Tomar Blade Opinions/Pricing

[cddavis]

Does the Tomar Blade hold its pricing well? I was looking at new ones which are pretty expensive but when I did a search on the forum, someone was selling one in the past for $700.


Just curious what the feeling on these are. The videos I have seen show that they are plenty bright (as LEDs tend to be ). I am holding out for a Liberty but find the Blades pretty nice also. Just curious if anyone likes them/hates them and why.

 

[TNFF412N]

They are a great bar, we have a couple installed around here and they never seem to have issues with them. They are plenty bright.. The issue of price, you can still order a fully loaded liberty from some vendors foraround 2 grand, but you can find the same thing for half that other places , and used for much less.....

 

[Fast LT1]

The issue of price, you can still order a fully loaded liberty from some vendors foraround 2 grand, but you can find the same thing for half that other places , and used for much less.....

I picked up a fully loaded Liberty R/B bar with led takedowns and alley lights, with a rear traffic advisor for $375 from a local department!

 

[cddavis]

I picked up a fully loaded Liberty R/B bar with led takedowns and alley lights, with a rear traffic advisor for $375 from a local department!

You sir, suck. lol

 

[TJW]

I picked up a fully loaded Liberty R/B bar with led takedowns and alley lights, with a rear traffic advisor for $375 from a local department!

Not trying to take this thread down the wrong path, nor am I doubting your claim, but I've got to question why a department would be getting rid of the aforementioned light bar at that price. Especially for it to have led TD & alley lights in it, I'd be surprised if it's older then 5 yrs, thus not being out of warranty?


Just from a business point of view, it doesn't seem legit.


Did you add the led TD and alleys ?


I'd be curious to see the factory tag.

 

[Fast LT1]

Buddy of mine works at an install shop and they had a wrecked car out back that has been sitting for a while and they are backed up so he said if i come take it off its mine for $375! I'll post pics of it when i install it on my car! The bar is an 08 and they added the Leds! Though i didn't get to keep the mounting hardware and the one of the front lenses is broken and needs to be replaced.


Member Whelen25 can back me up on that!

 

[TJW]

Buddy of mine works at an install shop and they had a wrecked car out back that has been sitting for a while and they are backed up so he said if i come take it off its mine for $375! I'll post pics of it when i install it on my car! The bar is an 08 and they added the Leds! Though i didn't get to keep the mounting hardware and the one of the front lenses is broken and needs to be replaced.

Member Whelen25 can back me up on that!

I don't need another member to back you up, just thought/believe it was an exceptional set of circumstances that would allow you to find the described bar in your hands for that price. Your version of events concurs with that, and hat's off to you for scoring such a deal.


Your deal is far from the norm.

 

[VolEms]

I have a Blade High Power. I love it. Its blinding with 12 LED's per head. They are a bit expensive when you look at the Liberty. The way I look at it is you are getting twice the amount of LED's. If you put it next to a Liberty which I have it blows it away. I sell a lot of 200s Lightsticks which is the same as the blade for pov's. If you want to buy one . I am a Tomar dealer and I can give you a very good price on one. Tomar made the Scorpian to compete with the Liberty but its not as bright as the Blade. Tomar products are overengineered so they last a lifetime and they honor their warranty. Here is a short vid of mine in R/W.

 

[Doug]

I speced, and purchased, a Blade for my FD; it was originally intended for a Crown Vic, but wound up on an Expedition when the chief with the Crown Vic said he didn't want it. The bar wasn't bad, except that the was an issue with the seal between the outside lenses. Tomar took care of it, but the FD has vowed never to buy another Tomar product because of the local dealer's attitude (he billed us for warranty work, among other issues that I'm not going to get into on here).

 

[nerdly_dood]

The local police departments here often use a TOMAR Blade in all-blue, but it must not be the high-power version because a Whelen Liberty would outshine it in the daytime. (Two local departments, Fairfax County police and sheriff, are featured in either TOMAR's online photo gallery, or their PDF catalog)

 

[TNFF412N]

The local police departments here often use a TOMAR Blade in all-blue, but it must not be the high-power version because a Whelen Liberty would outshine it in the daytime. (Two local departments, Fairfax County police and sheriff, are featured in either TOMAR's online photo gallery, or their PDF catalog)

The sheriffs have the high power blade and the police have liberty's and they are both all blue, the blade blows it away. i only assume they are the high power versio, but you can see them farther and they overpower the car next to it ...

 

[JohnMarcson]

Everyone has their own opinion (especially dealers) on which brand is the brightest. I am very skeptical of any claims of one bar next to another "blowing the other away" in brightness. Seldom are these similar models or setups being compared, and even if the bars being compared were equally populated... I doubt the flash patterns and sequences are the same. Honestly, I don't even care about the brightness debate anymore.... all modern LED bars from major manufacturers are plenty bright. Make your selection on options, design and price. Then set it up well... flash like colors together and in large chunks. Take any major bar, a well setup 4 head version can easily out perform a poorly setup 12 head version. A fully populated bar on a extra fast flash patterns, flashing a bunch of different colors next to each other will be a pink/purple blur no matter what brand it is.


Personally, I ignore all brightness related claims and focus on features and price.


The blade is a fine lightbar. Compare it to other major bars and it will be very competitive. I'd happily use one, as long as it had the features I wanted for close to the price of similarly setup competing bars.


Usually if you look hard enough you can get fully populated bars from the major companies for within $200 of each other. The cheapest one has rarely been, in my experience, the one I like the look of best. So then the decision becomes: "is my personal aesthetic preference worth $200 to me..." I would venture to guess if you did a side by side comparison of fully populated bars from the top 5 major companies you'd find yourself making a similar decision.

 

[Station 3]

A local PD has one blade and the rest of the units are Whelen Libertys and i think the Blade looks better and is brighter the only reason everyone down here buys whelen is because they usually send a hot girl selling the products to the police departments and the chiefs of police are dumbasses and fall for it and end up getting riped off. And yes i was there in the police station looking at the hot girl when she sold my chief over $6000 worth of pure whelen crap.

 

[VolEms]

2 proud owners of Tomar High Power Blades.

 

[cajunblitz]

And yes i was there in the police station looking at the hot girl when she sold my chief over $6000 worth of pure whelen crap.

What, no pictures of said hot chick? FAIL!


lol....

 

[cajunblitz]

The Tomar Blade is one of the brightest bars on the market, and one of the most expensive. Tomar just had a cost increase on it too, so now it's even higher. There are some issues with the Blade in it's design.


* It's very heavy. Constructed of a solid piece of extruded aluminum, heavy.


* The ribbon connectors used to chain the modules together dry out, get brittle and fail. When changing a defective module on an older bar, a domino effect of brittle broken ribbon connectors on the adjoining modules is usually the end result.


* The "lenses" used to seal the front and rear modules from the elements are thin, flexible plastic and prone to cloud up quickly from bug juice and automatic car wash brushes.


*The seals for the end caps are prone to not seat properly and allow moisture intrusion.


If you want a Tomar, go with a Scorpion. Although the bar does not use a "linear style" LED module, IMHO it is just as bright and effective as one that does.





See this photo? The Scorpion has the same "intensity" of the Liberty, only it's output has a tighter circle per module than the Liberty's "wider" pattern. Same brightness, different focal pattern. That Scorpion has 6 front modules to the Liberty's 4, and if both bars were fully lit, I think you could say they were both the same brightness.





I've replaced Liberties and Patriots with Scorpions and the customers are very happy. The Scorpion uses sealed modules, no external lenses and is constructed of a lighter extruded aluminum....even the end caps are aluminum.


Want a Tomar. Buy a Scorpion. You'll be happier without all the issues. My .02.

 

[VolEms]

I think in the newer Blades they fixed some of the problems. So far I have not had any problems with mine or any of the ones I sold. In NY my customers still want the blade since it's blinding. I guess every state is different. Tomar told me most people dont order a whole blade high power.I Only sell HP.

 

[Core Public Safety]

I think in the newer Blades they fixed some of the problems. So far I have not had any problems with mine or any of the ones I sold. In NY my customers still want the blade since it's blinding. I guess every state is different. Tomar told me most people dont order a whole blade high power.I Only sell HP.

...And that's why I'm not crazy about the Blade. Is it a great bar? Absolutely! My problem is I think there might actually be something as too bright (as much as I hate to admit it). There is a line between being noticed and actually becoming a traffic hazard and the Blade high power is definitely close to that line. When I'm responding to a call I want people to see me, not cause an accident because they were temporarily blinded by me. If that's what you're looking for and you have the money then search no further. You won't be disappointed.

 

[JohnMarcson]

A local PD has one blade and the rest of the units are Whelen Libertys and i think the Blade looks better and is brighter the only reason everyone down here buys whelen is because they usually send a hot girl selling the products to the police departments and the chiefs of police are dumbasses and fall for it and end up getting riped off. And yes i was there in the police station looking at the hot girl when she sold my chief over $6000 worth of pure whelen crap.

So your chief thinks with his dick and that's whelen's fault? Never seen this "crap" you talk about produced by any major company. Must be a new line of crap products no one has seen. Never seen a hot chick represent any company, I must be missing out. People buy Whelen for the same reason they buy Federal, Code 3, Tomar or any other company... combo of price, options and appearance.


I need to stop reading these "what should I buy" and "which is better threads"... they only piss me off. I am just so sick of peoples' unscientific light opinions about brightness. Brightness is the least important factor when buying LED bars from major manufacturers... they are all plenty bright. Everyone has a favorite bar or company.... that's fine. But lets drop the BS brightness claims....

 

[911]

I think in the newer Blades they fixed some of the problems. So far I have not had any problems with mine or any of the ones I sold. In NY my customers still want the blade since it's blinding. I guess every state is different. Tomar told me most people dont order a whole blade high power.I Only sell HP.

in your video of the blade, was the install done @ duvy's shop?

 

[Myron]

Buddy of mine works at an install shop and they had a wrecked car out back that has been sitting for a while and they are backed up so he said if i come take it off its mine for $375! I'll post pics of it when i install it on my car! The bar is an 08 and they added the Leds! Though i didn't get to keep the mounting hardware and the one of the front lenses is broken and needs to be replaced.


Member Whelen25 can back me up on that!

Do you think these are as bright as the whelen bars

 

[Turd Ferguson]

If you'd have waited another 4 months for that post, you could have had a 10 year thread revival.

Might have been the record.

 

[Jennifer Rose Towing]

Do you think these are as bright as the whelen bars

Being this is 10 years old, you would defiantly need to be more specific on what Whelen bars you are referring to. I own both Liberty and Blade bars (have some Blades for sale too if interested). The Blade lightheads come in 3 versions, 6, 9 or 12 diode heads. While the standard Liberty heads come in 4 or 6 diode heads. The number of heads and the number of LEDs per head definately make a difference. The Liberty also used 2 or 3 different LED types.

When asking if one bar is brighter then another you would need to be comparing similar options. One brand bar can be brighter than the same model if equipped differently. (Like a particular model of a car with different engine and othef options).