The flashlights of Millennium

[Guest Watts]

I present to you here the three most common flashlights seen throughout all 3 seasons of "Millennium".

The first light here is the tried and true old school MagLite, 3 'D' Cell flashlight. These large (approx. 12 11/32" or 313mm) lights have been standard issue to law enforcement agencies the world over for 30 years. Nothing fancy and gets the job done.

The second light is the Streamlight 'Scorpion'. A popular little light that measures just under 5" in length. It puts out 78 Lumens and runs on 2 '123' 3 volt Lithium batteries. It features an overmoulded rubber grip. Frank is seen with one of these on more than one occasion. it also happens to be the preferred torch of Gil Grissom on 'CSI'.

The third light is far and away the most popular tactical flashlight on earth. The SureFire 6P Original. When these debuted in the 1980's they were immediately issued to the U.S. Secret Service. This small light comes in at 5.2" in length and puts out a good 65/120 Lumens of light from the two 3 volt '123' Lithium battery power source. These lights were used by almost everyone in 'Millennium', Frank, Peter and very prominently by Agent Hollis as well as other FBI agents.

You'd be hard pressed to find an FBI agent, police officer, corrections officer or member of the military who doesn't have a SureFire. (I have 3!)

Coming soon: The Guns of Millennium.

Edited November 25, 2012 by The Old Man
Photos of products restored to preserve article and url links added.

[Guest RodimusBen]

We use mag-lites at my job for night events. Always joke about being able to take out an attacker with the back end of one. Those suckers are heavy.

[The Old Man]

Brilliant article, thanks Jared!

[Guest Watts]

Thanks! It was half a joke but since I'm kind of a flashlight junkie I notice these things! Just like guns, I can't sit through a movie with out going "That's a model such and such" and critiquing the awful way actors wave guns around.

[Guest SouthernCelt]

Thanks! It was half a joke but since I'm kind of a flashlight junkie I notice these things! Just like guns, I can't sit through a movie with out going "That's a model such and such" and critiquing the awful way actors wave guns around.

Since I'm a rural resident a good flashlight or 6 is a must-have. I prefer either the 3 or 4 cell Maglite because they use the standard D cells that can be purchased most anywhere. And yes, they make good clubs in the rare situation where such is needed. I've tried some of the high candlepower rechargeable lantern styles but the rechargeable batteries seem to die after about a year or so of frequent recharging plus many of them are sealed so that the battery can't be replaced by the owner. Right now I have both a 3 and a 4 cell Maglite handy for quick retrieval if I need to check on a visiting wild creature stirring up the canine population. Plus I've got an older 6 cell Maglite I keep in my truck. It's really bright but it's so long in order to house the 6 cells that it's like carrying a heavy pole. I also have a couple of the smaller "penlight" type Maglites with either AA or AAA batteries for quick lighting in tight places.

On the matter of guns, I'm somewhat the same as you in critiqueing actors gun-handling training, or lack thereof, especially with handguns. At least most of the shows like "Criminal Minds" do apparently teach the actors the proper grips (two-handed most of the time) and the proper orientation to carry the gun in when drawn for use in clearing a building. Of course a lot of the shows still don't worry much about bullet capacity vs. shots fired in a scene unless that element is critical to the plot, particularly with full-auto since most full-auto machine guns/pistols can empty a magazine in 2 to 3 seconds. Most of the time they just keep on spraying lead w/o ever changing mags, so much in fact that a real person would be hard pressed to carry that much ammo and still be agile. Stargate SG-1 was probably the worst in this regard since they never seemed to change mags.

[Beerbelch]

Since I'm a rural resident a good flashlight or 6 is a must-have. I prefer either the 3 or 4 cell Maglite because they use the standard D cells that can be purchased most anywhere. And yes, they make good clubs in the rare situation where such is needed. I've tried some of the high candlepower rechargeable lantern styles but the rechargeable batteries seem to die after about a year or so of frequent recharging plus many of them are sealed so that the battery can't be replaced by the owner. Right now I have both a 3 and a 4 cell Maglite handy for quick retrieval if I need to check on a visiting wild creature stirring up the canine population. Plus I've got an older 6 cell Maglite I keep in my truck. It's really bright but it's so long in order to house the 6 cells that it's like carrying a heavy pole. I also have a couple of the smaller "penlight" type Maglites with either AA or AAA batteries for quick lighting in tight places.

On the matter of guns, I'm somewhat the same as you in critiqueing actors gun-handling training, or lack thereof, especially with handguns. At least most of the shows like "Criminal Minds" do apparently teach the actors the proper grips (two-handed most of the time) and the proper orientation to carry the gun in when drawn for use in clearing a building. Of course a lot of the shows still don't worry much about bullet capacity vs. shots fired in a scene unless that element is critical to the plot, particularly with full-auto since most full-auto machine guns/pistols can empty a magazine in 2 to 3 seconds. Most of the time they just keep on spraying lead w/o ever changing mags, so much in fact that a real person would be hard pressed to carry that much ammo and still be agile. Stargate SG-1 was probably the worst in this regard since they never seemed to change mags.

BEER----> That's Hollywood for ya.

BELCH

[Guest Watts]

I always love it (or hate it rather) when an actor flinches when they fire their weapon as if they have the palsy. Mel Gibson being the worst offender. His weapon control is among the most atrocious I've ever seen on film. He's always sweeping people with the muzzle, pointing the gun right at people and his finger is always on the trigger.

Hollywood has given the world every single misconception there is about firearms.

They've shown us that guns have unlimited capacity, bullets can penetrate anything, bullets can blow up cars, you don't have to aim, there's no such thing as recoil/muzzle flip and one of my favorites, bullets producing showering sparks when they impact and/or ricochet. How exactly does a non-ferrous copper jacketed lead core bullet produce a spark???

Jeez...

[HighPlainsDrifter]

I own a maglite featured in the first picture and I love it.

[Guest Watts]

Before MagLite there were KelLite's which were almost identical and I see those all the time in films from the late '70's to early '80's. My dad wrapped one or 2 around some bad guys heads.

[Guest tjmasiakowski]

Neat thing to have in your bag on in a backpack wherever you go. Thanks for sharing! I'm actually looking for a good flashlight to get my hands on.