New energizer 6 LED headlamp

[hookoo]

Anyone try these new headlamps available at Wal-Mart for $14? It had a sticker saying it was using the new 2x brighter Nichia leds and decided to pick it up. This thing has excellent output. Much more then my Proton Fusion. Even using just the led mode for flood. Here are some pics. To be fair I have the older model Fusion.

http://www.botac.com/en6ledhe.html

Energizer on 4 led mode. Fusion set to hyper bright

[Ben H]

hookoo, thanks for posting about this headlamp. I've got to get one. I've been wanting a headlamp with some red leds.

[CroMAGnet]

Thanks for the great info. I found a good thread on another forum that has a lot of info/opinion on this headlamp.

http://www.backpacking.net/forums/sh...&sb=5&o=7&vc=1

.

[hookoo]

bromag,

Thanks for the link. I think I will try the water-proofing techniqe described in that forum. For the money this light is great. bright for 5mm led's

[LightObsession]

Thanks for the info on this light. I lost my three LED version of this light a couple weeks ago and I miss it. I liked the thin profile and the output.

I liked the slide switch on the three LED version because I could to either the red or white LEDs without cycling through the other color. My understanding is that with the 6 LED version, you have a push button and have to cycle through from flood to spot to red. I prefer the slide switch on the three LED version, but may still get the 6 LED version as a replacement just to have the option of spot or flood.

[LightObsession]

I bought this light at Walmart over the weekend and am pondering returning it because the spot mode has a lot of artifacts and is very narrow and I don't like it much. Unlike lights with flat lenses which can have Writeright applied to smooth out artifacts, I don't think there's any way to help these. It doesn't smooth out much when operating the light in the spot + flood mode. I don't like cycling through all of the settings to get what I want, but I could probably learn to tolerate it.

The flood is very nice.

The red mode is much brighter than on most other headlamps I've tried and it's spot is very large. It's pretty nice, but I rarely use red.

I like the reasonably compact form factor.

[JimM]

I used one during hunting season. The red leds worked fine early in the morning, letting me get into the woods without destroying my night vision. The spot worked fine as I was hiking out. All in all, pretty good bang for the buck IMO.
Jim

[ViReN]

It's an Excellent Headlight... I have similar (3 LED...2W:1R) version... looks almost identical..... i picked it localy for about OMR 3 ~= US $7 and it uses 2X Nichia LED's .... I can just imagine... how much overall light 6 LED version throws out.... (probably more than a Fenix L1P)

True.. the beam has artifiects.. because of a poor "Plastic" Optics... it tries to focus the LED's to single spot... .... Just wonder if they had used a higher grade Acrilic...

(my energizer Head Lamp it's Made in China) ...
I will post pictures in evening.... hope it will be ok (not hijack)

[LightObsession]

.... I can just imagine... how much overall light 6 LED version throws out.... (probably more than a Fenix L1P)

I just compared the the outputs of my Fenix L1P and Energizer 6 LED headlamp and the Fenix appeared to have about twice as much output as the headlamp with both the spot and flood LEDs turned on.

I used the Energizer headlamp tonight while jump starting my car and the flood mode works great for that.

I lost my 3 LED Energizer headlamp this summer, but I don't remember the beam having as many artifacts as this 6 LED version.

[ViReN]

so basically it is focusing only 2 LED's ... and not 4 ....

it would be amazing to see 3 LED Version and 6 LED Verison side by side... in terms of output.

i will be doing some comparitive beamshots tonite and post em here.

[ViReN]

Following are the images as promised, Pls forgive me for a poor image quality... as they are takin from mobile cam...




the beam shot of Peak 7 LED McKinley (HP) & 2 LED Energizer on High... 10 Feet from the wall

[frasera]

yea the button switch is annoying. it forces u to cycle each and every time so using it for a quick look at something is a chore.

nice comparison pics. i had mine and a friends side by side for comparison between the new and the old. it was noticably brighter, but still not that impressive. it was 15 bucks at wallyworld when i checked last night and the shelves are stocked quite full, where i barely saw the first version of the headbeam before they yanked it probably because it was so clearly mediocre. problem is 1watt headlights(brinkman)/flashlights(dorcy) were only 4 bucks more. no reason not to spend that 4 dollars more for a 1 watter i say. i think energizer upgraded their product too little and too late, now they'll have to dump it again and come out with revision 3 lol

as for how bright is it in 4 led mode, its not that bright as the leds clearly output less light per led in 4 led mode than they do in 2. so its about the same light output, just with the shaping of both flood and spotlight. its not all bad since the spot light has too sharp a cutoff for close use, and plain flood can be too diffuse, so i find the 4 led mode more pleasing to use. atleast when the batteries are fresh.

[BlackDecker]

Something not mentioned here about the energizer headlamp is its complete lack of any waterproofness. I have the original 3 LED model, and that backplate rests directly against your forehead. Sweat can get inside the battery compartment with this model. We all know what salt water can do to batteries and electrical components.

Have they modified the back of the new 6 LED model?

[frasera]

id on't know, but with the 6led the back of the battery pack has a foam pad.

its now got a new color scheme and carrying bag at target stores. dark blue/greyish white instead of camoflage. price remains the same, and they stopped using that nichia sticker and just printed the 2x brighter claim directly on package.

[frasera]

not sur eif this was mentioned already, but the newer ones have a clicky hinge whereas the original had a smooth hinge.

[AlexSchira]

I just picked up the full size 6-LED the other day, and I now plan to buy the smaller one just to have as a backup or for when I'm going to be using the red LEDs and spot more than the admittedly nice flood function. It's my first headlamp, and I'm glad I finally gave in.

[frasera]

anyone see the new 1watt version? also 15 dollars!

[fishx65]

I did see that 1 watter! Can't remember where.

[greenlight]

I liked the slide switch on the three LED version because I could to either the red or white LEDs without cycling through the other color. My understanding is that with the 6 LED version, you have a push button and have to cycle through from flood to spot to red. I prefer the slide switch on the three LED version, but may still get the 6 LED version as a replacement just to have the option of spot or flood.

I liked the slide switch, too, but found that it was activated way too often in my pack. I started placing a piece of masking tape over the switch to prevent that.

[frasera]

I did see that 1 watter! Can't remember where.

i think it was either walmart or target where i saw it

[chiphead]

I had one for about two months till some how the back cover broke while in my pocket. I'd contacted Energizer Customer Service for a new cover only to get a$15 coupon toward the purchase of other Energizer products. What'd you expect for $14? Functional though!

chiphead

[chesterqw]

i liked the designed of the 3 led first gen headlamp.

however,i used enegizer batts,and left it in the box for too long...

the batteries leaked...irony ....LOL