Equipment that you were issued/used in the past

[TheNewbie]

I thought it would be fun to make a thread where we could discuss equipment that we were issued and/or used on regular basis in our past. The kind of equipment that is less common today, and is seldom, if ever, issued anymore. Anyone is welcome to post, this isn't just for LE or military. Lawyers, teachers, construction, IT, doctors, etc.


For me VHS tapes (always carry a second one in case the one in the camera system stops working), DAK P226 in .357 Sig, Colt SP1, Crown Vic, old school maglite. No computers in the car was nice in that you had plenty of extra room.

[JTQ]

I was issued a Palm Pilot about 20 years ago. I was a USAF guy in a USN training squadron, but I was a department head, so they gave me one. It must have been some extra money they had and thought this was going to be the wave of the future.

I was more concerned about losing or damaging it and having to pay for it, to ever spend any time figuring out how it worked. Even today, I'm more of a pen and paper guy. I don't think we had them for even a year, when they determined it was time to collect them all up.

[JTQ]

... Crown Vic, ...

My current personal car is a Mercury Grand Marquis.

The car color is listed as "Birch". Depending on how the sun hits it, it could look silver or tan, which makes it a little awkward when describing it to a AAA responder or at the pick up line at the restaurant.

[MD7305]

Polaroid cameras. I was issued a Polaroid camera to take crash/scene pictures. Also 35mm cameras that we would send our film off to the state lab for developing. Now, we use a department issued cell phone and directly upload pics onto the report we also complete on our phone.

[BN]

PR-24.

[AMC]

A S&W Model 28 Highway Patrolman in a Hoyt Breakfront holster. Two HKS speedloaders. Mace. A pair of Peerless cuffs. 26 inches of hickory shampoo. A Bright Star M1626 flashlight (hadda be like 12-13 lumens).

Cars were anything from Crown Vics to Chevy Maibus....plus a few Astro Van's. All were dinged to hell, had upholstery missing, and steering wheels that looked like the guy who drove it before you had used it as a teething ring. Computers in cars were the old analog green screen jobs that would literally crash if you ran anybody with a Hispanic name. And yet, police work still got done.

The only thing I miss is that Model 28. I still kick myself that I didn't buy it when I had the chance.

[Darth_Uno]

The kind of equipment that is less common today, and is seldom, if ever, issued anymore

1911's.

In construction, there hasn't been a whole lot of changes in 25 years. The biggest thing is just more energy efficient materials, and a lot of corded or air-powered tools are going to battery. They don't yet have a powersaw or framing gun that can keep up all day long, but I bet we'll be there in 5 years.

[LtDave]

Convertable radios where you could unplug the portable from a holder on the dash to carry it while you were out of the car. On return, you reinstalled it in the holder and you had a functioning vehicle radio. We had ones made by RCA. Searched for a photo of the RCA vehicle mount but came up empty. Here is one that worked in a similar fashion to the RCA model:



The RCA portable:

[John Hearne]

The Streamlight SL-35. Could get through tint back in the day.

[LtDave]

The Streamlight SL-35. Could get through tint back in the day.

The original SL-20 Streamlight. Bulbs would self destruct if you looked at them funny. I was originally issued a plastic flashlight that used 2 D Cell batteries.