Ultralight(weight) Headlamp Idea

I've been looking for a better ultralight headlamp for backpacking. I'm looking for something under 4 oz. that is regulated and NOT AAA powered. Right now I'm using an E2e/KL1 and NiteIze headband, but I'd like something even lighter with a pivoting (up/down) head.

My idea is to use a Opalec Newbeam module as a "head" and wire it to a battery pack for 2 Lithium AAs, 2 123s or one 223. Seems like you could make a super lightweight headlamp with 10 hours of adequate constant brightness burn time.

I'm thinking I could just epoxy a couple nylon nuts to the side of the opelec unit and then fabricate a mount out of Aluminum or Titianium sheet. Then I'd just attache the mount to the head using a couple nylon screws. That would give me up-down adjustability and wouldn't weigh much.

Can anyone tell me how much the Opalec module weighs?

As much as 2 lithium AAs?

I am using a cr2 lithium 3 volt for a superbright yellow L.E.D. system. Also have used a 6volt lithuim with 3 superbright white L.E.D's mounted in a makeup container that weighs about .08 oz and gives the black diamond ion a run for its money for about $6. chech my home page (still under construction)

phil

hey also, I use velcro and attach the light to an elastic headband. That way I can adjust it up and down with no problem. Its always cool all the guys pull out their expensive headlamps and I slap on my homemade green emerald! It becomes a grreat topic of evening conversation around the campfire!

I attached the Opalec module directly to the underside of my bike helmet. It is wired directly to a modified 2AA holder that is siliconed to the top of the helmet. According to Opalec the unit is higly water resistant and it is more likely for any water to attack the outside electrical connections rather than the unit. The setup makes for an extremely lightweight installation that does not affect the helmet balance at all. Scott Bowman from Opalec advised me that he has successfully been using a Opalec unit as headlamp for his bike for quite a while. The most fragile area is the connecting base pins. It is advised to solder the connections and then protect them from impact.

If you didn't need Lithium AAs, I would say to use a Verslux PR-2 in a PT Solo w/textured reflector.

If you have a Petzl Zoom, or Zoom Zora, you could get the single LED bulb from LEDcorp. My Zoom has this and 3 Lithium AAs installed.

If you are looking for something to see where you are walking, then the PT Matrix would do (100+ hours on a pair of Lithium AAs (regulated).

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really want to minimize the weight. I'd like the end result to be lighter than a Petzl Tikka or PT Aurora . . .

Thanks for the info NamTinker. One Idea I had was to find a plastic tube the Newbeam would fit snugly into, with about 1/4" to 1/2" of tube extending from the rear of the newbeam. Then I could solder wires onto the contacts. Finally, I could fill the "cup" formed by the tube and the back of the Newbeam with Epoxy or the like to protect the contacts . . .