Opinions on HDS flashlights.

[Seattle Sparky]

Would have been great if people could be more specific of what exact problem they encountered with HDS, some of that could be subjective. I have passed through my hands close to 15, and never had any reliability issues.
HDS is not ideal for every single scenario, but for 80% of my daily routine it is, outside of construction work, where I need to use a flood headlamp at 600 lumen mode for close up work, going through two 18650 a day. But for getting out of a car, walking a trash can, getting mail, going to a bathroom, movie theater, ,searching inside a car, under a sofa, shinning up your nose...that sorta thing, it works magically and effortlessly. Rotary even more so. Clicky model is also super simple and intuitive once your grasp it , theoretically it is more robust without moving tail with better pocket clip options. For the clicky, i like the stock level presets for general needs..Frankly up to today I am only interested in high cri white leds offerings from HDS, but that may change, who knows.
Here is a beamshot of a 200 lumen high cri rotary. Fence is at 13m, the pine tree behind is at 44m. Even in this non traditional event of using an edc light, it still shows that 200 lumen in a compact light is still sufficient. On a plus side too, the battery is not going to die on you in 15 minutes, but will provide amount of needed light for as long possible,and in case of emergency, like getting out of a cave without having spare batteries, this can be life saving.

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[Seattle Sparky]

Here is another example of 200 lumen hcri hds, 25 or so meters to the fence.

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[Sos24]

I love my HDS lights. I debating getting one for over a year. I have not regretted purchasing it. I always have always had one on me or within easy reach.

Whether or not they are worth it is very subjective.
- If you want an edc and general use light that you can trust to work and have it set to work the way you want it, then it is great.
- If you want a high lumen light, then HDS is not your light.
- If you want a thrower, then HDS is not your light.
- If you want a really small lightweight light, the HDS is not your light.

As far as issues, I have not had mine as long as some, but I have put mine through some abuse (drops, wet to include saltwater, extreme temps) without ever having a failure. I do have a light that has a gritty tail, which some people complain about, but it still works as it is suppose to.

 

[Der Werner]

Goodmorning Guy's,

Thanks so much for the reply's on this topic.:thumbsup:
Today i am gonna do some reading on the other HDS topics here.
The light Iam looking for to buy will be the EDC Custom, 325 Lumens, NLT rotary LE.

What's important for me is the build quality in this light, not the highest throw in Lumens.
It has to be a daily user, and there must be a clip to secure it in your pocket.
But looking at these things also the accessories are quit expensive, but a must have for me in this case.

thanks sofar,

greetz,

Werner

 

[Modernflame]

HDS ended my search for the perfect edc flashlight. I keep other lights in case I need more power, but I rarely need them. My most commonly used setting is 8 lumens.

Due to their price and their polarizing fame, I think the occasional glitches get lots of press, possibly more so than other brands. Anything made my human hands can fail, but you're also buying a top end warranty with your flashlight. Many people baby these lights, but that's a bit like taking it easy on an anvil.

 

[bykfixer]

HDS light issues are like airplane crashes MF. Don't happen often but big news when it does.

I do not own one simply because of price point. I don't own a Mercedes for the same reason, but will brag about both anytime.

This morning I was remembering my first experience with a 60+ lumen 6P incan. As a joke a police man shined his in my eyes one day from about 6 feet away on a sunny day. It had me seeing spots for hours. What about those measley 60 lumens could do that? Then it dawned on me. A cop light has nat always been designed to see half a zip code. Before bright LED's a cop light, be it Maglite, Streamlight or SureFire was built to shock retinas. And they did just that. A 2c Maglite could cause the person on the other end to see spots. That was what, 16,20 lumens? Henrys are 10x that and do exactly that with rock solid reliability.
If you need to see a 60 acre (20-ish hectaire) field perhaps another light will be better. But for use as a cop light or generally lighting up a shed, a path in the woods or for walking Fido around after dark, the HDS is hard to beat.

 

[wacbzz]

Werner -

This is a great summation of an HDS flashlight:

They are designed for EDC. And for that they work...good.

What you have to be honest with yourself about is the answer to the question as to whether you want to pay ~$300 for an EDC flashlight or not.

Everything else is just smoke.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

What you have to be honest with yourself about is the answer to the question as to whether you want to pay ~$300 for an EDC flashlight or not.

That's really the sticking point. At $99, it's good value. $300? You have to really want one at that price.

I looked into buying one a couple of years ago. Just the shipping cost (to Canada) was almost as much as what a Zebralight costs. I figured if shipping was that overpriced, I couldn't justify the light was reasonably priced either. I admit I'm a Zebralight fan-boy, though. The $79-$99 price point seems to be the sweet-spot IMO for a modestly expensive EDC light. Though, if you don't need the bells & whistles, I find Convoys are hard to beat for value.

Obviously, HDS is going after the premium market. Low volume but high margins, like designer clothes. Maybe he's also going after government contracts? Just a wild guess, but cost is usually not an issue there. Surefire might have that market wrapped up, though.

Anyway, I'm sure they're great lights. But, you've got to want one of them more than several other good lights.

As for the lifetime warranty.... Over time, I've learned that really means lifetime of the company, not lifetime of the user.

 

[bigburly912]

Disregard

 

[P_A_S_1]

.

As for the lifetime warranty.... Over time, I've learned that really means lifetime of the company, not lifetime of the user.

Or product lifetime. I once tried to claim a lifetime warranty on a goretex item that was breaking down/peeling and was told the 'expected lifetime' of the product was 5-7 years. My item was 10+ years so it exceeded its lifetime.

 

[P_A_S_1]

Would have been great if people could be more specific of what exact problem they encountered with HDS, some of that could be subjective. I have passed through my hands close to 15, and never had any reliability issues.
.....

My Clicky 170 started getting glitchy and acting oddly. Coming on to different settings, shutting off by itself, blinking. It started gradually then became more prevalent over time. It finally failed in use (at the worst possible time too but that's another story) and needed a reset to get it working again but the problems continued so it was returned. Was replaced under warranty as it couldn't be repaired, it's all sealed/potted inside.

If you have the time (years) look through the HDS threads, there's like 20+ now, you'll see some others had issues too. One member if I recall right returned 3 out of 4. Not knocking them, I like the lights....I really liked the 170 Clicky as the led they used was great, it threw and had a nice tint.

 

[thermal guy]

" Would have been great if people could be more specific of what exact problem they encountered with HDS, some of that could be subjective."

I have had 4 original HDS lights fail on me. U60-U42. 2 tailcaps on ones from around the 2010 era. And 2 from around that time do to electronics going bad. The problem with stating exactly went wrong with them is do to the fact I got answers like the ELF went crazy or the ELF didn't like something that happened. Stuff like that. Henry took care of them each time although it took months to do so. In all honesty and I have been a fan for sometime now they are cramming way to much stuff into them that can and will go wrong.One of the biggest reason why you do not hear of them having many problems is do to the fact that they are now 300-500 lights.you ever see a beat up HDS for sale in WTS section? Nope. People are not really beating these things in use and I really don't blame them. I know this is going to **** some off and say that they do just that and I'm sure some do but be honest are you throwing your HDS around at work tossing it in the toolbox etc etc? And yes I know you don't do that with any light. I'm just saying. It's a great light. Make no mistake but it seams like there geared more toward the Business suit client then they used to be.I have many. And I do use them. But for me they will always be a great backup light. Not a primary one. All of this is only my opinion and should be taken as such.

 

[WalkIntoTheLight]

People are not really beating these things in use and I really don't blame them. I know this is going to **** some off and say that they do just that and I'm sure some do but be honest are you throwing your HDS around at work tossing it in the toolbox etc etc? And yes I know you don't do that with any light. I'm just saying. It's a great light. Make no mistake but it seams like there geared more toward the Business suit client then they used to be.I have many. And I do use them. But for me they will always be a great backup light. Not a primary one. All of this is only my opinion and should be taken as such.

I've never really thought of that, but you make a great point. I'm much more abusive to my budget lights than I am to more expensive ones. Sure, the expensive ones get dropped once in awhile, but I usually try to be nice to them because they're expensive! The cheaper budget lights I make very little effort to protect, and most of them hold up pretty well anyway. The biggest difference in reliability is that cheap lights need maintenance, such as tightening retaining rings. More expensive lights never seem to need anything, except perhaps a bit of lube on the threads every couple of years.

 

[P_A_S_1]

That's the problem with spending a lot on some things like lights and knives, you don't want to damage or lose them. Better to beat on the budget stuff. I take a mini mag kayaking because dropping an HDS into the East River would be a real bummer.

 

[thermal guy]

" I've never really thought of that, but you make a great point. I'm much more abusive to my budget lights than I am to more expensive ones."

Absolutely. An it's perfectly normal for you to do this. You don't often hear of custom $1500 dollar light spitting the bit. Because they get used sparingly. And there is NOTHING wrong with that. But when you start having problems with lights that are this expensive and used very sparingly and pampered well...... you got to think on that for a bit.

 

[WarriorOfLight]

@Der Werner
Your name Looks like you are german speaking. In case you are living in Europe, or better in Germany than you can order some different HDS models @Kives & Tools. In case you do not like the HDS you can send it back due to the German FernAbsG (if you are in Germany).

At all the HDS lights are great. I have a few of them, and I guess I willl buy a few more sooner or later

 

[jon_slider]

HDS resell quickly in the classifieds, for about $50 below new cost.
I only recommend the rotaries, and only with High CRI

I sold my HDS High CRI rotary, after I found the Jetbeam RRT-01.

the main reasons I prefer the Jetbeam
1. Smooth Ramping Rotary dial, and no need to manipulate a tailswitch first.

2. Smaller, lighter, less expensive, brighter, and goes lower, plus it can use 18350.

3. A pocket clip that screws on to the tail of the light.


The hops in brightness from an HDS Rotary irritate me as if Im seeing a strobe, and I dislike that half the dial is below 2 lumens. I dislike the clamp ring pocket clip HDS offers for bezel down carry.

otoh, for clickie lovers, the HDS is a programmable 4 mode light, and there is a good bezel down pocket clip option for it. The possible mode configurations are very versatile.. got strobe, check, got beacon, check, got auto off, check.. need tactical momentary, check..

 

[thermal guy]

"The hops in brightness from an HDS Rotary irritate me as if Im seeing a strobe, and I dislike that half the dial is below 2 lumens. I dislike the clamp ring pocket clip HDS offers for bezel down carry."


It's a cool selling point but in all my years I have never needed a light with 20+ levels. And yes the fact that a 300+ dollar light has no real way to put a pocket clip on it is Comical to say the least. But there are holsters available if needed😉

 

[wacbzz]

Hmmm...This thread - especially the last couple of posts - reminds me of those folks that post their EDC gear...and how a lot of the posts in many forums are photos of costlier items that are usually in perfect condition. Strider knives, Starlingear beads, Kifaru backpacks, and designer hanky's are almost always pictured alongside mint HDS lights.

 

[lion504]

Low volume but high margins, like designer clothes.

Maybe, but maybe not. Might very well be low volume and low margins. HDS sources as much as possible in the USA, which means higher cost. And he has proprietary electronics. We'd have to examine the HDS books to know for sure (or maybe the car Henry drives .