Need Headlamp Advice

[xJunco]

Hello everyone,

Im in dire need of some head lamp advice. the current headlamp im looking at is on ebay item number # 360645925550. 1600LM 3 Mode CREE XM-L T6 LED.

it cost $17.00.

here is the problem, i've been reading this battery review about ultrafire batteries.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...50-with-3000mAh-from-KD&p=2884072#post2884072

[FONT=Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS]im pretty sure the A on the chart stands for amp, but im not sure how many amps this flash light takes. so i'm not really sure if its going to put out 3000mAh like it describes. [/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS]im also trying to by some spare batteries as well in case i run out on the water. [/FONT]

[FONT=Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS]any advice would be greatly appreciated.
[/FONT]
Thanks,
xJunco

 

[rojos]

I would not feel safe wearing Ultrafire Li-ions on my head. Not at all.
Trustfires are okay if you can find genuine Trustfires. But there are a lot of fakes out there.
Panasonic, Sanyo, Samsung, or Sony cells are recommended over Trustfires.
Panasonic and Sanyo cells are pretty affordable these days if you look around, so there is no good reason for rolling the dice with lesser cells.

Regarding the headlamp, I would be careful about any inexpensive "CREE" brand headlamps on eBay unless you knew exactly what you were getting. Some of them are diamonds in the rough, but most of them are junk. Most are very cheaply built and won't stand up to even normal use. Most use cheap drivers that are inefficient and use nausea-inducing slow PWM for the modes. And most have insufficient heatsinking and the LED will burn out or melt with prolonged use.

I think I would put that money toward a Spark headlamp, some Panasonic cells, and a good charger.

 

[subwoofer]

Im in dire need of some head lamp advice.

True :thumbsup:

OK. Let's backtrack a bit. What do you want the headlamp for (specific tasks please)?

That particular headlamp is basically a cheapy bike light on a headband. They tend to have a small hotspot and are too bright for any close up work. Most of my headlamp use is looking at arms length and to the ground within a few metres of me.

These cheap lights tend to use PWM and this becomes horribly visible on the lower modes.

I would avoid that headlamp as it will be heavy and no good for close work and have terrible PWM effects.


This is before even getting going on the batteries!


I'd start off by picking another headlamp suitable for your use. My personal favourite if the Fenix HL30. A fantastic all rounder, not expensive and it runs on AAs.

 

[kenwahoo]

I just bought one of those type of headlamps. Took a chance that the led was a proper cree and it appears to be. Got a zoom model and while the whole headlight is slightly heavy I can live with that. It came with 2 Ultrafire 3200 mAh 18650 batteries which I tested to last only just over 2 hours. In the meantime I found someone giving away a brand new laptop battery pack. I opened it to find 8 Samsung 2600 mAh batteries. I soldered nipples and charged them up and they've lasted over 4.5 hours on full charge. Samsung's data sheet shows that their batteries are actually 2550 mAh and it indicates that the so called Ultrafire 3200 mAh capacity is probably only just about half of the Samsung's. The other thing that was frightening was that the Ultrafire's charged to 4.4 volts whereas the Samsung never went over 4.27 volts. Guess which ones are going in the bin. The headlight or the charger dont seem to be a problem and I am now using good quality batteries with them. Still need to watch the charging. If you are vigilant and sensible you should be safe.

 

[Norm]

Since posting this thread the OP has never returned to view it :shakehead - Norm

 

[subwoofer]

Since posting this thread the OP has never returned to view it :shakehead - Norm

It is a sometimes amusing feature of forums, that a new user posts a quick question and then the members spend ages talking it over amongst themselves with the OP never to be seen again.

Seen it time and again. At least in this instance there has not been much wasted time.

 

[JargonGR]

It is not wasted time. For example I am also looking at a Headlamp and although at the beginning I was carried away with the High-Lumens chinese ones after studying and reading threads like that I decided to go for a Fenix HP25, HP11 or another quality light. What I am trying to figure out is how many lumens I mostly need it for close up work and garden jobs at night (I also have an EA4 XM-L2 + diffuser for this) when I want both hands free.

For my bike I use dedicated bike lights so I will also get a bike headlamp too with a custom battery pack.

 

[petr9999]

if u want a nice floody beam, look at the armytek wizzard, fenix hp25, zebralight h600f(w for warm)

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...rmytek-Wizard-Pro-Prototype-Long-Term-Testing

u can find out the amount of lumens u need from ur nitecore, but the ones listed are the most powerfull headlamps on the market

 

[JargonGR]

Thanks petr9999!

I had not paid attention to neither the Armytek nor the Zebralights to be hones and damn they are beasts of performance not to mention they have NW versions. I think I will go for the Armytek (W) and try mounting it on the chest as well.

 

[petr9999]

your welcome!

Since it seems like you are new to flashlights, i though i would warn you that both the zebra, and armytek i listed are Lipo battery (18650) lights, u should read up on these batteries before u make a purchase. There are AA battery counterparts, but are nowhere near as bright, and require 4xAA batteries for the same runtime, for these reasons, i would recomend jumping straight on lipo.

 

[JargonGR]

Hehe you are right, I am new to flashlights (4 months in the hobby) but not new to LiPos.

I actually have about 15 Flashlights already ranging from Blackshadow Terminator (lol that was my first) to the EA4, EA1, EC1, Tank 009 , Trustfires and Ultrafires. Yet. I also have bike lights with custom lipo packs (biggest is 14,400mah 12X18650).

From chargers, I use the Maha C9000 on the NiMH front and a Hobby Charger (iCharger) with an Xtar (rarely) for all the LiPos. In total I have over 100 rechargeable batteries (good brands) with about 40 being LiPos. I use a metal bunker for charging the Lithiums but I am planning to make or buy a metal closet and put everything LiPo in there since as they pile up they make me nervous.

My interest from Flashlights started through the batteries that started from e-cigarette mods. At the beginning I saw all those cheap flashlights on Chinese e-shops and though oh well they seem cheap and fun so I won't get to yet another expensive hobby. Oh well..........it seems that all hobbies end up expensive if you wish so and now I can't stop wanting to buy new lights and actually the good ones! Damn!

P.S. But, I don't have a Headlamp shouldn't I have one? How I survived all those years without one is an enigma......hahaha.