Looking for a bright, rechargeable headlamp for under $50

[deerme]

was wondering if anyone could please recommend a headlamp that is bright, rechargeable, has a decent battery life (50+ hours) and is under $50??

i don't care about fancy colors...i'm only interested in a bright light.

thanks!!!

 

[ifor powell]

was wondering if anyone could please recommend a headlamp that is bright, rechargeable, has a decent battery life (50+ hours) and is under $50??

i don't care about fancy colors...i'm only interested in a bright light.

thanks!!!

50+ hours and bright don't realy go together, at least not at the same time. Maybe in a multi mode light, or if you are happy with bright for few hours then dim then an unregulated light. What is your usage senario that may help people give better recomendations. Are we talking bright flood are bright long throw spot?

Ifor

 

[deerme]

thanks for your reply! the primary use for the light will be walking in the woods in the dark to get to my stand (i do a lot of bow hunting). so the long throw spot would be good for that reason. but i'd like to be able to adjust it to cover a decent area close to me for when i'm setting up (attaching the stand to the tree, climbing up the tree, etc). i'll also be using it fishing - ice fishing and regular fishing - and would like a decent spot and flood for that as well.

i've got an older petzl headlamp that does a decent job of both, but it takes 4 AA batteries and seems to burn right through them after a few times out! i'm spending quite a bit of $$ replacing the batteries - that's why i figure it'd be worth it to spend the $50 on a quality rechargeable light.

thanks again,
brian

 

[Marduke]

The Remington (Rayovac) 4xAA headlamp at Lowes should do the trick. Just use Low Self Discharge (precharged) NiMH rechargable batteries in it. Eneloops are a good choice.

 

[deerme]

The Remington (Rayovac) 4xAA headlamp at Lowes should do the trick. Just use Low Self Discharge (precharged) NiMH rechargable batteries in it. Eneloops are a good choice.

are you referring to these?
http://www.buy.com/prod/sanyo-enelo...nickel-metal-hydride/q/loc/111/207560419.html

what type of charger should i use, anything special? how many hours of use do you think i'll get from this light w/ these batteries?

thanks!

 

[jankj]

are you referring to these?
http://www.buy.com/prod/sanyo-enelo...nickel-metal-hydride/q/loc/111/207560419.html

what type of charger should i use, anything special? how many hours of use do you think i'll get from this light w/ these batteries?

thanks!

Yes, that is the one. There is also some other brand called "duraloop" that offers the same technology (low self discharge nimh). Sanyo is held in very high regard. I don't know anything about duraloop except they may be easier to find some places.

LSD nimh can be charged in any standard nimh charger. My advice is to get a charger that surveys the individual battery's condition (temperature and charge state) and adjusts the charging current for that particular cell accordingly. (And chargers that requires batteries in "matching" pairs seems like an awfull idea - what if one battery is 20% and the other is 50%?)

 

[deerme]

Yes, that is the one. There is also some other brand called "duraloop" that offers the same technology (low self discharge nimh). Sanyo is held in very high regard. I don't know anything about duraloop except they may be easier to find some places.

LSD nimh can be charged in any standard nimh charger. My advice is to get a charger that surveys the individual battery's condition (temperature and charge state) and adjusts the charging current for that particular cell accordingly. (And chargers that requires batteries in "matching" pairs seems like an awfull idea - what if one battery is 20% and the other is 50%?)

i read on a dif thread that this model headlamp will only provide 4 hours of bright light before the batteries need recharging. has this been your experience w/ this headlamp?

thanks!

 

[yellow]

bright = short runtime
dim = loooong runtime
very easy
;)


as You typed both of Your needs, imho there are 2 models:
1st of all: the one "best" headlamp, the Princeton Tech Apex.
Check around, there is model change atm, maybe You can get one for under 50,--

2nd: something smaller and also less "diverse", a Streamlight Argo HP f.e. Fed this one with a 17650 Li-Ion cell and be ready
(if You sometimes think it is not powerful enough, remove the old Luxeon emitter with a newer led by emitter swap)


PS: imho You need 2 lights. A headlamp with long runtime and a handheld light for more powerful output.
Because any headlamp that comes near the light of a handheld, also suffers from the runtime problem