life gear 1000 lumen 6 c-cell from Costco $100

[Turbo DV8]

Me want. I'm part of the 1% (on CPF) who actually has respect for LED Lenser/Coast lights, and I can't get one of these? Waaaaah! Clearly, Coast should be nationalized, and rebranded Coast-to-Coast, so we can get wider distribution of these!

Two Costco's near me in the SF Bay Area don't say they are discontinued. They both told me they are on order, but have been on order for some time, and were due in on November 7. Not promising, but still better than discontinued! One said they had 74 on order, and the other 38, or something like that.

 

[Jay611j]

I was able to get a friend of mine to pick up one of these and I am very impressed with it! It looks like a shrunk down version of my Coast HP7. Just like the HP7, it has the best focusing mechanism of ANY flashlight out there. It is an awesome thrower at its narrowest beam setting, and it lights up our entire back yard in wide mode! In my opinion, this is the best light right now as far as what you get for your dollar. I may even look into getting a second one! I will fully test it on Wednesday evening when we go visit my in laws that live out in the country.

I went back today and got 2 more of them for family, I wanted to use and abuse it for a few days at work to see how it went before I went back for more. This HP550 really gives me a different outlook on Coast lights, I have also been impressed with it. My TK60 usually rides shotgun with me, but got replaced by this because I really like the bright flood it produces oo:.

 

[Canuke]

I just picked one of these up at Summerlin Costco in Las Vegas. About 30-40 units that I could see there as of this writing. One other customer checking out next to me had one too.

Running on the included alkalines, the output is barely discernable as being a bit stronger than the Stanley FatMax 755 lumen unit I have, so they are close to rated output on alks. 1000 lumens from AA batteries - ain't the future grand? I'm charging up some Eneloops for further testing atm.

One other item of note: the battery carrier 3S3P config will let you run with only 3 or 6 cells in a pinch (I'd stick to low mode).

Low mode is visible PWM 200-300Hz, no tint shift. The Stanley changes tint by a whole bin going from high to low (or so it seems).

 

[mikekoz]

I just picked one of these up at Summerlin Costco in Las Vegas. About 30-40 units that I could see there as of this writing. One other customer checking out next to me had one too.

Running on the included alkalines, the output is barely discernable as being a bit stronger than the Stanley FatMax 755 lumen unit I have, so they are close to rated output on alks. 1000 lumens from AA batteries - ain't the future grand? I'm charging up some Eneloops for further testing atm.

One other item of note: the battery carrier 3S3P config will let you run with only 3 or 6 cells in a pinch (I'd stick to low mode).

Low mode is visible PWM 200-300Hz, no tint shift. The Stanley changes tint by a whole bin going from high to low (or so it seems).

I just compared it to the same light! The Fatmax beat the Coast a little bit in throw, but the HP550 had more spill. It did not blow away the Fatmax, but I was not expecting it to anyway. We are visiting my in laws out here in the country in northern NC, and I was testing these lights, and a few more (Shiningbeam Blaze and a Fenix TK15) by shining them across a large field. The flood mode on the HP550 though, really set it apart from the others!

 

[kotarak]

Just picked up two of these from the local Costco. I must say - the quality is impressive - I would even venture as far to say - it is almost insane for a $48 light.
I have some other Coast lights but none of them get even close! The only gripe I have is the plastic lens but even this is not enough to be a deal-breaker - the lens is recessed deep in the body and would not get easily scratched!
The ability to go from a focused beam to a wide flood makes the light even more attractive for me.
Visual comparison of the beam intensity to my 4Sevens Maelstrom S18 favours the 1200 lumen S18, but the difference is very small - not that apparent at first look. After careful examination, one will conclude that the Maelstrom S18 is indeed brighter but it is consistent with the 200 lumen difference.
Actually, the average output of the HP550 might be a bit lower and it is limited mainly by the type of batteries.
Here are some current measurements at the tail-cap (first 10 sec.) :
DURACELL alkalines primaries (REGULAR) - 2.8 A
ENERGIZER Ultimate Lithium primaries - 3.7A
SANYO ENELOOP NiMH rechargeables - 2.0 A
All primaries were fresh and never used. The ENELOOPs were freshly charged and only on second or third cycle.
The Cree XM-L T6 emitter (I asume is the one in the Coast HP550) is rated 1000 lumens at 3A. My guess is that you'll get the promissed 1000 lumens only on lithium primaries and NiMH rechargeables will drop the output to around 700 lumens. I'll probably stick with alkaline primaries as the best price/performance ratio.
btw I went thru 5 boxes at Costco until I found a Neutal White tint for one of the lights and for the other one I selected the light with the brightest hot-spot.
Really tempted to get another one - considering that for $48 you get a light, almost as bright as my $250 S18

 

[JohnnyBravo]

Just picked up two of these from the local Costco. I must say - the quality is impressive - I would even venture as far to say - it is almost insane for a $48 light.
I have some other Coast lights but none of them get even close! The only gripe I have is the plastic lens but even this is not enough to be a deal-breaker - the lens is recessed deep in the body and would not get easily scratched!
The ability to go from a focused beam to a wide flood makes the light even more attractive for me.
Visual comparison of the beam intensity to my 4Sevens Maelstrom S18 favours the 1200 lumen S18, but the difference is very small - not that apparent at first look. After careful examination, one will conclude that the Maelstrom S18 is indeed brighter but it is consistent with the 200 lumen difference.
Actually, the average output of the HP550 might be a bit lower and it is limited mainly by the type of batteries.
Here are some current measurements at the tail-cap (first 10 sec.) :
DURACELL alkalines primaries (REGULAR) - 2.8 A
ENERGIZER Ultimate Lithium primaries - 3.7A
SANYO ENELOOP NiMH rechargeables - 2.0 A
All primaries were fresh and never used. The ENELOOPs were freshly charged and only on second or third cycle.
The Cree XM-L T6 emitter (I asume is the one in the Coast HP550) is rated 1000 lumens at 3A. My guess is that you'll get the promissed 1000 lumens only on lithium primaries and NiMH rechargeables will drop the output to around 700 lumens. I'll probably stick with alkaline primaries as the best price/performance ratio.
btw I went thru 5 boxes at Costco until I found a Neutal White tint for one of the lights and for the other one I selected the light with the brightest hot-spot.
Really tempted to get another one - considering that for $48 you get a light, almost as bright as my $250 S18

Hey Kotarak, my Costco "might" get these in next week. How did you differentiate the Neutral White ones from the others? Is it listed on the packaging? How shall I go for an NW once it's in stock here? Thanks...

 

[Stereodude]

Hey Kotarak, my Costco "might" get these in next week. How did you differentiate the Neutral White ones from the others? Is it listed on the packaging? How shall I go for an NW once it's in stock here? Thanks...

You have to try them all. I tried about 10 at my local Costco and they all looked the same for tint so I picked the one with the tightest hot spot.

 

[StorminMatt]

Actually, the average output of the HP550 might be a bit lower and it is limited mainly by the type of batteries.
Here are some current measurements at the tail-cap (first 10 sec.) :
DURACELL alkalines primaries (REGULAR) - 2.8 A
ENERGIZER Ultimate Lithium primaries - 3.7A
SANYO ENELOOP NiMH rechargeables - 2.0 A
All primaries were fresh and never used. The ENELOOPs were freshly charged and only on second or third cycle.
The Cree XM-L T6 emitter (I asume is the one in the Coast HP550) is rated 1000 lumens at 3A. My guess is that you'll get the promissed 1000 lumens only on lithium primaries and NiMH rechargeables will drop the output to around 700 lumens. I'll probably stick with alkaline primaries as the best price/performance ratio.

Keep in mind that, if you run alkalines, those alkalines are pushing close to an amp apiece. This is pushing an alkaline AA REALLY hard. At this kind of current drain, brightness is going to drop like a rock with alkalines. NiMH, on the other hand, will hold quite steady throughout the discharge cycle. For this reason, I would run the light on NiMH rather than alkalines. Not to mention that this light takes 9 AA batteries. Even buying the value pack of 24 duracells at Walgreens for $14.99, using alkalines in this light is going to get really expensive REALLY fast if you plan to use it much. This last factor is reason alone to go NiMH on this light.

 

[Verndog]

Re: at Costco for 48.99

Went to Costco today and they had a pallet of these there. Checked it out and was turned off by the 9 cells and the low / high -- 1000 / 40 only selection. I have a Lenser MT7 220L that has a variable dimmer and awesome flood. If this light had the variable dimmer, I would have bought one, but since I just got a 540 lumen Fenix LD41 4 AA I didn't see the need for something so huge.

But they did also have Eneloop 10 packs with 2 nice cases for $15.99 ea. I bought one of those and they all charged to 2100+ ea. These are the Gen 2 Eneloops not the Gen3 1800's...still great reliable cells though.

 

[Vesper]

Re: at Costco for 48.99

Got mine a few days ago. The flood and spot on high is IMPRESSIVE.

The choice of 40 lumens with bad PWM for the low level is a real bummer. This light could have been so much better if its low was 100 lumens, less flicker or regulated. Better yet a 3 level light before the blinky stuff would have been nice.

The up side is... this thing is for lighting up a room or throwing a hell of a beam up and down your back 40; beating most of your other lights that you spent 3x as much on. Also, bravo Coast for making this thing tailstand. All my extra Eneloops thank you.

 

[Jay611j]

Re: at Costco for 48.99

I loaded mine up with Energizer lithium primaries tonight from my stock pile and this thing really screams. This $50 light is officially brighter than all of my $100-$150 lights except for my TK70. I've been using it the past two nights on walks and I really haven't seen the output get any dimmer when used on eneloops, does anybody know if it is regulated?

 

[StorminMatt]

Re: at Costco for 48.99

I loaded mine up with Energizer lithium primaries tonight from my stock pile and this thing really screams. This $50 light is officially brighter than all of my $100-$150 lights except for my TK70. I've been using it the past two nights on walks and I really haven't seen the output get any dimmer when used on eneloops, does anybody know if it is regulated?

As I understand, it's not regulated. However, the stable voltage output of NiMH batteries basically makes it a 'quasi-regulated' light. The same can't be said about alkalines, as voltage will drop with use. Especially with such a high current draw. Lithium primaries fall somewhere between NiMH and alkaline in terms of voltage dropping with use.

 

[nealitc]

Re: at Costco for 48.99

Do you have the Costco item number? Trying to find it in here in No Cal or LA. Thanks!

 

[candor]

Costco Item Number: 686885

 

[Jay611j]

I was just talking to a friend of mine who works at Costco, he said the Coast HP550 is a brand new item and they ARE being distributed still to Costco stores throughout the US and not just California as some others have said. So if your Costco doesn't have them yet, they should soon.

 

[cccpull]

I was just talking to a friend of mine who works at Costco, he said the Coast HP550 is a brand new item and they ARE being distributed still to Costco stores throughout the US and not just California as some others have said. So if your Costco doesn't have them yet, they should soon.

It's all on who picks up the phone when you call (as in my case:shakehead). They'll be around soon enough, but not today. Did see the Eneloops and charger at a good price.

 

[DaveG]

Waterbury,CT store has them in stock.

 

[Turbo DV8]

They're heeeere...

Now in Costco's in the SF Bay Area today. Next... coming soon to a store near you. I called up a store near me, and they said their order arrived today. Another nearby store said they were "in transit." So I went to the store that said they had come in. They were unloading their (only) pallet of 72 lights in the middle of the aisle. I went through about 25 of them checking tint, focus, switch action, etc. The days of testing ten LED lights and coming up with ten different tints are about over, folks. Tints were nearly identical. I wish the tint was a bit warmer yet, but testing the light through the package imparts a bit of a purple tint itself. One suspect flaky switch. One had slightly off center focus, another couple had a bit of a stiff focus slide action, but that could be a plus or minus based upon personal preference. It wasn't hard to pick out a couple nice ones; in fact if I'd just taken the first two they'd likely have been fine. Didn't have a chance to open the package before I had to come to work, but a quick comparison of light output between my P14 and this, simply blows away my P14 and makes it nearly obsolete, and it cost $80! But the 550 is quite a bit larger, heavier, and I personally like the metal switch button on the P14 compared to rubber.

Grab 'em while they're available!

 

[right-aileron]

I bought one at the Colchester, VT Costco yesterday - it's an amazing light for the money. I bought the first one from the display, 53 remaining! Gotta love the way LED technology is progressing, watch, in a few more years flashlights will take-on computer-type lingo, and 1000 lumens will be referred to as 1KL. Can't wait for those 5KL lights that run on a couple of D cells!

 

[Zapp]

Just returned from picking up a Coast HP550 at Costco. I have a 3xD and a 4xD LED Maglite which will now be given away but I will keep my
Dorcy 3xAA, ThruNite T10 and Ti. Keep them until something better comes down the pike. As a newbie here I have much to learn so thanks for all the comment and reports posted here.