hds ultimate 60 m8430

I have a friend that was gifted a flashlight by his brother and didn't know what it was. He showed to me and I knew I had seen it before. It was an HDS ultimate 60 m8430. Can anyone give me more info on this? Who else has one?

congrats, you got a programmable light with an old school LED
some people upgrade to a modern LED, and gain 2 to 3x the brightness, because newer LEDs are more efficient

here is the product page, note the tail cap is smooth, and link to the manuals
https://www.hdssystems.com/Products/Legacy/EdcUltimate/

Your Novatac Tail cap and body tube are not original to the U60 head, not that it matters, the threads are the same, at the head.

the body tube of the Novatac uses a coiled spring, while the body tube of the U60 had some bent wires, that were easily deformed.

both varieties work, when they are not deformed. Since your light turns on, you win!

here you can see the reverse lego, the body and smooth tail of an original U60, with a Novatac head

There are many threads in CPF archives on these (search for HDS U60 and NovaTac U60) but this "history" thread may be a good starting point ...

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?426231-A-brief-history-of-the-HDS-universe

(EDIT - added NovaTac U60 above, as discussed below)

correction

the light the OP has IS made by Novatac, they put HDS style markings on the outside, but Novatac electronics on the inside.

this thread explains more history
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-WhatTheHeck&p=2719377&viewfull=1#post2719377

streetmaster said:

...BatteryStation... is selling NovaTac EDC Ultimate 60's.

Click to expand...

Can it use RCR123A?

jon_slider said:

correction

the light the OP has IS made by Novatac, they put HDS style markings on the outside, but Novatac electronics on the inside.

this thread explains more history
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/v...-WhatTheHeck&p=2719377&viewfull=1#post2719377

Click to expand...

Yes, the history of HDS / NT are interwoven, and markings of those models are very similar.

I am not an expert in those particular lights, and to make things even more confusing, some of the parts were interchangeable.

The links listed above ( in my post, as well as that by @jon_slider ) should be helpful in clarifying the exact item you may have.

I have a parallel question for the experts. How exactly does one distinguish between an Novatac made under Henry's watchful eye from those made later in China?

@Kalel. Whatever you do, don't sell out your super powers to be with Lois. She's kinda pretty but she's not worth it!

Looks like the thread @jon_slider linked, has this post describing how to ID differences ...

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?p=2728353

That model was slated for the military

yes

it can also use CR123

there is a setting for each type, of battery detection described in the manual..

one way to tell which Battery Type the light is set up for, is as follows

Insert a CR123, non rechargeable, preferably one that is not fresh, and IF the light wont stay on high mode and instead starts getting dimmer, and flashing, or just turns off, then the light is set up to use Rechargeable RCR123A which are also known as 16340 Li Ion.

IF when you use CR123, the light operates normally, it is not ready for 16340

You need to either teach the light that you want to use 16340, or you risk overdischarging the battery (so use a protected one), since the low battery warnings that start around 3.4v will be disabled.

When the light is set up for 16340 detection, it gives low battery warnings at 3.4v and below, and at 3.0v it turns the light off completely. This means you can safely use unprotected cells.

When the light is set up for CR123 detection, the low voltage warnings are disabled, since those cells are depleted at a lower voltage than LiIon.

Once the battery detection is set, it does not change itself..

so, dont go back and forth between CR123 and RCR123a, unless you learn how to do a battery detect reset

thermal guy said:

That model was slated for the military

Click to expand...

His brother is actually in the militia, don't know what branch.

When they first came out I heard they were heading to the Marines

kalel332 said:

His brother is actually in the militia, don't know what branch.

Click to expand...

In the second link I gave above, there is discussion of a Marine Model
it is not clear to me if that was an HDS EDC U60
or a Novatac EDC U60

both heads are fully round with no flat spots,
but the OPs light has an M, which means it was a Novatac, not an HDS

Sweet find! This is still perfectly a good EDC option even today IMO.

So as this one of the Marine issued lights, could you please update us on what the UI is?
Does it come on in High on the first click?

Edit:
I found the info I was trying to remember. Posted by Henry in 2010:

The "customizations" were programmed to maximum (60 lumens) for the primary first click AFAIK. The EDC Tactical model was a clicky BTW.

GoVegan said:

Marine issued lights

Click to expand...

here is a U60 issued to a Marine
https://us.letgo.com/en/i/novatac-e...ashlight_0d9029a5-7ce5-4ad5-947d-554e6f4a1aa7

Henry says the M means it was made by Novatac:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...litary-Issue&p=3470914&viewfull=1#post3470914

HDS_Systems said:

Chef4850,

The true HDS Systems EDC Ultimate has a positive contact board with 4 big dot contacts surrounding the positive contact and lettering next to each dot and these were the lights that were modified for the military contract. The look-alike lights have just a series of rings around the positive contact, the negative contact spring has a gray rubber ring around it and the serial number has the letter M in it.

The lights that had the M in the serial number were not HDS Systems EDC Ultimate 60 flashlights modified for the military contract - even though the lights were lasered with EDC Ultimate on the outside. The mechanical design was different, the electronics were completely different, the software was completely different and the UI was significantly different.

Henry.

Click to expand...

so I think yes, the OP has a Novatac Marine model, but not an HDS U60

What I've never been sure about was the UI on these M lights.

Were the customizations for High only (no other modes), or was it High only first click, double click for medium (similar to the Basic LE model). Thinking more about this I would guess the former.

Then later on the military purchased standard EDC Tactical models.

I actually don't have it, I have only seen pictures, I will hopefully see it this week (maybe still it if he is not careful 😂). When I get to see it I will take a bunch of pics and vids, maybe even with my dslr. He doesn't know what he has, his brother sent it to him (I think it was more than one) when we where hit by hurricane Maria in 2017 and it was what he mainly use. He also sent him a bunch of batteries.
By the way I'm from Puerto Rico, we where in total darkness most of. Puerto Rico for almost 50 days maybe more, some 3 months and some still don't have light.

GoVegan said:

What I've never been sure about was the UI on these M lights.

Click to expand...

its new to me, Im guessing it was set up like the Novatac 120T and Spa SPL-120
ie Preset A strobe, Preset B high, Preset C 10 lumens, and IF preset D is enabled for a sublumen, .33 lumens.. I think on some Preset D duplicated Preset C ...

kalel332 said:

By the way I'm from Puerto Rico, we where in total darkness most of. Puerto Rico for almost 50 days maybe more, some 3 months and some still don't have light.

Click to expand...

wow
so, rechargeable batteries wont work.. unless you have a solar charger

I agree that little light could be useful, especially if you program it NOT to come on at High mode first

keep us posted what happens when you click, double click, triple click, and press while on..
those settings can all be configured to any brightness you want to come on first, or second, or third, or 4th

get ready for some fun clicky codes...

you can also still buy other novatacs.. they are brighter than the U60

life without electricity sounds challenging.. I hope you and yours are coping well

Im guessing you at least have power now, you must have used power to post here, right?

jon_slider said:

its new to me, Im guessing it was set up like the Novatac 120T and Spa SPL-120
ie Preset A strobe, Preset B high, Preset C 10 lumens, and IF preset D is enabled for a sublumen, .33 lumens.. I think on some Preset D duplicated Preset C ...



wow
so, rechargeable batteries wont work.. unless you have a solar charger

I agree that little light could be useful, especially if you program it NOT to come on at High mode first

keep us posted what happens when you click, double click, triple click, and press while on..
those settings can all be configured to any brightness you want to come on first, or second, or third, or 4th

get ready for some fun clicky codes...

you can also still buy other novatacs.. they are brighter than the U60

life without electricity sounds challenging.. I hope you and yours are coping well

Im guessing you at least have power now, you must have used power to post here, right?

Click to expand...

I actually had at the time anker 21w solar panel and and a 2 cheaper 5w ones and it helped a lot. We also charged in the car when we went to run errands. At least I got to use all of my collection [emoji2].

If he really has more than one I will try and trade. Does anyone has an idea of how much they are selling for?