Tru Grit Lights

Tru Grit was a short lived, early competitor of Kel-Lite. I say competitor but actually they knocked off Kel-Lite's design and infringed on several of their patents. During Kel-Lite's early days many issues halted production leaving a shortage of supply and an increasingly high demand as Don Keller recruited police officers around the country to help grow his business. This pent up demand is what led New Products Development Company, a machine shop in Cleveland, OH, to copy Don's design and issue their own light, the Tru Grit light. Check out my post about Gem-Lites for another early Kel-Lite knock off.

The Tru Grit light did offer one twist though, no pun intended. The barrels were actually comprised of several threaded segments so a user could add or subtract cells as needed. The light could go from a 2 cell all the way up to a 7 cell. The correct PR bulb would need to be installed pending the change in cell size. Shown below is a Tru Grit light in segments.

This particular Tru Grit light is extremely rare. It is anodized gold and was one of only one of a handful done for a machine shop / steel processor, Guild International, in nearby Columbus, OH. The majority of these lights were sold to first responders and were done in black as were most early aluminum lights. This light also had very heavy corrosion from a battery that was left for far too long in the light. It was next to impossible to get apart and it had some damage from a previous attempt. I used the steps found in my stuck end cap post to get it apart and back into working order.

As far as I know all Tru Grit lights were D cells. Unlike other D cell lights that were made from aluminum irrigation pipe this light appears to have been manufactured from aluminum bar stock because the head is actually part of the barrel. The barrel is also much much thicker than other lights that were made from irrigation pipe. These lights also had about the heaviest knurling I've seen out of all the lights I've worked on. I like it! I can see though how this would wear out a holster pretty quick.

Tru Grit was only around from approximately 1970 until 1972. In the end it was not Don Keller who sued them for copyright violations but rather John Wayne. John Wayne, and now his estate, have always been very protective of their trademarks and this was no exception. John Wayne's movie, True Grit, had only come out a couple of years prior and he was none too happy about New Products Company infringing on his success. Rather than change the name Tru Grit closed as they weren't very profitable as Kel-Lite's production began ramping up.

I know there was a specific machinist behind New Products Development Company but I haven't been able to find out his name or story. If anyone has any info I'd love to hear about it. Thanks for reading!

As always I'm looking to buy vintage and rare aluminum flashlights. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.

1st Generation Kel-Lites and Early Kel-lite History

Up until 1968 when Don Keller invented the Kel-Lite, flashlights were generally regarded as disposable and were viewed many times by battery manufacturers as just a way to sell batteries. This is not to say that important advancements weren't made prior to this time but the industry as a whole was fundamentally changed when the Kel-Lite was introduced. With the possible exception of the LED being introduced to flashlights in the mid 1990s nothing changed the industry more than the ultra durable, aluminum construction Kel-Lite. In fact, flashlights sold today are not too different from the same light designed by Don Keller almost half a century ago. Specific early history can be found on Don's site, http://www.kellite.com, and at the article Don wrote for the now defunct Flashlight Museum, http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/multimedia/KelliteHistory.doc.

I have a mid-size collection of 1st Gen Kel-Lites. It is less comprehensive than a few other collectors but I still have some very unique, one off lights, that I haven't seen anywhere else before. I think the ultimate collection is the Norm Nelson collection which was purchased from his estate or the famous ABTOMAT collection on Candle Power Forums. Links to both of these collections can be found in the External Resources toolbar on the right hand side of this page. Shown below is my modest 1st Gen Kel-Lite collection.

Some of the options on the 1st Gens include judo and lanyard ring ends caps. Kel-Lite also produced a shortly lived judo stick that's shown at the lower right and was intended for self defense and sold to law enforcement only. C cells were far more popular than D cells in the first generation. In fact the only D cell I own is a prototype 2D with mace holder. This is because a C cell is closer in diameter to a PR-24 style baton and other traditional batons. There were a lot of suppliers in the early days and the lights varied quite a bit year to year. D cells were available with a large head for flood and small light for spotting and C cells were available only with a medium style head for a good mix.

As always I'm looking to buy vintage and rare aluminum flashlights. Please let me know if you have any, top dollar paid.