Crappy Headlamps, What's Durable?

Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

I've witnessed the lense pop out of a Tikka from a short fall and a PT Aurora case popping open in my fannypack. Numerous other posts can be found about faulty/breaking latches n other headlamps.
Seems to me that most of these headlamps are just poorly made POS, at least for the prices they are offered at.

Then there's those annoying electronic switches. Seems like I spend an inordinate amount of time cycling through extraneous, blinking flashing, strobing just to turn the light on or down. Does anyone like the current electronic switching or is it just cheap to manufacture?
(The Eternalight is great, especially when swung on a 10' cord in slow strobe, despite the electronic multiple modes

Call me old fashioned, but for durability my slightly heavy Peztl Duo can't be beat. Combo Halogen/3-5LED, waterproof, mechanical On/Off switch AND positive lock. The OEM LED upgrade is really sweet.
The Duo isn't perfect... self loosening bulbs and the wire to the lamp assembly finally broke inside, but it took a 5 year tool-bucket and backpack beating.

Anyone know of any durable, all around AA dual headlamps I should be looking at?
Not interested in Beta testing overpriced crap anymore.
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Thanks,
Greeneens

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Greenjeens,

Points well taken. Others, myself included, have been wishing and hoping that SF would make a Nitrolon light that meets many of the criteria you've suggested. Sadly, it hasn't happened yet.

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Try the simple Vortec from Princeton. No, it's not LED and a bit heavy on your forehead. However, it is solidly built, waterproof, simple twist-on switch that no electronic part to break or mechanical parts got fatigue and never set off in the pack, no cable to break, popular bulb that you could get everywhere. I dropped it many many times and it keeps going.

Switch to long hour bulb, halogen bulb or 3D bulb with 4 NiMH .... whatever fits your bill and needs.

Alan

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

I have a Streamlight Trident that's pretty rugged. It does have the electronic mode switch, but no goofy strobes, just off/1-led/2-led/halogen. Uses 3 AAA in a round cartridge. No plastic hinges or latches, uses a round cap for the battery compartment. It has a plastic spring for the up/down adjustment, but it's only used for the 'click' adjustments and would hold adjustment pretty well without it. O-rings on everything, should be pretty water resistant.

I have a tikka, too. It'll still work fine without that front cover. Mine has survived many 4 or 5' drops onto pavement without any damage. The only gripe I have about it is that the switch likes to sometimes go off by itself.

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

I haven't had the Septor for long, but it seems to be more robust. It's similar to the Trident, that Albany Tom described but has a three mode switch 1-3-7 LEDs.

I have removed the click adjuster and it holds without it. The clicks would be far too annoying for reading in bed.

It also has a top strap as well as the normal side strap.

I removed the reflector to get a better beam at the expense of about 8% drop in light output.

Cheers,

Richard

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

I use a cheap "Night Blaster" ($9.00 and change from Sports Authority) and its standard PR bulb is replaced by a John Bechtold 4x6400mcd Nichia mod PR base, slightly overdriven for max brightness. Nice white even beam, uses 4 common AAs, round twist-click on/off (only) switch, grippy rubber headstraps. It's a little heavy is about all.

My first (and only) headlamp.

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Does anyone have or tried the Lucido T61 headlamp? It is a 6-LED/1-halogen combo headlamp that I have been watching for here in the U.S. (to no avail). Looking for maximum illumination and reach (xenon or halogen), with the option of long run time (multi-LED w/ variable light levels). Although I haven't tried any of the combo headlights readily available in the U.S., their descriptions seem to indicate that the T61 would be brighter.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for any input.

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Flashfan,

I have not seen the T61 but there are many high quality lights by Speleo Technics with combination halongen and LEDs, as well as retrofits for the Petzl Duo headlamp. These are serious caving lights and probably built to last. If you have $200 - $300 you may want to look at these. (Scroll down to the bottom)

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Originally posted by Ratso:
Flashfan,

I have not seen the T61 but there are many high quality lights by Speleo Technics with combination halongen and LEDs, as well as retrofits for the Petzl Duo headlamp. These are serious caving lights and probably built to last. If you have $200 - $300 you may want to look at these. (Scroll down to the bottom)

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Wow. Their FX series looks just like a commercial coal mining headlamp, except that the mine unit has a wet cell lead acid battery. (Yep! Headlamp with a wet cell!) If it's the same type of design, the little knob on the side if focus. It even looks like the mounting clip is the same.

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Thanks for all the replies and links. It will take some time to digest and compare all the available headlamps. The Duo still looks pretty good from a build/price/utility perspective.
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Greenjeens

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Ratso:

Thanks for the information and links. Wow! Those headlamps look like they have even more power than the T61. I was really excited about the 24LED array for the Duo...that is until I saw the price (gulp). Great products, and I would love to get the 14LED/halogen model, but need to win the lottery first...

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

See the link below for a AA powered LED headlamp. Its not dual incandescent/LED as requested but is a good value. A number of my caver friends are using this light with good success. IMHO, caving use is probably the most demanding application of any light in terms of durability.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001706#000000

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

I have 3 headlamps:

Petzl Zoom w/3 LED bulb: dim flood and doesn't actually focus. Going to try a 3 cell single LED bulb to improve focusing (I hope).

Lightwave Illuminator: turn on/off switch is a bit flakey - remove head and rub contacts with finger fixes, for a while. Illumination isn't too bad.

Princeton Tech Solo: have 2 LED 3 cell bulb in it with pair of AA lithiums (3.6 VDC total). Fair illumination. Just found a 3 LED PT module for it and going to get a couple of them. REI still has the Solo. The Solo comes with a halogen bulb and 2 reflectors.

Of the 3 above, I like the PT Solo the best: compact, rugged, and waterproof.

Re: Crappy Headlamps, What\'s Durable?

Try three ARC AAAs. Three of them are lighter than a Tikka. They're probably brighter, They're waterproof. They're probably more reliable (and you get triple redundancy). Plus, you can mix and match LED colors. On the other hand, three ARC AAAs cost more than a Tikka.

I got the idea from the "Dork Hat" thread here. I'm going to sew and glue a piece of bycicle inner tube to the visor of my hiking cap. That will hold three ARC AAAs in a tight triangle. I'll be able to turn one, two or all three on at a time. I can also take one out and hand it to a buddy.