Headbands Experience?

well I am skimming down my outdoors lights (for weight and battery commonality purposes) and now I intend to go down to...

Gerber Infinity Ultra
Rexlight
Romisen RC-G2 Q5 flavor.

So How do you like a rexlight-like light on a headband???? is it practical, durable and comfortable?

And how about the NiteIze headband???

thanks mates, Kostas

The problem with using a hand held light on a strap as a headlamp, is the inability to articulate it into positions. You (normally) only get it pointed in one direction, which is another problem, it's pointed straight ahead of you. A useful headlamp points downward, at the angle of your choice. A third problem is when the light is on the side of your head, your head ends up getting in the way of the beam and/or shining into the side of your eye. These are just some things I've found while playing with lights strapped to my head.

Do yourself a favour and buy a Zebralight H30 or H50. Unless you need a proper outdoorsman powerful headlamp, a Zebralight will quickly become one of your most useful lights. The headband is small and rolls up neatly, and the light itself is tiny, especially in the H30 CR123 powered version. They sit at the front of your forehead, where you need the light, and they can be angled simply by turning them in their holder. I like to use mine angled a few degrees below horizontal so I can see the floor as I walk. If crawling around it tight spaces fitting cables or doing repairs, I angle it a few degrees up to aid my view.

Omega Man's absolutely right about the problems of using a hand held in a head light mode. I tried rigging my own head light out of velcro and a mini-mag (to see if I really needed a head light) and the positioning was always wrong. A head light designed for the purpose will always be more useful. There are many good head lights and I only use the Zebras as an example because I had no specific need (I don't go down caves or camp in wild places) but felt that on occasions the hands-free aspect of such a light would be useful. It certainly is when wiring up entertainment systems in your house. The deal maker for me was being able to take the Zebra out of it's headband and use it in the provided pocket clip as a right angle light facing forward on my rucksack strap in addition to whatever hand held light I'm using. That way I would always have one light facing the same direction as my body.

Interesting thread. I have also realised that a headlight is pretty handy to have. I was also thinking about the zebralight, but wondered if it's possible to attach a regular AA-light(Fenix L1D or Nitecore DI in my case) in the zebralight-holder? Could be nice if you're outdoors and might need some more throw than what the zebralight offers.

If you have a Costco nearby, check to see if the have the LED Lenser Revolution headlamp in stock. I picked one up about 6 months ago and for $19.99, you can't go wrong. 3-4 times a week it rides on my head for my nightly runs, sweat and all. I just swapped out my first set of batteries a couple days ago.

guys thanks for the heads up...

I do have a petzl taktikka so it seems it will stay...For a while I was considering the zebralight H50 but the different beam angle of it (120 degs vs 80 for the H30 turned me off)

All the best, Kostas

kosPap said:

And how about the NiteIze headband???

Click to expand...

a couple of years ago, after many, many years of HL use while trekking, i switched fr/using purpose made headlamps to flashlights since they are lighter, generally more durable, brighter (when needed), more than decent burntime on lower light o.p. levels, and are more advanced than headlamps (though some HL's are finally starting to catch up).

however, since i nearly always use two trekking poles, i need to head-mount the flashlight.

to date, i have tried four different solutions in chronological order:

1) a barrel clip fr/a MiniMagLite (also part of the $3.95 MiniMagLite Accessory kit) works on many AA and some CR123A lights (Fenix, LumaPower, Muyshondt, and Bitz for example, but the Ra-Twisty, for example, and some others are too large in diameter). i merely clip the light to the stiff visor/brim of a ballcap.

2) a homemade "JakStrap", of sorts with multiple elastic loops (five to be exact) set at three different angles: straight ahead, down ~45 deg, and at the forehead straight down (to be used on low power settings for task/proximity lighting in camp/tent or under tarp). two loops are on each side (one pointing straight ahead, and one angled down at ~45 deg) in addition to the downward pointing one at the forehead.

3) the original JakStrap original and JakStrap II headbands. the original has two loops, one pointed straight ahead and one angled down at ~45 deg. the JakStrap II has an elastic and velcro loop angled down somewhat and can hold larger diameter lights. both JakStraps have velcro adjustable elastic headbands which are quite comfortable and remain in place (i.e. no "walking").

4) the velcro adjustable NiteIze headband. it appears to be quite durable due to the nature of the material that the headband is made from. only clever feature of this headband is the concentric elastic loops; the inner one to hold smaller diameter lights, and the outer one to hold larger diameter lights. i can't recommend this band for two reasons: 1) the elastic loops only point straight ahead (this really isn't too big a deal, but does mean that to check out foot placement one needs to bend one's head down more to illuminate the area in front on one's feet), and 2) this one is a "biggie" (for me at least; YMMV), the heavy duty NON-ELASTIC webbing that the headband is made from "walks" or slides from its original position as one continuously moves one's head about while hiking on the trail. since it is non-elastic, it needs to be somewhat overtightened to keep it in place - fine for 5min use, but after 20min it becomes uncomfortable.


i still use all of the first three items mentioned above. having an ~45 deg down angled loop to hold the light means that i need to incline and decline my head less to see closer and farther away. often very little head movement is req'd depending upon the amount of spill that the particular flashlight being used happens to have.

it is easy enough when using a JakStrap headband to change the angle that it sits on one's head in order to fine tune the angle at which the flashlight points. this is not very much different fr/adj. a HL's declination. in fact, it is essentially the same as if one were to use a Petzl Zipka/ZipkaPlus HL.

+1 for the Jakstrap. I actually replaced the headband of a 115 lumen Cree Coleman Max headlamp I got from Walmart with a Jakstrap. The Jakstrap works great with my Fenix P3D Q5 on turbo and the headlight on high. It gives me a 300+ lumen headlight. A good headband will let you have a brighter headlight than any on the market if you want it to. It can obviously work as a replacement strap for a headlight so you have an easily accessible backup headlight, have more light, or cover a larger area with multiple beams. I can fit my Fenix P2D Q5 in the other loop of the Jakstrap and with my setup, I can have a 510 lumen (at the emmiters) headlamp (however, the three beams don't line up, two can). I agree with what was said about the Niteize headband. It's useless for most outdoor tasks like hiking or bike riding because it doesn't shine light where you want it. Unfortunetly, the Niteize band can be found in most stores, while I had to buy the Jakstrap online. If you have an Eastern Mountain Sports store near you, they carry the Jakstrap for $6(that's where I got mine, on their website-www.ems.com). If you don't have a store nearby that carries it, you might pay more in shipping than for the Jakstrap (I did, but it was worth it).

shipment to greece? No way I will home-make one now that I know the 45deg tip...

thanks all, Kostas

Lobo said:

Interesting thread. I have also realised that a headlight is pretty handy to have. I was also thinking about the zebralight, but wondered if it's possible to attach a regular AA-light(Fenix L1D or Nitecore DI in my case) in the zebralight-holder? Could be nice if you're outdoors and might need some more throw than what the zebralight offers.

Click to expand...

Not in the Zebra holder. The holes for the torch run across the forehead so your light would point out to the side (90 degrees to your nose) which is why the Zebras are right angled to point forward. Unless of course you're planning to mod your head and fit one of your eyes where your ear is. I believe Lighthound does the parts. :laughing:
If you are going to buy a Zebra for the headband, you'd might as well use the light too and hand hold whatever torch you need for throw.
Sounds like the Jakstrap would be more suitable for your needs.

Tomcat! said:

Not in the Zebra holder. The holes for the torch run across the forehead so your light would point out to the side (90 degrees to your nose) which is why the Zebras are right angled to point forward. Unless of course you're planning to mod your head and fit one of your eyes where your ear is. ...Sounds like the Jakstrap would be morse suitable for your needs.

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+1 on JakStrap (see my prev. Post in this Thread).

however, no need to redesign one's noggin'.

often there is more than one approach to solve a problem. so,...

why not just rotate the ZL headband so that the holder is on the side of one's head? simple, huh? wouldn't this allow a non-right angle, straight fwd shining light to be used in the ZL headband? the KISS (keep-it-short-and-simple) principle at work, wouldn't you say?

(i know, i know..., i should try to keep my Posts short-and-simple)

of course, i'd be concerned about damage to the ZL holder which is just, what?...silicone of some type or another soft rubber-like mat'l since gettin' a perfect fit with no undo stretching of the two holder loops might prove a bit problematic, and would any knurling or other rough areas damage or tear the soft holder? don't know. and, i'm not willing to try with my holders.

half-watt said:

+1 on JakStrap (see my prev. Post in this Thread).

however, no need to redesign one's noggin'.

often there is more than one approach to solve a problem. so,...

why not just rotate the ZL headband so that the holder is on the side of one's head? simple, huh? wouldn't this allow a non-right angle, straight fwd shining light to be used in the ZL headband? the KISS (keep-it-short-and-simple) principle at work, wouldn't you say?

(i know, i know..., i should try to keep my Posts short-and-simple)

of course, i'd be concerned about damage to the ZL holder which is just, what?...silicone of some type or another soft rubber-like mat'l since gettin' a perfect fit with no undo stretching of the two holder loops might prove a bit problematic, and would any knurling or other rough areas damage or tear the soft holder? don't know. and, i'm not willing to try with my holders.

Click to expand...

Absolutely that would work, and keeping things simple is a good, but often overlooked philosophy. Personally though, I'm not fond of having the light on the side as the off centre beam feels awkward, which is why I like the Zebras being in front. Also, you'd be stuck with the beam being horizontal only, whereas the Zebra can be angled with a simple twist. Buying a Zebra only to put another light in it's place that doesn't offer any of the benefits would be a waste of money. If the Lobo is set on using the L1D or Nitecore then the Jockstrap (sorry I had to):naughty: would be the way to go.

You're right about the possible damage to the holder. Before I wrote the previous post I tried pushing the head of my L2D through the loops. It does work, although it's a tight fit, but the main problem is that the LxD head diametre is constant along the body so once forced in, it will continue to exert outward pressure on the rubber loops, whereas the Zebras are narrower in the middle where the loops finally rest and so are not being stretched all the time.

I'm beginning to warm to the notion that hardcore modders might reach a stage were they might redesign body parts to better accommodate their lighting configurations, like callous up their hands just so the can hold an overheating ROP a bit longer. Hmm... might have to start a new thread?:thinking:

Tomcat! said:

Personally though, I'm not fond of having the light on the side as the off centre beam feels awkward

Click to expand...

this isn't as big an issue to me, though OMMV (Other's MMV). why?

1) usually, the beam is focused out far enough ahead (even if only 2-3 metres for checking upcoming foot placement on a rough trail) that i just can't notice the slight off-center central "spot" of the beam pattern as the spot gets larger the further out the light is aimed.

and

2) if the light has sufficient spill, then there's no need to "chicken walk", as i term it, bobbing one's head about like chicken, focusing the beam on every tree trunk and rock tryin' to spot low contrast, faded blazes marking turns in an unfamiliar trail.

however, "side-mounting" for close-up work with a light w/a well-defined central "spot" in its beam, this could be a minor annoyance. of course, (NOT that anyone would want to do this) even the two current ZL's (H30 and H50) would work side-mounted vertically or angled fwd. a tad since it has such a huge flood beam pattern and no central spot

the main draw back to side-mounting shorter (in length) lights is that if one wears glasses (like i do), there is the chance of some glare or the edge of the lens acting like a wave guide capturing some "spill" or the beam's spot and making it appear as a bright spot in the corner of the near lens of one's glassses. extending a short light fwd a bit in the JakStrap elastic holder/loop solves this problem, but when on the move can cause the light, even though it's short in length, to flop about a bit since it's being retained by the very tail end of the light. i can usually live with this though for backpacking/hiking/walking. however, for trail running or jogging, there would probably(???) be too much movement of the light in these applications.

as one can see fr/reading the above, i've tried a lot of different approaches, but haven't hit upon a "one size fits all", so to speak, solution yet. perhaps i'm missing the obvious solution?

If it works for you then that's excellent. Certainly it's a nice little weight saving if you can just strap on your hand held light. You're right about things evening up over distance. The problem with side mounting for me is purely down to the fact that I always intended to use a head lamp at short range (under 2 metres) for things like equipment repairs and cabling. It's the hands-free aspect I really wanted and such close ranges I really had to have a flood.

The problems of wearing glasses and side mounting was another annoyance that came to light during my mock up. I suppose I could have tried my 6D mag and a couple of gaffer tape. At least the light would have been well forward of my glasses!

Tomcat! said:

...I always intended to use a head lamp at short range (under 2 metres)...I really had to have a flood.

The problems of wearing glasses and side mounting was another annoyance that came to light during my mock up. I suppose I could have tried my 6D mag and a couple of gaffer tape. At least the light would have been well forward of my glasses!

Click to expand...

agreed on the flood for short range. when i solder electronic components, i want flood also.

agreed also on the glare issue w/glasses - my major "crab" with this arrangement, but still doable for me most of the time.

and lastly, i really want to see a pic of your 6D taped to your noggin'!!!

half-watt said:

...and lastly, i really want to see a pic of your 6D taped to your noggin'!!!

Click to expand...

:naughty: Yer never know!