The ABTOMAT Police Flashlight Collection

[ABTOMAT]

Thank you thank you!! I could read this thread all day! Do you mind if I post a couple Kel-Lites I have and have come across? Hoping you can help me out with some info but I don't want to steal your thunder.

Sure, you can post a few. At this point you probably know more about the lights themselves than I do, though.

If you want to display your collection I'd say that'd be for its own thread.

 

[LiftdT4R]

I am none too familiar with the Kel-Lites and their history. I just wanted to post a couple I'm kind of lost on to see if you have any info or have ever come across them.

I was told this one is one of the first rechargeable flash lights and it's a prototype of a modified Kel-Lite. I bought it from a former CPFer a while back.

This one I think is a 1976 bi-centennial model. I tried to purchase it but the owner wouldn't let it go.

The ASP lights are crazy! I loaded mine up with batteries and toted it around my neighborhood while walking my dogs. It is sooo cumbersome I couldn't ever imagine using this for any length of time. With the baton extended it is almost impossible to swing with any kind of accuracy.

 

[ABTOMAT]

I have no direct knowledge of either of those. Kel-Lite did offer a rechargeable tailcap for their flashlights, as seen further up in the thread, but I don't know how yours fits into the story. I've hear the tricolor ones described as bicentennial models as well, so your guess is as good as mine. I've also seen factory Kel-Lites with silver barrels and heads/tails of different colors--usually with white plastic slide switches.

At the moment I'm looking for a BTL-18 and any kind of non-black color style standard size. The former is pretty common but usually overpriced by sellers, and the latter rarely sells high but I haven't seen one in a year or two.

 

[LiftdT4R]

Thanks, do you have any pics of the tail cap on that rechargeable 4D? Also, do you happen to have the serial number on that very earl 2D Mag-Lite or 5C Mag-lite form the first page? They both look very very early.

Every time I see the BTL lights they seem sot go for $200+. I'd love to have a BTL 26 just because I think it's the longest flashlight I've ever seen. I got bid up pretty high last year on one and lost with a high bid of $350. Do you know of any longer lights?

I have a 5D Silver early Kel-lite and a Gold 2C but other than that the different finishes seem hard to come by.

 

[ABTOMAT]

Wow, I've never seen them go that high. Last few 18s that sold went in the $125-190 range and that was more than I'd be comfortable paying most days.

No one-piece longer lights. Some of the screw-together models can become as long as you can handle.

 

[ABTOMAT]

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Kel-Lite made a variety of police-related products. One of them was the "Judo Stick."

It's a type of yawara stick, a short handheld baton used for a variety of self-defense and compliance techniques. Don Keller was an advocate for Eastern-inspired martial arts that were becoming popular in the 1970s.

Some of the techniques it was designed for appear...unconventional.

The same type of ribbed head was also available as a tailcap and saw a little more success in that role. Oddly, the baton was a slightly smaller diameter than the flashlights. I'm not sure if they were all this way.

To be continued...

 

[LiftdT4R]

Very awesome! I've been looking for one of those books for a while. I wish Don would either re-print them or make a scan available online. I'm sure it's a great read!

 

[ABTOMAT]

I'll get a scan one of these days, when I feel like risking the book.

Another Gemlite, or in this case "gem-lite." It looks newer than the two earlier in the thread, and the design has changed. Now features a logo and the machining much less resembles a B-Lite. In fact, the tailcap is a exact duplicate of a Kel-Lite's, only without the markings. The silver barrel isn't original--someone appears to have dunked this in chemicals which mostly dissolved the exterior black anodizing.

 

[bykfixer]

The B-Lite is my favorite vintage california cop light.

 

[sween1911]

Bump for a great thread! Was just thinking of this thread watching a video of Scotty Reitz formerly of LAPD SWAT relating some of his war stories. He told about pursuing a suspect under the floor into the crawlspace of a house with "1911's and SL20 Streamlights."

 

[boss429]

What a great collection-My compliments! Do have a "in" for vintage police lights? You just don't see most of those heavies often(or ever!).

I'm still here looking at your most awesome collection! 10+ years later! (Still haven't found a single one for myself "(or ever!)" ...lol)

 

[cadbob]

I have the almost exact one as you the Streamlight 7C, mine just has plain tail cap, I'm looking to find a parts list/Model number for mine. I want to fix the Light bulb and possibly use the light. Mine has this Aluminum piece that un screws with a spanner type wrench, but no bulb

 

[ABTOMAT]

Hey all, hope everyone came through the other end of 2020 in one piece. I made a few interesting additions to the library I'll be posting up when I have a chance.

I have the almost exact one as you the Streamlight 7C, mine just has plain tail cap, I'm looking to find a parts list/Model number for mine. I want to fix the Light bulb and possibly use the light. Mine has this Aluminum piece that un screws with a spanner type wrench, but no bulb

I may have a parts list somewhere but Streamlight no longer supplies parts for these. The ring with the spanner holes only comes out to work on the switch assembly, so you don't need to take it out unless you're fixing that. The bulb itself is held in with a smooth threaded collar. Do you have photos of what's wrong with yours?

 

[jz6342]

How have I missed this thread this long???!!!! The last seven pages have been a major trip down memory lane for me; my very first "police" flashlight was a 6 D cell Maglite bought when I was a LE Explorer back in 1979-80. I used that as a security officer and then LE Officer. I won a Magcharger in 1985 at the security company I worked at. I still have it somewhere. I used two or three 3 C cell Mags in my LE career - they were small enough to carry all the time, bright enough (for the time), and made an effective cosh if necessary in an emergency (of course). Ahh, the good old days when flashlights were metal, batons were wood and police guns were round...