Headlamp with the lowest low/ longest runtime on AA or AAA?

[Woods Walker]

I wouldn't say that they tried to copy, the HL20 design is so much different.

I gotta agree. The HL20 is nothing like the H50/H501/H501w I own beyond using 1XAA. It is the only 1XAA headlamp that I know of which is multi mode for the higher output LED with real good throw but know nothing about the Coleman headlamps. I didn't like the headband however replaced that with an older Aurora band. I think in actual field use it's a very good headlamp but that's just me. Also the 56 hour regulated low is bright enough for more uses. The same can't be said for the 3.5 day ZL low and guessing any moon mode more so but again this is based on speculation (don't own a sub lumen light) and field use of the 3ish ZL low which is good for lots of thing too. However the OP may not like the HL20 and that's ok too. Guessing this is why there is more than one option on the market.

 

[Beacon of Light]

how many hours will the HL20 run out of regulation? Also Woods Walker I know you are a big fan of the EOS, so compare the low of EOS to the low low of the HL20 for me please, thanks.

 

[Woods Walker]

I think the HL20 is doing 4 lumens fully regulated for 56 hours. The EOS looks to be doing 5ish lumens on low for 50 hours before going into direct drive. Given the beam HL20 (more throw) EOS (more flood) it's hard to tell which is lower. I dislike the HL20 diffuser on high but find low very workable. Medium isn't all that bad but glare like tint can be in the eye of the beholder. The HL20 keeps its low with lithium Energizers unlike some Fenix AA lights. The EOS has longer regulated runtimes at the expense of DD using them. The HL20 does have a bit of a WOW factor on high. The EOS has the better beam for most uses in my view. Both are not the lowest/longest anything however.

 

[Egsise]

HL20 has a overdischarge protection at 0.9V or so, so if you use rechargeables it's better than direct drive headlamps which drain the cells too low and causes permanent damage to them.

 

[hopkins]

Was just thinking it might be convenient to carry the spare batteries
for the headlamp in a dedicated container on the headlamp strap
itself, rather than chance forgetting them.

For the Zebra's it would not add a lot of weight..1 cell.

 

[knoth]

Photon Freedom Fusion Headlamp lets you adjust your preference in brightness in either white or red leds.
LRI FW Freedom Fusion 6 White, 2 Red LED Headlamp - Amazon
www.amazon.com › ... › Hardware › Flashlights › Headlamps

 

[Beacon of Light]

ehhh, looks like a very outdated design. Reminds me of my first headlamp back in 1997 or 1998; the Energizer LED which they still sell but it is showing it's age now. The Fusion looks bulky with the swivel head and it seems to have the same fatal flaw (to me imo) as the Photon Proton Pro light which starts on white (HIGH) and then ramps down. I have a Proton Pro I basically bought primiarly for runtime efficiency which I'm guessing may be good, but I can't say for sure, as I ever used mine enough to test if that was true, as I didn't like starting in RED if I wanted the minimal low. I also did not like the alternative if I wanted to start in white (which would be 99.9% of the time) by having to ramp down the white LED (which always starts out (HIGH), thereby wasting runtime by starting so high and waiting several seconds to get to the minimal white low. The other gripes is it dents the negative end of NiMH cells.

I have bought several headlamps since I've started this thread, so I might as well list them here as I would have liked knowing this info when I started this thread, so maybe it will help others here looking for the same kind of headlamp I was over a year ago.

*** Icon IRIX I and II lights that have a variable dimmer knob and the low is ok (still not low enough but decently low out of regulation and at the end of the useful light of the battery it is almost perfect even, so I tend to use mostly drained NiMH cells in these). They are $25 and $30 each and both run on a single AA and I have done runtime tests on both and they get close to the 100 hours on low which is pretty good.

*** Zebralight H31 is the same circuit of the H51 only it uses CR123 cells and also works with 3.0v rechargeable LiFe04Po cells (which function exactly like CR123 primary cells). I originally used a Ultrafire 880mAh RCR123 which worked well but when I went to change out the battery it was noticeably stuck in the light. The battery is a protected cell, so the wrapper around the cell is thicker and it was snug inside the light. I had to glue a pen cap to the battery to pull it out 3 days later. Light works super low with a super long runtime. I'm going to Cali next week and it will be my only headlamp but I may just take a second Tenergy 900mAh LiFe04Po cell for insurance.

*** iTP H-01 was a disappointment in what could have been a good light. Low is ok but not low enough. The light doesn't come close to the runtime specs of 50 hours on NiMH. The rubber holster does grip the light too much to be usable when you want to swivel the head up or down as it tends to turn off the light unless you purposely hold the end of the light that has the unscrewable tailcap, tightly. It is light and comfortable and wish there were more 1xAAA lights available, perhaps with a Zebralight type UI and a low low like they use. For example, a .1 lumen low in a 1xAAA headlamp that could run for over 100 hours would be sweet!

Photon Freedom Fusion Headlamp lets you adjust your preference in brightness in either white or red leds.
LRI FW Freedom Fusion 6 White, 2 Red LED Headlamp - Amazon
www.amazon.com › ... › Hardware › Flashlights › Headlamps

 

[Beacon of Light]

duplicate post. Mods please delete

 

[jabe1]

Beacon,
Have you tried one of Peak's 90° adapters and a headband? As you well know, with a QTC, the Peaks will get rediculously low, and have the runtime expected. I have adapters for both the Eiger/Matterhorn, and the ElCapitan/Kilimanjaro. I have improvised QTC inserts, and with a NiteIze headband, they make great headlamps!
The low that you can achieve is to the point where in a totally dark room, they're only good for close reading.

 

[Beacon of Light]

Jabe1, I am having Bob @ RMSK hold me a brass 90 degree adapter for an Eiger as I am waiting for the Brass QTC 17500s in keychain/Medium optic and the 17500 battery inserts so I need to have them all coincide to buy so I can avoid shipping overages.

So how does the QTC work in the adapter? I'm guessing my QTC pill in my new Eiger won't work at all since it stays at the bottom of the negative end of the battery cell. I think I'd need some sort of fabricated way of making it work where the adapter fits in somehow.

Can you tell me how you got yours to work with the QTC material (which I am assuming is the raw QTC and not the PEAK metal disk/Delrin pill)

Beacon,
Have you tried one of Peak's 90° adapters and a headband? As you well know, with a QTC, the Peaks will get rediculously low, and have the runtime expected. I have adapters for both the Eiger/Matterhorn, and the ElCapitan/Kilimanjaro. I have improvised QTC inserts, and with a NiteIze headband, they make great headlamps!
The low that you can achieve is to the point where in a totally dark room, they're only good for close reading.

 

[nzbazza]

Just come across this thread... to me the ideal match would be the Zebralight H51 or H51w depending on your tint perferences:

Light Output
High: H1 200 Lm (0.9 hrs) or H2 100 Lm (2.4 hrs) / 140 Lm (1.7 hrs) / 4Hz Strobe
Medium: M1 30 Lm (9 hrs) or M2 8 Lm (30 hrs)
Low: L1 2.5 Lm (3 days) or L2 0.2 Lm (16 days)

The L2 mode is the lowest/longest running mode I've seen in a 1AA headlamp.

 

[jabe1]

Yes, I'm using "raw" QTC material. I tried a piece in the bottom of the battery tube, and didn't like having to turn the tube to adjust the brightness, especially with the tube being the mounting point to the headband.

I cut a circle of thin foam material I had lying around, and then cut a square in the center, just smaller than the QTC. After pressing the QTC into the square hole, I inserted the assembly into the adapter under the head. Now the head is again the adjustment point.

With a 10280 body, even in SS, it weighs little enough that it's not noticeable, and the levels are from stare into the lit LED low, to OMG that little thing is bright!

You will need an extra o-ring for the adapter male end, as they don't come with it. Drop a SASE to Robyn and Curt with a note, and get an extra or two.

 

[Beacon of Light]

Do you know the size of the O-ring? If its a common size I can find one locally.

 

[jabe1]

It's the same as the Eiger.

 

[Camille]

My H501 did 1.5L on low in bigchelis' sphere

 

[Blue72]

Have you looked at the CORE battery from Petzl. It allows you to plug it into your computer and you can choose the brightness, runtime, and regulation to your liking. It fits pretty much all their current compact headlamps even the tikkina . It still allows you to use aaa batteries if you needed to, in a pinch.

 

[Beacon of Light]

That is pretty cool it comes with software to program the light with. It doesn't specify important points though. I'd need to know if 1) how low it can go via software or if it is like high=10 low=1 then I doubt it would even be sub lumer or .005 lumens. 2) No mention of how many AAA batteries it would take (guessing 3) and how many hours of runtime on minimum. I only see runtime of 120 hours and that 's not any better than the Princeton tec EOS which now is low at 5 lumens or so. It's ok but a little outdated and not low enough and runtime isn't as efficient as it could be.

Have you looked at the CORE battery from Petzl. It allows you to plug it into your computer and you can choose the brightness, runtime, and regulation to your liking. It fits pretty much all their current compact headlamps even the tikkina . It still allows you to use aaa batteries if you needed to, in a pinch.

 

[robostudent5000]

Beacon, what do you use your lights for that makes you want such low brightnesses and long run times?

 

[Beacon of Light]

I just always want the most efficient light, just because. So basically I am wanting long runtime for saving batteries needing recharging and saving $$$$. Low brightness as I like going outside and not attractinbg bugs at night and I like low lows so it also lasts longer. I find I rarely use anything higher than the low low of my Zebralight H31 or any other light. My Quark AA I only use the moon mode.

Beacon, what do you use your lights for that makes you want such low brightnesses and long run times?

 

[carrot]

That is pretty cool it comes with software to program the light with. It doesn't specify important points though. I'd need to know if 1) how low it can go via software or if it is like high=10 low=1 then I doubt it would even be sub lumer or .005 lumens. 2) No mention of how many AAA batteries it would take (guessing 3) and how many hours of runtime on minimum. I only see runtime of 120 hours and that 's not any better than the Princeton tec EOS which now is low at 5 lumens or so. It's ok but a little outdated and not low enough and runtime isn't as efficient as it could be.

I have the CORE paired with my Tikka XP2. It is a reprogrammable Li-ion battery and does not support the use of regular AAAs with it. It charges off Micro-USB. It has a built-in battery meter to tell you how much of the battery is depleted.

The software does not rate output in terms of lumens. It lets you program the two white modes: "max" and "eco." On the highest settings, max is 100% output runs for 4h30 and the highest eco mode is 12.5% output and runs for 35h. You can program these independently, so sliding the sliders all the way to the bottom lets you get 4% on max (106h) and 2% on eco (145h). This is with the Tikka XP2.

The settings it allows may be slightly different depending on the model it is connected to. The XP2 yields the highest runtimes on eco as the other ones do not allow you to drop to 2%.