Hi all. I just wanted to bring another flashlight to your attention. It has LEDs in front, like a normal flashlight, and also has a row or two of LEDs down the side of the body, to use as a floodlight.

Bayco Nightstick

I've never seen one up close, though it sounds interesting for working on your car or bike. No cord to get in the way.

- Dave

I wonder if they will make one with coloured LEDs for directing traffic too.

I don't know if it is true, but I would bet more cops get run over by bad drivers at accident scenes than get shot by criminals.

Interesting. I didn't see anything at there site as to length, weight, etc. Bad as it might sound to some, many/most LEO's like a light with some length and weight. Why, some might ask? Because when a badguy you are talking at oh-dark-thirty suddenly rushes you, the fastest, easiest way to handle the situation is to konk him/her on the noggin' with the flashlight you already have in your hand. A short, lightweight, flashlight, no matter how nice a light it might be, won't faze a determined BG...

That was the original selling point of the Mag-lite. They were not intended as backpacker specials.

It would be nice to know just how bright this is because the other point about the Mag-lite was that it would pretty much blind anybody if you shone it at their face.
It is hard for the bad guy to respond effectively when he can not see you.

Yup, typical technique was to hold the beam a little low to allow a clear look at their face without blinding them and keeping it all friendly. Positioning yourself so the light illuminates your face allows people to see your reassuring smile and tends to calm people. At the first sign of possible resistance you pull your body back and raise the beam to blind them and limit their options. Follow with calming them and some reassurance to deescalate and few questions to determine why they are stressed. If they get froggy they get the back end of the four-D-cell Mag gently buy firmly applied to the soft target deemed most appropriate. It is a sound strategy.

Most police departments no longer allow the carrying of large flashlights because of their possible, and sometimes actual, overuse as a weapon. Homeowners and individual citizens are not so burdened. Just be aware that use of force has to be a last resort in response to a clear and present threat to life and limb. That any serious use of force will likely be second guessed by others who will be wearing suits and sitting in an air conditioned jury room. Act accordingly.

"...That was the original selling point of the Mag-lite..."

And before that the Kel-Lite. Many of those put knurling marks on the top of a badguys noggin'...

"...a certain % of State/Highway Police Officers are killed while handing out citations on the side of the road when they are struck by vehicles..."

I have no idea that the % is, but it will be high. Much more dangerous than bullets and knives.

For traffic control, years ago a guy I worked with had a girlfriend who worked at a plastic factory, she got him sheets of a light blue plastic. He would cut out replacement lenses for our flashlights, that blue worked great at night. Drivers see lots of white, red, and amber lights, the blue just jumped out and grabbed their attention...

Here in Alberta all the cop cars use blue flashing lights. It is against the law for anybody else to have them
I think that is the standard in a lot of places now.
Yes blue stands out very well.
It is also the easiest to see in fog, snow or rain.

Our RCMP want you to pull as far off the road as you can, then they try to keep their car at least partly on the pavement, this is to shield them from traffic a bit as they do their job.
Officers still get run over and killed.

"...cop cars use blue flashing lights..."

Same in Calif., only law enforcement vehicles can have blue lights, but they only supplement the required steady burning red light to the front, that is required of all emergency vehicles in the state. Blue is really an attention getter at night...

We still carry the "impact weapon of opportunity," as it is described in recert every year..."in case one doesn't have time to draw one's baton."

"... car at least partly on the pavement, this is to shield them from traffic..."

We used to do that, officers still got picked off by passing traffic (I have had big rigs actually brush my fanny as they went by at 55++ mph). Then we got smart and started walking up on the passenger side of the violators vehicle, staying away from the traffic completely. Muchomore safe that way. Officers (and violators) still get run over, but not nearly as many...

I have watched a trooper "accidentally" drop his citation forms holder into traffic. Did one heck of a number on the windshield of that car.


Edit: This was in the days before dash cam's.

Used to be in Ontario, Canada that the blue lights were only for Snow Plows. It was comforting to see that small blue flashing light up ahead as it meant the road was freshly plowed and if you kept the light in view you were usually not going to run off the road.

Not sure what they use now.

At the moment the plows still run with flashing blue.
Police are switching to a combination of blue and red lights.

http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_90h08_e.htm

Flashing blue light on snow-removal equipment

(31) No person shall, while operating a road service vehicle on a highway, plow, salt or de-ice the highway or apply chemicals or abrasives to the highway for snow or ice control unless the road service vehicle is equipped with a lamp producing intermittent flashes of blue light visible for a distance of 150 metres from all directions. 1996, c. 33, s. 11.

Restriction on use of flashing blue light

(32) No person shall operate a lamp that produces intermittent flashes of blue light on a highway except,

(a) a person operating a road service vehicle in the circumstances described in subsection (31); or

(b) a person operating a police department vehicle, together with a lamp that produces intermittent flashes of red light, as permitted by subsection (14.1). 2007, c. 13, s. 17 (8).

Red and blue lights to the front restricted

(14.1) In addition to the lighting requirements in this Part, a police department vehicle may carry lamps that cast red and blue lights, but no other motor vehicle shall carry any lamp that casts red and blue lights to the front. 2007, c. 13, s. 17 (2).

i recall a public service ad on Canadian TV to keep back from the blue light..when you pulled up too close a cartoon guy opened fire like a tail gunner..

Yeah, if they are dispensing sand/salt it will do a number on the front of a car. I was young and didn't know this. After I bought a new windshield and headlight assemblies for the Honda Accord I had at the time, I had a monetary reminder to never for get. Like driving behind a sand blaster.

Mags may have had their day, but outside of doubling as weapons, they are poor choices for flashlights these days. They lose on weight, efficiency, and most importantly, output. I have a fleet of mags, and they're there for light, but mainly for their other capabilities. I did swap out the bulbs for the Terralux inserts and they do perform better, but not on par with smaller lights with real heatsinks and MUCH better efficiency and output.

I'm not eager t part with mine just yet as they have another purpose. But if it is really light I seek, mags aren't the first things I grab.