold color similar to the Surefire interior, as this light is a clone of the Surefire it is a good idea they protect the interior this way, instead of the bright aluminum interior of the L-2.

The body of the light is exactly the same as the L-2 model, except of course for the label and color.

The module is the same used in the L-2 model, it have five functions, low, medium, high, strobe and SOS.

This R-2 lamp is advertised at 300 lumens, which I have difficulty seeing, as my Fenix TK-11 with a Cree Q-5 rated for 225 lumens is a little brighter than this lamp.
Nevertheless, even if it is only 200 lumens, it still is a good lamp.

I much prefer the switch of the previous model as I have more control over it and is easy for me to activate.

The overall quality is improving. The threads are smooth and the switches positives, the beam is white and free of shadows or distortions, this light reach 45 yards with enough light to show detail.

For run time I can only offer a copy and paste I took from The Firing Line forum from a sales thread that is featured there:

Here it is:
High Level (~300 lumens) approx. 1.25 hours run time
Mid Level (~165 lumens) approx. 2 hours run time
Low Level (~100 lumens) approx. 3 hours run time
That said, if a person uses (1) 18650 rechargeable lithium ion battery their run times, on average, usually increase by approximately 200%. Though their overall output is lessened a bit.

I can’t vouch for the veracity of these run times, I run the light myself using a rechargeable 18650 battery, but it can also run with two 123’s for those that like to waste money and batteries.

Solarforce also have some L2 bodies for those that like to put their own lamps in. It is mostly necessary for those that are building a weapon light, as the remote pressure pad switch will cycle this R-2 lamp on the different modes, and weapons lights need only one mode (full power).

Solarforce makes an R-2 lamp with single mode and Lumens Factory has other incandescent and LED’s lamps that will fit Surefire as well as Solarforce lights.

Respectfully
Black Bear
 
SUREFIRE LIGHT
# 6

Hi guys,
My wife lost her light that she was keeping in her handbag since 1988.
It was a Surefire 6 (not the Surefire 6P).
The Surefire 6 was a civilian light that Surefire produced before launching the popular 6P.
It was made with no tail cap and to switch it on you have to turn the head (like a mini maglite)

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It was of sentimental value to her, and I am looking to replace it.
If you have such a light in new condition and wish to sell it, please contact me at:
jcharles11784(at)yahoo(dot)com

This is how the rear of the light looks like.

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All the best

Black Bear
 
Great post. You took a lot of time and effort in doing it and I'm sure it will help some LEO's and others out. Might even save a life.
I retired as a LEO after 15 years in 1993.
The only choices we had were the Streamlight (full size,I still have it, a good part of the anodizing is worn off), the Stinger and a little later on the Rechargable Mag Light.
At the time, we though they were the best things in the world because prior to those lights coming out all we had a was a 4 cell mag light.
Lighting has come a long way since.
Your tests will help people decide what will give them the best chance for survival.
Just be glad you have the choices, the 4 cell mag lights succked bad.
It wasn't a lot of fun, especially outside looking for an armed perp.
The good thing was in those days we didn't have the video cameras and lawyers up your rear end near as bad.

Best Regards, John K
 
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