Pilot looking for red/white LED headlamp for flying?

[RedLED]

Who uses paper sectional charts anymore ? With ForeFlight those days are gone, so using red light isn't as big of a deal on the iPad screen.

I will check out the Surefire red filter, although I think $200 is pretty overkill. The Petzl is nice as it is relatively cheap and I can use both white and red light without having to manually put a filter on.

I know, but you still need them in the event a device goes down.

 

[JCOENG]

I was going to start a new thread asking this same question, hoping this is still an active thread. New here to the forums and can't believe how much knowledge there is in here on all aspects of these lamps.


I've narrowed my selection down to 2, the Zebralight H502pr and Surfire Minimus.


The red light is more important for me to be a good color and the right coverage in the cockpit. I have a cheaper COAST HL7 headlamp that I got from Costco that I'll carry as backup which has red/white that I can use for preflight if the red isn't bright enough.


My main concern is that I wear glasses and the COAST headlamp reflects in the top of my glasses creating a hot spot. The red is very spotty and I think I'd prefer a flood type headlamp but looking to the experts for opinion would floody be worse with reflections on instruments and windshields? I also prefer a top strap as I put it on under my headset anyhow so it won't interfere, the benefit is its less pressure on my head for prolonged time which gives me a headache.


I like the cost of the ZL better but its not much of a concern, just want the better light source and coverage. Any thoughts on the color/effectiveness of the pr lamp of the ZL or the red filter on the SF?


Outdoor Gearlab gave the following cons: Short battery life, low brightness and distance scores, expensive. I've heard the SF is great for some aspects, like the variable output but I think the ZL is programmable and I could experiment to find the correct setting. also heard the SF is poor on runtime compared to the ZL. The white/red is a nice to have in one package but ultimately my concern is the hotspot in glasses and quality/brightness of the red in the cockpit.


Thanks guys!

 

[Keitho]

I use the ZL on the back of my bike because it is so floody. I also use it camping and stargazing because of the great low modes. The programmability is limited: one click will always be to "high" (program a couple different versions of "high", just as you can program a couple different "med" and "low"), hold will always go to low, med, high, double-click will flash on high momentarily and go to medium. 4 clicks gives you a rough battery life.

It comes with a head band, no top strap. Ultra light, so no need for a top strap even when jogging; but, you might want to use another brand's headband if you have that need.

I don't have the SF, so can't comment on that one. I will say I'm loyal to ZL in general because I like their UI, efficiency, and build quality.