Good LEO light with tactical holster

[Oolaf]

Hello everyone

I am in the market for a great light to use at my job as a Leo on night shift. A couple requirements:

Very bright. My current stream light polystinger is about 300 lumens and I need something brighter

great quality. I want it to last for a long time and be safe to get rained on, etc

MUST have a good tactical holster that attaches to a 2.25in Sam brown. A nylon holster absolutely will not do. I like sure fires v70 holster. I would like some recommendations on good Kydex holsters As well please!

rechargable would be great, but not absolutely necessary. My department provided cr123 batteries for us.

The first click must give me a bright light. I do not want to have to click multiple times to get the brightest light.

budget is about 300. I have been looking at the stream light pro tac hl 3, sure fire fury 3 (i understand this one gives you low power on the first click), sure fire p1r, and Fenix pd35. I would rather the light be bigger so that I can tuck it under my arm. The Fenix pd 35 may be too small for this. I would certainly appreciate any advice!

 

[mk2rocco]

On a night get shift I carry 2 lights with me. A Malkoff Hound Dog and a Oveready V5 Wasp. The Hound Dog does an excellent job of lightning up far away places and scanning open areas. The Wasp (triple XPL) does a great job on contacts within 100 feet, I can light up a group of 15 at close range and not have to move my light around to see everybody.

 

[Skeeterg]

Not sure if you seen this or it fits the bill. Check out Imalents DN21,plus it does have spare battery for charging. I do own one for curiosity only,and doesn't get used much.

 

[Dave D]

Malkoff M91T MD3 with High/Low ring.

Will run on 2 x 18500 rechargeables or 3 x CR123a's.

With the head tight it will always come on in high mode (700 lumens momentary 600 constant), just turn the head slightly (1/16th of a turn is enough) and it will come on in low mode (25 lumens) which is ideal for checking documents etc.

It utilises a tightly focused TIR optic and has ample spill. It will penetrate blacked out windows easily and will illuminate objects at 900+ feet.

For momentary tactical use just position the centre of your thumb pad over the switch, you wont be able to apply enough pressure to switch it onto constant.

It's about the size of a Surefire 9P, 6 1/2" in length, so will tuck under your arm when writing out a citation etc. It will run on High for 45-60 minutes on 3 x CR123a's.

Malkoff's are built like a tank in the USA and benefit from a lifetime warranty.

They also offer a discount to LEO's and their customer service is second to none.

A larger recommendation is the Malkoff Hound Dog XM-L MD4.

It has 1000 lumen output on high and 70-100 lumens on low, it'll illuminate objects out to 1000 feet, it's got a larger head than the M91T and has a longer body that will accept 2 x 18650 batteries or 4 x CR123a's. The Hound Dog MD4 is 8 3/4" long and with the larger head it isn't suitable for being carried on your duty belt at all times.

With a pair of 18650 3500mah batteries you should be able to get about 2 hours runtime on high out of the Hound Dog or about 50 minutes from 4 x CR123's.

A smaller alternative is the M61HOT MD2, which will run on 1 x 18650 or 2 x CR123a's. With the high/Low ring installed it will put out 500+ lumens on High and about 5 lumens on low. It will illuminate objects out to about 600+ feet.

Below is a photo of my Malkoff's showing the three different sizes for comparison.

As far as a Tactical holster is concerned how to you want to be able to position the flashlight?

If it's lens up then a simple Kydex holster will be sufficient, the one below is from Kytex Shooting Gear and they produce a version for duty belts.

For something that allows bezel down carry consider something like the Nitecore NTH30B, which will also carry an extra 18650 battery or 2 x CR123's in a battery Magazine.

This type of holster would probably accept three CR123's in a battery magazine as well. OLight produce fairly inexpensive battery magazines for 2 or 3 CR123's that will fit into the Malkoff flashlights.

Another alternative holster is one that swivels to allow the flashlight to be used whist still in the holster. For example the ESP holster shown below, I think that there is now a USA distributor for them. A suitable one of the MD2/MD3 would be the LHU-14-34. The one below is larger to fit the Surefire Fury bezel.

I would also consider a lanyard for the flashlight so if you have to drop it it'll still be attached to your belt.

I am not affiliated to any of the manufactures mentioned but I am a happy Malkoff customer, I'm also a retired LEO (after 30 years service) who wishes these products were available when I was on the streets!

Any questions, just ask.

Stay safe!!

 

[matt4350]

Hay Dave D,

I'm looking at getting a Malkoff for the same thing. If you have a M91B, how do you rate it against the M91T? I was a bit concerned it (M91T) may not have adequate spill for yards/open areas. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Do you think a M91 head on a MD4 body would be too long for belt carry?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Dave D]

Hay Dave D,

I'm looking at getting a Malkoff for the same thing. If you have a M91B, how do you rate it against the M91T? I was a bit concerned it (M91T) may not have adequate spill for yards/open areas. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Do you think a M91 head on a MD4 body would be too long for belt carry?

Thanks,
Matt

Hi Matt,

I don't have an M91B to compare, I have an MD2 with the M361N and the Hound Dog V3 Neutral (MD4).

The M91T is more similar to the Hound Dog on the throw side but there is sufficient spill to for lighting up a yard etc, the beam isn't too tight.

I've put the Hound Dog MD4 body on the M91T head and I think that it would be too long for duty belt wear, it measures just over 7 3/4" long, which is shorter than a collapsible baton so it could be belt worn.

If I could only have one light on duty I'd take the M91T MD3, small enough to be on my belt at all times but packs a punch greater than it's size would suggest.

 

[matt4350]

Thanks mate, much appreciated

 

[Dave D]

Thanks mate, much appreciated

I checked last night and the spill from the M91T is only slightly smaller than the spill from a Surefire P2X Fury.

The centre bright spot of the M91T is noticeably brighter than the Fury and the M90T throws further than the Fury.

 

[Dave D]

Oolaf,

any update on what you decided on?

 

[matt4350]

I checked last night and the spill from the M90T is only slightly smaller than the spill from a Surefire P2X Fury.

The centre bright spot of the M90T is noticeably brighter than the Fury and the M90T throws further than the Fury.

Great stuff, that's made my mind up. Thanks for going to the effort