Fenix HP11 review?

kristo604

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so I'm really looking into buying a Fenix HP11, was going to get the HP10 a while back. never did, so looks like the HP11 is on the purchasing block.

any reviews out yet?

thank you.
 

regulation

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great website. love it.

still someone who had used this headlamp outside can talk about its performence?
 

aquaholik

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Just got mine in yellow.

First impression, good bright beam, even spill, but too much of a spot to be my main shrimping headlamp(main use is 6-8 feet away). I guess I need a good 20 degree spot beam headlamp. This light however, is an excellent thrower and best for distance of 12 or more feet. It will be a good crabbing light since I need longer distance for crabbing.

The bad, the headband is unnecessary complicated and hard to adjust. The top band that holds the battery case and goes from the front of your head to the back is WAY TOO SHORT. I don't know what they are thinking. I have a small head and it is still short. I will have to swap it out with the one on my Energizer flood beam headlamp.

I am still using a 20 watts 30 degrees MR 16 bulb in a PVC enclosure on a bump cap powered by a 7AH 12 volts Cabelas battery and was hoping to find an LED replacement for it. Looks like I will need to get a Lupine if I want a 500 lumens 20+ degrees beam.

I want to add that the included diffuser is pretty much useless. I expected it to turn the spot beam to flood mode but it just dims the light with uneven spill. Good thing I did not pay the full price for it.
 
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LittleBill

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Just got mine in yellow.

First impression, good bright beam, even spill, but too much of a spot to be my main shrimping headlamp(main use is 6-8 feet away). I guess I need a good 20 degree spot beam headlamp. This light however, is an excellent thrower and best for distance of 12 or more feet. It will be a good crabbing light since I need longer distance for crabbing.

The bad, the headband is unnecessary complicated and hard to adjust. The top band that holds the battery case and goes from the front of your head to the back is WAY TOO SHORT. I don't know what they are thinking. I have a small head and it is still short. I will have to swap it out with the one on my Energizer flood beam headlamp.

I am still using a 20 watts 30 degrees MR 16 bulb in a PVC enclosure on a bump cap powered by a 7AH 12 volts Cabelas battery and was hoping to find an LED replacement for it. Looks like I will need to get a Lupine if I want a 500 lumens 20+ degrees beam.

I want to add that the included diffuser is pretty much useless. I expected it to turn the spot beam to flood mode but it just dims the light with uneven spill. Good thing I did not pay the full price for it.

I just ordered one off ebay. was gonna go with the hp20, but i kept thinking the wire would get in my way.

im sad to hear the difusser is almost worthless. was hoping it would be decent. my ld20 beam is a bit too focused as well. i enjoyed my l2d beams a bit more

wish they kind of went with OP lens, i miss that a bit.

hopefully this will work out for me. im kind of scared about the headband. my head is generally large and i wear it over a baseball cap alot of times

seems 4 sevens doesn't even stock it or the HP10???? are fenix's lights disappearing or something?
 

aquaholik

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I just ordered one off ebay. was gonna go with the hp20, but i kept thinking the wire would get in my way.

im sad to hear the difusser is almost worthless. was hoping it would be decent. my ld20 beam is a bit too focused as well. i enjoyed my l2d beams a bit more

wish they kind of went with OP lens, i miss that a bit.

hopefully this will work out for me. im kind of scared about the headband. my head is generally large and i wear it over a baseball cap alot of times

seems 4 sevens doesn't even stock it or the HP10???? are fenix's lights disappearing or something?

You are not going to like the headband. It looks fancy but has very poor usability. Difficult to adjust and doesn't hold position:scowl:.
 

LittleBill

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You are not going to like the headband. It looks fancy but has very poor usability. Difficult to adjust and doesn't hold position:scowl:.


its not balanced at all? so far all my fenix stuff has been a hit for me. hopefully this doesn't change my opinion. its not the same setup as their head band? or hp10 or or 20 ? i would think it would be identical
 

aquaholik

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its not balanced at all? so far all my fenix stuff has been a hit for me. hopefully this doesn't change my opinion. its not the same setup as their head band? or hp10 or or 20 ? i would think it would be identical

Forget what I said about the headband. I reconfigured it so now it will fit a really big head or over a cap. Don't use it the way it came out of the box. It is now easy to adjust and stay adjusted. Now the entire setup is very well balanced and feels ver light on my head. I will post some pictures tomorrow.
 

LittleBill

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wonderful to hear.

please post mine should show up on monday.

please a couple shots with the diffuser down a well. 99% of my work is less then 1 foot away
 

LittleBill

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Well,

mine came in alot earlier then expected. it showed up today.

aqua i know exactly what your issue was, prolly the top strap was too short. you had to remove it from the one clip to make it a bunch longer.

have to say, once its all configured and on your head. its a pretty nice setup

the diffuser on low when working with my hands is amazing. beatiful diffused light. not sure how thrilled i will be resting with my head on the battery pack, makes me wonder if the hp20 was what i really needed.

never the less i am thrilled so far like usual

the only mod i had to make was the the wire. i read somewhere where people say the cord is too long. i can see why they say that, but with the head band adjusted to max it needs all that length i simply added a loop and a ziptie to the wire as shown below.
hp111.jpg


hp112.jpg

very happy, can't wait to try it out in the dark.

UI is decent. this is my first 2 button UI.
 

aquaholik

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Yes, after playing around with the headband, I finally got it to look like the various Google image of the headlamp. I must say it is very well balance. I leave it pretty loose on my head and it feels very light. Of course I am used to wearing a bump cap with a 20 watts halogen bulb strap to it and carrying a 5 lbs battery in a backpack.

I tried it again with the diffuser and see now why you like it. I hold my hand in front of it and it lights it up pretty evenly. My use for it however is 6-12 ft away. The diffuser at the highest setting makes it very close to the flood beam of my 20 watts 24 degree bump cap light but not as bright. Without the diffuser, the spill is pretty even with a very bright center that can light up a serious distance. I can say 90% of the people who buy this light will be happy with it. I have to see if the spill will be bright enough to light up a shrimp's eye at night next Spring before buying another one.

I've bought and tested close to a dozen headlamps and they all have been to focus for my need except for the Energizer flood beam. But the flood beam on that one is too wide and not bright enough. I basically need a bright beam that is 3ft wide at 6-8 ft away and a battery that will last 2-3 hrs. It looks like I might have to get the Lupine Pico X 750 lumen with it's 22 degree beam. I think I spent at least $300 looking for the perfect light so far so I might as well get the Pico X.

This is what we do in the Spring time in the Tampa Bay area. Walk the flats in 1-2 ft of water looking for shrimps and crabs. We then dip net the shrimp one at a time.




On an average night, I'll end up with 200-300 shrimps.



 
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LittleBill

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Aqua,

yea, 99% of my work is within 3 feet, and the most important part being no hot spot glare. the diffuser fixes this perfectly

for your use, i agree the diffuser is worthless. but again i believe the majority of users for the diffuse option are very close workings.


for what you do i agree you need a really big reflector, about the only way without losing alot of power to a diffuser.

even my tk40 beam although much larger still is not a huge flooder by any means


have you thought about maybe 3 hl21's? all on at the same time? still cheaper then a single 300 dollar unit


looking the whole unit over i think the ipx-6 rating is limited to the buttons on the headlamp itself, appears to only be the real point for water entry compared to the h10

im more then confident of dunking the battery compartment completely underwater



FYI as i was playing with the diffuser the pin that holds the diffuser lense fell out. the pin is quite loose. its an easy fix, just take notice and see how loose yours is


another kewl thing i notice is that the strobe is now variable. it alternates between all different speeds. which is kewl
 
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aquaholik

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I spent the last hour looking at gretna and lupine site and mtbr.com.

I really need 2.5 to 3hrs of use. Don't think I want the Wilma X. It is overkill, although it is kinda nice to fry the shrimp's eyes so they won't see the dip net coming:laughing:. The Fenix will still have it's use. It's beam it's plenty wide at 20ft away, great for dipping up blue crabs from a 15ft high bridge.

I am going to see if the people at gretna will package it with the 5 amp battery for the difference in price of the battery. I think I will really like the 22 degree beam. I already know what a 20 watt halogen 24 degrees beam look like. Even at half the power, 300 lumens, 22 degrees at 6-10 feet away should be plenty. The 750 lumens setting is when I am in 3-4 ft of water trying to see the shrimp that are deeper. I saw the Piko X review and I think I like that headband better than the blue one. The pin on my diffuser is pretty tight but I don't have much use for the diffuser, except for threading floss between my kid's brace.

$400+ for a shrimp light( The halogen setup that I built cost about $25 + $25 battery) maybe a bit much but at least I don't have to haul a 5lbs battery for 2-3 hours. Lupine quality should last a lifetime. That thing looks military grade.

Yes the two different strobe are cool and great for emergency. I would imagine a plane could easily spot that if I am ever stuck 50 miles offshore with a dead engine and no EPIRB.
 

LittleBill

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Jan 21, 2009
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i just used the HP11 outside...

I'm slightly disappointed with turbo...


it appears to be almost as bright as my tk40!!!!!


got to say for a 277 vs 630 lumen difference. not a ton of difference.

mind you im shooting around 100+ yards, but thats about as far as i need

although at first it seemed identical. the tk40 does beat it but not by a whole ton either...

hmm...
 

burpee

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Can the HP11's head straps be taken away from the head lamp and battery? I am thinking of getting an HP11 - but I would like the option of using a customized battery pack strap as well as head lamp mount.
 
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