I am on the search for a new headlamp. I would prefer a single AA type if possible, but multiple AA's is acceptable. I could work with a rechargeable unit if it met my other criteria. A fully-adjustable rheostat-type switch would be ideal; like the Icon Irix used, where you twisted a knob to click it on, and then the more you twisted, the brighter it got, and vice versa for dimming and turning the light off. Simple and effective. No clicking through a million useless modes and colors and strobes. No crazy sub-levels to navigate with multiple clicks in a certain amount of time. Just an intuitive switch. If variable brightness is not available, at least 2 or 3 easy to access modes would suffice, with no battery-crushing super high mode and a usable medium mode and a low that is actually low (like 2 lumens or less).
My current favorite headlamp is a Fenix HL20. My only real knock on it is that the mode levels are ridiculous. The lowest level (4 lumens) is way too bright for use in a tent or for cooking or reading a book, but just a little bit dim for trailfinding, especially in rougher terrain. I have no issues with how much throw it has and how little spill it produces. I prefer it that way, as with limited lumen output, I want mostly throw so a lumen or two can actually light something up that is several feet away, and the spill is just enough to give me some spacial awareness on the trail. The real problem is that the medium setting (45 lumens) drains the battery way too fast to use it very much, and is really overkill for trailfinding with such a throwy beam. The High setting (100 lumens) is useless. It doesn't appear to be much brighter than medium, if any at all, and kills the battery in less than 2 hours.
I have looked at the Saint Minimus, but it has no throw, so it is out.
I have the Icon Irix I and II, and even though I love their design, the led's are severely dated, and neither has much throw or very good battery life if you want enough light to see anything, so they are out.
The dimmable LED Lenzer and Coast lights seem to all use AAA's, and the ones I have tried had terrible build quality, as well as no spill at all when put in throw mode (due to their fresnel lenses), which makes it hard to not trip over rocks and roots when looking down the trail for the next blaze on a tree, so they are out.
I have the Zebralight with the warm tint and the floody throw beam. I thought it would be what I am looking for after reading all the great reviews on here. I actually dislike it intensely. The beam is not nearly as throwy as I want, and the bazillion modes and sub-modes are awful to navigate. The lack of a memory for the last mode used is terrible. It just starts in night vision-ruining high, unless you remember to hold the switch down long enough to start in low mode, but not loo long, or it goes to medium mode, and you have to cycle through the blinding high mode to get back to the low mode. Oh, and if not long enough, it blasts you with high mode again, which it can barely handle for any time before the battery is run down too far to go into high mode any more. I frankly find it tedious, unrewarding, and with terrible run time unless I walk around with it in the pathetically dim low mode that doesn't produce enough light or throw to do anything other than make people think you are a lightning bug.
So, I don't think I am looking for an impossible product. I just want a light with an easy-to-use user interface that has logically spaced brightness levels (or infinitely-adjustable dimming), and a lot of throw. Something like 1 lumen low/ 10 lumen medium/ 50 lumen high (not that I care what the high mode is as I will probably never use it at all). If I could find one that uses AA's that would be perfect. I can't be the only person who thinks this would be a good combination, but sometimes I feel that way, with headlamp makers constantly clambering for more modes, more buttons, more clicking through menus, and the every-increasingly common low mode of 30 lumens. Who the heck needs 30 lumens to find their toothbrush in a backpack or to light their camp stove at night? I guess people that were just blinded by the 1600 lumen blast they had to navigate through to get to the low mode would be the answer to that. Am I going to have to try to build/mod my own light? That is beyond my skill set, but if anyone can give me some ideas or sell me a product/mod that will fit this description I would be ecstatic.
Thanks in advance guys.
My current favorite headlamp is a Fenix HL20. My only real knock on it is that the mode levels are ridiculous. The lowest level (4 lumens) is way too bright for use in a tent or for cooking or reading a book, but just a little bit dim for trailfinding, especially in rougher terrain. I have no issues with how much throw it has and how little spill it produces. I prefer it that way, as with limited lumen output, I want mostly throw so a lumen or two can actually light something up that is several feet away, and the spill is just enough to give me some spacial awareness on the trail. The real problem is that the medium setting (45 lumens) drains the battery way too fast to use it very much, and is really overkill for trailfinding with such a throwy beam. The High setting (100 lumens) is useless. It doesn't appear to be much brighter than medium, if any at all, and kills the battery in less than 2 hours.
I have looked at the Saint Minimus, but it has no throw, so it is out.
I have the Icon Irix I and II, and even though I love their design, the led's are severely dated, and neither has much throw or very good battery life if you want enough light to see anything, so they are out.
The dimmable LED Lenzer and Coast lights seem to all use AAA's, and the ones I have tried had terrible build quality, as well as no spill at all when put in throw mode (due to their fresnel lenses), which makes it hard to not trip over rocks and roots when looking down the trail for the next blaze on a tree, so they are out.
I have the Zebralight with the warm tint and the floody throw beam. I thought it would be what I am looking for after reading all the great reviews on here. I actually dislike it intensely. The beam is not nearly as throwy as I want, and the bazillion modes and sub-modes are awful to navigate. The lack of a memory for the last mode used is terrible. It just starts in night vision-ruining high, unless you remember to hold the switch down long enough to start in low mode, but not loo long, or it goes to medium mode, and you have to cycle through the blinding high mode to get back to the low mode. Oh, and if not long enough, it blasts you with high mode again, which it can barely handle for any time before the battery is run down too far to go into high mode any more. I frankly find it tedious, unrewarding, and with terrible run time unless I walk around with it in the pathetically dim low mode that doesn't produce enough light or throw to do anything other than make people think you are a lightning bug.
So, I don't think I am looking for an impossible product. I just want a light with an easy-to-use user interface that has logically spaced brightness levels (or infinitely-adjustable dimming), and a lot of throw. Something like 1 lumen low/ 10 lumen medium/ 50 lumen high (not that I care what the high mode is as I will probably never use it at all). If I could find one that uses AA's that would be perfect. I can't be the only person who thinks this would be a good combination, but sometimes I feel that way, with headlamp makers constantly clambering for more modes, more buttons, more clicking through menus, and the every-increasingly common low mode of 30 lumens. Who the heck needs 30 lumens to find their toothbrush in a backpack or to light their camp stove at night? I guess people that were just blinded by the 1600 lumen blast they had to navigate through to get to the low mode would be the answer to that. Am I going to have to try to build/mod my own light? That is beyond my skill set, but if anyone can give me some ideas or sell me a product/mod that will fit this description I would be ecstatic.
Thanks in advance guys.
