Anyone else thinks the head band is too short? I have to wear a hat often when using the headlamp outside. I have the headband set to max length but it still often causes me headache if I wear it with a hat under it. I either have to lift the headlamp on my forehead or the headband on my occipital (see my avatar) to ease the pressure. I wish it had 2-3 cm extra.
Anyone buy the Armytek Tiara A1 or C1 yet?
- Thread starter Beacon of Light
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Gaffle
Enlightened
I'm trying to make up my mind. I keep looking at the A1 with a good size factor, plus I would roll with a 14500, but I also have a ton of Amazon (which I believe are Eneloop) AAs around. The max mode isn't something that I would use often, I can only really think about my one scenario with a max mode which is fishing early in the morning. Besides that, I don't need 300 lumens to do stuff around the house. My only hitch is size compared to the Wizard. A 18650 just gives you so much more runtime. Do I go with a comfortable form, or longer runtime? I think about when I am reading in bed at night, do I really want a Wizard chillin on my noggin? Stupid decisions....maybe I get the A1 and give it to my daughter at some point and then buy a Wizard.
Honestly, I really don't mind having the Wizard on my head for extended periods of time. You might have a different tolerance than I do, but I don't find it to be very uncomfortable.
Wiggle
Flashlight Enthusiast
I decided to go Tiara so that I could rely on AAs and liked the smaller size. I don't plan on using high outputs very often so the lesser energy of the 14500/AA is not a major drawback.
Gaffle
Enlightened
I don't know if the specifications changed with v2 but it says the C1 can take a 18350. Has anyone tried this battery? Lighthound is sold out of most AW products, but you can get a IMR 18350 no problem. I have no idea if the runtime of a 18350 in the C1 would be less/same/more compared to the 840mAh of a 14500 in the A1. I want more bang for the buck with runtime, but I have decided to go with the smaller form factor of the C1/A1 over the Wizard.
I wore it 4 days around my hard hat at a construction site in rain and snow. The headband got strethched and was longer when it dried. I now have the extra 2-3 cm I wished
Wizard Pro fortunately has another over-the-head band that helps balancing the weight.
lilypirogova
Newly Enlightened
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Can I buy this online using paypal as a payment method?
Beacon of Light
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So has it been confirmed you can use a 18350 in a Tiara C1 (Pro only?)? Would it only be safe in the v2 Tiara C1 or would v1 accept it safely?
AFearlessBirdOfParadise
Newly Enlightened
So got a shipping notice the other day my replacement holder is on it's way, yay.
Gaffle
Enlightened
Spoke with Sandra from Armytek via email. She confirmed that a 18350 will fit in the v2 C1 series. I did not specify pro or non-pro version so its safe to assume that a 18350 will fit in both. The difference between the 2 lights would only be electronics and not size, at least from a manufacturing standpoint. None of my questions were directed toward the v1/v1.5 C1 lights. Someone (I believe in this thread) said a 18350 did not fit in the earlier versions. I don't know of anyone actually tried this or if it was hearsay.
I then went to HKJs site to compare a 900mAh 18350 vs a 840mAh 14500. Found out the runtime of these are almost the same. That being said, its nice to know you can get the same runtime from the C1, with a slightly smaller form factor, as you do with the A1 when running rechargeables. I have read about the dismal runtimes of the C1 on a 16340, much less than the 14500 at a higher mAh.
I still ended up going with the A1. I only have 2 IMR 16340s for my HDS Clicky, but I have quite a few nimhs hanging around, and I have a pair of KeepPower 14500s enroute. As far as I can tell, my A1 is in the US with USPS. I am excited about this combo of light and batteries.
Anyone know the runtimes for v.1 with 14500 in it?
I tried to estimate the runtime measuring the current. The voltage was 3.78 V under no load (the inbuilt meter gave me 3.5 V) when I started and I got
Firefly 1: 1.47 mA
Firefly 2: 4.90 mA
Low: 17.1 mA
Medium: 890 mA
High: N/A
Turbo: N/A
I couldn't measure the current on high or turbo since the multimeter seems to have some resistance in it and the mode switched back to medium. I measured 3.77 V on the batter after the testing.
I wonder if these measurements are accurate at all. Using 850 mAh battery Medium mode would give a runtime of only 1h. Yet the headlamp should run 3 hours with a single 2000 mAh Eneloop. Maybe the internal resistance of the multimeter caused the headlamp to take more current than it needed.
I tried to estimate the runtime measuring the current. The voltage was 3.78 V under no load (the inbuilt meter gave me 3.5 V) when I started and I got
Firefly 1: 1.47 mA
Firefly 2: 4.90 mA
Low: 17.1 mA
Medium: 890 mA
High: N/A
Turbo: N/A
I couldn't measure the current on high or turbo since the multimeter seems to have some resistance in it and the mode switched back to medium. I measured 3.77 V on the batter after the testing.
I wonder if these measurements are accurate at all. Using 850 mAh battery Medium mode would give a runtime of only 1h. Yet the headlamp should run 3 hours with a single 2000 mAh Eneloop. Maybe the internal resistance of the multimeter caused the headlamp to take more current than it needed.
Inspired by the Zebralight moonlight mode test thread in LED Flashlights section of the forums, I've decided to do a 7lm/9d test on my Wizard pro and a 2lm/200h test on my Tiara A1. Anyone interested doing it at the same time with me? Or anyone interested at all about the test? I will start own thread for the tests if you're interested.
It would be more interesting to do the 0,5lm/100d and 0,1lm/90d tests but I'm afraid I'm going to need both of my headlamps during the summer.
It would be more interesting to do the 0,5lm/100d and 0,1lm/90d tests but I'm afraid I'm going to need both of my headlamps during the summer.
divestoclimb
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I'm interested in battery life tests at medium and low brightnesses. I just ordered a Tiara A1 (warm) and I intend to use it most at 9 lm and a bit at 65 lm for mountaineering and SAR. Since I can't normally trust headlamp manufacturers to state a usable burn time for a given lighting level it would be great to get a better estimate.
I'll report my own test results for these brightnesses after my headlamp arrives. Run time tests at max brightness are interesting, but not super useful for backcountry operations if I get at most a couple hours of use at that level. With any headlamp I generally want to know the max brightness I can keep it on to get almost a full night's use out of it, and what the performance characteristics of the headlamp are at that level based on its beam pattern.
I also spent a lot of time going back and forth over whether I wanted a powerful spot beam like the ZL HL52 or a wider beam like this one. I'll be spending the next couple weeks anxiously waiting to try it out! I'll also try to get some lux measurements to make comparisons easier.
I'll report my own test results for these brightnesses after my headlamp arrives. Run time tests at max brightness are interesting, but not super useful for backcountry operations if I get at most a couple hours of use at that level. With any headlamp I generally want to know the max brightness I can keep it on to get almost a full night's use out of it, and what the performance characteristics of the headlamp are at that level based on its beam pattern.
I also spent a lot of time going back and forth over whether I wanted a powerful spot beam like the ZL HL52 or a wider beam like this one. I'll be spending the next couple weeks anxiously waiting to try it out! I'll also try to get some lux measurements to make comparisons easier.
I found this post by mhanlen. I think you're referring to 11 lm and 80 lm modes (seem to be different in v1 and v2). In v1 the corresponding runtimes for the modes are 4h 10min and 1h 31min with 14500 and 3h 20min and 1h 17min with NiMH.
I may be able to start the 200h test next Monday.
divestoclimb
Newly Enlightened
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Yeah the modes may be different between v1 and v2, also brightness is slightly different between the CW and NW versions. I'll definitely check those out.
desmobob
Enlightened
I have a new Tiara C1 Pro and a Wizard Pro is en route from China as I type. I use XTAR 18350s in my Tiara and will use NCR18650B 3400mAh in my Wizard. I like the Tiara very much and am anxious for the Wizard to arrive so I can compare it to my Zebralight H600w MkII.
I think it would be interesting to do the moonlight mode test comparing the Tiara A1 to the C1. Let me know when you want to start!
Take it easy,
Bob
It would be nice to compare them side by side! Unfortunately I don't own C1. Can somebody lend me some money for a good cause?
I'll be able to start the test on Monday the 11th around 7.00 pm UTC. I'm travelling now so I don't want to take chances the headlamp turns off in my backpack.
I think I should use some light close to 2 lm with fresh battery in it as a reference. I wonder if I own one. Also, I should try different options for taking the photos before I start. I can do the testing during the day and if I succeed, I'll start a new thread at the mentioned time.
