Fenix Headband + Throw Light + ZebraLight Flood

I'm just playing around here, but I was inspired by another thread and some personal needs for outdoor flood and throw combinations that I wanted to achieve using items I already own. Or should I just go ahead and buy more new stuff?

This might seem like overkill in terms of loading up a headband, but I'm playing around with attaching a ZebraLight floody headlamp to the front of this Fenix Headband and using the Zebralight for flood and whatever else I want to attach to one side or the other for throw.

I'm using the Zebralight H501w here, which is light weight and great for seeing what's around my feet and immediately in front of me -- and on the side holder(s) I can attach whatever preferred light that will fit in the 18-22mm holder(s). In this particular configuration, I've attached one of my old Fenix L2D AA lights for throw.

What seems to make sense for any needed battery changes (if using something like this for any extended time) is to use lights that are both AA or both CR123A for easy compatibility.

I've tried attaching the ZebraLight flood vertically in one of the side holders, but it's so floody from that position that it tends to shine into the side of the eyes -- so it seems better attached to the front of the headband with one of the ZebraLight silicon holders, I think.

Again, this might seem like overkill, but it provides flood and whatever throw light that would meet personal preferences rather than having to find that perfect headlamp that covers all the bases -- and I was able to piece this together with some of my existing lights and Fenix headband. There are a lot of configurations that would be possible like this, depending on any given individual's available lights, mixing different floods and throw lights.

Just putting this out there as an idea for discussion, critique, or whatever. Since I was experimenting, I figured I'd run it through the forum.



Here's a version without the second Fenix light holder attached. And personally, I doubt I'd ever use the spare battery holder on the headband either since it just adds more weight that I'd as soon have in a pocket rather than on my head. If I want another light attached, I don't mind the extra light holder or weight...but not the spare battery holder and its additional weight.

Ive done similar things with p60 lights ziptied to my zebralight band when
its on my helmet. I had to use an old broken zebra holder to keep the
flashlight from flopping. worked pretty well!!

now Im craving a custom dual XM-L in neutral with one bare for flood
and one in a reflector or narrow optic..

psychbeat said:

Ive done similar things with p60 lights ziptied to my zebralight band when
its on my helmet. I had to use an old broken zebra holder to keep the
flashlight from flopping. worked pretty well!!

Click to expand...

The neat thing about the Fenix headband is that the holders will easily rotate to point the side light at any angle you wish (it rotates in small incremental clicks a full 360 degrees). And the top band provides a lot of extra support to more evenly distribute the weight of the lights over the head (or over a hat, which is the way I like to wear it for even better weight distribution).

I like it!

Did you fix the routing of the band to make the headband non-slipping?
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...nix-Headband&p=3415132&viewfull=1#post3415132

Re: I like it!

MichaelW said:

Did you fix the routing of the band to make the headband non-slipping?
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...nix-Headband&p=3415132&viewfull=1#post3415132

Click to expand...

You know, I've seen that thread and the rerouting diagram, but I haven't done that. I haven't noticed any slipping yet, but I'm assuming that the method in the diagram represents and improvement. I haven't played around with doing it, though (and maybe I should).

Thinking about purchasing a Fenix headband but I noticed the 18-22 mm limitation. What is the floodiest LED flashlight with at least 200 lumens that use AA batteries that has a tube diameter of 18-22 mm. I just measured my 220 lumens LED flashlight and it is 35 mm.

I looked at the Jetbeam PA40 but it wil definitely not fit the Fenix headband.

aquaholik said:

What is the floodiest LED flashlight with at least 200 lumens that use AA batteries that has a tube diameter of 18-22 mm. I just measured my 220 lumens LED flashlight and it is 35 mm.

Click to expand...

Probably something with an xm-l. I am thinking the Thrunite Neutron 1A, or if you orient the finger grooves away from the clamping surface-Xeno E03 v2, maybe something like the Spark SL5.
or something with a built-in diffuser, SC51Fw.

aquaholik said:

Thinking about purchasing a Fenix headband but I noticed the 18-22 mm limitation. What is the floodiest LED flashlight with at least 200 lumens that use AA batteries that has a tube diameter of 18-22 mm. I just measured my 220 lumens LED flashlight and it is 35 mm.

I looked at the Jetbeam PA40 but it wil definitely not fit the Fenix headband.

Click to expand...

Since this headband is a Fenix brand, I suspect they designed it to work primarily with their own kind of narrow diameter AA and CR123A Fenix lights. For 2xAA, that would seem to be the current LD20, which is a 180 lumen light.

One idea might be to e-mail the 4Sevens people (http://www.4sevens.com/) and ask them what their recommendation would be for the brightest AA they have that is compatible with the headband.

Another option might be the Olight T25 (210 lumens), which should be close to the right size but perhaps just over (and I'm not sure how hard and fast the 22mm limit is, but it could be the absolute limit). The latest T25 seems to be 22.8mm. I gave my dad an Olight T25 a couple of years back and I'll see if I can borrow it in a day or so and see it if will fit. I might not see him until this weekend, though.

I'm also wondering if it might be possible to replace the machine screw that tightens the clamp down with something just a bit longer to accommodate a larger diameter light. I wouldn't want to go overboard on weight...but it might be possible to fit a slightly longer machine screw in there for a larger diameter light, since that screw does unscrew fully. Seems like it might be fairly easy to fit something larger into the clamp. That's something else I might check out in the next day or so to satisfy my own curiosity.

Added Note: On extending the clamp screw, because of the way the clamp arm swings on a hinge away from the clamp body, I think the best we could hope for might be a 2mm to 4mm increase in diameter if we used a longer machine screw, so we might be able to get anywhere from a 24mm to 26mm diameter flashlight to fit...but probably no more than that, at least by my rough guess. It's hard for me to tell without having a longer screw with the same thread on hand.

aquaholik said:

I just measured my 220 lumens LED flashlight and it is 35 mm.

Click to expand...

Hey, aquaholik

Question: What kind of flashlight do you have that's measuring 35 mm diameter? Is it an AA light?

And are you measuring it at it's narrowest point on the tube? Or measuring the widest point?

Note that the Fenix Headband clamp can be loosened all the way and the tightening screw can be removed (if necessary), and it can be reclamped around the narrowest part of the flashlight tube -- so in most cases the narrowest part of the tube would be the key measurement.

varuscelli said:

Hey, aquaholik

Question: What kind of flashlight do you have that's measuring 35 mm diameter? Is it an AA light?

And are you measuring it at it's narrowest point on the tube? Or measuring the widest point?

Note that the Fenix Headband clamp can be loosened all the way and the tightening screw can be removed (if necessary), and it can be reclamped around the narrowest part of the flashlight tube -- so in most cases the narrowest part of the tube would be the key measurement.

Click to expand...

It was a Rocky brand from Sam's club that use 3 AAA. Yes 35 mm is the narrowest point. I am used to taping it on to a spare headband that I have from a mod of a headlamp that did not work out.

BTW, the 300 lumens 3 AA from Ebay for $12 wasn't half bad. The beam was adjustable and while it's no where close to 300 lumens, it just might do or serve well as a backup.

I'd like to know if there's a an 18650 light out there with a narrow enough tube to fit the Fenix Headband holder (22 mm or less).

I'm thinking the ShingingBeam S-Mini might do the trick:

ShiningBeam S-mini XM-LT6 LED Flashlight 400 Lumens

This one is shown as exactly 2.2 cm /22 mm. I have no idea about run times, though, and can't seem to find that information anywhere (yet).

Link to a CPF Marketplace thread on the ShiningBeam S-mini:

***NEW*** ShiningBeam S-mini XM-LT6 LED Flashlight 400 Lumens

varuscelli said:

I'd like to know if there's a an 18650 light out there with a narrow enough tube to fit the Fenix Headband holder (22 mm or less).

Click to expand...

I've used my Zebralight SC60 in the Fenix headband. The clamp doesn't close completly flush, but closes well enough & plenty tight. I've taken it running this way, and it worked fine. You don't even need to take off the clip, so long as the clip is on the outer most side.

The JetBeam BA20 might be a good option for the Fenix Headband, too. Two AA batteries, max 270 lumens. Diameter shown as 23mm, but I suspect that means the bezel and not the narrowest part of the tube.

JetBeam BA20

Oops, double post

Outdoorsman5 said:

I've used my Zebralight SC60 in the Fenix headband. The clamp doesn't close completly flush, but closes well enough & plenty tight. I've taken it running this way, and it worked fine. You don't even need to take off the clip, so long as the clip is on the outer most side.

Click to expand...

Hey, that's good to know. I would have thought based on the diameter of the SC60 that it wouldn't have fit the Fenix clamp. As long as the clamp closes securely, I think that's fine (that is, closing securely without necessarily closing flush). That means there could be several other options that would work in the Fenix clamp, given that the SC60 shows as a 25.4 mm diameter. I've got a lightly used SC600 on the way (purchased via CPF Marketplace) and which seems to have the same diameter as the SC60, and I was thinking it wouldn't fit the Fenix Headband. Now I'm excited about knowing that it might actually work for me if I want to use it that way. Very cool.

Added Note: It's funny, though -- even though the SC60 and SC600 show the same diameter, the SC600 sure looks like it might have a larger body tube diameter in the side-by-side comparison on the ZebraLight page for the SC600. Or maybe I'm misinterpreting which diameter is being listed (head diameter versus tube diameter -- which I think is something that doesn't seem to be presented consistently by each manufacturer when I try to take a careful look at diameter related specs).

I've tried other lights that were too big that fit in it just fine too (just not flush.) I bet you a million that the SC600 fits just fine (just not flush)....and yes that is exciting & makes it really versatile.

In a pinch, a TwoFish LockBlock could be used to attach a larger diameter light to the Fenix Headband clamp. Too large (too heavy) a light would cause balance problems, but for a light that might be barely too big for the clamp, this could easily work -- and it retains the angle adjustment capability of the clamp. That's a SureFire G2 CPF 50 Special (which is the size of a 6P) that I've placed in there purely for the visual, but this could serve as a good example of how a small 18650 light of similar size might be attached if it were too large for the included holder. The lockblocks have holding power, too -- and they wrap really cleaning around the clamp as can be seen here, so it doesn't look too shabby, either.

The EagleTac P100C2 also works very well. Depending on what mood I am in, I will run my Fenix Headband with either:

2 P100C2s (major throw)
1 P100C2 and 1 PD30 (floodier)
1 P100C2 and 1 SC51 (even floodier).

The 2AA lights work, but if you use eneloops they get pretty heavy.

I use 17670s in the P100C2s. Except for the very hottest days, I can use the P100C2s on high continuously without overheating.

The PD30s overheat though on turbo, so I can only run that on high.

BTW, the ZebraLight SC600 does not fit in mine (by a long shot). I wonder if the ShiningBeam P-Rocket XML would?

Well...unfortunately, the ZebraLight SC600 doesn't fit in the Fenix Headband holder (not that I initially expected it to, but I was getting my hopes up a bit). I guess the grip-style body just gives it too large a diameter. However, I can still use the TwoFish LockBlock method, if desired.

I went to my local pond to fish for about an hour tonight from sunset until after dark and I took this along. When I clicked the SC600 onto the high setting after dark, it lit up the whole pond (a couple of acres worth of pond by my rough estimate).

Using the Fenix Headband with ZebraLight SC600, I was able to get this photo of a Diamondback Water Snake (nonpoisonous) using an iPhone that has no flash. Anyone who has taken photos with a non-flash-equipped camera phone knows how bad those photos usually turn out (grainy/blurred/very poor to not even viewable) when taken in low light -- much less after dark.

This snake was just going up under the footbridge that I always cross in my fishing trips to a nearby pond. It was a big one for this species (between 4 and 5 feet long, thick and healthy). It's pretty cool that the SC600 on the headband gave me enough light to get this shot at night with just a camera phone.