rickypanecatyl
Enlightened
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2009
- Messages
- 913
I work for an NGO that does relief work in war zones and disaster areas - Syria, Iraq, Burma, Southern Philippines etc. On some of the "tamer" trips I bring my family with me. This year is different - it'll be the first time ever my 17 year old daughter goes into one of these places without me :huh: and she wants/needs a reliable, waterproof headlamp - good enough to take baths in the river with at night without worrying about it breaking.
I've got nearly a dozen but none of them quite fit the bill. I'll mention a couple top choices I already have and why they aren't quite right:
At the smallest end of what I'm looking at is the Nitecore NU20 Hi CRI lamp and at the large end of what I'm considering is the 18650 Fenix HP12.
NU20 Pro's
- Small and lightweight
- efficient = although the battery is small, it can be recharged dozens of times with a 10K phone power bank.
- UI is fairly straightforward and simple which is important. (Most of the "upgrades/newer versions" of this head lamp have bigger batteries, multiple LED's with multiple buttons. Hiding in a war zone it is imperative to know what mode the light will turn on in at times and not have to stop and think about it in the pitch black!)
- Love that Hi CRI.
NU20 Con's
- Very unreliable and not even close to waterproof! I've had several and bought dozens to give away; I would say averaging 20 different head lamps they average the ability to recharge 5-8 times before something breaks! (Some of course can do more charges and some are dead on arrival!)
To be clear, I'd certainly be willing to pay much more for a much more reliable version of the same.
Fenix HP12 Pros
- The lamp in the front and 18650 battery in the back do a great job of balancing each other; my favorite trail running lamp for this reason!
- Fairly straightforward UI.
Fenix HP12 Cons
- At the big end of what I was thinking.
- The low isn't that low.
- While it is much tougher than the nitecore NU20, I don't trust it for taking a bath in a river when I'm going to be away from the grid for another 2 weeks.
To be clear, I've gotten a couple of mine wet, dunked and 8/10 times they're fine. But 8/10 is a pretty bad ratio for something like a parachute and even a light you really want to depend on!
So what say you? I'm willing to pay more, sacrifice lumens for dependability...
(Of course I'm familiar with the mantra 2 is 1 and 1 is none! But I would NEVER buy a light/gun/gps etc from a dealer/manufacturer that says that!! She'll often be hiking 15-20 miles of mountainous terrain a day and we want to keep her gear light! Once you start really practicing 2 is 1 and 1 is none things get RIDICULOUS! 2 lights, 2 chargers, 2 tool kits and 2 first aid kits and a back up pair of boots and duct tape to fix them and gorilla tape to back up the duct tape if it goes bad after getting wet which it will!)
I've got nearly a dozen but none of them quite fit the bill. I'll mention a couple top choices I already have and why they aren't quite right:
At the smallest end of what I'm looking at is the Nitecore NU20 Hi CRI lamp and at the large end of what I'm considering is the 18650 Fenix HP12.
NU20 Pro's
- Small and lightweight
- efficient = although the battery is small, it can be recharged dozens of times with a 10K phone power bank.
- UI is fairly straightforward and simple which is important. (Most of the "upgrades/newer versions" of this head lamp have bigger batteries, multiple LED's with multiple buttons. Hiding in a war zone it is imperative to know what mode the light will turn on in at times and not have to stop and think about it in the pitch black!)
- Love that Hi CRI.
NU20 Con's
- Very unreliable and not even close to waterproof! I've had several and bought dozens to give away; I would say averaging 20 different head lamps they average the ability to recharge 5-8 times before something breaks! (Some of course can do more charges and some are dead on arrival!)
To be clear, I'd certainly be willing to pay much more for a much more reliable version of the same.
Fenix HP12 Pros
- The lamp in the front and 18650 battery in the back do a great job of balancing each other; my favorite trail running lamp for this reason!
- Fairly straightforward UI.
Fenix HP12 Cons
- At the big end of what I was thinking.
- The low isn't that low.
- While it is much tougher than the nitecore NU20, I don't trust it for taking a bath in a river when I'm going to be away from the grid for another 2 weeks.
To be clear, I've gotten a couple of mine wet, dunked and 8/10 times they're fine. But 8/10 is a pretty bad ratio for something like a parachute and even a light you really want to depend on!
So what say you? I'm willing to pay more, sacrifice lumens for dependability...
(Of course I'm familiar with the mantra 2 is 1 and 1 is none! But I would NEVER buy a light/gun/gps etc from a dealer/manufacturer that says that!! She'll often be hiking 15-20 miles of mountainous terrain a day and we want to keep her gear light! Once you start really practicing 2 is 1 and 1 is none things get RIDICULOUS! 2 lights, 2 chargers, 2 tool kits and 2 first aid kits and a back up pair of boots and duct tape to fix them and gorilla tape to back up the duct tape if it goes bad after getting wet which it will!)