I know that the Leatherman recent acquired LED Lenser, which is the parent company for Coast. I wonder if that’s why they’re showing up here now.
This thing BLAZES and does it without overheating. It THROWS with a BIG even hotspot that is to put it mildly impressive as all get out. The zoom-spill is plain HUGE without quirky rings and artifacts. In fact on mine the hot spot is nicely surrounded with an even corona that spills out gradually and also evenly on the zoom-out. Very impressive indeed for an aspheric. And what a relief not to see another square emitter stamp 100 yards out.
This most definitely leans to a yellowish cast reminiscent of an incandescent which brings out a tree’s leaves as vivid green whereas my XinTD NW V3 would show that same tree in a more natural subdued tone. Is this bad? I don’t think it is. It’s better than the color-washout from stark cool whites we tend to see on other high-power lights and IMO is a nice balance between cool and XinTD NW. The fact that it throws as well as it does without a cool-white boost is impressive enough in of itself. Did I mention it throws? Like no tomorrow boys.
The bottomline is that this is one heckuva torch for $49. It’s very well-constructed and feels solid bow to stern. And as a result I will be buying more than one which tells ya something. 
If you haven’t yet got one, then plan on getting one. You won’t regret it.
One other feature I really like about the battery carrier is that you can insert it from either end. So if you’re fumbling in the dark you don’t have to worry about polarity and such. It’s a 3S3P configuration. This light is apparently only being sold from select Costcos - at least here in So. Cal.
The Costco Item Number is 686885 for those of you that would like to call ahead and see which store has them. They seem to be selling out pretty fast in my Carlsbad store.
I know some flashaholics look down on Coast products but let me say one thing here. They can put out a high-quality product. This is one of them. I have a David-19 that I carry as one of my EDC’s. It’s still a great light after all these years.
Btw, the HP550 is all-aluminum and built like a tank. The zoom mechanism feels solid and slides smoothly without a hitch.
Again, IMO this is a bargain for $49.
The nice thing about the way it’s packaged is that it lets you test out each light. I picked the one out yesterday that gave me the most even hotspot and moreso leaning neutral tint. Mine is quite ‘warm’ in cast. There were others I tried that had a cooler tint which presumably will be even better throwers. I plan to get some more. It’s nice to have a balance of tints ya know in the repetoire. 8)
Oh, I almost forgot. For those interested it appears to have a 50mm aspheric lens.
that if you see something you might want you better jump on it. The return policy is fantastic so it is zero problem in bringing it back. This particular item was in the back near the hydraulic tractor fluid and only one pallet. No way to know if it is an experiment or if there will be 10 pallets in the main aisle next week. It is usually a good bet that the price will be very competitive and you often get extra stuff with an item, like a camera will come with a memory card or in the case of the light, the batteries. A little tidbit is that if you see an asterisk on the price card then the item is going out. This light may be $20 less in two weeks depending on how it moves or they could be all gone and you missed out. Kind of a betting game.
they’re gone. Since it’s a Costco-exclusive it also tends to tell me this is a market test. Either way having one now is better than not having one later.
Btw, you might want to edit the title so it identifies this Coast model as an HP550. Just a suggestion.
and went through about 40 lights to find the tint and hotspot I wanted for two more HP550’s. So now I got one pretty dang warm one, and two cool and tight as they get throwers. Vast majority of the one’s I tested had a close to NW to flat-out warmer tint.
People were walking by giving a look like WTF is this guy doing will all these things laying outside their display boxes while I’m torching off and comparing each one on high against a concrete floor and a white box background. Sh*t, by the end of that session I was not only seeing stars, I didn’t realize my eyes were checking out old ladies. Only a hardcore flasher does this sort of thing. :cowboy_hat_face:
They musta thought I was nuts. Go figure. 
This is where 15 minute fast chargers are useful. Sure, they very seriously reduce cycle life, but even if you only get 100 decent cycles out of NiMH rechargeables, you still save a ton of money.
I still use my Varta 15 minute charger with my Varta cells occasionally (I treat my Eneloops with much more respect). It comes in quite handy.
I’m gonna try and get 3 extra batt carriers. If I need to wait hours to recharge we’re prolly living in a nuclear winter by then. 
Fixed it for you. :P
(He gets jealous.)
Not sure I want someone who says this to have a thing for me...
:nerd_face:
I love taking quotes from you out of context. >)
Actually, D cells are not really THAT expensive. You can get a pack of two Tenergy NiMH D cells for $15. That’s not much more than retail for four Eneloop (or any other brand) AA batteries. Throw in a couple of 2xAA adaptors to TRY to make those AA batteries into D batteries, and you are probably higher than $15. Not to mention that you are still only at half the capacity with much more internal resistance. And no, Eneloop doesn’t sell D batteries, at least in the US. But I’m perfectly happy with my Tenergy Centuras. They’re certainly no less of a battery than Eneloops.
Anyway, batteries aside, I would certainly LOVE to have this light. But it doesn’t look like I’ll EVER be able to get my hands on one. Here in Northern California, they are simply not available. Costco says that they were supposed to have gotten their shipment in on November 7. But 10 days later, NOTHING! Not only that, but they are listed as a ‘discontinued item’. So unless I am willing to drive to Bakersfield (about 300 miles one way), it doesn’t look like I will be buying this one.
looks like the flashlight world is close to offering the mainstream 1000lm lights, if not already, 1000lm lights for mainstream did not even exist when i got my BC40 last year. time to upgrade, lol. if my local costco has this, i would get it, but more around the 30-40 dollar range
It’s almost going to be a shame when people can walk into their local department store and buy a 1000 lumen light. It means I’ll have to start edc’ing my SRK when I want to show off.
Some thoughts on this. I don’t like D-rechargeables. They’re not really all that common and most chargers if they’re even available can’t handle but a couple at a time - and they tend to be Big A heavy chargers too. So if I’m out in the sticks, or lets say we’re in a disaster situation, or I’m out just traveling about, and I need to get my D’s recharged I bet I would have a tough time getting it done if I’m on the move or my charger needs AC current. Then I might as well just tote D-alkalines in case this happens which would be just doubling the weighty fun.
However, AA’s are the most common size battery in the world and a heckuva lot more household chargers are around to handle them. So my odds of getting a refuel go up significantly. If I’m going to tote around rechargeable D’s I might as well tote around 26650’s and get some real power out of the deal besides less weight. And if I absolutely should need D’s for whatever reason I have 6 super-light 2 x AA adapters in my bag that’ll get me by in a pinch. May not be optimal, but it’ll get me by. Now with that in mind try and use D’s in a torch or electronic that requires AA’s. Good luck, McGyver. I also pack the same adapters for C’s because those can show up in electronics.
With regards to the most common U.S. flashlight that uses D’s that being MagLite, I still have that covered with the AA adapters. Again, may not be optimal but at least it’s functionally covered.
At this stage of lithium technology I find that 18650’s are the skinny for lumen bang for the buck to weight ratio. I have a bunch of those. I also have 4 x Intellicharger I4’s which beautifully run on DC current and are relatively lightweight and compact. These also charge AA NiMh with aplomb.
Basically, I think D-cell rechargeables and D-alkalines don’t belong in torches we tend to use unless we have no other choice. Thankfully, we do though. Eventually I see D’s going the way of the Dodo Bird.
Actually, a typical charger that can handle D batteries will charge four at a time - the same as a typical AA charger. True, they are somewhat bigger than a typical ‘plug in the wall’ variety AA charger. And you won’t find one that can charge 12 at a time (like Tenergy’s AA charger). But I would HARDLY call my Tenergy TN190 ‘Big A’ or ‘heavy’. Also, it’s certainly every bit as capable of charging batteries ‘out in the sticks’ or on the run as any AA charger. Maybe even more so than most. After all, I can use a power inverter with ANY charger. But one thing I CAN do with my TN190 which I CAN’T do with a typical ‘plug in the wall’ AA charger is run it straight off 12 volts. The charger itself actually runs off a plug-in adaptor or cigarette lighter plug rather than NEEDING to plug into the wall. Of course, it also charges AAA, AA, C, and 9V batteries.
I should also note that toting around D-alkalines is NOT a viable alternative to NiMH batteries. The truth is that D-alkalines are little better than AA alkalines in terms of ability to crank out the amps. For instance, if you try to use D-alkalines in a ROP Maglite, you will get little to no more light from either the 3854H or 3854L than from the Mag Xenon bulb. You need NiMH to get those bulbs to put out. And a NiMH D can EASILY crank out 25+ amps if need be. There is pretty much no other even somewhat common battery out there that can do this that isn’t MUCH bigger and heavier than a D cell.
Yes, lights that take D cells tend to be bigger and heavier than lights that run on AA batteries (at least those that run on, say, 1, 2, or 3 of them). But it’s a tradeoff in terms of runtime and ability to provide BIG amps. However, in the case of the HP550, those 9AA batteries with the adaptor probably take up MORE room and are at least as heavy as three D batteries. In the end, I would still buy the light in a heartbeat if I could actually get it (local Costcos don’t stock it, Southern California Costcos won’t ship it to me, and Costco doesn’t sell it online). But I would DEFINITELY prefer it with three D batteries to 9 AA batteries (even though I certainly have enough NiMH AAs on hand to run the thing).
just cut yesterday. Comparison against a 3-D MagLite and other things like hotspot and ceiling bounces.
And just in tonite, shorty beamshots comparison against Fenix TK60. Long beam shots a coming soon he says.
I think he’s running alkalines in both videos. Prolly the Duracells that came with it. The thing is, it runs quite a bit brighter on Eneloops.
Apparently this torch once went for $99 per one comment. I haven’t verified it. 8)
No joy here,no costco near me looks like coast redeemed themselves with this one.9aa is alot,this sucker must be fairly heavy.I wonder if they will put these in other stores with the costco ones as a market feeler.