Portland, Oregon, based COAST lights, knives and multi-tools have some lights you'll want to take a look at for your outdoor needs or whenever you need to overcome the dark.
Portland, Oregon, based COAST lights, knives and multi-tools have some lights you'll want to take a look at for your outdoor needs or whenever you need to overcome the dark.
Portland, Oregon, based COAST lights, knives and multi-tools have some lights you'll want to take a look at for your outdoor needs or whenever you need to overcome the dark.
Copyright 2018, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.
COAST Lights, Knives and Multi-Tools -HX5, HX4 and HP3R Rechargeable 2018
COAST Lights, Knives and Multi-Tools -
HX5, HX4 and HP3R Rechargeable
By: Sal Palma
COAST, a Pacific Northwest company, based in
Portland Oregon was founded by Henry Brands COAST’s HX5 is a light weight compact flashlight in 1919. Shortly after moving to Oregon, Henry that comes in at approximately 2.5oz and 4.125 Brands worked as a sales manager for a large inches with the focusing bezel fully extended. wholesale hardware company, traveling to towns of all sizes throughout the Northwest The HX5 features and aluminum housing with selling hardware—including cutlery—to local O-ring seals at the bezel and battery cap so it is merchants. After seeing firsthand that the fillet IPX4 rated. IPX4 offers protection from a splash knives he was peddling were wholly inadequate of water in any direction for at least five for gutting the Pacific Northwest’s 50-pound minutes. chinooks, Henry Brands had a better idea. He This light offers momentary and continuous teamed up with a local metal smith to design illumination powered by a single AA battery. and fashion a new fillet knife. This new tool was The light will run on a lithium or alkaline stiffer, had a thicker blade and featured a metal battery. Rated output with a lithium battery scoop on the back. Now slicing, cleaning and installed is 345 lumens with a run time of 45 filleting could be done with one tool. Since then minutes and 130 lumens with the alkaline COAST continued making tools for professionals battery with a run time of 3 hours and 45 and those who work like professionals. minutes. It’s important to note that the LED is In this review, I’ll introduce three of the not regulated so light output will change as the company’s lighting products starting with the battery drains. HX5 handheld flashlight.
Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
COAST Lights, Knives and Multi-Tools -HX5, HX4 and HP3R Rechargeable 2018 The COAST HX5 does not use a reflector to The HX5 ships with a pocket focus the light beam; instead, the light is clip that can also be used to focused using a lens. Moving the focusing bezel mount the light to your hat “a forward will focus the beam and moving it back la” headlamp. will diffuse the beam, an effect that its packaging calls flood. Next on the list is COAST’s HP3R Rechargeable penlight. Here, kudos to COAST for including alkaline and rechargeable batteries, USB cable, a.c. charger and d.c. charger. Literally everything that you need ships with the HP3R.
At a distance of approximately 45 feet the spot
beam provides excellent illumination but as we move out from the center of the hot spot we actually see dark spots in the peripheral lighting. This is a function of the focusing lens.
Here again, COAST dispenses with a reflector
and concentrates the light beam using a Universal Focusing Optic that rotates to the desired beam focus.
The HP3R is a dual output and dual power
source light which COAST markets as a Flex Charge Dual Power System. The included rechargeable lithium battery powers this sleek 5.8 inch light to 245 lumens, on high, with a run Compare the HX5 beam with a comparably time of 1 hour and 30 minutes, and 26 lumens, priced JET light. When tightly focused, the Jet on low, with a 6 hour runtime. The alkaline light has zero peripheral lighting and the hot power source powers the HP3R to 86 lumens, spot takes on a peculiar rectangular shape. on high, with a 2 hour runtime and 10 lumens, on low, with a runtime of 26 hours.
Copyright 2018, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved
COAST Lights, Knives and Multi-Tools -HX5, HX4 and HP3R Rechargeable 2018 The HP3R is the ideal inspection light and way to regulate the output like the HP3R which COAST must have certainly had the mechanic in has a high and low mode of operation. mind, but it works equally well for inspecting However, its 80 lumens of output make for an your firearm’s receiver, breech or bore. excellent navigation light. Clip it to your hat, vest or belt; the HX4 generates an abundance of My only beef with the HP3R is that, unlike the light to help you navigate obstacles. The red HX5, the pocket clip does not allow the light light preserves night adapted vision. seat as deeply into the pocket as I would like. Personal preference but certainly not a show In conclusion, COAST has done a great job of stopper by any means. bringing to market a number of lighting products that outperform similar retail offerings from competing suppliers, but It would be disingenuous to present these lights as professional grade equipment or to compare them to Streamlight, Surefire or even Elzetta. The HX5, HX4 and HP3R are general use lighting products available from Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, Target and digital retailers like Amazon. All COAST lights carry a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer.
The take away from this review is that COAST
Last on my list is COAST’s HX4, L.E.D. clip-on lights outperformed its peers by a sizable light. The HX4 is powered by two AAA batteries margin, give them a try. and has two modes of operation, white and red light. This light has an articulating head that -SP moves through an estimated 130° arc allowing the wearer to direct light as needed.
The HX4 has a white light output of 80 lumens
with a run time of 3 hours and 45 minutes. As with all of the lights reviewed, the HX4 is not regulated so output will change as the battery is drained. It’s also not waterproof rated by the manufacturer.
The light can be worn on a MOLLE field or it can
also be belt mounted. The clip and articulating head makes it possible for the HX4 to be worn on a hat as well.
If I had to describe its proper application it
would not be a task light because there’s no
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