Coast?

[ironraven]

Opinions on Coast lights? I wouldn't carry one of their multis if I had other options, but I noticed one with nice specs tonight in Home Depot (200 lumens, 3xAAA) which has me curious.

[Sazabi]

I'm personally not a fan of 3xAAA lights, as I'd rather have more power and runtime out of 2xAA instead, not to mention a smaller body, however the older Coast/LED Lenser lights are good.  I got my mum a non-LED Lenser Coast light for Christmas, as she decided to not heed my warning about keeping alkaline batteries in a Fenix E01, so I confiscated it when the battery started venting (saved the flashlight, thankfully), and gave her a clearance-priced 2xAA Coast that she likes.

tl;dr - The older LED Lenser-made Coast lights are good, but for the comparable price the modern ones go for, I'd take a Fenix any day.

[gustophersmob]

Personally I stay away from 3xAAA lights.  Most (but not all, not sure about Coast) 3xAAA lights use the 3 batteries to get the 3.5 v necessary to drive the LED without using driver/voltage regulator.

With a direct-drive configuration such as this, you will get decreasing output until there is no longer enough voltage to meet the Vf requirement of the LED and it shuts off.

The advantage of lights using drivers and regulators is that they are able to keep the Vf to the LED at the right level until the battery has drained much lower.

[Gareth]

Personally I stay away from 3xAAA lights.  Most (but not all, not sure about Coast) 3xAAA lights use the 3 batteries to get the 3.5 v necessary to drive the LED without using driver/voltage regulator.

With a direct-drive configuration such as this, you will get decreasing output until there is no longer enough voltage to meet the Vf requirement of the LED and it shuts off.

The advantage of lights using drivers and regulators is that they are able to keep the Vf to the LED at the right level until the battery has drained much lower.

Couldn't have put it better myself.   Also AAA cells come in packs of 4 and most chargers work in pairs, so a light that takes 3 cells is just a pain IMO.

How much are you thinking about spending?  I'm sure there are folks here that could recommend a really good light whatever your budget.

[dks]

Anti 3AAA propaganda.... 

 

Really cheap torches seem to use that 3AAA combination a lot, but some of the better ones using 18650 LiIon batteries also offer the chance to run on 3AAA as the voltage and the total size of the battery unit are similar. (3AAAs are a bit thicker so an adaptor is usually supplied for 18650s..)
As far as I know Romisen, Xtar are regulated for both of these battery combinations and most of the cheaper brands like Ultrafire, MXDL etc at least claim and appear to be, regulated.

I have given/thrown away all my "combined channels" chargers since I like the idea that each battery gets the charge IT needs, rather than the charge it and its neighbour needs.
Also I have torches that use only one battery, so having to charge two batteries at a time is of no use to me.

I really do not see the point  of buying these type of combined channel chargers as individual channel charging ones are about the same price and more versalite.
I think my most expensive charger (pretty old, bough 8-10 years ago, maybe) was about 30 Euro and my cheapest, Sony about 10, and they both came with 4 batteries..

Maybe there is an advantage to combined charging.... maybe, but I have no idea what it is. 

As for coast, I have no idea 

[turnsouth]

I wonder if Coast lights in the States still are made by LED Lenser?

I bought a few of them last year, and I love them. Not the brightest, but they are tough, and only sip battery power.

Wouldn't hesitate a second to buy again

Link ---> Got a nice deal today

[ironraven]

Part of why I'm looking at AAA for the power supply is becuase I carry them already. My Fenix 01 uses them, as does my Tikka, and my edc gizmos, along with the spare headlamp I carry in my truck. I'm trying to standardize and replace my Surefires (I know, old school, I've have had them for over a decade) with something where I can put a readily available alkaline or rechargeable if my fancy, favorite lithiums aren't available.

The only things I have left that run on AA are a small radio, my much unused Krill, and the minimag in the medicine cabinet.

[MeadMaker]

I bought that light yesterday.  Coast PX45 made by LED Lenser.  After using it on dog walk last night I can say that I like the light.  The 3xAAA battery configuration doesn't bother me, its plenty bright and the focusing beam feature is handy to have.  It has less rings in the beam compared to other focusing beam flashlights that I use.

[Dtrain]

Personally I stay away from 3xAAA lights.  Most (but not all, not sure about Coast) 3xAAA lights use the 3 batteries to get the 3.5 v necessary to drive the LED without using driver/voltage regulator.

With a direct-drive configuration such as this, you will get decreasing output until there is no longer enough voltage to meet the Vf requirement of the LED and it shuts off.

The advantage of lights using drivers and regulators is that they are able to keep the Vf to the LED at the right level until the battery has drained much lower.

Not to derail this topic..but Thank You! I have always wondered why my Maglite XL-50 would turn on bright then almost look like it was dropping to the reduced setting instead of bieng I guess for the lack of a better term in my limited knowledge of Flashlight Terminology just turn on dim when the Batteries were starting to go to pot

I will now resume reading about the Hi techery avaivable to those who brave the darkness nightly..PS I have been very pleased with the cost and reliabilty of my XL-50

Dtrain