cwp3420

They did work well. I carried a 6 cell C cell light. It was like carrying a baseball bat.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

I couldn't afford the extra battery without more overtime!

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

I often used a flashlight to do my talking as well, especially if I felt threatened. Worked great. We were stopped from using Kel-Lights because the stupid public started calling them K**l Lights. So we purchased Maglights which worked just as well. Only the name was changed and the public was satisfied.

Dennis

hondo812 Loc: Massachusetts

Sure Dave....keep it up and someone is going to lay a charge of civility on you!

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Careful now! I'm just a simple hostage trying to survive. Half right anyway.

hondo812 Loc: Massachusetts

Never heard of a Kel-light Dennis. So, I looked it up and found this. It seems people will collect just about anything and this former Trooper collects Kel-Lights. Have a gander, plenty of pix. Just do me a favor. How does one use this "Argus Claw" thing? It looks professionally unpleasant....

http://kellite911.blogspot.com/

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

Kel-lite was the benchmark for LE flashlights beginning roughly in the early 70's, to be followed by Maglite in the late 70's.

hondo812 Loc: Massachusetts

I was 10 in 1970. I was lucky to get the free flashlight from Radio Shack using their X-mas c**pon. Besides, back then, and being here in Massachusetts, the message was Cops are bad, drug addicts are bad, basically everyone that is an adult with the exception of your parents and teacher....bad, bad, bad. Except for soldiers. TV bombarded kids my age daily on the merits of being a soldier..Rat Patrol, Hogans Heroes, etc, etc. There were a ton of those shows.

Then there was the girl thing....miniskirts and cleavage one year, maxiskirts and cowl necks the next. Things didn't start getting interesting again until near the end of the decade and by then you could get a Mag Light....

Angmo

Remember all the great music coming from the 60s and 70s. Makes a lot since the 80s sound like bubblegum music.

DaveO Loc: Northeast CT

LOL, all in the name of progress!

In 1970 a was a sergeant in the USMC, had a brand new Roadrunner and an attitude that was less than caring.

Now I'm older...

Elaine2025 Loc: Seattle, Wa

dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho

WOW!!! That is quite a collection of Kel-lights and other assorted memorabilia. Thanks for posting the photos. I have never actually seen the Argus Claw. I thought there had been a photo of one in my 1939 Shooter's Bible reprint along with a description but there wasn't. I have seen it advertised in an old catalog I have somewhere but I have so much reference material I wouldn't have a clue where to look. Of course there is the Internet.

My guess is you would hold onto the handle and pull back with your fingers to open the claw. Then you could place it on the wrist of the suspect and have leverage to control him. Of course, from personal experience, if the suspect isn't cooperating, getting that claw on the wrist of someone moving around, as in a street fight, won't be an easy task. Even with it applied the suspect has the other hand to swing with. My thinking is that is the reason I never saw one used in the 70's nor ever heard of one being used.

An Internet search brought up lots of info and photos of the Argus Claw. This is just the first one.

The Argus "Iron Claw" is one of my favorite restraints. Invented by
Yngve Smith-Stange in 1931 this clever come along was a favorite of
U.S. law enforcement for over thirty years and has won a place in most
handcuff collections throughout the world. It is one of the few
mechanical nippers that held up under both use and abuse. In the
original patent description (see below) Mr. Strange suggests that the
"Iron Claw" could even be used as a "striking weapon".


The "Iron Claw" (IC) was popular because of it's reliability and ease of
application. Even when the finish was weathered and warn the IC would
work as advertised. The application was fairly easy as well. In one move
the IC could be pulled from it's belt holster, opened, placed on the bad
guy's wrist, and with a quick turn of the T-handle, secured. A couple of
turns of the threaded locking sleeve and the prisoner was ready to
t***sport.

The "Iron Claw" was manufactured by Argus Manufacturing in Chicago,
IL. ( I found an address of 1134-44 N. Kilburn Ave. but have not confirmed
that it is the same company) Shortly after the IC hit the streets, it
became apparent there was a minor problem in it's initial design. The
locking teeth that allow the jaws to ratchet open were exposed and very
sharp. When officers began to complain that they were being nicked and
cut by the teeth, the inventor, Yngve Smith-Stange, designed and
patented a sleeve to cover the teeth in 1935 which fixed the problem .

Tens of thousands of IC's were produced by Argus under the two patent
numbers. It is not know when Argus (Chicago) stopped producing the IC
but in about 1960 the IC manufacturer changed . The new manufacture
was Argus-Jay Pee. The new name stamped on the side was now
Argus-Jay Pee, New York and the reverse side was stamped Made in
Taiwan. Although the new version was still the same design and patent
numbers there is a slight difference in the jaws and the triangular
housing above the jaws. The finish on the Taiwan IC is also much
brighter, probably chrome rather than the earlier nickel compound. It has
been suggested that fewer than ten thousand of the Taiwan IC's were
produced which would make them fairly uncommon.

Dennis