Coast Rechargeable Hands-Free LED L8R Headlamp Review

Let’s face it, holding a flashlight up to your head for hours on end makes for a terrible time. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to keep your home illuminated during a power outage, or if you’re simply trying to see what’s in front of you during a late night hike outdoors.

Eventually, your arms are going to get tired. Of course, sometimes holding a flashlight is impractical when you need two free hands to get a job done. Luckily, the Coast HL8R solves all of those problems for you.

With 800 lumens on high, a 702 ft. beam distance, and 4 hours 15 min of run time, this headlamp is the Crème de la crème for Coast’s line. At the lowest settings with 50 lumens and a 180 ft. beam distance, it manages to deliver an impressive 64 hours of run time.

Should you happen to drain the rechargeable Li-ion pack, a recharge only requires plugging in a single micro USB cable. If you’ve got a second backup li-ion pack, you can easily unplug the first and swap it out for a freshly charged battery. If charging via USB is a no go, you can always use the included alkaline battery pack. 4 AA batteries are all it takes and you’re back in business.

At 12.3 oz some may consider the Coast HL8R headlamp to be on the heavier side, but for me, it feels natural. I can easily wear this headlamp for hours on end or longer, with zero complaints. In terms of fit, the included Coast straps offer plenty of adjustment to cater to just about any noggin size. In my case, I was able to get it secure enough to do things like running at full speed, jumping, etc. all without any issues.

While this headlamp offers plenty of illumination, you’ll be happy to know there are three light output settings: high, medium and low. While high is suitable for long-distance viewing, chances are you don’t want to use it late at night while other campers around you are sleeping. The ease of rotating through these settings is incredibly simple and extremely convenient with a light control dial located on the side of the headlamp bezel.

To utilize the pure beam focusing functionality a simple rotation is all it takes to go from an ultra-wide flood to a long reaching spotlight. Along the transition, you can adjust until you find the perfect level of focus. In other words, you aren’t just stuck with flood or spot for illumination.

While I personally love this feature, what really impressed me was the hinged beam adjustment. Instead of looking downwards to focus your light on the ground, simply tilt the headlamp to adjust the direction of the light beam. Needless to say, tripping over things in front of you is pretty much a thing of the past.

While Coast includes a handful of accessories in every HL8R headlamp box, I was pleasantly surprised to see included hardhat clips.

Regardless if you’re into backpacking, construction or simply need an emergency headlamp for a dark house, it’s really hard to beat the Coast HL8R. With a lifetime warranty, attractive construction, and brilliant performance, I’m certain this headlamp will be one I’ll enjoy for years down the road.