Coast Portland: An American success story.

By Phil Spano

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Remember when you were young and you kept hearing the phrase, “the American Dream”? Well at one point in time it was a thing. Nowadays it seems the American Dream is to be able to afford groceries and your mortgage without having to work multiple jobs, but we’re not here for that.

I’m sure most of you have heard this name before. Their products can be found almost anywhere that tools or hardware items can be found. Coast.

Coast is a brand that has been around for a very very long time. Starting technically in Illinois by the Brands family, Henry W. Brands, who was a hardware salesman, packed up his Model T in 1919 and moved out to the PNW. His mission was to ensure that the working professionals’ job was safer and their life was easier.

He started trying to sell his goods to the fisherman on the coast but soon realized that the tools he had in his trunk weren’t suited for the PNW. So he went and crafted a stronger and sharper fillet-style knife that had a metal cleaning spoon on the end of it so that these fishermen could process their 50lb Chinook Salmon more easily and quickly. The knife became so popular that he had a hard time keeping up with demand.

According to Brands, nothing could replace a handshake, a good conversation, and a cold beer. In his eyes, the customer was always the driving force behind their innovation. To this very day that still stands. Coast is committed to working with professionals who rely on their gear to get shit done today and keep on doing it tomorrow. The next product isn’t really about technology, it’s about tenacity on the job.

Always in pursuit, roll up your sleeves, lace up your boots, show some grit, and keep going. That’s how Coast does innovation. A company that started with the American Dream, now known for flashlights, started with a fillet knife.

Today coast offers a huge variety of different products, from the mentioned flashlights, to pocket knives and multi-tools, to workwear and PPE.

I recently started working with Coast and they were kind enough to send me a bunch of different products to check out. Now I’m not going to sit here and pretend to know anything about flashlights other than the obvious. I can’t tell you what chip they may or may not have or what kind of LED bulb they use but what I can tell you about is how they operate, and the abuse they can take.

We’ll start with the PX1R. This rechargeable flashlight has 1000 lumens on its highest output with a 160m bean and can last for 11 hours on its lowest setting. The PX1R has 3 different settings which are the high at 1000 lumens, medium at 610 lumens, and low at 280 lumens. Dual-focus technology lets you twist the cap to either focus in on a spot or use it like a floodlight to add light to an entire room. It’s a bit bulky at 5” long and a little over 1” in diameter, but it does fit in a pocket if that’s how you need to carry it, but would do better in your pack or pouch and like most coast lights it’s water resistant with it’s IP54 rating.

Next up is a beast of a flashlight, the 500r. Now the lumens on this guy are less than the PX1R, but it’s life-proof. If you work in the trades or are an adventure seeker, this may be the light for you. The 500r is a flood beam with a combined high/low or a separate high and low. The lumens max out at 740 with the high at 410 and low at 200 and can last up to 12 hours on low. This is not a small flashlight though and there is no pocket clip so if hands-free is what you’re looking for then you may prefer the PX1R or a headlamp instead.

I have 2 headlamps from Coast, the WPH30R which is a 1000-lumen headlamp, and the WPH34R which is a 2000-lumen headlamp. Both of these are great headlamps the 30 isn’t as durable, but it is great for camping or night hiking or biking, The 34 is super durable which makes it ideal for hard working conditions but you can also use it for the outdoors as well. Charging is a breeze on them with a battery indicator and you can use almost anything with a USB to charge them.

The only downside to some of the lights Coast makes is that they’re bulky. I’d like to see something shorter and maybe slimmer that packs the same power as the PX1R from them, but with that being said it’s not a deal breaker. Everything from Coast is very affordable and well-made.

Coast offers so many great products, I have been wearing a pair of their safety gloves for a little while now and they have held up great, and super comfortable. They have a great cut rating on them to protect the fingers and on the back of the hand, they have a patch that glows in the dark which helps if you leave them somewhere like a ceiling or basement.

Check the link in my Instagram bio under brand partners and see what else Coast has to offer. If you’ve never tried a product from them I suggest you do. Like most brands, the products you’ll find in the big box stores won’t be their best, but they are a convenient way to get familiar. I was very skeptical about Coast but after using their products for some time now, I can confidently say that they can keep up with some bigger names like Olight and Streamlight. Check them out for yourself, you won’t be disappointed