COAST Focusing LED Lenser.. w/pics

[amanichen]

Just got a reply from "Zweibrüder", about mow much watt the LED has in the Hokus Focus, and here is the reply I got:

...

Who produces a 1.25watt LED. Is it Luxeon, Cree, or another???

It doesn't matter who produces it =)

The packaging says "3.44 Watts" as shown in the picture in the first post. The company obviously doesn't read its own packaging.

No matter how efficient a 1.25W LED is, you don't get 3.44W out of it, unless you believe in the bullhonkey that are over unity systems, perpetual motion, and free energy.

 

[BillMPL]

Is this the same Coast light from Lowes? If so, they also claim in the description that it's a 1.25 watt.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=244292-13229-244292&lpage=none

 

[whc]

Is this the same Coast light from Lowes? If so, they also claim in the description that it's a 1.25 watt.
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=244292-13229-244292&lpage=none

Yes i belive it is. I think it is only in Usa it is named "COAST". It is made by the company named in previus reply in germany.

 

[whc]

It doesn't matter who produces it =)

The packaging says "3.44 Watts" as shown in the picture in the first post. The company obviously doesn't read its own packaging.

No matter how efficient a 1.25W LED is, you don't get 3.44W out of it, unless you believe in the bullhonkey that are over unity systems, perpetual motion, and free energy.

Yes it is wary misleading. It is maximum of 3.44w, it's maybe a bit optimistic . This light like others from this company uses optics, or put in a other words "it use glases", in that way you can get wary high output from a less powerfull source. It will also be a more precise/sharp beam.

 

[lumenal]

It is maximum of 3.44w, it's maybe a bit optimistic .

I have owned this light for 3 months and am very impressed by its perfomance.

Comparing this particular Coast light side by side with my other Lux III lights, including the Inova XO3, Pelican 2370 3 watt LED, Taskforce Super 3 watt LED and many others, I find this Coast(LED Lenser) light is as bright or brighter than all of them. And with a great beam. And it focuses surprisingly well.

Led Lenser is known to use Fraen optics, and this may be a different type on this particular light. It has what is known as a "frog-eye" type lens. It is a collimator with no artifacts. I really like these lenses.

I use NiMH with very good results. IMHO, this is an excellent flashlight.

 

[whc]

The online store where I ordered the light, apparently have Christmas vacation, did not see that, so I cancelled the order, and found a store near where I live to buy it. They just had one left, I bought it and went home, opened the box and pushed the tail switch, and surprising it can be turned on only by half press (like that wary much), and batteries where inserted. I pointed the flashlight to the wall, but was not impressed with what I saw, the light was wary bright, but the beam was off centre with some "errors" around the beam. Looked at the glass and saw the optics was damaged in one side, looked like it had bean taking some beatings. So I wrapped it up again, went down to the store and got a refund (since it was the last one). Now I have placed an order on another website since I could not find any other stores with this light in stock. Now I am hoping they will ship the flashlight tomorrow, then I will receive it on Friday (fingers crossed ).

I though got to play with it a bit, and was wary impressed with the overall quality. Like the on/off button, that you can also use it as a momentary on switch (unlike Fenix L1T). The design is just my taste wary classical, and reminded me about my old 7led police flashlight, that I liked wary much. Strangely enough I could not screw the head off, I don't know if that I normal, would be nice to do so. The beam I wary bright, can't believe that it I only a 1.25watt LED (I thought my Nuwau X-3 was bright, but compared to this it is nothing).

Can't weight to get one again, I just hope that this time I will be I perfect condition .

 

[Lite_me]

That's a bummer whc. Here's hoping the next one is in perfect order for ya!
I had forgotten to ever mention that it comes with batteries installed. And a spare set to boot. If someone was to read between the lines in my review they would have noticed that cause you can test the light while in the package. The other set is visible from the front of the package.
Keep your eye on that mailbox!

 

[lightrod]

Any runtime info? ...

Here's the runtime I got for the alkaline AAA's that the light came with as well as with Duracell NiMH:

The beam on this light in the flood position is pretty poor (although it certainly does remove the center hot spot), but wow does it have a nice clean spot focus with a ton of throw! Beam profiles compared to several other popular lights below, with the Coast in the focus/spot position. The first plot is taken from the NiMH results; the second plot best compares overall beam characteristics as it normalizes output to a total of 30 lumens for each light and shows where the light directs its output - spot or flood. The coast focuses more on the center spot than the others including the SF E1L.

I calculated 70 lumens (which is the advertised value) from the NiMH batteries, 44 from the alkalines (both taken at two minutes time on a fresh battery)

I like this light not as a general purpose light (due to the tight spot / little spill), but as a backup light to pull out when throw is needed.

 

[lightrod]

double post...

 

[lumenal]

Lightrod - great runtime plots and very interesting data. Thanks for all your hard work in displaying this useful infomation.

I have this light and like it very much. I run it with NiMH with good results. I'm surprised yours doesn't focus well on the flood mode, mine certainly does. But you must be outside to appreciate it. And the spot mode is great.

I agree with you - this is a good backup light when throw is needed. I use it in short bursts for this reason. Although I did run it for maybe 15-20 minutes a couple times and noticed the body heated up pretty well-so it must be reasonably heat-sinked.

All in all, one of my favorite lights. :thumbsup:

 

[whc]

Just got one again, this time it is in peak fitness condition ...

Wary impressed with the spot, nice and bright. The LED in this one does though have some purple flair to it, more than any other Luxeon LED I have seen, I think that I will exchange it after Christmas. But for now I am pleased, can't weight till it gets dark, so I can test it outside .

 

[whc]

Now I have had a chance of trying the flashlight outside in the dark. And WOW! i am WARY! Impressed with the light, amazing how powerful and sharp the beam is. I think it is best in spot mode. I just found my new favourite light ...

Though I am not 100% happy with the "purple" flair, I don't know if it is just me that are being picky, it is really not some thing you notice unleash you are pointing the flashlight at a white wall or some thing else white, just in normal use outside, it seams wary white and bright. What do you guys thing, here is some comparison on top the Hokus Focus, and below my Nuwai X-3 (it is though wary hard to capture on camera, and the "purple" flair does not seams to stand so much out in the picture compared to real life. It is the purple surrounding the centre spot I am referring to):

 

[lumenal]

whc-you sound exactly like me when I first clicked on this light! I also was saying WOW! I was definitely pleasantly surprised.

And I recognize that top beam profile - a nice round hotspot with a squarish corona; a product of that Fraen "frog-eye" lens. I love it!

As far as that purple "flair" you mentioned, if it bothers you, and you are able, exchange it. It doesn't look too bad to me, but the camera can be deceiving.
In fact, when I first purchased my light, it looked very white. And then when I compared it to some other Luxeons while "whitewalling" the LED Lenser looked "warmer"- sunny yellow. But I like it. It seems better for color rendition (at least to my eye.) In real world use,it just looks awesome! And boy does it crank out some light!

I really like the feel and threading, as well as the true momentary on. If Lowes( the store where I purchased this light) ever has a sale on these, I will definitely buy another.

I run mine on Rayovac Hybrids (NiMH), and so far, so good.

One of my favorite lights! I'm glad you like yours - Enjoy it!:rock:

 

[whc]

Do this "Rayovac Hybrids" works just as well as normal NIMH batteries. I have bean thinking about buying some for my flashlights. Is it true that they don't discharge like normal NIMH?

I am defiantly hooked on this "colliminator lens" type flashlights, it is amazing how sharp the spot can get with this kind of lenses. Have to try a couple more with this kind of lenses, some more compact "ECD" flashlights. But I think it will be hard to top the Hokus Focus's power beam.

Is there anyone who have bean able to get the head of this light? Would be fun to try this head on a 3watt LED ...

Anyway, have taken another picture, where the purple flair I have bean talking about stands more out. It's the beam to the right (don't think i can live with it in the long run):

 

[Flying Turtle]

I think the beam looks good. Very uniform. I guess I've gotten used to seeing some purple or blue over the years, so it's not so bad. Outside the house it's probably not noticeable.

Geoff

 

[lumenal]

Whc - the Rayovac Hybrids are supposed to work the same as regular NiMH - and the company says you can charge them in any charger. I have no complaints with these Hybrids. They have been working well in this light for me. I get a flatter discharge than with alkaline. I think Lite me is using them in his Hokus fokus, also.Check out the Rayovac website - they just updated it to include info on the Hybrids.

When I bought my light, the packaging has a little toggle switch where you can test the light. I picked what I thought was the best tint out of about 5 or 6 of them, after trying them all.

Take yours back and exchange it for another, since that purple "flair" isn't too appealing to you. I would guess you can't test the light before puchase? All the lights I tested seemed very white, no hint of purple. So there are very white ones out there, its just a matter of connecting with one...:twothumbs

 

[ringzero]

When I bought my light, the packaging has a little toggle switch where you can test the light. I picked what I thought was the best tint out of about 5 or 6 of them, after trying them all.

I was at Lowes recently and picked up one of these lights and was looking it over. I pressed the little switch on the package without really thinking about it and WOWSER!

That thing temporarily blinded me, even though I wasn't looking directly at it when it came on, and I saw spots for a while afterward. I'm surprised the manufacturer sets up the packaging like that. Seems like they'd get complaints from customers with spots burned into their visual fields.

 

[whc]

Just got the head of the Hokus Focus. It was hard, wary hard, several tries with all I had in me, holding on tight and tried to unscrew the top op the head. Success! It is glued and screwed on, no o-rings (though it looks like there is room for one), nor mirror of any kind, just that big aluminium heatsink, and the LED. Amazing that this kind of output is just due to the lens, wary simple.

Here are some pictures:

The plastic "screw" that are holding the lens in place, does actually have a wary thick/wide rubber o-ring, that are keeping water out from the lend and holes surrounding the head, a big plus in my book. All in all I am wary pleased with the overall quality, just don't like not to be able to take the head off, some times when the light have bean out in the cold, and are taken inside in the warms, there can be created moisture inside the lens as well as outside. Now I can clan both the inside and outside, wary nice .

 

[lumenal]

Great pictures whc - its good to see there is a decent heatsink. My light got reasonably warm when I ran it 15 or 20 minutes a couple times, now I see why.

I have not taken the head off mine, however. Is it very easy to re-assemble?

 

[whc]

Is it very easy to re-assemble?

No problems, just screw it on again, it is only hard the first time you screw the head off...