What? I can’t be the only one who likes to wear mine hanging from my wrist while I skip through the aisles of the fine china shop!? 
:bigsmile:
+1 about being a better flashlight for the average/general consumer. The only disadvantage that people will not like is that it uses 3 cells, most folks I know (non-flashaholics) will not use a flashlight that needs more than 2 batteries.
On the Maglites, I believe they will remain on sale until they are either sold out or until Christmas Day. I am not sure when they go back to normal price because last year they sold out long before Christmas Day and I never paid attention to them prior to last year.
Thanks for this post. It's great to see quality components going more mainstream. However, if it's pulling 2.5 amps (first, I'm surprised they even drive it that hard), won't alkaline cells have a tendency to leak? I was thinking they were only reliable up to an amp. I built a 3D Mag for a family member running an XP-G at 1.5 amps and the cells leaked after only a few months of moderate use.
Hmm. . . guess that's where the "Lifetime Warranty" comes in! And it won't stay at 2.5A very long. Mine dropped to 1.90A within about 20 seconds.
-Garry
that and use a brand of battery with a good warranty. no need for them to pay for the battery leaking
I’ll have to check the Home Depot just down the street from where I live to see if they have any of these. I wonder how this light would perform with true NiMH C batteries. A true NiMH C battery can kick out 2.5A without breaking a sweat.
As far as Mag, I’ve always wondered why they stick to such low output LEDs. After all, how hard (or expensive) would it be to stick an XM-L into a full-sized Maglite? The only logical reason I can think of for them sticking to low output LEDs is to keep them ‘average consumer friendly’. The thing is, the average consumer wants to use alkaline batteries (and doesn’t want to deal with NiMH or Li-Ion). Furthermore, the average consumer expects the light to work with regular alkaline batteries and deliver decent runtime. This is NOT going to happen with, say, an 800 lumen XM-L chip in a 3D Maglite! Although the average consumer will certainly like the high output of such a light, they will quickly become frustrated by the fact that it only lasts a few minutes before getting REALLY dim. The thing is, an alkaline D battery (unlike a NiMH D) actually has close to the same internal resistance of an alkaline AA, and is just not capable of supplying high current (this is probably why Coast went 9xAA rather than 3xD in the HP550).
If they only bothered with a xp-g at same output and OP reflector it would be a much better light for negligible addition cost.
Also, it doesn’t matter what the internal resistance is as long as the driver is doing its job. Coast went with 9AA probably because they’re more readily available. Only a minority keep D’s at home since it’s only used in flashlights and some toys.
As far as I know, the HP550 is unregulated. So internal resistance would be VERY important. And since an alkaline AA has about the same internal resistance as an alkaline D battery (but less capacity), three alkaline AA batteries are going to be able to supply about three times the current of an alkaline D battery.
As far as more people having AA batteries, this is kind of irrelevant. More people may have AA batteries than D batteries. But the HP550 takes NINE of them. And most people don’t have THAT many fresh AA batteries lying around. Whether they go AA or D doesn’t matter to most people. A trip to the store to buy batteries is probably going to be in order regardless when the batteries go dead.
Anyway, just noticed that my local Home Depot has the Defiant in stock for $20. I guess I’ll be picking it up!
That’s kind of shifty for a $50+ light. Esp one running on alkalines (ie 1.6 —> 1v). I thought only Mag would do this.
this thing stomps a 2d mag in all useful operational tests. i dont consider throwing a needle beam into the next town a useful operation. 
if they keep these on the shelves for the entire year, i can envision folks modding these lights alot. cut down? king kong? NW emitter? different driver? sure.
Brian
3 C’s at 2.5A is a problem though. Miserable battery life (no low mode?) with alkalines only saved by lack of driver (thus diminishing output), and if you use rechargeables 3 is an odd number. A worthy effort at that price, but I’d rather have 3D’s if they’re going to go full bore xml.
……And most people don’t have THAT many fresh AA batteries lying around.”
Now picture my eyes twitching, starting to just roll backwards into the upper part of the sockets. 
Ya realize that Costco sell’s alkaline AA 48-each bricks ala Kirkland-brand for about $11, right? Plus Duracells up the ying-yang at about what, $4 a brick higher I believe. So basically, the consumer groks that he can load the HP550 FIVE times with AA’s for $11 or so. It just doesn’t phase him like it used to. The knocking of AA’s for a torch like the HP550 is IMO just not there. I’m happy they did it mainly because it can also run just fine on 3 x AA’s too. Way to go, Coast!
Coincidentally, Costco is also where the HP550 made its debut with its very own assigned bubble-pak Costco Item Number. H) Guess what size battery Costco sells by the tons over any other size?
Hmmmmmmm………………Could it be………………….hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,
AA’s? Next time ya go to Costco, notice the area-size set aside for D’s much less C’s. 8)
And then ya got the HP550 which comes with 9 Duracells which’ll prolly last the average consumer until their expiration date. :bigsmile:
‘NINE’ AA’s is really no BFD whatsoever these days for the vast numbers that do the majority of their shopping at such box warehouses to get those battery kinda savings. You maybe could find 1 outta of a 1,000 Costco members that purposely goes into a Ralph’s to always get their 4-pack of alkalines for $5.95. It just ain’t an issue, man. In fact, I will flat-out say that the HP550 using NINE AA’s was pretty dang smart on Coast’s part besides the retailer’s preferences. Because the consumer will like it a lot more with AA’s than those big-ass EXPENSIVE D’s that weigh a ton too.
And thank Almighty Gaw’d they didn’t put C’s in there like the dumb-as*es that designed that mediocre one-mode amp-sucking POS Defiant XML torch getting press here comparing it to the Mag like it really is The Shizz because it floods outta a C8 reflector. But I digress.
Besides all that, Costco sells AA & AAA Eneloops, plus their chargers. I do believe there must be some profit-incentive for Costco targeting the customer that is a rechargeable die-hard. Costco in its wisdom wants that customer to also buy those rechargeables from them as well. Interestingly, Costco AFAIK has never sold a rechargeable D or C.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh, the subtleties of target-marketing the big retailer. 
driver.
could use a slug of aluminum pressed into that cavity for more mass but its not too bad.
Brian
i also took some AA NiMH rechargables and popped them into this light with some weatherstripping around them.
they maintained 2.45-2.30A much better than the alkaline C cells did.
I may get some NiMH C cells and rig up some charging clips to charge them via my Maha 8 cell NiMH charger. I also may swap in a KD V2 driver. I have some of those intl-outdoor 20mm blank boards that would work perfect for this light to add a 17mm driver in that cavern in the pill.
Brian
I imagine the best way to use this light for enthusiasts would be 3x eneloop. Lasts about as long as C alkalines anyway. The AA —> adapters on ebay work really well, but the tailcap spring might be an issue since the tail is so much smaller on AA.
I got to fool around with this one the other day. I resisted the impulse to buy. It appeared to be a decent-for-$20-at-a-b&m-store kinda light, but like agenthex said, the lack of a low mode seems like a glaring oversight considering the power source and intended audience (i.e. normal folk).
Output was surprisingly decent, but I was put off by the finish and the switch. However, the bigazz threaded heatsink was a nice surprise! In the end I left with a Mag 2D XP-E.
“In the end I left with a Mag 2D XP-E.”
It may look good, but in the end, it ain’t good.
Btw, I was there. I picked one up. I turned it on. I felt the soggy flimsy switch. I looked at the beam inside HD. I felt the finish on the faux easy-slip non-existent knurling coupled with the $2 spray can paint-like glossy coating, I looked at the size of the head, the depth of the reflector, the plastic lens, the one-mode only on high operation, the general ‘feel’ of the thing, put it back in its cardboard box slot, looked again at the price, and realized I could get another Mag 2D Led in gunmetal and put the rest of the $20 that wasn’t spent on it towards a black Mag 2D Led. Then I walked away and never looked back.
But to give all this an Agenthex flair of how I really felt about it, I wouldn’t pay more than $9 for that POS because that’s what the XML emitter’s almost worth. 8)
I stuck eneloops in mine with the Sanyo adapters and it works fine. Tailcap spring is small enough for the AA battery terminals.
Or buy some Tenergy C batteries. They’re only about $15 for four of them (regardless of whether 5000 mAH HSD or 4000 mAH LSD). Any you’ll get double the runtime that you would get using AA batteries. Not to mention that you don’t need to get adaptors OR deal with the pitfalls of using them (ie higher resistance, lower reliability, etc).
BTW, aren’t C batteries actually SHORTER than AA batteries? I would imagine that using an adaptor will only exacerbate the situation.
Well, one of the REALLY nice things about using C batteries in this light is that it keeps things simple (and runtime is still decent with REAL C batteries). Honestly, the one thing I REALLY don’t like about the HP550 is that battery holder. I’ll admit that, when I went on a 2.5 hour walk tonight, the HP550 worked REALLY well. It kicks out PLENTY of light, and was still going strong when I got back (that’s an even longer battery life than Coast themselves states). But that piece of plastic just casts doubts in my mind when it comes to the longevity of that light. While I feel like the rest of the light is really well made and will last a long time, I can’t say I feel the same about the battery holder. It just feels like, if I am even a little rough with the thing, it’s finished. Not to mention that, with my current chargers, it’s much more convenient for me to charge three C batteries than 9 AA batteries.
~20 for 4, same as the light itself: http://www.amazon.com/Tenergy-Centura-Self-Discharge-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B0041TF5KQ, plus need 4 bay nimh charger.
If they did design for nimh, 3x series AA would’ve been much better. Half the runtime, fraction of size/weight.