No good head torches with long battery life

[wormyian]

I keep hearing about new super lumens torches to be realised soon and why are they all running on one 18650 .I actually use my headtorch to work on the beach in complete darkness for 3hrs at a time and its no fun trying to change a battery full of sand or raining .
Even with 3500mah batteries they dot last long on full power.

 

[Yamabushi]

Fenix HP30 - 500 lumens for 3 hours 50 minutes using 2 x 18650

 

[Telkwa]

How come you need full screw for hours?

 

[WigglyTheGreat]

For the output and runtime that you want you are going to have to go with a headlamp with an external battery pack.

 

[Strintguy]

One way to look at flashlights that boast 1000 lumens is that they will have a nice long runtime in the 300-400 lumens range

 

[uk_caver]

It's also worth pointing out that for doing a particular task, finding a headtorch with a suitable beamshape (or, for a multi-beam torch, a suitable beam blend) can make a meaningful difference to how many lumens are needed to do the job.

 

[Vortus]

You have not mentioned your current light or lights you use. So dont know what you are working with. Regardless, for that kind of runtime at higher levels you will have to go with an external battery pack. Or carry multiple lights and just swap lights when one starts to fade. Multiple lights will be cheaper than many external battery pack options. Had a similar issue, and compiled a short list of makers with external battery options if you choose that route. Haven't updated it in a while, so likely others out there but it will get you started.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?409300-Battery-pack-headlamps&highlight=Vortus

 

[ryguy24000]

Work on the beach??? what does that mean??? I agree with the other posters. Beam profile and run that thing on medium to get the best results.

 

[wormyian]

I look directly at the ground for worm cast for bait collection currently use acebeam H10 on 500 lumen setting that works well and the yellowy tint seems to work well on the sand then as a back up i have a h600 zebralight would be great if the acebeam would take 2 batteries and i could use it o the full 1000 lumens

 

[wormyian]

I can be out on the beach sometimes for up to 3.5 hours in total darkness

 

[scs]

I look directly at the ground for worm cast for bait collection currently use acebeam H10 on 500 lumen setting that works well and the yellowy tint seems to work well on the sand then as a back up i have a h600 zebralight would be great if the acebeam would take 2 batteries and i could use it o the full 1000 lumens

yeah, but there's always the heat issue that will keep a small headlamp from running at that level of output.

1000 lumens, in complete darkness, for just looking down your feet huh? Hmmm...

 

[ryguy24000]

i'm thinking the 50 to 100 lm range would all you really need? That's just my opinion. I use a Zebra h502 run on medium 2 mode for my work light and get a full day of good light when I work(Electrician), but I am not hunting worms.

 

[Vortus]

Comes down to cost. You know what you need lumens wise for the job. Time wise you also know. What are you willing to pay for. IE, a Lupine Better RX14 will hold 1k lumens all night long, and X7 would hold it half the night. But, for the price, you could carry ALOT of lights, spares for your spares.

If you can deal with 300 lumens max, the Spark SX5 has an optional 4x18650 battery carrier that will run it all night. But, the carriers round shape can be awkward. If it was made 4 across flat it would be much better imo. Though it can run on 3x AAA - 3x AA - 2/8x CR123 - 1/4x 18650 - 26650x cells making it about as versatile as it gets.

 

[wormyian]

trust me you need the brightness they can be hard to spot when the cast is the colour of the sand. When i put my acebeam h10 on full power its awesome I can see them very clear also the 500 lumen setting is a good compromise for battery life and power and this is the setting i use. I have tried the new mkiii zebralights and even on full power they just dont have enough grunt to see as the faster i work the more i earn and struggling to see is not good for £££.
Soon be short nights and long days then i wont need a torch so much as i do in winter .
My ideal torch would be the acebeam H10 that would have a battery pack and take maybe 2 18650 as there is something about the tint on this torch that seems to work well on the sand not sure what it is as i am no expert

 

[LessDark]

I agree that the H10 is probably ideal for this kind of activity with its large hotspot and spill, why don't you just buy two of these as others have mentioned?

 

[wormyian]

I agree that the H10 is probably ideal for this kind of activity with its large hotspot and spill, why don't you just buy two of these as others have mentioned?

yes the h10 is alwys the first one i use and it very rarely runds out of juice in a session onb the beach and if it does the h600 is fine for a short while but yes 2 h10 is the best choice for sure hot spot great for seeing what you need and the spill helps to fine them