Hi. Long time lurker first time poster. Title says it all. Not sure whether this should be in headlamp or incan forum but here goes. The light will be used for short night hikes in thick and often slippery and difficult terrain.
Requirements:
incan - I have an LED headlamp and it's nice around the house or at camp but the quality of light just isn't that great for hiking. Everything looks flat and unnatural.
long-use bulb - Though the bulb life of incans seems quite literally a thousand times shorter than LED, that's not what I mean. I would like a bulb that can be kept on constantly.
usable ultrawide spill - I'd also like to be able to see the ground around my feet (brighter spill and dimmer throw is better for me than the opposite). Maybe a special reflector for more downward spill is out there seeing as how I don't intend to be lighting the sky or treetops.
some throw - seeing the path ahead is important so bare bulb won't cut it.
readily available - meaning no custom one-offs or waiting lists. Mixing and matching heads and bodies is fine.
fairly lightweight - because I have to carry it and wear it on my head (not a helmet).
can accept spare batteries - the hikes typically around four or five days long so I need a light that can take batteries, preferably rechargeables. Something that needs to be plugged in to be recharged obviously is out of the picture
splashproof - most lights are like this these days but this will be used outdoors. Shelf queens need not apply.
reliable - Doesn't have to be SureFire, but I don't want an Ultrafire.
battery low indication - I want maybe a minute or two warning even if it's just bulb dimming.
This list, I think, is not really a tall order except for the usable super wide spill and dimming shutoff.
Optional:
runtime of two hours - that is all I need for these night hikes although I will carry spares so runtime can be as short as half an hour I suppose.
external battery pack - would be nice to keep the weight off my head.
weaponlight - which for me means 1" or less body diameter and ability to accept a remote switch. Would be nice to save money and have a light do double duty.
Possible ideas:
Bike lights are made for good peripheral vision as well as distance and they often have external battery packs so maybe something along those lines.
Dual headlamps, one for throw and one for spill.
A diffuser would maybe bring some borderline wide-spilling lights into the ultrawide I can see my feet outdoors easily category.
Jackstrap/Niteize/Headband with velcro mounted flashlight.
Looking at the incans on the 21-light comparison, the Streamlight Scorpion TL3 seems to be the floodiest (look at the bottom left of the photo and you will see it is not in shadow, unlike the others). The Scorpion seems to be known as a thrower though which might be the case outdoors.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=173535
Rant:
There has to be some company out there that makes a multi-LED warm tint headlamp so I can get multi-levels, better runtimes, brightness, and reliability. Although the Rebel looks warmer than the Cree I had in my headlamp I don't think it will be enough for my purposes.
It would be nice if someone could, pun intended, pick up the torch from Quickbeam and continue flashlightreviews.com and add spill and hotspot angle data. If a light had 130 degree spill, then I'd only have to angle the light 30 degrees down to see the ground around my feet.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to share your expertise. Maybe Paul in Maryland could weigh in as he seems to like floody incans and has tried the Wolf-Eyes drop-ins. But all suggestions are welcome ... so, any ideas?
Requirements:
incan - I have an LED headlamp and it's nice around the house or at camp but the quality of light just isn't that great for hiking. Everything looks flat and unnatural.
long-use bulb - Though the bulb life of incans seems quite literally a thousand times shorter than LED, that's not what I mean. I would like a bulb that can be kept on constantly.
usable ultrawide spill - I'd also like to be able to see the ground around my feet (brighter spill and dimmer throw is better for me than the opposite). Maybe a special reflector for more downward spill is out there seeing as how I don't intend to be lighting the sky or treetops.
some throw - seeing the path ahead is important so bare bulb won't cut it.
readily available - meaning no custom one-offs or waiting lists. Mixing and matching heads and bodies is fine.
fairly lightweight - because I have to carry it and wear it on my head (not a helmet).
can accept spare batteries - the hikes typically around four or five days long so I need a light that can take batteries, preferably rechargeables. Something that needs to be plugged in to be recharged obviously is out of the picture
splashproof - most lights are like this these days but this will be used outdoors. Shelf queens need not apply.
reliable - Doesn't have to be SureFire, but I don't want an Ultrafire.
battery low indication - I want maybe a minute or two warning even if it's just bulb dimming.
This list, I think, is not really a tall order except for the usable super wide spill and dimming shutoff.
Optional:
runtime of two hours - that is all I need for these night hikes although I will carry spares so runtime can be as short as half an hour I suppose.
external battery pack - would be nice to keep the weight off my head.
weaponlight - which for me means 1" or less body diameter and ability to accept a remote switch. Would be nice to save money and have a light do double duty.
Possible ideas:
Bike lights are made for good peripheral vision as well as distance and they often have external battery packs so maybe something along those lines.
Dual headlamps, one for throw and one for spill.
A diffuser would maybe bring some borderline wide-spilling lights into the ultrawide I can see my feet outdoors easily category.
Jackstrap/Niteize/Headband with velcro mounted flashlight.
Looking at the incans on the 21-light comparison, the Streamlight Scorpion TL3 seems to be the floodiest (look at the bottom left of the photo and you will see it is not in shadow, unlike the others). The Scorpion seems to be known as a thrower though which might be the case outdoors.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=173535
Rant:
There has to be some company out there that makes a multi-LED warm tint headlamp so I can get multi-levels, better runtimes, brightness, and reliability. Although the Rebel looks warmer than the Cree I had in my headlamp I don't think it will be enough for my purposes.
It would be nice if someone could, pun intended, pick up the torch from Quickbeam and continue flashlightreviews.com and add spill and hotspot angle data. If a light had 130 degree spill, then I'd only have to angle the light 30 degrees down to see the ground around my feet.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to share your expertise. Maybe Paul in Maryland could weigh in as he seems to like floody incans and has tried the Wolf-Eyes drop-ins. But all suggestions are welcome ... so, any ideas?
