Why are headlamps on ebay so cheap?

So I joined a local hiking group and need to buy a headlamp for some night hikes so I went to ebay and found headlamps that sell for practically nothing, yet some of them have upwards of 40 LEDs. Then I look at the brands in stores and they have say just 1 LED yet sell for almost $50

Why are the ones on ebay so cheap? Are the 40 LEDs less bright than the 1 LED in the store brands? I need an education here =)

They're cheap because, they're, well, cheap. I won't say they're useless garbage, but their quality is about what you pay for.

hehe..... we all need to learn sometime... Most of those ebay headlamps SUCK!

you want to consider a lot of features in a headlamp... More LEDs doesn't always equate to brighter! For your purposes I would look at three headlamps in order

1) Princeton Tec Quad : http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/pt_quad.htm
2) Princeton Tec EOS : http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_eos.htm
3) Petzl TacTikka XP : http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/petzl_tikka_xp.htm

If your hikes get more adventurous I'd add Princeton tec Apex to Jar3ds' list.
It is about $63 online, but it is worth it if you spend a lot of time outdoors.

One Luxeon, Cree or Seoul is often brighter than the 20-50 leds on a cheap headlamp. They also give better colour rendition which is important outdoors.

And like the others said; you get what you pay for in most cases....

Thanks! I found the Pinceton Tec Quad for $22 and $9 shipping so I think I'm going to get it. I talked to others in the group and most of them said they just bought the one Walmart has but for the same price I'm hoping this one is better. We're going to be climbing some rocks at night to get to a cave so I'd like to have enough light

I found another one:
Browning Black Ice 5 LED Headlamp for about the same price. Is this one better than the Princeton Quad?

Browning doesn't make their own flashlights. I'm sure they just rebrand someone else's, probably from China. Just get the Quad. You can't go wrong with it's bright flood, regulated beam, waterproofness, and battery indicator. I think it's the best light out there for the money, hands down.

If you want an awesome headlamp, go for the StenLight S7. It's THE FINEST headlamp on the market today, light years ahead of the rest. Here's the review:

http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/stenlight_s7.htm

utidcapaco said:

Browning doesn't make their own flashlights. I'm sure they just rebrand someone else's, probably from China. Just get the Quad. You can't go wrong with it's bright flood, regulated beam, waterproofness, and battery indicator. I think it's the best light out there for the money, hands down.

Click to expand...

you are absolutely correct... not best headlamp out there for the money... the best LIGHT/torch for the money... sorry to 90% of CPF who still want your little light sticks... headlamps are superior...

For only a couple dollars more you could get an EOS with has a real Luxeon LED - big difference between that and 4 little 5mm LED's. The EOS is a great little unit.

Well I found the EOS on sale at sports chalet for $29.99 so I grabbed it, that thing is damn bright! Thanks for point me in the right direction!

unless you mod the EOS the quad is a better headlamp stock.... It actually provides a good flood... the stock EOS has a too narrow beam... If you do mod the EOS you'll have the best integrated headlamp you can buy

damn, seriously? After I already bought it. What's involved in doing a "mod" which i'm guessing stands for modification on the EOS since I already have it?

This might help.

I think you just unsolder the Luxeon star and solder the Seoul star on there.

Hmm, out of my league for sure! I'm just going to use the EOS as is as I'm sure it will be plenty bright out there.

I'm a novice, too. Just do what I did. . . buy both the EOS & Quad. :naughty:

utidcapaco said:

I'm a novice, too. Just do what I did. . . buy both the EOS & Quad. :naughty:

Click to expand...

not a bad solution... I have both too ...

I hear somebody's replacing the Stenlight's Luxeon led's with Seoul or Cree leds... that would be pretty much the #1 headlamp if money is no issue.

However, if money IS an issue and you really wanna save as much $ as possible + got some patience... wait for the first Cree/Seoul LED using headlamps. I think in about 2 months there should be some... untill then get a cheapass multiled lamp, since even a cheap one is better than nothing.
But thats just my thought on this, and lets just say im a rather frugal buyer.

If you don't mind spending a bit more, but really don't have the money for the stenlight, getting the quad now and a cree/seoul led powered headlamp when they're available should be a good plan.

Most of them are mass reproduced in China, some are very cr@ppy and some sellers
hit you with huge shipping fees

I have been using Petzl Tikka XP for nearly a year now (in the woods of Slovakia ) - and I can only recommend it! Really a great light, you don't need anything brighter than this for hiking (actually the low setting is OK for most of the time for me). I was thinking about getting the Princeton Tec Apex - but fortunately I didn't buy it, not because it's bad - but you don't really need so much light, and the external battery box takes much space.

I bought a red filter for the Tikka XP. But maybe it's better if you buy the TacTikka XP, it's the same as Tikka XP but it comes in green and camo version, and with the red filter.

Edit: I see you already bought a headlamp