New National LED/Indandescent Headlamp

Just found a fairly neat little headlamp here in Tokyo yesterday - it is made by National, and after checking seems to have just been released last month. Its very small and light. Price is about US$29 - a little high, but so is everything here..
Specs:
Single high-brightness white LED, driven by a regulated step up circuit.
Single krypton bulb, 2.7v/.3A
Power - Single CR123 cell
Runtimes (as stated on packaging) - LED 20 hrs, incandescent 4 hrs
Not fully waterproof, but rain/weatherproof. Battery compartment does not have an o-ring seal, but lamp assembly does.
Weight including battery and strap is 88g(!)

It has a faceted reflector, and the lamp gives a reasonable beam, but nothing too spectacular. Lamp is a standard bi-pin, so I'm thinking of finding a better one to put in it..
LED is quite bright, just a little dimmer than an Arc AAA.

In original package..(battery was not included..)


Next to an Arc AAA for size comparison..

Graham

I've seen that one in HK without the led, must have been the old version. What really appeals to me about it though is that it uses a 123 cell.

Maybe you can use an E1 bulb on it?

YC

Hi YC,
I have also found a panasonic in HK with 3LED and 1 indandencent, but power by 3AAA.
around HKD250 at the opposite of the Mong Kong China travel agent.

Hi Snake,

Does it look like Trident from Streamlight?

Alan

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by yclo:
I've seen that one in HK without the led, must have been the old version. What really appeals to me about it though is that it uses a 123 cell.

Maybe you can use an E1 bulb on it?

YC<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I've seen the incandescent-only one here. There are actually a few different National headlamps available here, the smallest ones use a 123 cell. I was interested in this one because it has a step-up circuit in it to drive the LED, and was very small and light.

Graham

Hi Alan,
it like the national posted above but with 3LED line up on the upper side, the battery case is similar to that streamlite. hmm , one more the case is in bule. the shops name is "wai fung" opposite to the china travel agent at mong kong.

Hi Snake, thanks for the info. I have one of that and have been using it for several months. I like its 1/3 LED setup very much. I replaced the center incandescent lamp with another LED.

Alan

With all this LED/Incandescent discussion I ordered a Streamlight Trident to see what it's like - I'll place a review on my site after it comes in.

Alan - did you ever consider replacing the lamp with a standard Minimag lamp or a Nexstar 2-AA lamp? This might significantly change the output as they are supposed to be run at lower voltages. Sure it may cause premature burnout, but what the heck!

I have seen many of these lamps (except this National), and I have found most of the Incandescent bulbs provided are really poor. The Trident or the many other brands using this light included. You absolutely need to change the bulbs.

I did try the bulb from Mini mag but only improve a little. I couldn't be able to access those from brinkman here in Hong Kong. However, I will try those from DB 4AA/AAA to see if it would be better.

I seldom see National light here in Hong Kong. I did get an USB powered 3-LED clip-on light from National's show room. I tried to get one more 2 weeks afterward. The sales guy told me that all were gone and won't be available anymore, at least not in Hong Kong.

Alan

Alan,
the mini mag bulb is terriable (unless you like the mood of amber ), even the Eveready keychain 2AAAA(a mini DB using AAAA) bulb is much whiter!

Hi Snake, you're correct that MIni Mag bulb is yellow. The headlamp is 3 aaa (I use NiMH) light that will overdrive the bulb a bit whiter.

Alan

I received the Streamlight Trident LED/Incandescent combo headlamp - the review is not ready yet, but the pics are up - http://thelightsite.cruxial.com/reviews/streamlight_trident.htm

The light DESPERATELY needed WriteRight applied to the lens to smooth out the incandescent beam, but it looks great now.

The Minimag bulbs don't work - the leads are too short causing the bulb to sit too low in the socket for the light to ever focus to a tight beam. It starts out loose and gets more so as you go.