The vintage California cop light company thread

[konifans]

The tailcap is so deep so it can store 3 spare bulbs. I have received the CEC PR20, a 8.6V 0.5A Chinese made Vacuum bulb. Actually most of the CEC flashlight bulbs I purchased are made in China. Not as good as those made in Germany, Japan or USA but we do not have so many choices these days. The CEC PR20 in the right has a wider filament so the beam is not as round as the stock bulb "Hollanda". They have similar brightness, looks as bright as a 4-cell flashlight. But man I am not looking for brightness but vintage stuff.





Maglite 4C (Bi-pin Xenon bulb) v.s. Kel-Lite 7D (PR20)

Maglite 6D v.s. Kel-Lite 7D

 

[konifans]

I only use Eneloop in these vintage lights.
These are AA to D cell adapters. The Panasonic is the best, the Fujitsu is very good. Others are junk.














The left one is a Panasonic C cell battery (3000mah), the right one is a Panasonic AA to C cell adapter, that is better than the old Sanyo's version.






Fujitsu, Sanyo eneloop and Panasonic eneloop are just the same thing and made from the same factory (FDK) in Japan.
Recently some Panasonic eneloops are made in China, they are not as good as those made in Japan.


In Japan, they have Panasonic C or D cell low self discharge Ni-Mh batteries.
They are actually made from 4xAAA 750mah eneloop and 3xAA 1900mah eneloop batteries, so they are rated 3000mah for C cell and 5700mah for D cell.
Unfortunately they do not export these good stuff.
So if you are visiting Japan or if you can find a way to get it from Amazon.jp (they do not ship overseas), these are the best for the C or D cell lights.

 

[bykfixer]

Holland made are my favorite for #112's and 222's. Tung Sol for PR based stuff were super nice. Made for automotive purposes in the 1960's they were pretty durable too. Chicago Miniature had some good ones too. But all of those are pre-krypton so they don't burn as bright and don't last very long over driven.

I like those CEC/Eiko bulbs for the money. The shape of the globe seems to make them a bit more throwey, which in a Vintage California Cop Light is a good thing. Yet those Maglite bulbs are tough to beat.
If you can find them, Brinkmann had bulbs that rivaled Maglite bulbs in durability and beam shape.

Edit: Don Keller said while he was at Kel-Lite he used Phillips or GE in those lights depending on price and/or availability back then.

 

[bykfixer]

Thanks to a tip by Lift'd a very rare California Cop Light company 2x AAA light kit is enroute to the Bykfixer museum.

Sigmalite made Kershaw edition.
In 1987 LTI made a deal with Kershaw and Snap On to build some stuff. Apparently there was a knife and light kit by Kershaw sold by Snap On. This one is Kershaw branded. The knife looks pretty sweet too.

This was icing on the cake of a pretty sweet week.
More pix when it arrives.
(I bought the kit for the light to use as a go by for a proper repair to the 2x AAA Sigmalite shown a few posts up)

 

[LiftdT4R]

Very nice!! I'm digging it! These Sigmalites seem to pop up every once in a while and then never again for a long long time!

 

[konifans]

Mr. Fixer, I have a question: are the heads interchangeable?

 

[bykfixer]

Very nice!! I'm digging it! These Sigmalites seem to pop up every once in a while and then never again for a long long time!

I was surprised you didn't bite on it, but know you mainly focus on Maglites.

Mr. Fixer, I have a question: are the heads interchangeable?

Yup, they all interchange on the D size.
I only recall one size head on the C size. I've seen a few tail cap shapes (pre-bulb holder type) but have only seen one tailcap in any size with the Kel-Lite logo.(see post #152)

 

[irongate]

Thanks to a tip by Lift'd a very rare California Cop Light company 2x AAA light kit is enroute to the Bykfixer museum.

Sigmalite made Kershaw edition.
In 1987 LTI made a deal with Kershaw and Snap On to build some stuff. Apparently there was a knife and light kit by Kershaw sold by Snap On. This one is Kershaw branded. The knife looks pretty sweet too.

This was icing on the cake of a pretty sweet week.
More pix when it arrives.
(I bought the kit for the light to use as a go by for a proper repair to the 2x AAA Sigmalite shown a few posts up)

Very nice score there. Sweet deal I must say.
Taking a break from packing.

 

[bykfixer]

Very nice!! I'm digging it! These Sigmalites seem to pop up every once in a while and then never again for a long long time!

Don't forget to not pack a couple few flashlights...
Hate when looking for one only to remember it's packed... but which box?...

 

[bykfixer]

Mr. Postman dropped off some goodies today. One was shown to arrive today. Two were not.
First unexpected was a Tana drop in I was tap'd to test drive in my E2D, and although not related to this thread I was thrilled it arrived already.

The next package was that Kershaw edition Snap On sold knife and light kit.
Basically the Kershaw 2x AAA light was exactly like the Sigmalite shown in post 209 except it's Snap On red. Even down to the t10 bulb.

Pretty cool knife too

The knife appears to have never been used. Same with the light. This kit will go in my safe.

Then a 3 cell Kel-Lite CPL was the one expected. Konifans inspired this one. It has enough blemishes to not hesitate to call it a user, but... with a pair of 18650's and a 5 cell PR base'd Maglite xenon bulb she packs quite a punch.

Carries like a small light. Shines like a big one.

2, 3 and 4 cell CPL's.
The 2 cell is the brightest with 2x 18500 LifePo's, a 4 cell xenon and ultraclear acrylic.
The 4 cell is close with its 4 Rayovacs, a 3 cell xenon and a slightly difused acrylic lens. The 3 cell rivals a 6 cell light with its ugly old early 70's lens. But an ultraclear glass will be used for that one soon.

That's it for now.

 

[LiftdT4R]

While we're on super rare branded lights I've had this one for a while and I've been meaning to post it. It's a 2nd Gen Kel-Lite large head branded as a Safariland. In the mid 70s Safariland did not have its own flashlights and was a growing police equipment distributor. Safariland partnered with Kel-Lite, then under Norm Nelson, to produced a special run of Kel-Lites with the Safariland logo stamped into the tail. The lights sold poorly and the business arrangement ended quickly. Not more than a 1,000 or so were produced. Safariland later came out with their Polaris line of lights which unfortunately didn't sell too well either.

The light is identical to a 2nd Gen Kel-Lite. It has the later style riveted switch. I'm not sure why Kel-Lite switched to this rivet style and if anyone has any info I'd be interested in hearing about it. It seems like more expensive and more difficult to maintain so I'm not sure why it was done. As with other riveted switches it has a black momentary contact button instead of red. The light is in pristine condition. Unlike the lights in my prior post this one was actually owned and used by a California cop. He did not like the flood beam of the large head and went back to his first gen small head Kel-Lite only weeks after purchasing this light. It went un-used up until recently when he sold it after cleaning out his home. Hope you guys enjoy!!!

 

[bykfixer]

Very cool.

No idea why they went the rivet route. Maybe it was "faster" to assemble?

I think Safariland ended up swallowing up a bunch of companies, or at least distributed them. John Bianchi leather products for example and Monodnock stuff too. It's like they ended up either owning the police accessory supply companies or played a role in their distribution along the way, eventually becoming a big outfit.

 

[bykfixer]

Got this baby in the mail today.

A Sigmalite prototype of an item that was never produced.
It was rumored to be a 1x AA but instead was a 2x N (LR91) that out mini's the minimag by being a mini-me-mini-mag with a clicky.

Sigmalite through and through with backwards batteries and all.
Takna makes a 3 volt battery for their micro-lith that would replace the 2 N cells but those suckers are $5 each. I bought 20 of these PKCell batteries for $12 shipped.

How's the beam, you ask.... well it's about like a solitaire with the T10 bulb it came with. Insertion of a MiniMag xenon and things come alive. The switch on it is a bit fickle, but hey man it's a prototype. No biggy. Never thinking I'd use my busted 2x AAA Sigmalite for parts I tried the switch from that one and things got stable. No more flickering in the beam.

For clarity, this one came from member Lift'd who had gotten it from none other than Don Keller. It's apparently the only one ever made.
I would suppose with it being incandecent inefficient and using tiny N cells, the run time would have been short. I may try one of those 3 volt Tekna that should last at least as long as a triple A being slightly longer with a very slightly larger girth. But again, being this was the only one made I'm more focused on the "shelf life" and where to display it.

 

[LiftdT4R]

Awesome!! Glad ya got her working and all lit up. Don thought is was a 1 AA but I never could find an AA that worked so the N cells make sense. You're gonna be the go to guy for Sigmalites from now on! I thing you may own 90% of the remaining ones.

I got your 6R. Looks great, thanks!! I just gotta find an M61W now to drop in it along with a 16650 li-ion. Thanks for the extra switch too. Is it a Malkoff? I have a feeling it's going to make me put together an MD1 now.

 

[LiftdT4R]

I dropped a couple CR123 batteries in the old 6R and got it up and running. I was off for the holiday yesterday so I made up a lanyard for it too from paracord. I'm digging the light. I'll eventually get a 16650 and an M61W for it but for now I'm, gonna run it as-is. The stock incan puts out a nice beam. Does anyone know the original run on these 6Rs? I know the 6P classics in this style ran from like 88 to 01. For those interested in the lanyard they are a really fun project and cheap too. Check out: http://stormdrane.blogspot.com/2011/05/adjustable-paracord-wrist-lanyard.html

Old School / New School

 

[bykfixer]

When SureFire started making flashlights that used those SLR camera batteries to achieve 6D bright with smaller than 2C size.... the California Cop Light was forever changed as much as Don Kellers ideas did in the late 1960's.
Apparently Laser Products' "SureFire model" and Maglite both came out around the same time but... the Maglite exploded on the scene like an atomic bomb where that SureFire light was seen as an expensive novelty.

Laser Products developed a light that was called "the Sure Fire". They got so many enquiries looking for a SureFire flashlight (not Laser Products flashlight) that the company name was changed a few years down the road. There was a Laser Products SureFire, later called the Laser Products 6, a Laser Products 6C, then Laser Products 6P. Believe it or not all 3 were discontinued along the way then later we saw the SureFire 6P (with a contreversal anti-roll head critics said would never catch on).

 

[LiftdT4R]

I thought Laser Products didn't start making flash lights until around 88 or so? I've seen a few original 6s here and there. They're the ones without the tail switch, they're just twisties. Pretty cool! I tried to buy one but the owner isn't looking to sell yet.

 

[xxo]

According to SF's FB timeline: the first product offered was an integral laser for the Colt Trooper .357 revolver in 1979 and the first flashlights running on "Duracell DR123 batteries" came out in 1988.


https://www.facebook.com/notes/surefire-llc/surefire-timeline/146795805372775/

 

[bykfixer]

Laser Products began with lasers, but Dr. John Matthews was also dabbling into other areas of personal protection devices including flashlights. Most of the early ideas never came to fruition. Now, the original flashlights were perfected by the late 1980's, but the ideas behind them go back to the early days. By '93 he had decided to focus on developing some of the early ideas, again many never going into full fledged production.

PK is famous for his work with advancement of flashlights but was also helping in other areas that he has just now begun to resume as a consultant to other companies. Hearing protection and noise surpressors and things like that.

 

[xxo]

When did the CR123 cell come out?