New National LED/Indandescent Headlamp

[Graham]

Just found a fairly neat little headlamp here in Tokyo yesterday - it is made by National, and after checking seems to have just been released last month. Its very small and light. Price is about US$29 - a little high, but so is everything here..
Specs:
Single high-brightness white LED, driven by a regulated step up circuit.
Single krypton bulb, 2.7v/.3A
Power - Single CR123 cell
Runtimes (as stated on packaging) - LED 20 hrs, incandescent 4 hrs
Not fully waterproof, but rain/weatherproof. Battery compartment does not have an o-ring seal, but lamp assembly does.
Weight including battery and strap is 88g(!)

It has a faceted reflector, and the lamp gives a reasonable beam, but nothing too spectacular. Lamp is a standard bi-pin, so I'm thinking of finding a better one to put in it..
LED is quite bright, just a little dimmer than an Arc AAA.

In original package..(battery was not included..)

Next to an Arc AAA for size comparison..

Graham

 

[yclo]

I've seen that one in HK without the led, must have been the old version. What really appeals to me about it though is that it uses a 123 cell.

Maybe you can use an E1 bulb on it?

YC

 

[snake]

Hi YC,
I have also found a panasonic in HK with 3LED and 1 indandencent, but power by 3AAA.
around HKD250 at the opposite of the Mong Kong China travel agent.

 

[Alan]

Hi Snake,

Does it look like Trident from Streamlight?

Alan

 

[Graham]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by yclo:
I've seen that one in HK without the led, must have been the old version. What really appeals to me about it though is that it uses a 123 cell.

Maybe you can use an E1 bulb on it?

YC<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I've seen the incandescent-only one here. There are actually a few different National headlamps available here, the smallest ones use a 123 cell. I was interested in this one because it has a step-up circuit in it to drive the LED, and was very small and light.

Graham

 

[snake]

Hi Alan,
it like the national posted above but with 3LED line up on the upper side, the battery case is similar to that streamlite. hmm , one more the case is in bule. the shops name is "wai fung" opposite to the china travel agent at mong kong.

 

[Alan]

Hi Snake, thanks for the info. I have one of that and have been using it for several months. I like its 1/3 LED setup very much. I replaced the center incandescent lamp with another LED.

Alan

 

[Quickbeam]

With all this LED/Incandescent discussion I ordered a Streamlight Trident to see what it's like - I'll place a review on my site after it comes in.

Alan - did you ever consider replacing the lamp with a standard Minimag lamp or a Nexstar 2-AA lamp? This might significantly change the output as they are supposed to be run at lower voltages. Sure it may cause premature burnout, but what the heck!

 

[funk]

I have seen many of these lamps (except this National), and I have found most of the Incandescent bulbs provided are really poor. The Trident or the many other brands using this light included. You absolutely need to change the bulbs.

 

[Alan]

I did try the bulb from Mini mag but only improve a little. I couldn't be able to access those from brinkman here in Hong Kong. However, I will try those from DB 4AA/AAA to see if it would be better.

I seldom see National light here in Hong Kong. I did get an USB powered 3-LED clip-on light from National's show room. I tried to get one more 2 weeks afterward. The sales guy told me that all were gone and won't be available anymore, at least not in Hong Kong.

Alan

 

[snake]

Alan,
the mini mag bulb is terriable (unless you like the mood of amber

), even the Eveready keychain 2AAAA(a mini DB using AAAA) bulb is much whiter!

 

[Alan]

Hi Snake, you're correct that MIni Mag bulb is yellow. The headlamp is 3 aaa (I use NiMH) light that will overdrive the bulb a bit whiter.

Alan

 

[Quickbeam]

I received the Streamlight Trident LED/Incandescent combo headlamp - the review is not ready yet, but the pics are up - http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/reviews/streamlight_trident.htm

The light DESPERATELY needed WriteRight applied to the lens to smooth out the incandescent beam, but it looks great now.

The Minimag bulbs don't work - the leads are too short causing the bulb to sit too low in the socket for the light to ever focus to a tight beam. It starts out loose and gets more so as you go.