bitten by the quest to Light the night!

[homemade]

I built a light last year and it worked well but wasn't ideal for what I wanted. I was going to make it a lot smaller then it is and modify what I have now but thoght I would just start from scratch again.

I'm looking for some input on Cree XM-l led's and their output.

I'm a newbie for all of this and am hoping to build a decent light this round including custom batteries.

I had the idea last year to use copper plumbing supplies and design a U shaped unit to house 2 led headlights with the driver stored in the central part.

I've got a few ideas also to helmet mount it as it won't be too terribly heavy I don't think unlike my initial project that's also posted on the forums.

Is there a best Bang for your Buck for the required parts? I'm not opposed to spending money on a good quality set up, but would like to see what I can build too.

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[Steve K]

I'd be interested to see what sort of optics are suitable. Is this for road use or MTB use? For road use, I've been happy using Ledil Rocket SS optics with the Cree XR-E. The Rocket SS has a "full width half max" beam of +/- 4 (5?) degrees.

My lights have been pretty low tech in regards to the housing and heatsink. It's easy to tell that I don't have a lathe to play with! My latest uses some low cost aluminum extrusion from the hardware store to function as the structure and heatsink. I like to think of it as "theft resistant" instead of ugly. 🙂

Some of the regulars here have built good lights out of simple square cross section aluminum extrusion too. I think Znomit did one of these??

good luck,
Steve K.