Cops and the military get all the coolest toys. Hopped up with the latest gadgetry. For instance, they don't just have binoculars. They have laser rangefinder binoculars. Everything is designed to be multipurpose. And to double as a weapon. (i.e. the Official Navy SEAL Can Opener/Death Dart.)

So when they need something as simple as a flashlight, you can bet it's gonna be the baddest-ass flashlight you can own.

Brite-Strike Technologies makes a line of military spec flashlights - or "Tactical Illumination Tools" - designed by police officers for police officers. Their Blue-Dot series flashlights are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand (3.5" and 5"), yet pack up to 90 lumens of pure white light. I'm no doctor of ophthalmology, but they tell me that's bright enough to temporarily blind and disorient an attacker. So bright that Blue-Dots come with a printed warning telling users to not allow children to use them alone and not to shine the light into an attacker's eyes for more than two seconds or permanent damage may occur. Makes using it to check behind the couch for your keys seem kinda boring.

The Blue-Dot is milled from a solid bar of aircraft grade aluminum for incredible strength, and is also waterproof and shockproof. There's a low light setting, so you're not blasting light when you're just looking around the basement.

The Blue-Dot's front and rear tri-strike-crowns are designed to be used on pressure points while using self defense. Which you won't be doing, unless you are a cop. The Blue-Dot isn't available to the general public. For obvious reasons. But their Protector series is. They have the same specs as the Blue-Dot, but don't have the rear tri-strike-crown, and the light only goes up to 80 lumens. No big deal. Not quite as bad-ass as the police version, but chances are you won't be needing it the same way they will.

$80 and $100 for the Protector series
www.brite-strike.com