Okay, so I finally got the light that was sent to me on Monday. And just last night, I took a 2.5 hour walk during which I was able to give it a thorough run through. Here is what I have found about the light.
1. Yes, it’s certainly bright! Then again, you probably already knew that. Is it really 1000 lumens? I couldn’t tell you. But it certainly IS brighter than the 3xC Defiant I picked up at Home Depot earlier (which is rated at 550 lumens). On the other hand, it doesn’t seem to be as bright as my ROP 6xD Maglite (which typically puts out around 1100-1200 lumens - not sure how this translates to OTF). Considering this, and the fact that videos show it brighter than a Fenix TK60, I would say this rating is probably at least fairly close.
2. Battery runtime actually EXCEEDS expectations! Coast lists battery runtime as 2 hours and 15 minutes on high. My light was still going quite strong after a 2.5 hour walk. Not sure how much longer it would have gone. But the fact is that it exceeded expectations. Maybe this is because I used Duraloops instead of alkalines.
3. It actually felt nice to carry it. The light seemed fairly well balanced. And, although it isn’t terribly overweight, it has a nice heft to it that ‘pocket lights’ just don’t have. To get a better idea of how big/heavy this light is, think of a 2D Maglite.
4. The light seems to be quite ‘floody’. For whatever reason, this light just doesn’t have the tight hotspot that my old Coast P14 has. You would think that, given the fact that it is kind of a ‘big brother’ to that light, that would be possible. But zoomed out all the way, this light still has considerable spill. Think of the fixed setting on a Coast PX25 (if you have seen it), and this is about as tight as it will go. This isn’t really a bad thing, especially given the brightness. But some may or may not like this.
5. I like the styling of the light. This may not be a priority to many. But I have to say that I actually really like the styling of Coast’s lights. SO many other manufacturers seem to think they have to ‘overstylize’ their lights by going overboard with the ‘tactical look’. But not this light. You won’t find a crenellated bezel, overly angular features, or anything like that. Although it doesn’t exactly look like a Mag, it kind of follows along the same school of thought as far as having a simple, sleek, pragmatic look.
6. I can’t say I’m very impressed with the battery holder. This is one of just a couple of negatives I see with this light. Battery holders are a common failure point. And this piece is a little on the flimsy side. I just hope it holds up in the long term. Ideally, I would rather have seen this light run on D batteries so that a battery holder would be unnecessary. And maybe, with this light out on the market now, Coast will upgrade their 3xD HP17 (which already uses an XM-L) so that it uses the same LED as this one (which would basically make it an HP550 that uses D batteries).
7. My only other complaint about the light is brightness modes. I know that, as a $49 light, you can’t expect four or five brightness modes. But currently, the choice is between 1000 lumens and 40 lumens. And 40 lumens is just WAY too dim to be very useful on, say, a dark trail. I would much rather have seen something around 100-150 lumens for the low setting. This would allow me to dim the light if I don’t want as much brightness (or more battery life), yet still provide me with more light than an old-school incandescent. Interestingly, both the HP14 and HP17 (which both produce significantly less light on high) have low settings around 60 lumens.
So there you have it! Is this light worth $49? ABSOLUTELY! It’s not perfect by any means. But it’s still a REALLY good light. And it’s sure one helluva value!
:cowboy_hat_face: 8)
