Need a Haedlamp Rec

I recently decided I need a headlamp, so I thought I'd ask you guys for a recommendation, since I don't know squat about them. My needs are pretty basic, so this should a no-brainer for you guys.

I recently moved to a new place, and the living room area is covered by wood panelling, which makes for a fairly dark room. There is no overhead lighting, and I only have a couple of table lamps in the room, and they don't put out any lumens to speak of. I have a couple of bookcases and a CD stand in there, and it is pretty hard to read the titles of anything on their shelves. So rather than investing in some expensive lamps, etc., I thought maybe a headlamp would be a good way to check out the books and CDs.

Can you recommend something for this purpose? Obviously, I don't need anything really powerful. I just want to be able to see the stuff on my shelves clearly. I want something comfortable, reliable, and easy on cheap batteries. Whatcha think?

A neutral white Zebralight will give a lovely colour and even flood; the H501w takes a single AA cell.

A headlamp, while very useful, is no substitute for regular lights. What happens when you have guests? Hand them headlamps? You don't have to buy expensive lamps unless you want to.

Here is an idea for you. I paid about $7 for this compact florescent light for the top shelf. It's hooked up to a $20 lamp/appliance controlling device. This thing has a remote control that can turn on/off 3 devices. All this cost less than $30. You can add one light for each shelf for a total of 3 and operate them with just one remote control. Use regular lights first. You can still buy a headlamp for backup.


If you still want a headlamp, I would recommend the Zebralight H501. The floody beam is good for what you described. The small size and versatility let you use it in many ways. With this little guy, you don't have to wear it on your head like a traditional headlamp when you want to be discreet around other people.

How have you got that clipped on there David? Magnets?

Sounds like a plan. Where's a good place to get a Zebralight?

http://www.zebralight.com/ or http://www.4sevens.com/ would be good places to start (the latter has a CPF discount).

TorchBoy said:

How have you got that clipped on there David? Magnets?

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The clip does the clipping. The magnets keep the light stable and let the user rotate the light.

Sorry I had to delete the pictures. Don't want to hijack to OP's thread with my pictures. Hopefully, they stayed on long enough to convey the information.

davidt1 said:

Sorry I had to delete the pictures. Don't want to hijack to OP's thread with my pictures. Hopefully, they stayed on long enough to convey the information.

Click to expand...

I liked your pix!

I checked out the Z-Lights. They are very nice, but ouch. Do I really have to spend over eighty bucks for my simple needs? Isn't there anything available for a more reasonable price, say under $30? Also, how does that thing work? Does it clip on a shirt pocket or what? I was expecting some kind of head band or something similar?

It does have a headband, with a glow in the dark holder for the Zebralight. Clipping and magneticking it onto a shirt is a little unusual.

You could try http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.906 for less expensive options.

Or just get a stroppy stand mounted uplight.

OK, thanks....

Well, I ordered a headlamp from D-X. I notice they are in HK. How long does it normally take to get delivery in the US?

If they have it in stock, about two weeks. If they don't have it in stock, perhaps three or four weeks, or sometimes you might get a surprise delivery months later (if you haven't cancelled the order by then), in which case it's a source of frustration and occasionally amusement.

1st, I also wonder why You dont want fixed lighting

2nd, a question: are You going to read for some time in that room? Or simply walking around checking something in it?
Because some small EDC would be more than adequate when not sitting down and reading for hours.

--> Fenix E01, there is no excuse not to have one in a pocket
(except for having no pockets or another, bigger and brighter, light as EDC)

yellow said:

1st, I also wonder why You dont want fixed lighting

2nd, a question: are You going to read for some time in that room? Or simply walking around checking something in it?
Because some small EDC would be more than adequate when not sitting down and reading for hours.

--> Fenix E01, there is no excuse not to have one in a pocket
(except for having no pockets or another, bigger and brighter, light as EDC)

Click to expand...

The shelves are in a dark corner and I don't really need any light back there other than to check the contents of the shelves. I have a couple of lamps that provide general lighting for the room and provide reading light, but not enough to light up the shelves properly. Also, I'd rather have a headlamp so that I can have my hands free to access the material on the shelves.

This is the headlamp that I ordered:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.997

I just realized that I have no idea how bright a 3W Cree LED is going to be. I could pick up a small Petzl or Princeton TEC H/L for the same price that probably is not as bright, but might be a better choice for my purpose? I don't want to feel like I've got my car's headlight shining on my books from 18 inches away? Should I keep this thing or cancel it and go with one of the others I mentioned?

brightness is directly related to the power the led gets!
Surely, with a Cree or Seoul, instead of the Luxeon on the pics, it will be brighter. But the current will be way below the ~800 mA max for any of these led, so not bery bright.
But thats good for a headlamp, and because that plastic housing would melt at real power (or the led dieing form heat, or ...)

when at least a few of these data is mentionned, then there is a calculation possible:
number of batteries,
kind of chemistry,
runtime or current draw

but it is not, so the only thing to type: "most certainly too expensive (for that crap). Do not use this, when light is really needed (like caveing or so)"

It's now been over 2 weeks since I ordered my stuff from D-X, and nothing has been delivered yet. Should I start worrying? Do they respond to not-delivered-yet inquiries?

What's the delivery status? You can look it up on http://dealextreme.com/accounts/
If it's already shipped then you'll see the tracking number too

I can't check the delivery status because when I bought the stuff, I just did a Paypal checkout and did not setup an account with D-X. So all I got was a receipt from Paypal, and the order number that they provide does not track at D-X. I tried to setup a D-X account yesterday but so far they have not activated it, I never got the confirmation email to make it work. So, I am at a loss to figure out how to get any feedback. Maybe I should just send them an email with the Paypal info.........