Cap Lights

[JAS]

.....I was looking for a headlamp or clip-on light.....I might need a bigger hat.....

I was thinking more about this today, so I measured the bill of one of my baseball caps and it is about 3 inches from the front to where it attaches to the crown. The more I think about this, the more I wonder if I could make a "universal" cap light holder. Perhaps some hose clamps and some sort of clip.

ThrowerLover, by any chance have you tried you light a little bit further back towards the crown? I am just wondering, as far as weight and balance goes, if it would work better a bit further back?

I would really like to use something like the Klarus RS16 because it is rechargeable. The length would probably stick out past the brim, but I am wondering if this is just way too heavy at 90 grams (excluding battery). I have seen some headlamps at around 6 ounces, but it might be more of an issue of balance than weight with a caplight.

 

[ThrowerLover]

I just made another one for my Xtar Wk21 which weighs 67 g.

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I did everything the same except that I slipped four small pieces of plastic tubing onto the wire instead of the silicone tape wrap. I tried Bolster's idea about the black prom dress, but decided a see-through was sexier (actually, the heat shrink tubing wasn't grippy enough). Two key things aside from the obvious: 1) for a twisty, the back part of the flashlight needs to be clamped against the bill of the cap so that it won't spin, and 2) the front part needs to be accessible and it helps if it's free to turn without rubbing against the cap. In your case, I'm curious - won't that clip (or "clamp" as Klarus calls it) reverse to that other similar groove that's closer to the head of the light? If so, the RS16 looks perfect for attaching to a cap's bill, especially since it has a sideswitch (I only made that one for the Mini CR2 because it's a light that I carry with me at all times). But if you can't reverse the clip, then I would set the light back as far as I could. I really don't think weight will be an issue. BTW, some of the wire hangers are heavier than others - if you go that route, use the heaviest gauge one you can find.

 

[eh4]

ThrowerLover's clip is great, I love it. Minimal and elegant.

What the anglehead Zebra Light H51F (floody) light allows for is an uncentered mount under any ball cap simply using the clip. This puts the diminutive weight of the light right by your head and does away with any leverage x mass issues that you might notice when mounting a light of any appreciable weight at the end of the bill.
I don't think that my trick would be as satisfactory using a non floody lensed model though, there is always a couple seconds of initial fiddling required to center the off center light source, floody though it is.

 

[psychbeat]

I was looking for a headlamp or clip-on light - all were way more expensive than I liked, especially since, like everyone else here, my issue is definitely NOT a shortage of sources of illumination. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and I couldn't sleep, so I made this homemade ball cap clip using a wire hanger, vise grips, and small strips of silicone wrap tape (sorry - no duct tape). Y'know, necessity may be the mother of invention, but frugality is the boyfriend and insomnia is the cheap whiskey. And this is the trailer-park trash that was spawned.

I call it the Bubba Clip (because I refuse to name anything after Honey BooBoo), but, let's face it - this thing is the most creative use of a wire hanger in a trailer park since . . . well, let's not go there. It works with my Mini CR2 (180 lumens) and allows me to twist the light on and off with one hand. It works on any cap, it's cheap, it clamps the light very securely to the brim, it's cheap, and it stores perfectly in an old prescription bottle (so it won't get bent when not in use). It doesn't bounce around when jogging (if you're foolish enough to do such a thing). I've since ordered the Lucky Line 40601 Belt Hook Key Holder from amazon.com to secure to the light with o-rings like someone suggested. That will probably work as well and be smaller and more portable, but I have this one right now and I've already used it several times. Plus, did I mention it was cheap? Of course, a black wire hanger and a small black rubber tube (instead of the silicone tape) would look better, which I'll do if I make another one for a different flashlight.

Ha-ha. "if"? Make that "when". I sleep a lot less than I used to, and I have a TN31mb on the way.

I might need a bigger hat.

wow this is awesome- I lost the old style zebra clip i was using with my mini123 and had made something similar
to this but WAAAYY uglier.

Im going to try and copy this right now.

just got my mini123 back from an emitter swap (XPE2-4000K)
will make for a perfect spot to go with my H60W which is worn on my neck.

THANKS!!!

 

[psychbeat]

XPE2 POWER!

 

[defloyd77]

Just for the heck of it, I made a Bubba clip (genius idea btw) with a 6 inch NiteIze Gear Tie, not too bad but a wire hanger's the way to go. I tried the GT with my D25A clicky, it felt pretty secure, but don't think I'd run with it.

 

[ThrowerLover]

I made a new clip setup that works nearly as well, but is way better for me in terms of portability (I keep the Bubba Clip in my truck). I bought a Lucky Line Belt Clip from amazon:


I cut it with a Dremel and stuck a piece of felt inside of it on the flat side:



At a hardware store, I bought some Velcro that looks like this:



and cut it into a piece that would wrap around the Mini CR2 a little more than twice, and put a piece of something grippy at the inside end of it (so that I can turn the light on with one hand without the Mini spinning around):


That o-ring is a GITD, and the Velcro looks worn because I carry it all of the time. The Velcro was cheap enough that I can make another one when I need it, but I've carried this for several months and it still works as intended.


I cut the Velcro long enough to wrap around my finger for a task light:

(I cut it 6 1/4 inches long, but if you'll never use it this way, you can go shorter and it will reduce the additional diameter added to the light).


And finally, the Velcro will also hold the clip:


and attach to my cap as a cap light:



If absolutely necessary, I can even slide the temple of my glasses through the o-ring, wrap the Velcro around it, and use it without a cap:

It's not as elegant or stable, but works pretty well, especially with heavier glasses.


The clip disappears in my pocket with the Mini CR2 (with an RCR2 battery), my lip balm (it is bone dry out here in West Texas), and my bottle opener (well, technically it's a small Swiss Army knife with a bottle opener, blade, Phillips and straight blade screwdrivers, file, scissors, toothpick, and ink pen, but mainly it's a bottle opener ). It's like having part of a bug-out bag with me in my left pocket all of the time!