Newbie looking to setup minimag headlamp

Hello everyone, This is my first post on cpf and it's just in time! I have been using my minimag in it's sheath on a headband lately and it has worked out better than expected. Unlike my petzl; it works all the time and is upgradeable. Also, surprisingly comfortable.

Now that I like the setup; I'd like to give it more oomph and usefulness to me by adding a Cree Tle-5ex, glass lens,terralux endcap switch, and a red flip up lens found here: http://www.quakeinc.com/optic1.html

My main question is; Will this filter allow enough light to pass to make it easy to tie on lures and land fish on my small boat without ruining my night vision?

I understand that leds and red filters aren't the best combos but I don't need to see much more than a few feet around me.

The rest of the bright light will be needed for hauling all my gear through the wooded trails, shore fishing, navigating shallows, and camping. So I think this setup will work well for me as long as the red filter won't be too dim. I also have AA NiMh cells already and a nice charger for this since the petzl does not work so well with them.

I'm open to suggestions about other lights/headlamps I can rig onto my head if what I just listed won't seem to work for what I need as long as it's in the $40 range of what this looks like it will already cost me.

Thank You for your time Ladies and Gentlemen

A makeshift headlamp isn't too tricky imho, many many led lights are light enough so you can clip them to a baseball cap. For 40 bucks you could get an fenix lod with all sorts of different settings and it comes witha little clip and will snap perfectly on to many different kinds of hats. Depending on how long you will be out and how much light you need, just carry an extra battery or two. Also check out the zebralights although those run you about 55-60 bucks I think. It seems to me that a minimag is pretty big to have on a headband so if you are ok with that than there are tons of other options, most of the romisens come with clips too i know the rc-n3 has one and it uses either 2xaa or a 123. There is also the rc-g2 that is a 1xaa light that lots of ppl love. You can even get q5 versions of many of the romisens from shiningbeam.com
Headlamps are great, but its nice to have a tiny light with a clip because you can use it as a handheld or a lamp. Overall id recommend the fenix lod, its a helluva a lil light.

Get the zebralights, you'll love it.

glockboy said:

Get the zebralights, you'll love it.

Click to expand...

+1:twothumbs

Zebralight is probably the best headlamp in it's category right now. But I haven't seen a red filter for it so far.

A regular light on a headband is a nice emergency solution, but if you use it like this on a regular basis, it might be nice to have some of the features a 'real' headlamp has. Like adjustable angle. There are several headlamps that come standard with red filters, like the Petzl Tactikka or Tactikka XP.

fj dubs said:

...minimag...that I like the setup; I'd like to give it more oomph and usefulness to me by adding a Cree Tle-5ex, glass lens,terralux endcap switch, and a red flip up lens...My main question is; Will this filter allow enough light to pass to make it easy to tie on lures and land fish on my small boat without ruining my night vision?

Click to expand...

shhh...don't tell anyone...even w/all of the flashlights and HL's i own (literally hundreds), one of my top 10 or 20 favorites is still my blue (to readily distinguish it at a distance fr/all of my other minimags [red ones are incandescent hotwires, for instance, for the same reason]) minimag w/an earlier version the TLE-5EX upgrade (an SSC, claiming ~140lumen at the emitter, though it is probably no brighter than the ~100lumen claim i just read for your Cree-based version) w/and w/o red minimag accessory kit filter+holder.

i like it for it's simple UI w/or w/o theclickie tailcap i've added (probably the same one that you're considering). ON and OFF, what could be simpler than that. also, w/o the filter, when i want bright light, it still is SLIGHTLY adjustable for FLOOD or SPOT by rotating the head.

rotating the head to the OFF position is a good "lock-out" for the tailcap. since the tailcap is actuated by such little force and the actuating button in the tailcap protrudes enough that it is so easy to accidentally switch the light on in the pocket or pack (i.e. backpack).

the burntime is pretty decent too for a HIGH o.p. only light.

now, as to your question regarding dark adaptation. certainly using a red filter is MUCH BETTER than *NOT* using one. however, for most of the burntime, even w/the red filter that i have (and both sides of that filter covered w/two layers per side of Scotch-brand Magic Tape), the red light is still FAR TOO BRIGHT (until near the end of the burntime when the battery voltage is dropping to near the Fwd. Bias voltage of the LED) to PROPERLY PRESERVE one's dark adaptation. Meaning that after your eyes become adjusted to the TOO BRIGHT red light, after switching it OFF, there will be a re-adjustment period when your eyes become fully dark adapted again (though no where near as long a period of time as if you didn't use the red filter/diffuser over the white LED light). RED light alone is NOT the "magic bullet", so to speak. the INTENSITY of the red light has a lot to do w/it also - in this regard, again, the red light emitted, even w/my "beefed up", kludged filter/diffuser, is too bright to properly preserve one's acquired low light vision.

hope this info helps some.

The Fenix lod really is a really nice little light, but I have had no success in the past with bringing a ball cap or any cap with me. Wearing a hat is not my thing and I've always forgotten one in the past when I used to clip onto them, so that won't work for me.

The zebralight is a nice one also, but it seems to be just a flood with no focusing. I found this link to compare what I think is a stock MagLed to the zebra and it's nice to have a tad bit of focusing available: http://www.southern-lights.com.au/beamshot/test5/
From what I've read; the tle 5ex drop-in should be a decent amount brighter than the MagLed.

I'm pretty much just anti petzl right now since the light I purchased from them is guaranteed to to get messed up from using the included batteries with it and no, petzl does not offer any exchanges for a different one and the warranty period is over for the one I have. It also takes some toying with most of the time for it to even turn on. Possibly because I love fishing in the rain. Friends have the tikka series and they're nice but offer no focus and run on AAA when I already have a good amount of AA cells that need to be used. Although the red cover is nice in that it can be used with just one hand when a fish gets close to the boat so it doesn't freak out and run with all it's might.

My budget is always shrinking though and now I'm pretty set on getting just a red lens locally for the other minimag I have or maybe rigging up some type of flip up holder for it. It never gets any use and maybe I'll just swap out lights as need be and possibly get an IQ switch for the red lens one with incan bulb. I'll find out this evening if I'll even need a adjustable switch for it since it'll be run on some weak NiCads I have.

I now plan to avoid a tail cap for the light with the drop in since I won't really need it, but I would really like to get the brightest light possible out of a drop-in. So which one should I look for on Ebay? It gets confusing on there, but I think the cree models boast 140 lumens also on the packaging, but Batteryjunction.com has them listed at around 100 lumens. I've read on CPF that the claim of 140 lumens is more like 70-80 if I'm lucky. That will make me happy for the price since I think my 20l krypton mininmag is the brightest around lol.

I still plan on getting a glass lens and probably an aspheric lens for hopefully some throw and for fun. Right now I always carry a 2c Mag Incan for throw and I'm hoping I can leave that heavy thing behind since I'm pretty much maxed out on what I want to stuff in my pack.

These lights are also used for electrical and automotive work so they get beat up pretty bad and is why I'd like to keep the bodies of them easily replaceable. Not to mention I have a few more for parts around somewhere.

Thanks for all the quick informative replys everyone!

The Fenix lod really is a really nice little light, but I have had no success in the past with bringing a ball cap or any cap with me. Wearing a hat is not my thing and I've always forgotten one in the past when I used to clip onto them, so that won't work for me.

The zebralight is a nice one also, but it seems to be just a flood with no focusing. I found this link to compare what I think is a stock MagLed to the zebra and it's nice to have a tad bit of focusing available: http://www.southern-lights.com.au/beamshot/test5/
From what I've read; the tle 5ex drop-in should be a decent amount brighter than the MagLed.

I'm pretty much just anti petzl right now since the light I purchased from them is guaranteed to to get messed up from using the included batteries with it and no, petzl does not offer any exchanges for a different one and the warranty period is over for the one I have. It also takes some toying with most of the time for it to even turn on. Possibly because I love fishing in the rain. Friends have the tikka series and they're nice but offer no focus and run on AAA when I already have a good amount of AA cells that need to be used. Although the red cover is nice in that it can be used with just one hand when a fish gets close to the boat so it doesn't freak out and run with all it's might.

My budget is always shrinking though and now I'm pretty set on getting just a red lens locally for the other minimag I have or maybe rigging up some type of flip up holder for it. It never gets any use and maybe I'll just swap out lights as need be and possibly get an IQ switch for the red lens one with incan bulb. I'll find out this evening if I'll even need a adjustable switch for it since it'll be run on some weak NiCads I have.

I now plan to avoid a tail cap for the light with the drop in since I won't really need it, but I would really like to get the brightest light possible out of a drop-in. So which one should I look for on Ebay? It gets confusing on there, but I think the cree models boast 140 lumens also on the packaging, but Batteryjunction.com has them listed at around 100 lumens. I've read on CPF that the claim of 140 lumens is more like 70-80 if I'm lucky. That will make me happy for the price since I think my 20l krypton mininmag is the brightest around lol.

I still plan on getting a glass lens and probably an aspheric lens for hopefully some throw and for fun. Right now I always carry a 2c Mag Incan for throw and I'm hoping I can leave that heavy thing behind since I'm pretty much maxed out on what I want to stuff in my pack.

These lights are also used for electrical and automotive work so they get beat up pretty bad and is why I'd like to keep the bodies of them easily replaceable. Not to mention I have a few more for parts around somewhere.

Thanks for all the quick informative replys everyone!