# rechargeable light to mount in police car



## traci (Jun 2, 2010)

My department is considering permanantly mounting a light in a charger in every police car. Besides the standard sl-20 and mag lite is there anything else we should consider? This will have to be a factory set up with no mods.


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## parnass (Jun 2, 2010)

Consider the 200-lumen Inova T4-MP. It has 2 brightness levels and a disorienting strobe function.

The battery charges while inside the flashlight. The charging cradle can be operated in the car or from home AC wiring and both adapters are included.

I recharge the battery at home and get almost 2 hours of continuous service at the high power level per charge.

The T4-MP is my main light for nightly walks on unlit country roads.

See this web page: http://www.inovalight.com/t/t4.php


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## keafaraya (Jun 2, 2010)

But 2 hours service is somewhat short for me！My work need long！


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## BIGLOU (Jun 2, 2010)

Just my 2 cents but what about the Pelican 8060 http://www.pelican.com/lights_detail.php?recordID=8060 it's not a lot of horsepower (lumens) but it has good throw. One of my partners has one. Also the http://www.pelican.com/lights_detail.php?recordID=7060 is smaller and this is the flashlight LAPD went with after one of there officers whacked someone with there SL20 on national TV.


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## Chrontius (Jun 2, 2010)

Inova T4
5.11 Light for Life, at least two variants and four software configurations.
Pelican LAPD lights, I think there's two now.
Surefire 10X Dominator
(Surefire's oooold 9N would qualify, were it not discontinued - modern models lost the cradle charging feature)

Sorry it took so long to get back to you, we lost power and I could take the collection out and play. 

If you want to know what's best, well, that's hard to say. What factors are most important? Overall brightness? Reaching out over loooong distances? Runtime? Simplicity?


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## jhc37013 (Jun 3, 2010)

I always like the T4 and I used one of the older ones pre-2008 model, the Pelican looks good to.


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## traci (Jun 3, 2010)

Keep the ideas coming. 

Two hours is plenty of run time, most of us carry a maglite or sl20 now.

Almost every officer carries a small light on their belt, it may be a small surefire, a larger 8x, or a sl stinger. This light would need more light and more throw. As long as throw was at least equal to maglite or sl20 it would be fine.


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## Cataract (Jun 3, 2010)

Streamlight Strion is made just for that. Just screw the 12V charger somewhere in the car and plug it in... 
Good light, plenty bright, and it's made for LEOs.


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## march.brown (Jun 3, 2010)

keafaraya said:


> But 2 hours service is somewhat short for me！My work need long！


 Each time you get back into the car , put the torch back in the charging cradle to top up the battery.
.


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## Chrontius (Jun 3, 2010)

The 5.11 Light for Life doesn't strictly meet your runtime requirements, but it can be *fully charged* from flat dead in 90 seconds, and topped up in rather less. 

a Magcharger with a 700 lumen LED dropin would be pretty nuts-bright, and just about as bulletproof as the stock Magcharger. At full blast, it'll match the 1 hour of the stock Magcharger, but new models have a couple other modes - half the light at double the runtime, and 15% (about 100 lumens) for eight hours - plenty for running a traffic wand judging by stock Maglites doing same, and way more than you need (or really want) to read a document or write a ticket. At the lowest setting, that Magcharger upgrade is brighter than some older duty lights I've seen/owned at full burn.

The Strion pushes about 115 lumens, but has a stated runtime of 70 minutes. Good, but it's really a belt light at heart. The Strion LED may do it, at 2 hours on high (with brightness modes to stretch your battery) it should last long enough for you (and I don't think traffic wands need more than the 40 lumen low; that's 7.5 hours). They also make a Turbohead version of the LED strion, this outsized reflector gives the light a lot more reach-out-and-touch-someone ("throw" around here) for a given brightness. 

The 10X is the brightest of the stock lights I've mentioned; it runs for three hours on low (60 lumens, on par with those small surefires your fellow officers carry on their belt) and 20 minutes of retina-searing 500 lumen high, on par with Surefire's brightest special forces lights (in both runtime and output). It may also be the best, simplest choice - the head twists to turn on the low beam, further, the high beam comes on. If it's on low, you can just mash the momentary button on the back to get full blast. Anyone should catch on inside of a minute or so, and I don't know how simple the Strion LED and Magcharger upgrades are to operate. The T4 and Light for Life have something intermediately complicated between those two extremes - but if you can manage click and double-click with a mouse, you should get the hang of it in a few minutes (but muscle memory will take a little longer). I can't speak to the UI on the Pelican products, as I have no idea how they work.


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## BIGLOU (Jun 3, 2010)

traci. I forgot to mention if it's just an upgrade you are looking for keep the SL20X and upgrade to the Terralux TLE-110S. I dont have this yet but the single mode is 600 lumens. Here is the Terralux website link http://www.terraluxcorp.com/terralux/Products/Portable/Upgrades/TLE110S/tabid/129/Default.aspx
I think its cheaper to get from Battery Junction though plus we get our CPF discount.


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## cityevader (Jun 3, 2010)

traci said:


> My department is considering permanantly mounting a light in a charger in every police car.


 
I wouldn't want my flashlight permanently mounted inside me car.:candle:


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## Brigadier (Jun 3, 2010)

Chrontius said:


> The 5.11 Light for Life doesn't strictly meet your runtime requirements, but it can be *fully charged* from flat dead in 90 seconds, and topped up in rather less.


 
I use one as my house flashlight - available centrally located for the family to grab and use. 90 lumens for 1 hr, then 20 lumens for another hour. During the first hour of runtime, the high of 270 lumens is available by holding the button down. There is also a strobe function.

The reason I chose this light is the lack of batteries. Nothing to worry about diminishing over time. AND it does recharge in under 90 seconds.


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## dano (Jun 3, 2010)

Besides the light, I'd think about mounting options/locations and charging cradle designs. 

Anything that's mounted inside a patrol vehicle is a hazard during vehicle collisions. The hazard can be mitigated through good design and mountings, but never totally eliminated.


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## Mike 208 (Jun 3, 2010)

You might want to look at one of the Streamlight LED Stinger lights (I believe there are currently 5 LED Stinger models to choose from, with different outputs, lengths, etc.)


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## Kremer (Jun 4, 2010)

Tigerlights were made for police work:
-available as LED or incan.
-with or without pepper spray capability.
-12v and 120v mountable chargers.
-belt holster and many other accessories available.


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## Howecollc (Jun 5, 2010)

traci said:


> Keep the ideas coming.
> As long as throw was at least equal to maglite or sl20 it would be fine.


Unless your department is willing to spend $500 each on a Surefire 10X Dominator, you're not going to find a non-modded rechargeable light that's going to beat a MagCharger or SL-20 for throw.


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## Kremer (Jun 5, 2010)

Howecollc said:


> Unless your department is willing to spend $500 each on a Surefire 10X Dominator, you're not going to find a non-modded rechargeable light that's going to beat a MagCharger or SL-20 for throw.



The Tigerlight incan will.


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## Howecollc (Jun 6, 2010)

Kremer said:


> The Tigerlight incan will.


So I just spent over an hour reading about the TigerLight Series II. Admittedly, I had never paid the TigerLights any attention, as I’m about as interested in a flashlight with pepper spray attached to it as I am in a light with a built-in air compressor and FM radio. However, after checking it out and finding that you can remove all the extra length required to accommodate the spray, I’ll concede that it does look like a pretty nice 2D length rechargeable light. Based on opinions of CPF members, the standard 275 lumen lamp assembly matches the MagCharger in throw and bests it in total output. I imagine the 375 lumen upgrade lamp would come even closer to the performance of the Surefire 10X Dominator. Maybe the OP should check it out.

-Here’s a post of *Kremer's* which shows what the light looks like in “shortened mode”.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2698812&postcount=37

-Here’s a very informative link as well.
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/140013


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## ANDREAS FERRARI (Jun 6, 2010)

Howecollc said:


> .....you're not going to find a non-modded rechargeable light that's going to beat a MagCharger.......for throw.





Kremer said:


> The Tigerlight incan will.




A rechargeable incan that can throw in the same league as a MagCharger?????

Where have I been for the last 2 years?I need to do more reading.If you mod it can it beat Northern Lights beast? 

I wonder how many LEO's need to spot a criminal a half-a-mile away!!!


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## cityevader (Jun 6, 2010)

Howecollc said:


> -Here’s a post of *Kremer's* which shows what the light looks like in “shortened mode”.
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2698812&postcount=37
> 
> -Here’s a very informative link as well.
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/140013


 

Sorry for off topic, but how do you link to a single page within a thread? I've tried to figure it out but not smart enough.


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## Squishy (Jun 6, 2010)

The post number contains the link for you to do that, at the upper right corner next to the report icon.

Just copy the URL from that:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3409425&postcount=21


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## cityevader (Jun 6, 2010)

Sweet!
So many things to overlook.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/3409433&postcount=22

it works!


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## Squishy (Jun 6, 2010)

Since all officers already carry lights on their belt, is a 12 V spotlight outside of the requirements?

Or is this meant to be more of the tactical alternative to your belt light, kind of like the assault rifle in the trunk idea?


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## traci (Jun 8, 2010)

I looked at the strion LED HP (not in person) and it looks like it might work pretty good for my needs. Does anyone have experience with how this compares to magcharger or sl20?


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## JAS (Jun 9, 2010)

*Rechargeable Light To Mount In Police Car*

Traci,

Brother officer here. I have experience with most of the lights that have been mentioned. One other thing that might be worthy of consideration is what lights the officers personally own. Are there more Stingers, for example? The reason I bring that up is if you have officers that already have Streamlight Stingers, there is a lot to be said for having a vehicle mounted charger that will charge the departmental light as well as personal lights. Our county shop mounted a Streamlight Stinger charger in my unmarked, so I use it and often keep a second Stinger in the car and swap them in the charger from time to time.

And, as long as I am up on my soap box, there are two other things worth mentioning. Get a traffic wand made for the light and keep it in every squad. I have seen way too many coppers trying to direct traffic with just a flashlight. It isn't safe.

The other thing is have a good traffic vest. I actually like the LED traffic vest, but whatever you get, make sure it is effective in the daytime and in darkness. (Off my soapbox now.)

Jim


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## Rocketman (Jun 9, 2010)

Streamlight Stinger LED or Polystinger LED. I recommend the regular (not fast) piggyback charger. The Strion LED is also nice but not quite as bright and perhaps too small. I use my Polystinger LED every day in my prison.


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## bnemmie (Jun 12, 2010)

I have the Pelican 8060 mouted in my truck. 6 hours of runtime at almost 200 lumens. Works well for me. I keep a pack of 'C' batts in my glovebox in case I cant recharge it, for 11 more hours of runtime. Its a tough light that has never let me down. And its still heavy enough to use as a weapon of opportunity or impact weapon. 

I also have an Inova T4-MP I keep mainly on my belt or in my vest. Mainly because it is smaller and has two brightness settings. I find that when my eyes are adapted to the darkness I dont always need 200 lumens for close up work. 

Just my .2. Hope it helps.


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## Geddinight (Jul 12, 2011)

traci, I am breathing life back into this thread. I am wondering what light your department went with? Many good choices listed here so far.


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## ericjohn (Jul 12, 2011)

If no one else has mentioned it before, I would suggest the Mag Charger. Many cop cars in the US I'm sure are already equipped with one, I wish I had one but can't afford it.

The reason why I suggest it is because it is super bright, very durable, and can be used as a night stick if need be.


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## s2ftw (Jul 12, 2011)

Fenix TK70 is about to be released

2000lumens, good run time, possibly usable as a baton (may some deity help the poor souls meeting a 4D flashlight)


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## 1hawaii50 (Jul 14, 2011)

I know this is an old thread, but I have a charger for my Streamlight Ultra-Stinger mounted in my cruiser.


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