Anything better then Coast LED Lenser 7736TS?

Hello all,

I am new to these forums and new to small LED lights. Ever since I bought Coast LED Lenser 7736TS
http://www.nteinc.com/coast/pdf/Coast_LED_Catalog_08.pdf

I got hooked on it, but I am looking for something better... more light output with wide angle option, same or better battery life and in the same compact design that uses AA or AAA batteries only. Also, I don't get why there is such inconsistancy with Lumens. Anyway, can you please suggest what would be better? Thanks so much!

klas1 said:

I got hooked on it, but I am looking for something better... more light output with wide angle option, same or better battery life and in the same compact design that uses AA or AAA batteries only.

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The 7736TS is a fairly rare and fairly new light about which not much information is available on CPF. It's hard to suggest what light would be better for your needs without knowing how well the 7736TS works in practice. A complete review would be very nice to have if you have the time and inclination.

At minimum I'd need to know how long the light actually runs on 3xAAA in order to suggest something that has equal or better battery life. I'd also need to know if the light is regulated or not. If it's not regulated, its output brightness will dim as the batteries discharge. You can test for regulation by swapping out a set of known fully charged AAAs with a set known to be half charged. If you can see a difference, the light is not regulated.

If LED Lenser's marketing information is taken at face value, the 7736TS seems to be driving a modern LED emitter at maximum safe power already. There may not be anything brighter easily available without going to multi-LED lights. Of course, if the light isn't regulated, you'll only see maximum brightness for a few minutes when you first turn on the light.

To summarize, I don't know what to suggest because I don't know anything (other than LED Lenser's marketing misinformation) about the light you've got.

How many lumens is your Coast? I have a 60 lumen Coast LED Lenser and IMHO it is not as bright as my 115 lumen Coleman CREE from Walmart.

I am not sure how to measure output of 7736TS, but to me it's super bright. I don't even know what type of LED it uses. Do you have any recommendations for AA/AAA brightest lights out there? I went through lots of topics and read the reviews, but I am confused with the all the options.

What I don't like about 7736TS is:
1 mode only
no wide beam option
$50 at Joe's

3.44 Watts/83 Lumens/117.6 OPI rating. High-intensity Luxeon LED

klas1 said:

I am not sure how to measure output of 7736TS, but to me it's super bright. I don't even know what type of LED it uses. Do you have any recommendations for AA/AAA brightest lights out there? I went through lots of topics and read the reviews, but I am confused with the all the options.

What I don't like about 7736TS is:
1 mode only
no wide beam option
$50 at Joe's

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My Coast was $50 from Lowe's and is rated at 60 lumens, and it takes 3xAAA batteries.

After I got the Coast I wanted a brighter LED flashlight, and the only option I had was to get a CREE. So I looked and looked for one and then I found one at Walmart for $25 (great price) called the "Coleman MAX CREE 115 Lumen Aluminum flashlight" and it takes 3xAAA batteries. It puts out more light than my Coast and has a MUCH longer runtime.
It is silver in body color, and has a nice turquoise beam with a HUGE spill and a nice bright hotspot that throws very far, it is kind of like a miniature spotlight. It's beam is not focusable like the Coast's but it doesn't need to be because it floods with its spill and still throws quite far.

I just compared it to the Coast shining them on the wall (they BOTH had fresh batteries this time) and the Coast had a slightly more intense hotspot but the CREE put out more light. Outside at night IMHO the Coleman CREE is quite a bit more impressive than the Coast because of its amazing light output and spill. I also like the color of the Coleman CREE's beam MUCH more than my Coast's.

The Coleman MAX CREE is on its own display in the sporting goods section of Walmart.

I know Lowe's Hardware has a 150 lumen 2C Task Force CREE and I think that would be brighter than the Coleman CREE.

klas1 said:

3.44 Watts/83 Lumens/117.6 OPI rating. High-intensity Luxeon LED

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Ah, you have the older generation 7736TS. The newer ones use Cree XR-E emitters, rather than Luxeons, and are supposed to put out 149 lumens. Outshining a Cree 7736TS is hard; outshining a Luxeon 7736TS is easy.

Most of these should fit your needs.

enLIGHTenment said:

Ah, you have the older generation 7736TS. The newer ones use Cree XR-E emitters, rather than Luxeons, and are supposed to put out 190 lumens. Outshining a Cree 7736TS is hard; outshining a Luxeon 7736TS is easy.

Most of these should fit your needs.

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Do you mean that Lowe's has 190 lumen CREE LED Lensers now?

Paying full price for an older tech wasn't is not something I wanted to do, so I decided to return 7736TS and just ordered P7. We'll see

Thank you for your suggestions.

BlueBeam22 said:

Do you mean that Lowe's has 190 lumen CREE LED Lensers now?

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It's actually 149 lm (I've edited my post to correct the error), but when the new supply of 7736TS lights hit the shelves, they will be 149 lumens.

http://www.ledlenserusa.com/product_info.php?modelNum=7736TS

149lm through a narrow angle optic is the kind of light that should carry a warning not to look into the light with your remaining eye.

enLIGHTenment said:

It's actually 149 lm (I've edited my post to correct the error), but when the new supply of 7736TS lights hit the shelves, they will be 149 lumens.

http://www.ledlenserusa.com/product_info.php?modelNum=7736TS

149lm through a narrow angle optic is the kind of light that should carry a warning not to look into the light with your remaining eye.

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Can I get it at Lowes in the future? I can't believe they made such a poweful light, and if Lowes does carry them I will want to buy one.

I looked into my 60 lumen Coast once and I couldn't see for 5 minutes and then I had an after image for about 1 hour, I had no idea it was that bad, lol.

Avoid 3xAAA lights like plague carrying rats. Runtime is only about an hour, no matter what the marketing claim is.

Depends on what your definition of better is.

I'd avoid 3 AAA lights because it usually means direct drive. Actual runtime with good NiMh batteries is probably around an hour.

The light you have uses a last gen LED, which means swapping in a current gen LED will double the output for the same runtime.

The hardest thing to find for you would probably be the ability to create a floody beam. Most lights are set on one beam shape or the "flood" beam is ringy.

:welcome:

Back When my Brinkmann was stock and before i was a flashaholic (well, by these standards...), i was out at a party in the fields with my friends and we all had flashlights.

Then my flashlight (with brand new batteries) suddenly began to dim very quikly as the alkaline AAAs couldn't handle being direct driven and i was left in the dark. :candle:

And so was the end of any affiliation with the 3xAAA format for me.
So do youself a favor and get something that you can depend on.

Marduke said:

Avoid 3xAAA lights like plague carrying rats. Runtime is only about an hour, no matter what the marketing claim is.

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you guys really need to do tests for yourself before you make silly statements like that... I've tested the light for 24 hours, then I got bored.

klas1 said:

you guys really need to do tests for yourself before you make silly statements like that... I've tested the light for 24 hours, then I got bored.

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Do you have any idea how large this board is? Hundreds of people have tested thousands of lights here. You simply cannot avoid the laws of physics.

If you light ran for 24 hours with absolutely no dimming, then your brightness was no where near the manufacturer claim. It would have to be closer to a lowly 30 lumens.

Stating that your light is somehow breaking the laws of physics without any sort of data to back you up is a little.... ridiculous.

Marduke said:

Do you have any idea how large this board is? Hundreds of people have tested thousands of lights here. You simply cannot avoid the laws of physics.

If you light ran for 24 hours with absolutely no dimming, then your brightness was no where near the manufacturer claim. It would have to be closer to a lowly 30 lumens.

Stating that your light is somehow breaking the laws of physics without any sort of data to back you up is a little.... ridiculous.

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he said "runtime is only an hour", which is not true when I had light running for way over 24 hours.

Anyway, Just for the hell of it I'll do some tests, where I'll set up video camera with 1 frame per 2 mins and see what happens with brightness over long period of time. Slight change after 24 hours doesn't bother me because I don't use light for that long anyway...

klas1 said:

he said "runtime is only an hour", which is not true when I had light running for way over 24 hours.

Anyway, Just for the hell of it I'll do some tests, where I'll set up video camera with 1 frame per 2 mins and see what happens with brightness over long period of time. Slight change after 24 hours doesn't bother me because I don't use light for that long anyway...

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1-2 hours to 50%, which is the standard for "runtime" in flashlights. Coast advertises runtime to the point at which the light will cease to function at all, meaning when the LED will not emit any light whatsoever.

Your "24 hours" was well into the downslope, well below initial output.

Also, a time lapse shot won't tell you anything because your camera will auto-adjust exposure for each shot.

anyway, I am not here to argue... but it seems like a few people dislike Coast for one reason or another. I am not an expert and not a light fanatic I was just looking for a light that had more output with same small factor, widely acceptable batteries and wide angle option. Of course I wouldn't want to pay more then $100 and this is why I ordered P7 to replace 7736TS. It has wide angle, it's rated 167 lumens and uses 4xAAA (I'll be using Enelopes)
Now, I would rather have a light that works for 120 hours even if that means running it at 10 lumens when the battery is almost dead vs the light that has runtime of 1-2 hours. I looked at those cheap chinese ones and didn't find anything that I liked.

120 hours means running it to 0% light. At 24 hours

The Fenix L2D runs on low mode for a regulated(as in flat non changing output) for almost 60 hours with 2 AA batteries. Turbo mode is around 150 lumen out the front(after including losses from the reflector and window). No focusing though(most lights can't focus).

The light might be impressive to you right now. Swap in a current gen LED and that should give the light twice the output for the same runtime.

I think some of the reasons why many here dislike Coast are(it might have changed):
Many aren't water resistant.
Price is high for the performance
Runtime is not really that accurate
Quality can be better for some

But Coast does have:
Some have focusing optics
Available in some "normal" stores

Most of the better lower priced lights are between $15 and $40.

Gunner12 said:

Many aren't water resistant.
Price is high for the performance
Runtime is not really that accurate
Quality can be better for some

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I don't know about other Coast, but here is what I observed with 7736TS
The one I have is water resistant
Price is normal for what you get
When car rated at 30 mpg, do you really expect to get 30 mpg? I didn't test it to it's full extent but it's still working on original batteries
Quality is outstanding for $50 light; i read a lot of reviews and saw that quality could be an issue on many chinese lights that are highly rated, this is not the case with 7736TS