If you have a lot of dough to spend and want a full featured light you have a bunch of choices. Surefire still makes the best production lights out there despite some serious competition from overseas brands. And while they are generally tough, well made, and nice they lack that bit of panache that keeps them from being totally insane (and insanely expensive). Stepping up to the small batch or custom light world offers a bevy of choices. Some of those choices are from relatively new companies and are available in exceptionally small numbers (see: Barrel Flashlight Co, Dawson/Lum, and EME Manufacturing). A review of at least one of those lights is in the works (the Dawson/Lum Malahini), but for now I am going to do a shootout with the three lights I have a lot of experience with: the BOSS 35, the Beagle Mk. 1, and the HDS Rotary.

The real high performance lights, when you are spending this much money, do something crazy. The three chosen for this shootout represent various aspects of the best the flashlight market has to offer. The BOSS 35's programming is state of the art. The emitter arrays (yes, arrays) on the Beagle are amazing. Finally, there is the modern classic the HDS Rotary. Nothing before or since as a UI quite as good. Each in their own way represents the pinnacle of flashlight tech. If you are looking for bling, two of three work there as well, but really these lights are all about performance. Which of these masterpieces is the best? Let's find out.

The rules for the shootout are simple--first, I'll go through the regular ten categories. Instead of awarding a score between 0-2, in a shootout the reviewed products are ranked. The best product in a given category is given a 5, the runner up a 3, and the last product a 1. This tiered system prevents something from winning just by participating. I am also going to explicitly include a note about the rankings. In some instances, the lights are basically a toss up—the ranking is very tight, even if the scores are not. In others, one light vastly outshines (oh man, see what I did there) the other two, such as the HDS in the UI section. Its hard to score them as it is, but I want to include the spacing between the ranks information to help you make a decision about which to buy. Once the products are ranked in the categories, the points are totaled up and then divided by price to incorporate value into the equation. The product with the most points per dollar is the overall winner. I have not scored these before I write this intro so I have no idea which will win.

One note here, the Rotary does not come with a clip, which, in my mind, is a very notable omission for a light this size. As a result, I am going to include the excellent aftermarket clip HDS makes and its price in the total price for the Rotary. Not only does this make the lights more equivalent in terms of features, it makes them closer in terms of price preventing, again, a light from winning by default simply because it is cheaper than the other two.

The key thing here is which is the best light and by that I mean not just performance or value but a combination of the two.

Here are the reviews, listed in order of publication:

Here is the review of the HDS Rotary (Al version, price: $269 plus $54 for clip, total: $323).

Here is the review of the BOSS 35 (Al version, price $392)

Here is the review of the Muyshondt Beagle (Darkwell Ti: $595).

Design

BOSS 35: 5

HDS Rotary: 3

Muyshondt Beagle: 1

Spacing between Ranks: Very tight.

All of the lights are masterpieces of modern flashlight design. The BOSS 35 has the best body tube, the best tailcap, and an stunning amount of output along with the best programming in the world. But the HDS's body tube is not that far behind and it has the best UI in the world. The Beagle is not quite as curvy as the other two, but has the best emitter arrays in the world. On any given day, after doing a particular task that accentuates the performance aspects of any one of these lights, I could see these being reordered. As it is, you really can't go wrong here. All of them are amazing torches.

Fit and Finish

Muyshondt Beagle: 5

BOSS 35: 3

HDS Rotary: 1

Spacing between Ranks: Very tight.

Like with the designs, each of these lights is made by a master and so the skill and craftsmanship evinced by each of these lights is marvelous. If you are the kind of person that enjoys the parallelism of the panel seams on a high end sports car, each of these lights has a detail or a half dozen details that you can revel in. All run Acme, or flat top threads, because they are the best. All screw together with bank-vault tightness. Over and over again, there is little to disappoint. Here is a good detail on each. On the Beagle there is an ever so slight edge to the upper most machining near the head of the light, making it all but appear chamfered, but if you look closely you can see it is actually a finely cut machined edge. On the HDS Rotary, the crenellated bezel's light escapes are not just nicely cut they are rounded out to be perfectly smooth to the touch. And finally, on the BOSS 35 the Triad Tailcap's cut outs perfectly fit the curve the human thumb. Time and again, these lights are a celebration of thoughtful construction.

Grip:

BOSS 35: 5

HDS Rotary: 3

Muyshondt Beagle: 1

Spacing between Ranks: The BOSS 35 is substantially better than the HDS which, in turn, is substantially better than the Beagle.

The it is hard to beat the BOSS’s shapely body tube in terms of grip. There is little question in my mind that it is the best in the world, but the decidely more angular HDS is quite good too. Its amazing how long the HDS’s body tube design has been around, perhaps a sign of how good it is. The Beagle is comparatively boring and its combination of a wide diameter and a chucky weight makes it less than ideal, especially compared to this competition.

Carry

BOSS 35: 5

HDS Rotary: 3

Muyshondt Beagle: 1

Spacing between Ranks: The BOSS pulls away from the pack here.

Both the Beagle and the HDS are pocket pendulum weights, the Beagle being quite heavy and the HDS being quite long. Compared to the BOSS, neither are all that good. The BOSS’s weight is substantially better than either of the other two options, as is its length. The fact that it also has the best clip among the three, puts it firmly in the lead. Oddly, I like the jury-rigged clip on the HDS quite a lot, but the clip on the Beagle is dreadfully bad, something that is strange to see given how good Enrique does everything else.

Output

BOSS 35: 5

Muyshondt Beagle: 3

HDS Rotary: 1

Spacing between Ranks: Again the BOSS pulls away from the pack.

The HDS is the runt of the litter here coming in at 300 lumens, but the poor high is offset a bit by the second best low of the bunch. The Beagle’s high of 465 lumens is a bit better, but its low is too bright. The BOSS’s roughly 1000 lumens (1200 with the Hi CRI penalty) is far and away the best high and the half a lumen low is the best low. In short, in terms of output the BOSS 35 does it all. If that were all, the BOSS still wins, but the programming on the BOSS makes its outputs even more impressive. You can have the light do basically anything you want in terms of outputs and you can program it anywhere there is internet access. Nothing comes close to the BOSS in terms of output and its programmability lets it lap not only these two lights but the entire flashlight world (the Lux RC Minion and Artifact use the same programming as they are made by the guy behind the BOSS 35).

Runtime

Muyshondt Beagle: 5

HDS Rotary: 3

BOSS 35: 1

Spacing between Ranks: The Beagle is way out in front of the other two.

It is very hard to go toe to toe with Muyshondt on runtimes. This as been is on special brand of magic for a long, long time and the difference between his runtimes and everyone else’s makes me wonder if he wasn’t standing next to Robert Johnson at the crossroads where the latter acquired his ability to play guitar.

Beam Type

Muyshondt Beagle: 5

HDS Rotary: 3

BOSS 35: 1

Spacing between Ranks: Again the Beagle is way out in front.

The ability to choose between a throw and a spill beam thanks to two different arrays is a huge advantage, especially when the the spill is paired with only a modest output. There are a few lights, one in for review, that accomplish this task with a single emitter, but even then its not the same. Dual array lights are amazing and among them, the Beagle is the best. The other two have a hard time competing at all.

Beam Quality

Muyshondt Beagle: 5

BOSS 35: 3

HDS Rotary: 1

Spacing between Ranks: Beagle, lapping the competition.

My BOSS 35 came with Hi CRI emitters, taking a bit of a hit in terms of output, but even then, the Beagle produces such clean, pure light it is hard to compare it to anything else. This is a beautiful torch that produces light as glorious as the sunrise on the first day of your vacation. Okay, maybe that is overstating it a bit, but only a bit.

HDS Rotary: 5

BOSS 35: 3

Muyshondt Beagle: 1

Spacing between Ranks: Don’t bother.

Hands down, without question or hestitation the HDS Rotary has the best UI of any flashlight ever. Henry’s work on this front, even five or six years later, has not been approached by anyone, production or custom. You can use it one handed. You can select your output before turning on the light. You can tell what they output will be before turning on the light. There is, of course, mode memory because you can just leave the selector ring in the same position. And most importantly, its damn easy to use—no Morse code with the clicky, just twist more for more light. If the build quality and simplicity got your attention with the HDS, the UI is the reason the light will never leave your collection.

Hands Free

BOSS 35: 5

Muyshondt Beagle: 3

HDS Rotary: 1

Spacing between Ranks: BOSS 35 by a bit, with clumping between the Beagle and the Rotary.

The BOSS 35 can both tailstand and won’t roll at all. The Beagle on the other hand, has a tendency to roll until the light hits the clip and the HDS Rotary can’t reliably tailstand at all. Both are flaws and when you are running in the same race as the BOSS 35, even small flaws will put you far behind.

Total Points:

BOSS 35: 36

Muyshondt Beagle: 30

HDS Rotary: 24

The BOSS 35 is the clear winner on points though I think the ranks between the lights in many categories are closer than the scores would indicate. The difference between the BOSS 35 and the Beagle and the HDS in terms of in-hand, in-use feel is very small. These are all splendid lights that do things that no other lights in the world do. Intuitively, the scores do match my expectations—the BOSS 35 feels better than the other two. That said, if you bought one of these three lights you could very well have a light for life and not be disappointed. As the market slowly comes out of its lumens-chasing haze and we realize that features matter, it becomes clearly just how amazing these three torches are. Part of me wants to scrap the scores and say that the HDS’s UI is so good that it is the rightful winner. Another part of me wants to point out that when it comes to flashlights, high quality light matters and lift up the Beagle. But the most rational part of me (or that part that is rational but still dumb enought to spend $400 on a flashlight) looks at the lights and the scores here and realizes that the BOSS 35 is probably the best light, price blind, on the market circa 2018.

Value (Points per Dollar):

BOSS 35: .16 (36/$392)

HDS: .07 (24/$323)

Beagle: .05 (30/$595)

Overall Winner: BOSS 35

Oddly, the value calculation is unnecessary. Here the BOSS 35, especially in the aluminum body tube, is only slightly more expensive than the HDS and thus it wins automatically. All of this underscores just how good a value the BOSS 35 is. If you have some money to spend and want a light that both looks good and has bleeding edge performance look no further.

This also leads to another point—I wish Muyshondt would change the clip on the Beagle and make an aluminum version of this light. Its not just cheaper, its lighter and the Beagle is already pretty heavy to begin with. Muyshondt's more recent releases have exhibited a slight drift in focus away from “performance” to “luxury.” They are still world class performers, of course, but there is a bit of lux (no not that kind of lux) that you are paying for that is not strictly related to performance. You know things have gotten a little strange when you start using watch language (“caliber”) to describe your lights and you no longer publish emitter specs. This is not to say the Beagle is bad, but merely to point out that it could be both a better light and a cheaper light with very little effort (actually less effort given how hard titanium is to machine compared to aluminum).

This shoot out also goes to show just how good the HDS design is. Almost a decade later the Rotary is still one of the best lights the world. It is a delight to carry and use and has basically become my go to emergency light (it lives in my nightstand, ready in the event of a late night power outage). You can trust your HDS in a way that you can’t any other light. It is easy to use, bulletproof, and plenty bright. In many ways, the HDS is great despite it specs (which are a bit long in the tooth). In the same way that a Lotus competes with higher end sports cars because it focuses on what matters and not horsepower, the HDS hangs with the bleeding edge because its such a solid design.

All three lights here are great. The scoring does not reveal how close they are to each other. But the BOSS is best.