Coast Lights...Thoughts?

[lightfooted]

Hey everyone!

My local Streamlight/Surefire dealer recently started carrying Coast lights. In the usual “new product” fashion, they are really pushing these lights over other brands (Streamlight, ASP, and even Surefire). I looked up the Coast website, and they have some pretty cool models and claim to have a decent warranty.

Does anyone have any experience with these lights? Are they durable? What brand would you compare them to with regard to quality?

Thanks!

I have owned Coast lights and while they were certainly functional, I would never recommend a Coast light over a Surefire, Streamlight, Elzetta, Olight or any other tactical light.

They do have some more original designs that I at least could find useful under certain circumstances even if I would more likely carry something better, but at least there are places it would be acceptable.

I think that they think of themselves as competitive with Surefire and Streamlight. They aren't. They are overpriced when compared to their actual competition.

 

[Nephron44]

I think I’m going to pass on any coast lights I come across...

 

[LightObsession]

I think I’m going to pass on any coast lights I come across...

I use the HX5 every day. It's only $20, so you might consider giving it a try.

Full disclosure - I don't own any Surefire Elzetta or any other tactical light.

 

[gottabotta]

Coast is just another cheap Chinese department store brand imo. They are better than some but, no where near the lights that Streamlight and especially Surefire are. They work fine for around the house I suppose but, I would likely go with Maglite over them if I was going to stick to department store brands personally. And, I would never trust them for any mission critical task.

Coast warehouse worker here, we’re our own Portland based company. Coast builds some lanterns for Streamlight (we ship those too).

 

[letschat7]

I got a Coast this week. Of course it was a Coast Led Lenser from maybe 15 years ago. There own offerings are probably not worth owning.

 

[bykfixer]

The Coast HP7R was dual fuel before dual fuel was cool.
It had a USB port on the body long before most others did it or the battery pack can be charged outside of the light. The battery pack is an easily replaceable 18650 inside a plastic shell to make it the same size as the 4x AA carrier.
I still use my HP7 from 2014 from time to time. It's been dropped, kicked, drown, run over by a truck and still works fine. I'd say about the only thing that could kill is a leaking alkaline.

 

[letschat7]

Did Coast ever make a light in the USA?

 

[TMedina]

I have mixed opinions on Coast. They have a good selection of functional, entry level and working class lights.

I carry a Coast G22 penlight in my pocket for work.

Pros: single AAA, tail clicky with clip. Cool white beam. It *doesn't* use the Coast "inspection" beam pattern (which I despise) of a solid spotlight. Instead, it has a hotspot with decent spill. I can't think of the marketing word they used to describe this beam profile off the top of my head.

Con: two modes with very little difference between them, and it looks like PWM - if I look at moving parts, I get a strobe effect.

I also have the Coast G24 in my tool bag: x2 AA. pretty bright for the power, so I don't expect a lot of life from the batteries, but good enough for my needs at work. At $20, not bad.

Suffers from some of the same problems as the 22 - not much difference between the two modes and PWM, which limits how and where I can use it.

Coast won't take the place of: Surefire, Malkoff, Fenix. But as "beater" lights, they're not bad. I'm not interested enough to look at their higher end offerings. In general, I put them at the entry level of flashlights. Moving upward, Fenix, Pelican (I use the 2315 as a daily work carry), and Streamlight. High end: the usual suspects - Malkoff, Surefire, etc.

 

[bykfixer]

Did Coast ever make a light in the USA?

Probably not.

 

[hsa]

I have an HX-5 that I use in the summer when I get tired of eating bugs from my headlamp. It works good for this, handheld by my side at the widest focus so there is no hotspot at your feet. The zoom feature is very smooth. The tailcap switch is a little squishy and not confidence inspiring but in all honesty it has not failed.
I have one of their headlamps because it has adjustable brightness with a lever. It also has the zoom feature. It turns out I don't like the ramping feature much and the headband is terrible so I don't use it. The light itself though is good. If you are particular about tints, don't get one.

 

[bykfixer]

I had an adjustable head lamp like you cite strapped to my hard hat with petzel clips once. It was very handy. But one year when I had dropped off my truck at a repair shop somebody broke in it and stole the thing. Worst part? They stole the petzel clips too.

When the HP1 was $10 I bought several and gave them away at Christmas. I still have one stashed in a jacket pocket of a favorite jacket. It uses an eneloop pro to hold the unregulated output more steady than an alkaline could.

 

[hsa]

Mine is running on an Eneloop Pro also. It was the one left over from 6 years ago when I bought a 4 pack to run in adapters in my ML 50L 3 cell Maglite. They all still perform nicely.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Usually overpriced, unregulated, and not very waterproof. Other than that, if you find a deal on one or two lights at Home Depot around Black Friday, they make decent loan out lights for friends and family (as long as they don’t need them for something that will get them really wet or dropped hard- caving, backpacking, kayaking, rock climbing). For headlights, best to try Fenix, Nitecore, or even something like Sofirn. For flashlights there are way more, better, and cheaper options.

 

[bykfixer]

Found these in a jacket pocket today. The HP1 and a first gen Pelican 2350. Pipe inspection in daylight flashlights from several years ago.
Eneloop pro fed btw.

 

[TMedina]

Usually overpriced, unregulated, and not very waterproof. Other than that, if you find a deal on one or two lights at Home Depot around Black Friday, they make decent loan out lights for friends and family (as long as they don’t need them for something that will get them really wet or dropped hard- caving, backpacking, kayaking, rock climbing). For headlights, best to try Fenix, Nitecore, or even something like Sofirn. For flashlights there are way more, better, and cheaper options.

For better and cheaper, what would you suggest for x2 AA flashlight, one or two modes?

 

[BattleBrat]

Well I have had a Coast light here and there over the years. I remember the early days when they were rebranded LED Lenser (I just bought a new LED Lenser light too) lights. I was looking for exotic metal lights and remembered I love stainless steel. I remembered Coast made a few (I have their AAA inspection one some where and their rechargeable penlight) So I went to Amazon, got an A25R and saw on their website they just came out with this, the Breaker. This thing is an insane tank, outrageously heavy I totally love
It. The beam is a circle of light you can adjust, it took me a while to get used to such a flat onion free beam. I would take this over a Stinger LED any day, and I have owned stingers, strions, Protac HL USB’s (which are tanks too, but so far the Breaker is more of a tank) for years.
Coast shines on its lifetime warranty, which they back up. Buy a Wurkos or Acebeam, etc good luck getting warranty support.

Streamlight started making a large number of their products in china and the quality went down, I think Fenix makes a higher quality light than the Chinese Streamlights to be honest.
Maglite is still Maglite American made and top quality, I still use my MagTacs. And the ML50LX would trash a Stinger LED longer runtime better build faster mode switching.

This Breaker takes a proprietary 21700 haven’t had to charge it yet, it’s running forever.

 

[bykfixer]

A guy handed me a Coast at work because he heard I could fix a flashlight. It was ate up with alkaline paste. It would not work after cleaning it. (I hadn't discovered the miracle of a coca cola soak yet) I wrote Coast asking them to sell me a battery carrier for it. They sent me a new light and a big @$$ knife at no charge. Not even postage.

Oh and my first HP7 from 014 is still going with eneloop pro cells in it. That light went through a lot until my wife started using it for a bedside light.