A few months back the kind folks at Coast Portland asked if I'd be willing to test out one of their flashlights at the firehouse. Sadly I was still in an office and had little to no need for a flashlight. Hoping things would change I told them my situation and they asked me to give them a shot as flashlights, not necessarily as firefighting flashlights.
Done.
I looked at their website and the HP7R immediately caught my eye. Compact, LED and capable of being recharged from the wall, not just from a mount in the Captain's buggy, meant versatility.
This flashlight is heavy duty. She'll put out 201 lumens for 7 hours 45 minutes on high and last almost 2 full days at 22 lumens.
For those of you that don't speak flashlight, that means if you accidentally leave it on it'll last a long time. As someone who has eaten through more AAs than I'd care to share this was a big feature for me.
Even bigger was the ability to recharge the flashlight's 2 Lithium Ion batteries as well as back them up with a standard alkaline battery cartridge that'll take the AAAs. Being able to quick change a battery for such a powerful flashlight is awesome.
Even more awesome is that I already have the charger. The Lithium Ion batteries can be recharged with a micro USB connection, the same one I use to charge my phone and a number of other gadgets around the house. This means no shortage of cables and cords, both AC and DC, but just in case you are an iPhone house, both adapters are included in the box. (as are the AAA batteries BTW)
And now the bad news:
This is not a good flashlight for being a Paramedic.
First, to cycle through the low and high light output modes, you have to cycle through a strobe feature that would make some emergency scenes downright dangerous.
Secondly, the beam focus is a slide in and out feature, not a twist to focus. The slide focuses the beam and a slight twist "locks" it into place. However, the lock is so weak it constantly gives way, especially when deploying it from the belt holster (also included).
However, I didn't give up on this flashlight.
I took it camping.
This is the ultimate camping flashlight. It is compact and lightweight, fitting on our hiking pack no problem, taking up almost as much space as the multi-tool. the extra batteries can charge off the 12v system in the van on the way to camp and off the 12v trailer system if we somehow go through all 3 batteries.
The low light setting is perfect for night trips to the bathroom and the high feature makes scanning camp for bears easy. No, seriously, I can actually say I tested this light looking for bears. There were none, but that's beside the point.
And if we ever get lost on a hike that strobe feature will no doubt be seen for 306 meters, just like the box says.
In conclusion, this is a versatile light for non-emergency situations (except for bears and getting lost of course.) The ability to have extra batteries ready to go, as well as plug the light itself into adapters I already have means I'll always be able to get light when I truly need it.
At $147.49 it may seem pricy but the features I've mentioned mean that added to the ruggedness of the construction I may never need another flashlight or batteries for a flashlight. Like, ever.
Here are the specs from Coast Portland
Done.
I looked at their website and the HP7R immediately caught my eye. Compact, LED and capable of being recharged from the wall, not just from a mount in the Captain's buggy, meant versatility.
This flashlight is heavy duty. She'll put out 201 lumens for 7 hours 45 minutes on high and last almost 2 full days at 22 lumens.
For those of you that don't speak flashlight, that means if you accidentally leave it on it'll last a long time. As someone who has eaten through more AAs than I'd care to share this was a big feature for me.
Even bigger was the ability to recharge the flashlight's 2 Lithium Ion batteries as well as back them up with a standard alkaline battery cartridge that'll take the AAAs. Being able to quick change a battery for such a powerful flashlight is awesome.Even more awesome is that I already have the charger. The Lithium Ion batteries can be recharged with a micro USB connection, the same one I use to charge my phone and a number of other gadgets around the house. This means no shortage of cables and cords, both AC and DC, but just in case you are an iPhone house, both adapters are included in the box. (as are the AAA batteries BTW)
And now the bad news:
This is not a good flashlight for being a Paramedic.
First, to cycle through the low and high light output modes, you have to cycle through a strobe feature that would make some emergency scenes downright dangerous.
Secondly, the beam focus is a slide in and out feature, not a twist to focus. The slide focuses the beam and a slight twist "locks" it into place. However, the lock is so weak it constantly gives way, especially when deploying it from the belt holster (also included).
However, I didn't give up on this flashlight.
I took it camping.
This is the ultimate camping flashlight. It is compact and lightweight, fitting on our hiking pack no problem, taking up almost as much space as the multi-tool. the extra batteries can charge off the 12v system in the van on the way to camp and off the 12v trailer system if we somehow go through all 3 batteries.The low light setting is perfect for night trips to the bathroom and the high feature makes scanning camp for bears easy. No, seriously, I can actually say I tested this light looking for bears. There were none, but that's beside the point.
And if we ever get lost on a hike that strobe feature will no doubt be seen for 306 meters, just like the box says.
In conclusion, this is a versatile light for non-emergency situations (except for bears and getting lost of course.) The ability to have extra batteries ready to go, as well as plug the light itself into adapters I already have means I'll always be able to get light when I truly need it.
At $147.49 it may seem pricy but the features I've mentioned mean that added to the ruggedness of the construction I may never need another flashlight or batteries for a flashlight. Like, ever.
Here are the specs from Coast Portland
- Long Range Focusing Optic
- Slide Focus
- 201 lumen light output
- 7 hour 45 minute runtime
- 306 meter (1003 ft) beam distance
- Battery type: Lithium Ion (2 included) or 4 x AAA (included)
- Can be charged using AC, DC or USB power sources
- Aluminum casing; rear switch
- Impact and water resistant
- Includes wall mount, speed clip, and heavy-duty sheath
- Length: 5.58 in. / 14.2 cm
- Weight: 7.2 oz. / 204 g
- Diameter: Body - 1.18 in / 3.00 cm; Bezel - 1.47 in / 3.74 cm
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