Not meaning to pick a fight Battleaxe, but a flashlight is or can be a weapon. If you have a heavy 4 or 5 cell metal flashlight, and you whack someone with it, it is certainly a weapon. And there is nothing wrong with that.
A flashlight is a long, hard metallic object that will HURT when you hit someone with it. An ASP is a long hard metallic object that will HURT when you hit someone with it.
I, for one, am not going to drop my flashlight so I can draw my baton, open the baton, and then strike with the baton. Nope, ain't gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent at this juncture.
I am going to swing away with the flashlight if I have it in my hand. And I am going to use it in the same manner as a baton, striking the same points on the body as a baton. It may not be PC, but sometimes the real world ain't pretty.
And I'm not going to stop to ask the flashlight maker whether it is okay to do this first.
Now, for small jobs I like the Stinger XT rechargable with the tail cap switch. For general purpose midnight shift work I use a 4-C ceell maglight rechargable.
Regards,