coastrider: Cold War NATO USA and French Army Torches

There are some things I think are great designs when it comes to military things and the right angled torch - or Flashlight if your in the USA is one of these designs, so good in fact there still made today...

Originally metal and brass these were made by Fulton USA and Allied Paratroopers were issued with them... a two stage switch allows morse code or full on lighting options...

Here is a reproduction of the original design which is available for £30 from Soldier Of Fortune here in the UK for Re enactment purposes or collectors if you cannot source an original at a realistic price - WW2 stuff prices has went through the roof nowadays - too much to consider esp if buying online...

But like the Hotchkiss Willys Jeep there are are a lot of WW2 designs that were improved on and here are a couple of examples with a 1970`s Fulton right angle torch and a French marked item I recently bought for £20 each on eBay after many out bidder attempts to get these variants...

The Fulton USA is stamped type TL - 122 U and models ran from A - U and is a post 1973 or so as like the Vietnam era these torches are now hard plastic with a light switch guard to stop accidentally switch on the tech when hanging on clothing on in a pocket etc..

I am unsure of the age of the French torch which is stamped as a type TL 1220

But it is identical to the Fulton so probably manufactured in France under licence for the French Military...

Both torches are identical with all parts interchangeable and have interchangeable colour lenses along with some other added neat features...

While the French torch does not have the switch guard it is also does not have the swing down handle for hanging the torch or added a lanyard...

The French torch has French writing on the base...

Both torches have a belt clip on the back and reming the end caps reveal coloured blue, red and a white Defuser lens, along with a spare bulb held captive under the battery spring...

Now the best bit - modern technology brings these torches up to date with LED kits that do two things - brighter light obviously but also converters to get rid of the real heavy D2 batteries for two AA batteries in plastic holders that reduces the weight by nearly 50% !

Now the not so good news! - Fulton USA do not have a UK importer, and I only found out about these through watching YouTube films on these torches and so I emailed Fulton USA and they emailed back within a few days to say that while they do not export overseas they gave me a link to a Distributor of there products in the USA who did - www.opticscamp.com

But while the LED kits were on $19.45 a set overseas postage from USA was going to be £60...

I thought about it a while then thought if i'm buying two kits that in reality its £30 postage per kit, and I was buying this out my Work Xmas Bonus money so what the heck!...

They arrived 2 weeks later and I soon had one of the packs opened and a rich dismantled - you can see here the original D2 batteries are wrapped in some sniper tape?, that wa to stop them rattling...

I swapped the bulb for the supplied LED bulb...

Then fitted the AA batteries into the two holders...

Will just leave a stock spare bulb in the spare bulb holder for now...

And check out the difference! below the yellowish stock bulb, in a quite heavy torch...

And now in LED - BOOM! amazing difference and the torch now weighs near nothing!

So what a result - well worth that £60 postage from USA, and picking the torches up it feels like there is no batteries in them they are that light...

Here are the filter lenses supplied including the white defuser filter lenses...

The white defuser light is particularly useful for reading as it reduces all the glare from the full beam...

with out the white defuser lenses...

Using the white defuser lenses

So with he French made torch I watch a YouTube film about them where the guys describes them as the Hotchkiss of the Army torch world - well that's pretty cool seeing as I have a Hotchkiss Willys Jeep! so I made some mounts to carry it on the Jeep...

I drilled some holes having marked them and riveted on two stainless 45 mm tool clips...