Charles Bradshaw
Flashlight Enthusiast
This is Brinkmann's headlamp version of their Rebel 2AA focused LED flashlight. That stated, let's get into the more important stuff.
Claims:
Water Resistant
50-60 hours continuous runtime per pair of batteries
Construction is of plastic, with battery pack on the rear of the headlamp. The pack has a nice pin hinge, not a crimp hinge, the latching mechanism is robust enough, and there is a rubber gasket/o-ring in the pack. The head swivels up and down. Where the wiring goes into both the head and pack, there are rubber grommets, and the switch is on top of the head. The switch is a rubber covered pushbutton with a momentary feature.
The only negative I can see, is the momentary feature, as it could cause accidental discharge of the batteries when stuffed into a pack or luggage. Cure is to pack without batteries installed.
It is light in weight, and most of the weight is the pair of included AA alkalines.
I got this from REI via a regular mail order from their catalog. It is $19.95 from REI and cheaper from Brinkmann and others.
For the price, this is a very good single LED focused (colimmated) headlamp. It may be suitable as a primary headlamp for easy caves, without alot of water to go through. Definitely a good headlamp for backpacking and for power outages. It is certainly brighter than the PT Matrix (or module). Reading? Maybe, but with a tight bright hotspot.
Anyone who has read enough of my posts here, will know that I prefer AA over AAA, particularly if I can use Lithium AAs, as well as my preference for white LED lights.
Don't let this headlamp's cheap looks fool you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
Claims:
Water Resistant
50-60 hours continuous runtime per pair of batteries
Construction is of plastic, with battery pack on the rear of the headlamp. The pack has a nice pin hinge, not a crimp hinge, the latching mechanism is robust enough, and there is a rubber gasket/o-ring in the pack. The head swivels up and down. Where the wiring goes into both the head and pack, there are rubber grommets, and the switch is on top of the head. The switch is a rubber covered pushbutton with a momentary feature.
The only negative I can see, is the momentary feature, as it could cause accidental discharge of the batteries when stuffed into a pack or luggage. Cure is to pack without batteries installed.
It is light in weight, and most of the weight is the pair of included AA alkalines.
I got this from REI via a regular mail order from their catalog. It is $19.95 from REI and cheaper from Brinkmann and others.
For the price, this is a very good single LED focused (colimmated) headlamp. It may be suitable as a primary headlamp for easy caves, without alot of water to go through. Definitely a good headlamp for backpacking and for power outages. It is certainly brighter than the PT Matrix (or module). Reading? Maybe, but with a tight bright hotspot.
Anyone who has read enough of my posts here, will know that I prefer AA over AAA, particularly if I can use Lithium AAs, as well as my preference for white LED lights.
Don't let this headlamp's cheap looks fool you. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif