You don’t have to be embarrassed. We’ve all fallen for it.
You’re standing in the checkout lane, and there merchandised directly next to you is a two-pack of semi-disposable headlamps. They’re probably less than the drive-thru breakfast you had this morning. You decide to buy them.
Now months later, you’re at camp as the battery slowly dies – leaving you with a dim, limp light on your forehead. It’s at that point that you understand the beauty of a rechargeable headlamp. The COAST FL75R is a rechargeable, high output headlamp that hasn’t left us hanging on the dampest, darkest of nights. Below is our review of the COAST FL75R, we hope you enjoy.
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The In’s & Outs
Let’s start off with the battery pack, which is at the core of the COAST FL75R. The headlamp gives you the option to use either a rechargeable lithium-ion battery or alkaline batteries via 3 x AAA’s. While the alkaline battery pack will get the job done, and works great as a backup – we’ll put our money on the LI-ION rechargeable battery. We’ve found that rechargeable battery packs often keep LED’s brighter, longer. Which is exactly why you’d be buying a 530 lumen headlamp in the first place! Speaking of the output, the COAST FL75R will run for a whopping 2hrs 15mins on the highest output setting. This worked great for most “around camp” chores that we threw at it. If you need to get a longer runtime, simply flip the lamp down to low, where you can expect to get nearly 11 hours before needing to recharge or replace the batteries.
What about the light itself? Well, this single LED features COAST’s Pure Beam Focusing Optics. With a quick turn of the forward-facing bezel, we jumped effortlessly between the ultra-wide flood beam and the long-reaching spot. It put the light exactly where we needed it, regardless of how wide or narrow we needed the beam.
In Review
We’ve been fans of COAST Products for more than a few years. We’ve traveled across the country and internationally with them – and they’ve never failed us. They backup their products with a lifetime warranty – meaning that this will be the last headlamp you’ll ever need to buy (just in case you need a selling point for your significant other – we both know the truth.) We dig the reflective straps that add a bonus layer of safety onto the product – and while no one will see it at night, we’re big fans of the multiple color-ways they continue to release for the FL75R. If you’re ready to make the transition into a rechargeable headlamp – this is a great place to start…or finish.
