FOG HORN April 2019

Twobirds Flying Publications

COAST TX14R Rechargeable

Copyright 2019, Towbirds Flying Publications. All Rights Reserved.


COAST TX14R Rechargeable
By: Sal Palma
COAST Products Inc. is a Portland, OR. based
manufacturer of knives, multi-tools and LED
flashlights. At Shot Show 2019, the company
introduced the TX14R, a high performance
tactical flashlight for law enforcement and
military use.
A long time ago, I developed a dislike for using
“feature rich” accolades because quite frankly
many of the features captured in that
hackneyed expression have zero utility, but
there are exceptions and COAST’s TX14R is one
of those.
The TX14R is a handheld flash light with an
overall length of approximately 7.5 inches and a
tube diameter of 1.18 inches. The light features
an O-ring sealed aluminum body specifically
designed to easily fit through your typical duty
belt baton ring. The company incorporates an
antiroll bezel
that is very
effective in
keeping the
flashlight
from rolling
off of a the charging port and LED charging indicators.
desktop or
other surface.
COAST TX14R Rechargeable 2019
COAST uses a beam focusing system they
market as a Long Range Focusing Optic. Most
tactical flashlights use highly polished parabolic
reflectors to focus the beam and their beam
widths are fixed. COAST’s approach is like using
a magnifying glass in sunlight. Moving the
magnifying glass up or down will tightly focuses
the sun’s light or diffuses it. The net effect is
that the user can alter the beam width by
moving the TX14R bezel back and forth to
achieve the desired beam focus, the tighter the
beam width, the less light dispersal over a given
distance. In my testing I was able to estimate
the TX14R’s beam width at approximately 12°
with the bezel fully extended. COAST calls this
position the X-Range Spot Beam. In this
position, the company claims a beam range of
2240 feet (683 meters) but keep in mind that
this is in darkness.
The TX14R is powered by a rechargeable lithium
ion battery.
The light ships with two lithium ion battery
packs and an alkaline (4) AAA battery pack. The
flashlight can be charged via a micro USB port.
Twisting and pulling up on the tailcap exposes
Copyright 2019, Towbirds Flying Publications. All Rights Reserved.
 COAST TX14R Rechargeable
2019

The tailcap can also be removed and its lithium

power pack removed for recharging externally.

Like all dual power lights, your best

performance comes from a lithium power
source; however, in emergency situations, you
can fallback on its (4) AAA alkaline batteries.

The TX14R is a high performance illumination

tool. It has three modes of operation, high, low
and strobe. On high, it projects a 900 lumen
narrow beam to 400 meters. On low it throws a
165 lumen narrow beam to 180 meters.

With lithium batteries installed, the TX14R will

deliver a run time of 5.25 hours on high and a
full 8 hours on low. This is great performance.

Mode selection requires quick presses of the

activation button. The first press gets you in
high, the second and you’re in strobe and the
COAST wants its customers to be adequately
third quick press puts you in low. The TX14 does
powered so they provide 2 rechargeable lithium
not have a memory, so you cannot program a
ion batteries that will also charge your smart
specific operating sequence.
device.

Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved


Having had an opportunity to use and carry the
COAST TX14 for a while, I feel comfortable
describing this light as feature rich, but none of
its features are fluff, they actually deliver
considerable utility. A dual power source is
valuable particularly during an emergency. Two
rechargeable lithium ion battery packs is a
valuable feature. Batteries that can double as a
power source for smart devices is extremely
valuable. Three modes of operation that
includes a rhythmic repeatable strobe is useful.
The adjustable beam focus could also be useful
to many users, but I personally prefer a fixed
parabolic reflector.
COAST TX14R Rechargeable
2019
Manufacturer Specifications
 BEAM OPTICS : LONG RANGE FOCUSING
 LIGHT OUTPUT (HIGH): 900 LUMENS
 LIGHT OUTPUT (LOW): 165 LUMENS
 BEAM DISTANCE (HIGH): 1381 FT / 421 M
 BEAM DISTANCE (LOW): 600 FT / 183 M
 RUNTIME (HIGH): 4H 15MIN
 RUNTIME (LOW): 8H
 LENGTH: 7.625 IN / 19.4 CM
 WEIGHT: 8.8 OZ / 250 G
 BATTERY DESCRIPTION: LI-ION OR 4 X AAA
 MSRP: $160

In conclusion, COAST’s TX14R is an outstanding

feature rich handheld light. Its construction,
ease of operation and numerous features make
this light an ideal EDC light, addition to your bug
out bag or an LE illumination tool. Its 900
lumens will light up the darkest corners and at
an MSRP of $160, the TX14R delivers excellent
value without breaking the budget.

-SP

Copyright 2019, Twobirds Flying Publications, All Rights Reserved