ryukin2000
Enlightened
I have the NC HC50, ZL H51w and fenix HL30. My favorite and go to is the HC50. Love the 18650 capacity and hot spot . Use it when I'm doing anything in the garage. The H51w I like using for reading at night.
I was tempted to try and buy some 18650 headlights for the increased brightness and to be able to use the same batteries as my custom 6P but they all failed to satisfy me, they either broke down, were too heavy, not waterproof, had complicated user interfaces, crushed batteries, etc, etc.
Point taken, but let's turn it around and see if you guys can help me find a 18650 headlight as I really would like to own a good one.They all failed? That's a sweeping condemnation of a whole lot of lights. Which lights failed you, Aperture?
Yes and no, it checks all the boxes for the things that really matter for me in the field but the beam pattern could be smoother, the light color could be more neutral, the output is't even close to the current gen headlamps and I have to use LiFePo batteries because the old Surefire headlamps are apparently not compatible with the 4.2V IMR cells let alone compatible with 18650.Actually, it sounds like you have the right headlamp for you
Sorry David if I've offended you (or your favourite brand) in any way but gear requirements are based on personal use, interest and tastes as Charles already mentioned.I just traded my my 3 year old H51w for a nice knife. That light had over 2,000 hours of use on it and still working like it's supposed too. Tested it for waterproofing before sending out. The cry-for-attention posts are not worth responding to anymore.
2000 hours of use is impressive by any means, may I ask in what setting the majority of those hours the headlamp was used in?
Would one or the other be better indoors as a work light? Or neither?
The switch functions and afterglow sometimes throw me though and the battery doesn't seem to last as long as I expected but that could be my unrealistic expectations or just forgetting how many times it's been used.
What kind of battery are you using? If it's not even close to specs, it could be a bad/cheap battery which worries me a bit even though the lamp has over-discharging protection.