These used to have a huge cult following. Although they are still around, I almost never hear anyone talking about them.
I always wanted to get one but $300+ for a CR123 based light is a bit steep.
Anyone on BLF have one? Likes, dislikes?
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” $300+ for a CR123 based light is a bit steep. “
one of the better understatements
HDS lights are not cheap, but I believe the price is reasonable when you consider the quality, the fact it is low volume, most parts are made in the USA, and each one is hand assembled by a small crew. Compared to many other small volume American lights (Okluma, Laulima as examples), the price is certainly not out of line.
What you get is an overbuilt, high quality flashlight. It is backed by the owner Henry, who bends over backwards to fix any issue that arises with any of his lights, regardless of age or if you are the original purchaser.
There are a lot of lights that have much greater specs, but most who have tried or own an HDS agree that they are well balanced flashlights that perform well beyond their advertised specs.
I own dozens of lights and have owned hundreds of others, but I trust the HDS lights I have more than any of the others.
Sure, you can purchase a Sofirn,Wurkkos, or even Fenix for less, and I own several of these. But the HDS lights are great lights and I am glad I have mine. Try one. The best thing is that if you don’t care for it, they retain most of their value, even used, and sell very easily on the secondary market.
Outdated, historical crap customer service, overpriced, ain’t that American?
Worth every penny if you want quality you can trust.
You can trust they will leave you hanging if you need a replacement part. I have a friend waiting 1+year for a simple part.
I have 2. Worth every penny. Each light is calibrated to output.
Uh huh, tell us more. You own multiple? Just 1 friends word?
My experience is excellent, have 3.
I didn’t know this about the HDS. Good info!
I wonder if it’s a coincidence the FW3A looks quite similar to the HDS.
Likely a combination of coincidence and design ergonomics. The shape is used by many other tail switch lights as well, although I don’t remember any using the shape prior to HDS. I have found the basic shape used is near perfect for holding the light securely between two fingers and controlling the tailswitch with the thumb. I suspect ergonomics drove the design and size of the HDS. Sure, you can make a smaller light, but it’s about as small a tail switch light I have found that is easily operated (and held securely ) using one hand.
Also, the length is about as short as you can make a tail switch light and use it with one hand while in a reverse grip. All things considered, the design works very well for my application.
One thing not mentioned yet is how easy it is to configure the HDS settings to set the light up up exactly how you want. There are very few lights that offer the ability to easily configure each of it’s individual brightness settings to your own particular desires or needs, plus there are many additional setting choices, including memory-no memory, momentary on, and auto off. The programmability of most other lights is limited to selecting mode groups, rather than allowing the user to change each individual brightness level.
This applies to both the clicky and rotary variants.
I have a couple. There were quality issues with one (battery discharge) and the other took months to deliver because of sub contractor issues. Had them a few years now, and they work just fine. Obviously the output is poor compared to the latest tech but if I had to pick a flashlight for a survival situation I would probably drop one in my pocket.
I have owned several HDS lights (over time almost every variation: twisties, clickies, rotaries, etc.) and have always been caught by the “hds-hype”: Super robust, indestructible, absolutely reliable, high quality, worth the price etc….
Unfortunately, after years of HDS experience, I cannot confirm all this.
Almost with every light there were some kind of problems. Starting with poor anodization, various switch problems, driver defects, battery discharge and various other failures.
Sure, the mentioned defects were fixed by HDS, or lights were completely replaced.
But especially for a customer from Europe, such a complaint is always quite time-consuming, annoying and due to the shipping to the USA also very expensive.
In addition, it sometimes took a small eternity until the lights were back with me.
In summary: I still like some things about HDS lights, e.g. the form factor, the rotary control, configuration etc. but the whole “mega-hype” about how unique and fantastic these lights are supposed to be is, in my humble opinion, completely exaggerated and certainly not justified for the high price.
Furthermore, much has evolved over the years in the flashlight world, but at HDS time seems to have stood still. Unfortunately, I see no real product development for years. Too bad!
Most of the changes are improvements that you would never see or even notice. They are working on new products, but that process takes forever and a day.
Yes, I would say they are worth it.
I have several, most more than ten years old. I consider them my most reliable lights.
I sent him a Twisty (a model Henry made one run of in 2009) to be repaired. I sent him a light that was more than ten year old and had the emitter swapped and he completely rebuilt it without batting an eye. All he said was “sorry for the inconvenience.”
Service can be slow but this is not surprising, considering this is a two-man shop.
But mostly he lights just work and I expect them to work, well, forever. Most of mine are a decade old and I have modded them to high-CRI and they just keep on running like a spinning top.
Other than max lumens, I am not aware of any area where one could argue the HDS lights have lagged behind over the years.
I have similar sized lights with higher output that can, on occasion, be useful for short periods, but they cannot sustain that output without excessive heat buildup and severe impact to battery life.
Every light has trade offs. For me, as an edc, the HDS lights are well balanced and suit my needs well with the only trade off being max lumens.
Nice, quality lights, but not my price tag for 250 lumen toy.
Mike
Surprised they never ventured out into 21700 based lights.
Yea, CR123 is another no no for me 
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