Tool Review: Coast Focusing LED Stretch Flashlight with COB Area Light
The Coast Focusing LED Stretch Flashlight with COB Area Light, No. PX250, is a flashlight that includes a COB area light with white, red and flashing red light modes. By sliding the body open, users can quickly access the 270 lm area light, which is ideal for illuminating the undercarriage of vehicles or dark spaces under the hood. The PX250 also features a magnetic tail cap, allowing the flashlight to be affixed to any metal surface. The 650 lm flashlight features patented Pure Beam Focusing Optic with Twist Focus, and an easy rotation of the bezel allows users to utilize a Wide-Angle Flood for area or a Bulls-Eye Spot Beam for distance. The flashlight and optic area light can be used at the same time to help make automotive tasks more efficient.
The review
It is difficult for technicians to work with accuracy and efficiency if they can’t see what they’re doing, so it’s important to have a strong and reliable flashlight to illuminate the workspace. Audeliz Mejias of Pleasant Street Automotive in Southbridge, Massachusetts, was pleased to find the Coast Focusing LED Stretch Flashlight with COB Area Light works well as a regular flashlight, plus much more.
The standard flashlight functionality comes in the form of Coast’s Pure Beam Focusing Optic with Twist Focus, which allowed Mejias to focus the light on one area, or widen the beam for a more inclusive lighted area.
“The Pure Beam Focus is very nice,” he says. “You can easily switch from focused beam to flood light and anywhere in between simply by twisting the head of the flashlight.”
Mejias notes he liked “the very strong magnet on the base of the flashlight.” The magnet allows for hands-free operation - a useful feature when a technician needs both hands to complete a task.
In addition to the flashlight functionality, Mejias found this Coast product had a few tricks up its sleeve… literally.
“The handle slides open to reveal an SOS-style red light as well as a standard color LED,” he says. “In the event of a roadside emergency, you could stand this flashlight on your vehicle securely with the flashing red light illuminating towards oncoming traffic.”
The white area LED hidden in the handle, along with the magnetic base, also allowed the flashlight to be used as a shop worklight.
When he received the light, Mejias was impressed with the packaging, saying it was “similar to what you would receive a high-dollar electronic device in.” He even went so far as to compare it to the type of packaging a new iPhone comes in.
Mejias notes that the package included batteries for the light, as well as a user manual, which “gave simple and precise directions on using the Pure Beam Focus function, as well as the different lighting modes it offers.” But he also says the manual is hardly necessary, since operation of the light is “simple.”
One feature Mejias would like to see added in the future is the ability to recharge the light or use a rechargeable battery pack instead of having to replace the batteries occasionally.
This didn’t detract from the overall usefulness of the light in his eyes, however.
“This [light] can be used for anything and everything,” he concludes. “[It’s an] everyday tool to keep in your pocket.”
