Product Review Guardian Angel Elite LE Hands-free Officer Safety Light

How many officers are hit on the side of the road? How many are injured? How many times have you needed to report your position to a fellow officer in a place difficult to describe? While small personal beacons and reflective vests are available, are there any effective alternatives? “Today’s first responders need a tool on their person that illuminates and identifies them in most any given situation. This means a tool that first responders can wear in a manner that will illuminate them in every direction when they need it, be it the roadside, in a crowd, in the woods or from far away.” (Redefining Emergency Lighting, whitepaper by Guardian Angel)

The Elite Series personal light from Guardian Angel looks to address just that. At first glance, it’s odd and different. It takes the portable light concept in a new direction. But top of the list has to be what it’s not. It’s not just a flashlight. It’s not just a work light. It’s not just a beacon. Really, it’s all three.

“Anything a cop can go through, I’ve been through with my Guardian Angel—it’s never failed me.”
- Detective Chad Stillman

The concept originated back in 2010 from a police officer in Milwaukee, Wis. The intent was meant to provide some officer visibility at night—to help make the officer more visible for safety. Since then the light’s form has changed for the better. Yet, the purpose has never dimmed—in fact it has become brighter than ever.

Today, the Elite Series includes four models. There are two designed for law enforcement, one featuring a wigwag blue/blue and a second model with a red/blue pattern. I was sent the red/blue version to test out. My neighbors must be quite confused with a flashing police light illuminating my dark windows at night. Other color combinations available seem to be directed towards other markets: a white/yellow for construction and a white/red for personal use.

A ton of power for its size

The red work light provides plenty of light to work in the dark but so bright to be blinded once you turn it back off.

The Elite has independent bands of LED lights, one forward and one rear. On the front, the middle LED has been solely dedicated to a red work lamp to help you continue working at night and not destroy your naturally adapted night vision. Two white LEDs are designated for a work/inspection light. Thank your peers—these work lights were integrated over the years by officer feedback.

For the Elite Law Enforcement models, the remaining front-facing LEDs and the full rear band are wigwag. Both are controlled independently with two distinct buttons on the top and labeled with a bold F and R. Two smaller buttons control the work light and a brightness setting switch. Press the work light button once for red, twice for the white. A third press turns the work light off. If you’re careful enough, you’ll feel the hexagon shape to the F and R buttons.

Thankfully, the Elite remembers the brightness setting you left it at. Guardian Angel suggests to use the high for day time and low for night. Setting the brightness level once sets all of the lights to that level—this includes the red and white work lights, the front and rear wigwag, as well as the emergency mode.

Speaking of emergency mode, Guardian Angel popped their logo on top of their device. It’s not just a molded feature. This largest button immediately turns on the front and rear flashing as well as a sharp white strobe LED on top. Pressing the emergency button again will shut it off, but you can also hit any other button to revert to an alternative function.

Remember the brightness setting. Looking at the Elite straight-on and initializing emergency on high is intense—it will grab people’s attention. Reportedly, the Elite can be seen two miles away.

The buttons themselves are silent and feel like a soft rubber. They are far enough apart from each other to use with a gloved hand. Pushing them down takes a small amount of force, but each button is easy to index while it sits in your blind spot on your shoulder with or without a glove. In my experience, I was able to find every button easily with a thick ski glove. Speaking of blind spots, if you’re wearing this on your shoulder and you can help it, I would suggest mounting this just outside your peripheral vision. Try it, turn it on and adjust until you’re comfortable—the mounting system was designed with a bit of grip to stay put.

The Guardian Angel Elite Series light runs at about 3 ounces, most of that being the rechargeable battery and magnet. It packs a large impression within a very small package.

Another advancement from law enforcement feedback: this device is small. Without the mounting pieces it’s just about 2 3/4 inches long, 1 inch tall and 1 3/4 inches wide. I don’t have wide shoulders at all but this fits with plenty of room. It’s not big. It’s not bulky. At 3 ounces, it’s not even heavy. I wore it on my shoulder while I wrote this review; there was a light touch but I hardly noticed. The majority of the weight comes from the battery and a rare earth neodymium magnet holding the light to the mount (pictured above, center). This magnet is strong and holds tight. I attached my Elite to an empty cardboard box and dropped it from 10 feet or so 10 times—it still works and only let go of the box once. I then reattached it to the very same box and dropped it out of my second story window to the sidewalk below, far exceeding its drop test rating. There was some slight damage, but it still shines bright as ever.

Reportedly, other testers ran it over with a 7-ton truck and tossed it on concrete with only cosmetic damage. Reports continue to claim it even worked after submerged underwater for 15 minutes with an hour to dry. I reconstructed this test in my own sink with the emergency mode on high—it ran during and after.

The micro-USB port is safe and secure under a watertight clasp. The sockets above and below the magnet are for a pair screws to attach the shirt clip.

The rechargeable battery will reportedly last from 10 to 150 hours. The emergency setting uses the most power, but you will probably be using the work lights the majority of the time. The Guardian Angel Elite comes with a short micro-USB cord for recharging (however the cord you use for your new smartphone should work fine). With its IP67 certification, the device’s USB port is covered with a watertight cover. Without a coin on hand or a screwdriver, you can easily pop this open with a corner of one of the supports on the provided shoulder mount. The watertight cover opens and closes with an audible snap. You’ll know it when you close it.

The Elite does dim slightly just before it runs out of power. The red LED blinks slowly when recharging. It turned on and ran for me while recharging so if you have a long enough of a cord you can use it plugged in, but I’m not sure if or how that practice would impact the battery’s life (or why you would want to do this, the idea seems to negate the device’s portability). I charged it using my desktop PC. It took a couple of hours and blinks red twice when complete.

Uses

The original idea was meant to develop a device to increase officer safety, to allow officers to more efficiently identify themselves when they wanted. Police Detective Chad Stillman has been with Guardian Angel since 2013. He’s been involved with the design of the device since then making sure the Elite can be something useful for officers and keeps true to the original intention. “This is truly a device that can keep people safe. Increase visibility, helping [officers] stay visible…and also gives you hands-free illumination.”

The device’s magnetic pad can be placed on your shoulder beneath your shirt, jacket or vest. Grab the light and pop it on. The magnet will help you connect. Making sure the Elite is oriented correctly is easy as well. A tip: the hinge for the USB port should be on the left.

Yet, its portability and strong integrated magnet allows a ton of situational-use options.

Need to search an area? Keep hands free without holding a flashlight in your mouth, avoid contaminating your gear.
Wearing plain clothes? Identify yourself quickly and stay safe near roadways.
Driving an undercover vehicle? Attach it to a visor and get through traffic for an impromptu lightbar.
Responding to a location with a long driveway? Mount to a mailbox and mark which dark path you drove down.
Have an emergency in a rural area and need air support? Lay out a couple to design a temporary landing zone for a helicopter.
Inside a difficult to find location? Toss it outside to help rescue find you.
Deep in a crowd? Increase your visibility for responding officers to better see you.
Searching a wooded area? Track your officers with a highly visible light source.

This list could continue with a more clever mind. Further, Guardian Angel also provides additional accessory options, such as a shirt clip mount, belt mount, bike rail strap mount, and more. There’s even a K-9 harness.

“Just like you have a gun light, just like your flashlight, this is another tool,” says Stillman. “I’ve been in situations where I need to be located right away. I’ve ran into backyards and got into gun fights with people where I need to be found immediately. Anything a cop can go through, I’ve been through with my Guardian Angel—it’s never failed me.”

The Guardian Angel Elite Series originally launched October 2017 and has sold thousands of units worldwide so far. At $99.99 MSRP per item, it’s worth checking out. Look up a local dealer on their website, GuardianAngelDevices.com.