Non-Lensed Luxeon Headlamp?

[Afterimage]

I am ready for a headlamp upgrade and would like something which is able to be brighter than my old Tikka. To me headlamps are all about good side spill. They are about having your hands free to do stuff and see what you are doing. I would rather hike with a handheld flashlight because you can see shadows and better judge the terrain you are walking on.

I like the idea of Luxeon headlamps but it looks to me that they are all "lensed". The objective seems to be more throw. But I think an ordinary 1-watt in a shallow reflector with different power levels would be great. If it powered down enough there would be no need for supplementary 5mm LEDs. Is there such a beast? Otherwise, I think I will have to go the PT Corona route with an LED forest on my forehead.

 

[vtunderground]

[ QUOTE ]
Afterimage said:
...I think an ordinary 1-watt in a shallow reflector with different power levels would be great. If it powered down enough there would be no need for supplementary 5mm LEDs. Is there such a beast?

[/ QUOTE ]

Absolutely. The Pelican 2630 has a 1-watt Luxeon in a reflector, with three power levels. So does the Nuwai HLX-712L.

I have the Pelican, but not the Nuwai. I wasn't a big fan of the Pelican at first, but after I replaced the side-emitting LED with a high-dome, the beam is near-perfect, with a tons of side spill & excellent throw. It's my all-time favorite headlamp now.

My question is, are there any headlamps that come stock with a high-dome Luxeon in a reflector? I'm just not a big fan of side-emitters.

 

[Afterimage]

Thanks for telling me about the Pelican, I missed that one completely. As for the Nuwai, I'll pass on the CR123s.

I don't like side emitters either. I have a couple of Everleds that have had their side emitter cones carefully sculpted off with a box cutter. Instant high-dome. In my opinion, they work much better.

 

[StuU]

With the Pelican 2630, a very nice beam results when the side-emitter is replaced with a high-dome. The 17mm reflector fits cleanly and easily onto the high-dome and gives a nice broad spot with great spill.
Stu

 

[zerge]

Hello,

I don't know the Nuwai, and have marginal information on the Peli. But I just happened to play with the Petzl Myo XP, and Tikka XP a month ago. Technical details are in the Petzl catalog (download section).

I liked both, they seemed to be robust enough. Petzl left the regulation to the next "facelift" and also diplomatically left out the submergible feature from the Myo.

But they are not simply lensed, but dual lensed... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif