The rechargeable line from Coast just got a little brighter with the Coast PX1R. I put this little guy to the test while spotting alligators at night in Louisiana and it exceeded expectations.

The first thing that struck me was how small it is. A light that easily fits in your pocket while being able to kick out 460 lumens is just impressive. It’s also rugged and water-resistant, so I didn’t have to worry about it on the boat or in the rain. The quality of the wide beam is even right to the edge with no dark spots at all. This makes walking around at night a breeze because the beam spreads at a wide-angle quickly. The Pure Beam Focusing Optic then shoots out to over 500 feet with a quick twist.

The Coast PX1R would be an impressive light if I stopped there, but it’s set up for dual power, which makes it versatile and cheap to operate. If you want to charge up the lithium battery pack you can do that on the way to the campsite via the port on the outside of the flashlight. You can also remove the lithium battery pack and charge it on its own. This is handy if it starts to die because you can just toss in some alkaline batteries and you’re back to full power. I like this because it both saves me money and gives me options.

The reversible clip is also nice because, while it’s a little too big to wear on your hat full time, you could definitely do it to clean fish after dark and it would work great. If you had to pick one flashlight for the camp box you’d be happy with this one. It has more than enough light and will always be ready to go.

$90