Coast’s New Headlamps – SHOT Show 2016
Russ Chastain 02.10.16
I stopped by the Coast booth at the 2016 SHOT Show and learned about some of their new stuff. What I saw impressed me; they have some very nice gear. Here’s the lowdown on some of their new headlamps for 2016.
The first two featured lights are FL (front loader) series, and Coast says they feature a “proprietary new design that combines both battery pack and light into one unit on the front of the headband.” They add that both are “tested and rated to ANSI/FL1 standards, these new headlamps feature unbreakable LEDs, and are impact and water resistant.”
The FL75 Headlamp combines many popular Coast beam features into one front loaded headlamp. The first button on the headlamp gives you the ability to shine an ultra wide flood beam and then quickly twist the bezel to a long reaching spot beam with transition halo. The second button on the headlamp enables the user to quickly switch to a fixed red LED light to preserve night vision. Built with an IPX4 weather proof rating and equipped with a reflective safety strap, this light is ready for any environment.
Focusing dual-color (clear or red) beam, 405 lumens. They say the “Pure Beam Focusing Optic” will put out more light and add that it has “easy-to-adjust twist focus.”
FL75 Specs
- Reflective strap
- Pure Beam Focusing optics
- Bulls-Eye Spot beam
- Beam colors: White and red
- Modes: High, medium, low
- Output (high): 405 lumens
- Output (medium): 230 lumens
- Output (low): 53 lumens
- Beam Distance (high): 459 feet/140 meters
- Beam Distance (medium): 344 feet/105 meters
- Beam Distance (low): 167 feet/51 meters
- Runtime (high): 2 hours
- Runtime (medium): 3.25 hours
- Runtime (low): 21 hours
- Tiltable: Yes
- Weight: 3.7 ounces/105 grams
- Batteries: 3xAAA
- MSRP: $59.99
The FL85 Headlamp is our most powerful front loaded headlamp. The first button on the headlamp gives you the ability to shine an ultra wide flood beam and then quickly twist the bezel to a long reaching spot beam with transition halo so that you can be ready for anything. The second button provides you with a fixed red LED light that helps preserve night vision. Built with an IPX4 weather proof rating and equipped with a reflective safety strap, this light is ready for any environment.
Focusing dual-color (clear or red) beam, 540 lumens. They say the “Pure Beam Focusing Optic” will put out more light and add that it has “easy-to-adjust twist focus.”
FL85 Specs
- Reflective strap
- Pure Beam Focusing optics
- Bulls-Eye Spot beam
- Beam colors: White and red
- Modes: High, medium, low
- Output (high): 540 lumens
- Output (medium): 320 lumens
- Output (low): 75 lumens
- Beam Distance (high): 564 feet/172 meters
- Beam Distance (medium): 423 feet/129 meters
- Beam Distance (low): 206 feet/63 meters
- Runtime (high): 2 hours
- Runtime (medium): 2.5 hours
- Runtime (low): 17 hours
- Tiltable: Yes
- Weight: 4.5 ounces/128 grams
- Batteries: 3xAAA
- MSRP: $71.99
HL8R
I couldn’t find the HL8R listed on the Coast website at press time, but here’s a link to the HL8. Be aware that although they are similar in appearance, but the HL8R is rated at more than double the lumens.
Ideal for everyone from hunters to tactical military or police units, the all-new COAST HL8R rechargeable LED headlamp produces up to 800 lumens of bright light. With an aluminum bezel and removable and extendable battery packs, the HL8R also has COAST’s Pure Beam Focusing Optic and a fast, easy-to-use twist focus. The HL8R adjusts from a Bulls-Eye Spot, with a beam distance of 702 feet (214 meters), to an Ultra View Flood Beam, offering a broad, consistent stream of pure light. The HL8R headlamp is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery or four AA alkaline batteries for the greatest flexibility and performance in cold, warm and all environments.
The light control dial allows you to fine-tune the brightness, whether you’re on high, medium, or low. Pretty cool.
Using AA batteries requires a different battery pack (that part on the rear). As far as I can tell, the HL8R comes with both battery packs – and 4 AAs are included.
HL8R Specs
- Pure Beam Focusing optics
- Bulls-Eye Spot beam
- Beam color: White
- Light Control Dial
- Modes: High, medium, low
- Output (high) (Li Ion): 800 lumens
- Output (high) (AA): 750 lumens
- Output (medium): 245 lumens
- Output (low): 50 lumens
- Beam Distance (high) (Li Ion): 702 feet/214 meters
- Beam Distance (high) (AA): 679 feet/207 meters
- Beam Distance (medium): 390 feet/119 meters
- Beam Distance (low): 180 feet/55 meters
- Li Ion Runtime (high): 4.25 hours
- Li Ion Runtime (medium): 12 hours
- Li Ion Runtime (low): 62 hours
- Alkaline Runtime (high): 1.25 hours
- Alkaline Runtime (medium): 4 hours
- Alkaline Runtime (low): 47 hours
- Tiltable: Yes
- Weight: 12.3 ounces/349 grams
- Batteries: Rechargeable Li Ion or 4xAA
- MSRP: $149.99
Until now, I confess I’ve never looked at Coast very closely, but what I saw at SHOT impressed me. These are quality lights, and I especially like the looks of the HL8R, with its incredibly long battery life (62 hours!) and crazy-high lumens–not to mention the infinitely-adjustable brightness. This would be great for any kind of night work in the woods or at cam, including skinning after dark. If you’ve ever done that, you know the value of a good light, especially one that has variable focus and brightness, so you get enough light to work without being blinded by reflections if it’s too bright.
All Coast LED flashlights and headlamps feature unbreakable LEDs and are impact and water resistant. And, they’re backed by Coast’s lifetime guarantee against defects in materials and workmanship.
What’s not to like? I’ll definitely be keeping my eye on Coast from now on.
