# Coast flashlight question



## KZMAN (Mar 11, 2013)

It seems that there is very little conversation regarding Coast flashlights. They seem to offervery good quality and generally receive excellent customer reviews. So what’syour opinion of Coast? I have been looking to retire an old SL Scorpion and am looking at the Coast PX25 as being a nice option. It offers a 208 lumen LED, (much more than my Scorpion), simple momentary on/off, plus uses easily found aaa batteries, all for around $40.00. Am I missing something?


----------



## AnAppleSnail (Mar 11, 2013)

Click for Site search: LED Lenser not popular.[/url]

It's been hashed and rehashed. Their recent lights have had less-fictional runtime and output figures, but the flood-to-throw is useful in some situations...and not in others. A general-use beam pattern is highly useful, and durable by default. Zoomy widgets tend to be more vulnerable to grit, dust, and damage. That said, they are present in B&M stores worldwide and have much higher output than people are used to. Assuming these people don't own the other lights available.


----------



## JCD (Mar 11, 2013)

KZMAN said:


> It seems that there is very little conversation regardingCoast flashlights. They seem to offervery good quality and generally receive excellent customer reviews. So what’syour opinion of Coast? I have been lookingto retire an old SL Scorpion and am looking at the Coast PX25 as being a nice option.It offers a 208 lumen LED, (much more than my Scorpion), simple momentary on/off,plus uses easily found aaa batteries, all for around $40.00. Am I missingsomething?



I have a Coast LED Lenser David 15 Digitac. It's a single AA cell single mode with an optic (as opposed to reflector). I'm not sure what emitter is used, but it had a nice warm tint and smooth beam profile. Overall, I really like it and think it was a steal at $15. That said, I don't think it's waterproof, which limits its usefulness.

It's a great light for around the house, and in a headband mount, it makes a great headlamp for close up work.


----------



## bietjiedof (Mar 11, 2013)

Led Lensers don't get much love here, but I like them. The optical zoom system means they produce an even circle of light, rather than a hotspot and spill area. As you narrow the circle of light it becomes more intense, so you effectively have variable brightness as well. At their narrowest setting they have pretty good reach, but no spill at all (so you get a tunnel of light) while at their widest they illuminate a big area but are not very bright (nice for reading, though). If you are looking for something outdoorsy, then you may prefer a waterproof light with a more traditional beam pattern and more lumens. My biggest gripe about the LL's is that they don't tailstand, which is a feature I use all the time, and their top models are overpriced (here, at least) for the power and features they offer.


----------



## KZMAN (Mar 11, 2013)

Interesting. I recently had an email correspondence with Coast and asked them about LED Lenser. They mentioned that they were (as in past tense) the distributors for LED Lenser, but they (Coast) were a separate company. Some of their flashlights sure are similar.

AnAppleSnail, most of those are pretty old threads. I thought maybe the more recent Coast products had a better reputation. I can, however, see the logic that the sliding mechanism would be prone to dirt and other debris. The PX series doesn't seem to use that approach. The PX45 turns like a Maglite. The PX25 (that I may be interested in) has no focus at all, just on and off.


----------



## JCD (Mar 11, 2013)

KZMAN said:


> Interesting. I recently had an email correspondence with Coast and asked them about LED Lenser. They mentioned that they were the distributors for LED Lenser, but they (Coast) were a separate company. Some of their flashlights sure are similar.



Mine is labeled with both brands.


----------



## parnass (Mar 11, 2013)

JCD said:


> I have a Coast LED Lenser David 15 Digitac ... Overall, I really like it and think it was a steal at $15. ....



I had no complaints and was quite pleased the LED Lenser David 15. It worked reliably for the years I used it.


----------



## StorminMatt (Mar 18, 2013)

I actually have a Coast PX25. And my feelings about it are rather mixed. On the positive side, in comparison to other lights I have with similar output (208 lumens), I feel like the rating is pretty accurate. Bear in mind, however, that if you use alkaline batteries, this is with FRESH batteries! If you want a more sustained output, go NiMH (more on this later). But besides that, it's a GREAT little pocket light if you want something that's small, decently bright, and doesn't require lithium ion (or lithium primary) batteries. It's also not terribly expensive (although not as cheap as lots of other lights). And it's generally easily available at places like Home Depot. So you can avoid the hassle, expense, and long waits associated with online ordering. Not to mention you can try several to get a good tint.


So what about the negatives? Above all else, THE BATTERY HOLDER! It's about the WORST engineered battery holder I have EVER come across! After a very short time, the solder joints that connect the wire going from top to bottom seem to break from the stretching/relaxation cycles involved with replacing the batteries. I have had to reflow those joints several times just to keep the light working. Not sure if you would experience this problem. But it has REALLY tarnished the way I feel about Coast and this otherwise pretty good light. The other issue I have with it is battery life. Granted, it's an AAA light. So you can't expect it to last for hours. But even with 1000mAH batteries, I only get about an hour and fifteen minutes from the thing. You don't even WANT to use alkalines on this light. Not only will you go broke buying them. But with a current draw of about .7A, the light will dim rapidly (it appears to be direct drive). On the other hand, you learn to expect that batteries WON'T last long in this light and use it accordingly. But still, this is something important to know.


So should you buy it? In terms of performance, it's actually quite good. Better, in fact, than most people here (who hate Coast) would be willing to give it credit for. Especially when you consider that there aren't too many pocket lights out there with this kind of performance that DON'T require Li-Ion batteries and that it is easily available in stores. If you can live with short battery life and are willing to potentially deal with battery holder issues, go for it. I should also notice that it does NOT focus. But I personally find focusing lights to be more gimmicky than useful anyway.


----------



## KZMAN (Mar 18, 2013)

Thanks StorminMatt for the all of the details. Interestingly, in my quest to replace my aged Scorpion, I have since tried a Colemen 3aaa which was an OK light (90 lumens), but the switch was impossible to manipulate one handed due to the high ridge around the tailcap, so I returned it. I also tried the Maglite xl50 which I really liked and was pretty bright. That said, it was very slippery, and the head wouldn't stay tight, so it was also returned. If Mag would come up with the same grip pattern as on their minimag or D cells, it would give a much better grip. The xl50 (all xl's) would also benefit (as mentioned before) by having a lanyard hole. Just this morning I ordered a SL PolyTac 130 lumen. I'm hopeful that will give me what I'm looking for.


----------



## mikekoz (Mar 18, 2013)

I own several Coast lights, and some will say they are overpriced, and on their higher end models, I think that is true. However, their lower end models I think are worth what you pay for them for the most part. I paid $49.99 for a Coast HP 550 which puts out 1000 lumens, has a good low, nice build quality, and a focusing mechanism that cannot be beat. It does, however, use a battery holder and uses 9 AA's!! No problem for me since I have an overabundance of rechargeable AA's, but the setup is a bit messy. They probably would have been better off making it work with 3 C's or D's. It was worth what I paid for it though, in my humble opinion. I also own a HP7 which I got at Lowes for the same price. It uses 4 AAA's and is rated at 252 lumens max. Once again, nice build quality, good grip, great focusing mechanism, and a nice holster came with it. This one I would say is about $10.00 more than what it should have sold for. The last example I will use is a new model, the G30. It uses 2 AA's (No battery holder!!) and is a single mode 137 lumen light. Same focusing feature as the other two, but this one should have sold for about $25.00. You can get a Fenix E21 for $35.00 at REI that is a bit brighter, two mode, better build, but no focus. All of this is just my 2 cents. How much a product is worth is very subjective!


----------



## StorminMatt (Mar 19, 2013)

I hear you about he prices of Coast lights. When I went to Fry's today, I saw a Coast HP7. This is probably their most popular light. And what's not to like about it? It's fairly pocketable, uses common AAA batteries, kicks out a decent 252 lumens, and has a focusing beam. But a $70 light? Um, no. I also took a look at their website, and wandered upon their new HP314. It looks pretty good. And it kicks out over 1100 lumens. But the price? It has an MSRP of $349! That's getting into Surefire territory! And even if the light is pretty good, that's just WAYYYY too much for a Chinese made light. Especially when a Fenix TK70 or TK75 will BLOW IT OUT OF THE WATER for over $100 less! Given the fact that, like the Fenix lights, this isn't available in stores, I don't know who they think is going to buy the thing.


On the other hand, Coast HAS had some good deals. The HP550 at Costco is a good example here. But by and large, Coast is quite overpriced compared to other options with similar or better performance.


Speaking of using three C or D cells in the HP550 rather than 9 AA batteries, I actually got curious and emailed them. They said the HP550 uses 9 AA batteries because three C or D alkalines would have a hard time powering the light. Remember that, unlike NiMH, a C or D alkaline can't provide significantly more current than a AA alkaline. Therefore, they run 9 AA batteries in a 3s3p configuration. I guess they DO have the HP17, which runs on 3D cells and uses an XM-L (not sure about the binning). But that light only puts out 615 lumens, yet costs about $80.


----------



## yellow (Mar 20, 2013)

please ... 3*AAA

there is no need at all to discuss any more

as to Lenser/Coast:
if the focusing is a requirement ... then there is no other alternative,
if anything else (and I mean ANYTHING ELSE) is also to be considered ... then there are millions of better choices.
PS: I am no fan of the focusing, so for me its _anything else_


----------



## Ray F. (Mar 20, 2013)

StorminMatt said:


> I hear you about he prices of Coast lights. When I went to Fry's today, I saw a Coast HP7. This is probably their most popular light. And what's not to like about it? It's fairly pocketable, uses common AAA batteries, kicks out a decent 252 lumens, and has a focusing beam. But a $70 light?



If you really like the HP7 and don't mind ordering online, I see it on Amazon for $43 including shipping.


----------



## StorminMatt (Mar 20, 2013)

Another thing I noticed is that Coast is now selling rechargeable versions of many of their lights (like the HP7) which appear to use proprietary Li-Ion batteries. Not sure if these batteries are compatible with the non-rechargeable versions.


----------



## ricsmty (Apr 5, 2013)

I have a old LedLenser I bought years ago (2007) at Home Depot. It uses 1 AA and Has 3 Bare Leds. It worked okay, but was hard to keep dirt out of the lense in the crawl spaces and attics were I worked (Electrician) It's retired now:sleepy: and lives with a lithium battery in the glove box of my truck. Where if needed,will probably work. All in all not a bad light for 15 bucks.


----------



## Terry M (Apr 25, 2013)

I've bought 2 PX25 lights. I used them for my work light for almost a year. Decent light. Unlike the above poster, I've gotten pretty decent battery life out of mine. I don't use them continuously so maybe that's why I say that, but I can get by for days on a set of AAA's.


----------



## Slazmo (Apr 28, 2013)

I have a MT7 that cost me eventually $40 from Amazon.com. It was my first foray into higher powered torches however it lost its shine soon thereafter with its quick runtime of 10 hours and poorly engineered twisty head zoom on it - I find that it gets a 'lot' of dust, lint and dirt in and under it and can ruin the o rings pretty quickly.

I also have a LL K3 - this isnt too bad as a micro EDC but the LR44 batteries are extremely hard to replace correctly and I believe that there is no reverse polarity protection so getting them in the right way first time is crucial - also the batteries cost me about $20 to replace every time.

I find that in comparison the LL's are expensive for what they are - my new EA4 is a fraction of the cost of a Aust landed LL MT7 however its got more to it and I'd dare say the quality is higher and the beam is far better in every way possible. if I had my chance again I would have waited 8 or more months and just got the EA4 than the MT7!


----------



## StorminMatt (May 14, 2013)

Terry M said:


> I've bought 2 PX25 lights. I used them for my work light for almost a year. Decent light. Unlike the above poster, I've gotten pretty decent battery life out of mine. I don't use them continuously so maybe that's why I say that, but I can get by for days on a set of AAA's.



Noncontinuous operation is certainly why you say you can get by for days on a set of batteries. If the light is only used for a few minutes a day, then the one hour (or so) of total runtime will probably last a couple of weeks or more. Secondly, there is the issue of alkaline batteries vs NiMH. I use NiMH, which give me around an hour of bright runtime. With alkalines, the light dims rapidly at the .6-.7A draw of this light. But if simply getting SOME light out of it vs full brightness is all that's important, a set of alkalines will run dimly for quite a bit longer than NiMH. It's all about how you use the light. But if you're using it fairly continuously (like for night hiking), runtime is shockingly short.


----------



## Dirtbasher (May 22, 2013)

Slazmo said:


> I have a MT7 that cost me eventually $40 from Amazon.com. It was my first foray into higher powered torches however it lost its shine soon thereafter with its quick runtime of 10 hours and poorly engineered twisty head zoom on it - I find that it gets a 'lot' of dust, lint and dirt in and under it and can ruin the o rings pretty quickly.
> 
> I also have a LL K3 - this isnt too bad as a micro EDC but the LR44 batteries are extremely hard to replace correctly and I believe that there is no reverse polarity protection so getting them in the right way first time is crucial - also the batteries cost me about $20 to replace every time.
> 
> I find that in comparison the LL's are expensive for what they are - my new EA4 is a fraction of the cost of a Aust landed LL MT7 however its got more to it and I'd dare say the quality is higher and the beam is far better in every way possible. if I had my chance again I would have waited 8 or more months and just got the EA4 than the MT7!



The EA4 sells for $100 US, MT7 sells for $67 US here in South Africa, the EA4 you need to pay $14US for shipping, the MT7 is available in outdoor shops all over.

I'm waiting to get my EA4 to compare quality, so far wasn't impressed with my other NiteCore, the emitter is off center, I like the EA4 due to 4x AA.


----------



## Dirtbasher (May 23, 2013)

But I wouldn't compare beam strength / quality with the two, one is 860L, the other is 200L


----------



## Slazmo (May 23, 2013)

Quality these days you cant really put to a name... I think the biggest downside to the EA4 is the button with its self inflating issues and the operating interface, with a few people having quality issues with that.

Honestly if I could do it all again I wouldnt have gotten the EA4 - I would have put some more $$ together and got a Fenix or Zebra instead...


----------

