is this doable, or whats the best way to go about it?

first off, im a first time poster, i like the site so far, and im one of those guys that have more flashlights than i need, and im now starting to become interested in how to mod/create them. i searched the forum for anything to do with this type of light that im about to ask about, but didnt find exactly what i needed.

i like to coon hunt, and ive been around the big 21v bump cap lights that are big and heavy, and have battery packs on the belts ect... ive just never had the $$ to drop on a new or like new light, the ones i wanted were ~300 bucks, so i just stick with my handheld stinger for shinning coons and LED headlamp for walking at night.

recently my buddies have been talking about "SmartLights".
http://www.unitedmountaincurassociation.com/smartlight.htm

this is an LED equivalent custom made for the coon hunter. it throws a bright beam instead of a flood. my question is this. how silly would it be to flirt with the idea that i could somehow make one of these things for myself? they go for around 170 bucks with shipping, but im just a do it yourself kinda guy anyway, and even if i cant make my own for that price, i would still be game, just because i want to build one, and ~150 bucks aint that bad of a price for what these are supposed to be.

im wondering if this type of light might be a little too far advanced for me now, but thats why im here asking?

light specs say 3.7volts, and its rechareble, so some of my first big questions are, what are some good vendors to look at buying some of these type components? whats the best way to go about building one of these? and would this be doable for an average joe like me? ive got some electronic experience, im a systems administrator, been around voltmeters, soldering, basic electronics, ect.... so im not totally green. but ive never messed with LED's in the sense like you guys do.....

thanks in advance for any help.

I don't coon hunt, so I may not be entirely on base, but the whole bump cap design seems a bit awkward to me - generally speaking, you wear on your head the smaller, floodier light for up-close work, and leave the larger, heavier throw light to your weapon rail or hand. You could pretty easily create a much better system just by avoiding the bump cap design altogether; a Zebralight on your head and a TK10 on your rifle, for example, would weigh a whole lot less than the cap, and put the correct type of light right where you need it.

StarHalo said:

I don't coon hunt, so I may not be entirely on base, but the whole bump cap design seems a bit awkward to me - generally speaking, you wear on your head the smaller, floodier light for up-close work, and leave the larger, heavier throw light to your weapon rail or hand. You could pretty easily create a much better system just by avoiding the bump cap design altogether; a Zebralight on your head and a TK10 on your rifle, for example, would weigh a whole lot less than the cap, and put the correct type of light right where you need it.

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well ive never been a fan of the bump caps either, ive always taken the light off, and slung the spot light over one shoulder, and used it like a hand held when we treed, or when i needed to shine a bright light at anything.

i dont really want a light on a weapon, since i have to shine it at other things that i wouldnt want to point a gun at, and you get more control if its handheld. the only benefit to having the light on a cap, is that your in a direct line of sight with the game, so that way, the eyes are sure to shine back at you, so you can see it and locate it. i can shoot fine with a flashlight in one hand, rifle/pistol in the other.

the smartlight has a high/low, both for spotting game and walking. a lot of the time, a coon will not look at you, if there is a bright light shinning in his eyes, so a lower beam is sometimes better, in case you get a shy coon. thats what those red pop filters are for, cutting the output, so a coon will look at ya.

i wouldnt mind having it all in a handheld the size of my Stinger XT HP or a maglite maybe (maglite mod maybe??), cause it easily fits in my back pocket, i could get a holster for a maglite, in a belt loop type setup. i have an old 3D cell mag.

the only bonus i can see having it on a cap, is its also a place to store the battery.

i been looking at the maglite mods, man those are crazy, and they look doable. also i wondered if there was any headlamp mods that were popular. im sure a cheap headlamp led can be beefed up somehow.....

to me a coon light would be perfect, if it had the capability to be handheld and small enough to put in a holster or carry it easily somehow. and the LED makes it brighter and easier on batteries. it would need to be rechargeable. and have a high/low switch.

man there are some crazy things yall are doin with LED's!

Never heard of that before, i looked at the link and they seem awkward, is there a reason not to go with a standard headlamp design?

Anyway, go check out the homemade section, and read up. If you have a question, try typing it in the search field. Starting out as a beginner, everything you're wondering about has already been asked and answered in great detail.

Cheapest cost - $7 for emitter, $3 driver, $3 optic (DX aspheric). To that you need some $ for wires unless you have old cords (phone, computer, etc) to scavenge from. You need to scavenge some metal for a heat sink (old computers are one source, copper plumbing tubes another, or big 20amp 220vac wires a lot of copper mass), some thermal paste. Find some way to keep it all together and protected from water. You need batteries.
-If you drop a little more $ you can get a multi-die emiter, or get 2 r4 xpg's and they'll put out a lot of light.
Point being, you could diy a 600lumen dual apheric headlight (say, close to a cars headlight) for ~$40 if you already had some materials on hand. And it'd outperform any $300 cap light.

Another option if you don't want to make it all yourself is to get some p60 drop-in's from DX. Put three of these together and all you have to do is clip some wires on to a battery, no soldering required and it wouldn't be half bad at all.

You got lots of reading and learning to do.:welcome:

I'd get a Fenix HP10 and be done with it. It will almost definitely be brighter than that.

thanks for all the good info Linger....

but yes, the big deal with coon lights are longevity, and durability.

the headlamp you see on that bump cap, IS the standard for the coon light world. when you go "coonin", you very well could be finding yourself climbing a little, or shaking vines/limbs, so i guess thats where they get the hard bump cap from... be me...i never liked them. too hot in the summer, and too cold in the winter!

i'll have to look up all the acronyms i see in these posts, i have no idea what they mean LOL.

but yeah, i have a ton of old pc parts laying around, my office at work has 20+ dead pc's in it i bet. i have lots of wires/heatsinks ect....when it comes to that aspect. if i could get 600 lumens out of a $40 DIY job, then that would be just fine....

your right though, i have a lot of reading to do. but can i ask this....where do i need to start? if i had to start somewhere, what type of battery i want to use is an important part i would guess. needs to be rechargable, or if i do have to buy batteries for it all the time, they need to be few and far between. that little smart light claims 18+ hours on high, and 100+ on low. with a good tight beam at 600 lumens, what kind of battery would i need to be searching for?

You might want to research a bit on caving headlamps. They are designed and built to take FAR more abuse than you could ever dream of giving a headlamp hunting. That's why I suggested the Fenix HP10. While new, it is already well received in the caving community. It should have the throw you desire.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=1774

The lights used on your coon bump lights are nothing more than modified mining Wheat Lamps. Modern tech far surpasses them.

Marduke said:

You might want to research a bit on caving headlamps. They are designed and built to take FAR more abuse than you could ever dream of giving a headlamp hunting. That's why I suggested the Fenix HP10. While new, it is already well received in the caving community. It should have the throw you desire.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=1774

The lights used on your coon bump lights are nothing more than modified mining Wheat Lamps. Modern tech far surpasses them.

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well that wheat lamp is cheap, and durable, and it seems to get the job done cause the throw on this lamp is tighter and brighter than the big 21v lamps some use. it just doesnt have as much spill as the 21v lights.

can anyone tell what type bulb this is in the lamp from looking at it? im trying to get more data on these lights, so i can start to think up a homemade version...

That looks like an LED to me, not a bulb. I can't tall what kind of LED though.

I'd personally buy and modify an existing light to suit your needs. If you have metal working tools, you can take a cheaper light, cut off the body, and use the head as your headlamp, and then make a battery pack for it.

:welcome:

Gunner12 said:

That looks like an LED to me, not a bulb. I can't tall what kind of LED though.

I'd personally buy and modify an existing light to suit your needs. If you have metal working tools, you can take a cheaper light, cut off the body, and use the head as your headlamp, and then make a battery pack for it.

:welcome:

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that is exactly what im trying to read up on. sorry i gotta watch my terminology on here, still learnin that too.... i knew it was an LED, just misused the term bulb.

ive seen a few tutorials to get me started on the headlamp area, mostly tutorials for cutting down and rethreading flashlights....found a few other battery pack tutorials too...

but im wondering how big of an LED could i get by with, that i wouldnt have to worry about heat, or fabing a heatsink ect....

i thought about using those wheat style headlamps, and find a LED that fit in there nicely...

Took me a while to get the terminology too, don't worry

I'm not sure how much heatsinking or space is in the wheat style headlamps. Most of the lights have enough heatsinking already, so you probably wouldn't have to worry about that. An LED can be driven at different levels. A larger die or multi die LED driven at low levels (for efficiency) will produce less heat then a single die LED driven at it's max.

What kind of light do you use now? Just so we have a point of reference to compare to.

Gunner12 said:

Took me a while to get the terminology too, don't worry

I'm not sure how much heatsinking or space is in the wheat style headlamps. Most of the lights have enough heatsinking already, so you probably wouldn't have to worry about that. An LED can be driven at different levels. A larger die or multi die LED driven at low levels (for efficiency) will produce less heat then a single die LED driven at it's max.

What kind of light do you use now? Just so we have a point of reference to compare to.

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hey thanks man!

well right now im using a stinger XT HP for spotting in the tree...in this project i want the variable power there for toning it down, cause most times this stinger is too bright and the coon wont look at me. those super bright 21v belt lights have 4 or 5 different dimmer switches for this purpose.

and for walking in the woods i just use a cheap headlamp i get from home depot. those 4 for $5 jobs. they are plenty fine, they have a concentrated throw and very little flood. some like lots of flood for walking, but i dont...

now i understand that those upper level headlamps like those princeton Apex are fine and dandy, and i'd love to have one, but as rough as i am sometimes in the woods, i'd hate for it to get lost or damaged. thats why i was leaning toward the wheat style lamps. i dont HAVE to use those, but you know, since they are cheap and plentiful. there might be something else just as rugged and available out there, that works better, and has a better reflector, i dont know...im looking for that possibility too...

im chomping at the bit, but having to read up on building battery packs, and choosing from all the different types of LED's out there.

but yes, those large multi die LED's caught my eye, thats why i asked about heat, since they can definitely generate some. but i guess those 900 lumen jobs are why....

that smart light only has a 9watt LED drawing 3.7v. if i can get just as good of a throw, with the capability of going brighter (not for constant use), then i guess im aiming for something on par, or higher than the smartlight....

Do you mean lots of flood as in a floody beam pattern? Or are you referring to the spill as flood? Many people here seem to mislabel spill as flood. Flood is a beam pattern, while spill is not.

Here's a cheap headlamp from DX with the Cree XR-E LED. Shipping is slow but the light could give you a decent idea of what output and beam pattern if you buy a thrower LED light and modify it to a headlamp. The mod would probably be brighter and throw further. The headlamp won't throw as far as the Streamlight stinger HP, but a LED thrower should be similar in throw (these LEDs need much less then 9w, more around 3.5-4 watt).

More lumen doesn't mean more throw. Imagine comparing a laser to a floodlight. The laser would be much dimmer but also throw much further then the floodlight. A quad die LED at max will be around 10 watts.

Gunner12 said:

Do you mean lots of flood as in a floody beam pattern? Or are you referring to the spill as flood? Many people here seem to mislabel spill as flood. Flood is a beam pattern, while spill is not.

Here's a cheap headlamp from DX with the Cree XR-E LED. Shipping is slow but the light could give you a decent idea of what output and beam pattern if you buy a thrower LED light and modify it to a headlamp. The mod would probably be brighter and throw further. The headlamp won't throw as far as the Streamlight stinger HP, but a LED thrower should be similar in throw (these LEDs need much less then 9w, more around 3.5-4 watt).

More lumen doesn't mean more throw. Imagine comparing a laser to a floodlight. The laser would be much dimmer but also throw much further then the floodlight. A quad die LED at max will be around 10 watts.

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yes i wasnt aware of the difference between spill and flood pattern. and also i was referring to the flood pattern instead of spill, although i didnt know it.....

im gonna try that cheap headlamp, and take it for a spin. i hate that it uses aaa though. it looks like a good head lamp to mod, if a light weight battery pack could be devised to fit like the Apex's do. might get more time between charges anyway....

also ive got a few Maglites laying around, minimags too. dont ever use them since i got into the stinger family. if i decide to go with a bump cap, i bet they make a superior reflector than that of a wheat style lamp could provide. might could attach the head of a maglight to a bump cap, and it would be tough thats for sure. same for the mini mags, hell.... i dont know, im still learnin...it "sounded" good anyway..... haha


whatever i dream up, its gotta have some rechargability to it, and enough juice to last me 3 or 4 nights of hunting between charges, with ~4hrs worth of hunting a night...

thanks for the extra info, i feel a plan a comin.

You can probably use the head and reflector of the Maglite as the head of your headlamp, then attach a battery case to that. A Cree XP-E could be good for you, and those run at 1 amp max. Each 18650 battery is 2 something aH, so 2 18650s should give you the 3-4 hours you need even after driver inefficiency is factored in.

I've seen people use the head of the Maglite as the head of their bike headlamp, so something like that except for your head could work.

Gunner12 said:

You can probably use the head and reflector of the Maglite as the head of your headlamp, then attach a battery case to that. A Cree XP-E could be good for you, and those run at 1 amp max. Each 18650 battery is 2 something aH, so 2 18650s should give you the 3-4 hours you need even after driver inefficiency is factored in.

I've seen people use the head of the Maglite as the head of their bike headlamp, so something like that except for your head could work.

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yes i think ive decided to use the lamp and switch like they use on bike head lights, but just sling the light over one shoulder like i do a coon light now. instead of wearing the bump cap, i detach the light, and let it hang over one shoulder, and then just use it like a hand held when i need to spot with it. the shortened maglight will make a superb handle i believe, for both spotting, and for holding while shooting either pistol or rifle.

i'll just use a regular LED headlamp for walking. and use the maglite head for spotting only. that way i can mod the maglite for either very bright tight spotting, or lesser power with some sort of variable mechanism.

i could make the battery pack to where it can fit in a vest pocket, or jacket pocket. whatever LED i end up using, it and the battery pack will need to give low light for many many hours, along with a very bright light for at least an hour or two. since its not used much during a hunt, that way the light can last me 2-3 nights before i need to charge it again.