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.