3W CREE LED Head Lamp LW-801

[mountainpenguin]

Hi all.
I am after a headlamp for my other half. At the moment she is borowing my apex pro with an upgraded emitter but we find that the battery life is a bit short.
I cam across the three identical headlamps below and was wondering if any one has tried them and wants to review them?
I am interested in if they are at all water resistant. How easy they are to use. and how well built they are compared to the apex.
Would it be better just to add a pair of 18650's as a battery pack for the apex ?

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[gostanova]

Your links aren't working!

 

[mountainpenguin]

oops thanks they should be fixed now !
I had left trailing carriage returns in

 

[Marduke]

Use good rechargable batteries in the Apex and your short runtime will disappear.

 

[MorePower]

Use good rechargable batteries in the Apex and your short runtime will disappear.

Doesn't the Apex Pro use 2x CR123A cells? Using RCR123 cells would result in a much shorter runtime.

 

[hopkins]

For short adventures the Apex Pro is ok but
its CR123's are too small to drive the lamp
over a full graveyard shift (at full power)
for example

An 8 AA cell battery pack would solve the runtime problem
for less money if Penguin can build it himself.

I like the look of that 3W CREE LED Head Lamp LW-801
but would like to know how much current it drains
on high and low. runtime may be ok or not.

The "spot to wide" angle focus
also looks nice as its length will keep light off your nose.
Major annoyance.

 

[mountainpenguin]

I have been thinking of building a combo battery pack. I have a sten and was thinking of using a small sten battery and adding sten connector to the apex.
The problem with this is a sten battery is almost as much as this lamp !

Having a headlamp on its own would be neater and would mean we had a complete backup. However it doesn't look like anyone has given it a try so I think its back to the first idea.

 

[NoFair]

An extra battery pack for the Apex would be great. Mine uses 2 or 4 18650s carried in a pouch underneath my clothes.

Large pouch with my old 2 cell holder:

Currently using battery holders from here:

http://www.turboferret.co.uk/

 

[Marduke]

Doesn't the Apex Pro use 2x CR123A cells? Using RCR123 cells would result in a much shorter runtime.

Whoops, you are correct. Mixed it up with the non-pro.