Mammut S-Flex headlamp?

Was looking on REI.com for something to spend my dividend on and came across the Mammut S-Flex headlamp. Looks like a fairly new product. Anyone have one? Opinions?

Specs:
- $30
- 1x AA
- 1.7oz
- power LED
- 35 lumens
- two white output levels and one red output level
- emergency blinky modes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvAEKrZLk6A&t=1m59s

There is a similar 3x5mm model for $20 and 20 lumens, the S-Lite.

Sounds like a nice little inexpensive headlamp that would be easy to pocket.

Selfishly, I hope you DO get it. It bills itself as a 40 degree flood beam, and if so, I'd like to add it to my flood list. Don't know how the optics work on it, or what a Power LED is, but 40 degree flood seems to be a little better than the "natural" beam angle for a lot of bare-bulb headlamps, like Irix II, Energizer, and FoxFury.

On top of that, I like pretty much any single AA headlamp. And red is a bonus. Can't find any IP rating.

Don't see any reason to go for the S-lite instead...it seems to be just less of everything.

Though I don't think it is a technical term, a "power LED" is usually used in contrast to the 5mm, discrete LEDs. So an XP-G would be a power LED, while a Nichia 5mm would be...something else.

LEDAdd1ct said:

Though I don't think it is a technical term, a "power LED" is usually used in contrast to the 5mm, discrete LEDs. So an XP-G would be a power LED, while a Nichia 5mm would be...something else.

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Yes. I have no idea how to otherwise distinguish a "not-5mm" from a "5mm". I never came across a better term.

LEDAdd1ct said:

Though I don't think it is a technical term, a "power LED" is usually used in contrast to the 5mm, discrete LEDs. So an XP-G would be a power LED, while a Nichia 5mm would be...something else.

Click to expand...

Oh! Well then, I think my comment about the 40-degree beam doesn't apply. I was assuming it was a 5mm, since many bare-bulb 5mm type lights have a 40 degree beam. If it's a more modern emitter, then what's with the 35 lumen, tops?

I had one other thought to add: I've had a chance to examine the Mammut Lucido TR1 in person. It has a very impressive smooth beam. If I didn't have a bias against 3xAAA lights I'd have purchased it. So if the S-Flex follows suit, you may be very pleased with the beam quality.

Haven't seen this light yet but glad that more 1AA headlamps are becoming available. That's my favorite form factor.

Has anyone tried the S-Flex or the S-Lite yet?

robostudent5000 said:

Has anyone tried the S-Flex or the S-Lite yet?

Click to expand...

Just took delivery of the S-Flex at work today. Will spend a few weeks evaluating it but so far I am pleased. Output is very respectable and it is exactly as advertised: a small, lightweight headlamp that runs on 1xAA. I'll post my full impressions once I get a better feel for this thing.

Oh yes, and I'd like to note that the optics make for a very nice smooth beam. It is a round, soft circle of light very reminiscent of the Saint but without artifacts. Floody and almost uniform in brightness throughout the circle (there is a faint hotspot). In my opinion this should be a very pleasant beam for trailblazing and reading. I will be bringing this headlamp (and a few others) to the FCW-8 event next weekend where I hope to test it out more thoroughly.

carrot said:

Just took delivery of the S-Flex at work today. Will spend a few weeks evaluating it but so far I am pleased. Output is very respectable and it is exactly as advertised: a small, lightweight headlamp that runs on 1xAA. I'll post my full impressions once I get a better feel for this thing.

Oh yes, and I'd like to note that the optics make for a very nice smooth beam. It is a round, soft circle of light very reminiscent of the Saint but without artifacts. Floody and almost uniform in brightness throughout the circle (there is a faint hotspot). In my opinion this should be a very pleasant beam for trailblazing and reading. I will be bringing this headlamp (and a few others) to the FCW-8 event next weekend where I hope to test it out more thoroughly.

Click to expand...

awesome! i had played with one a little bit at a local store and it looked really promising, but didn't get to fully test it out and was hesitant to pull the trigger until i could learn more about it. the apparent lack of any kind of waterproofing, the flat forehead pad, and the lack of reliable runtime info kind of concerned me. but everything else about it - single AA, flood beam, red secondary, super light weight - looked really nice. i'm looking forward to your review.

hey carrot. so, how did you like the S-Flex?

robostudent5000 said:

hey carrot. so, how did you like the S-Flex?

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Still playing with it. Not getting as much time as I need with it because I also recently got the Petzl Tikka XP2 CORE. Biggest annoyance for me is that you must always cycle through ALL of the modes every time you want to turn it off or reach a certain mode. I do really like the beam (it's like the Saint with a nice smooth flood but on the throwier side than an uncollimated beam) but find the max output lacking. Not that I need super high output all the time but occasionally you really, really want it... like right after you nearly step on a very angry rattlesnake while fetching water from a stream at dusk and every ounce of your body is pulsing with adrenaline. Right now I'm feeling for me that it's a great backup headlamp to the XP2 or EOS although that seems unfair because it IS bright enough for hiking at night and has an awesome beam for it.

how do you feel about the build? it's so extremely lightweight that i worry it won't survive rough use. when i played with one in-store, the case seemed almost delicate.

robostudent5000 said:

how do you feel about the build? it's so extremely lightweight that i worry it won't survive rough use. when i played with one in-store, the case seemed almost delicate.

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I still haven't played with it enough yet (still on the first battery) but so far my impressions of it are very positive. I do not think it is fragile, although I wouldn't try crushing it under my boots either.

i've been catching up on episodes of Expedition Impossible, and i noticed the show has a deal with Mammut and everyone is using Mammut gear, including the S-Flex. in the first episode, some competitors had to hike really rough terrain in the dark with them, and it looked like they had a hard time seeing where they were going. they did not seem happy.

I finally broke out the multimeter to use on the S-Flex. Here are my readings with a freshly charged eneloop:
off: .06mA
low: 76.5mA
high: 93.5mA
red: 69.3mA

As you can see, the power draws are really, really low, and should yield a pretty reasonable runtime: high should run for 20 hours and red for 32 hours. The headlamp is clearly not the brightest thing around but since it is so small and light I find it hard to not stash in my EDC bag or in my pack. Durability still seems good.

I wonder what does "water resistant" mean in Mammut terms, since I couldn't find any IPX rating. Perhaps the circuit board is protected with lacquer, as in some Petzl lights (e.g. Tikka XP gen1), and it's actually splashproof? I don't know if it is gasket-sealed.

Otherwise it's a nice little light well worth its price. Seems like I'll have to wait for the next batch to be shipped to my local distributor.

Cheers,

Tam

Update on Mammut Performance?

Hello Carrot,

I am seriously considering this light for winter backpacking in the Adirondacks. It's be cold, so Lithiums will be the battery of the day, but wondering how well this light performed while hiking or walking at night in very day areas? (they say you need less lumens when it's pitch black out as your eyes adjust *shrugs*)

I wanted the weight of a Zebrealight H501, but could not find a definitive answer on the 80 degree flood for hiking (I think I'd like beam pattern of H51 with spot and flood, but I didn't like the added weight of H51 and didn't want CR123a batts).

I'm not as worried about the headlamp being unregulated, so long as I keep a lithium in there:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/features/runtime_explained.htm

So how does it do while hiking at night? Thanks!

Re: Update on Mammut Performance?

Bster13 said:

Hello Carrot,

I am seriously considering this light for winter backpacking in the Adirondacks. It's be cold, so Lithiums will be the battery of the day, but wondering how well this light performed while hiking or walking at night in very day areas? (they say you need less lumens when it's pitch black out as your eyes adjust *shrugs*)

I wanted the weight of a Zebrealight H501, but could not find a definitive answer on the 80 degree flood for hiking (I think I'd like beam pattern of H51 with spot and flood, but I didn't like the added weight of H51 and didn't want CR123a batts).

I'm not as worried about the headlamp being unregulated, so long as I keep a lithium in there:
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/features/runtime_explained.htm

So how does it do while hiking at night? Thanks!

Click to expand...

I found it to have enough output to follow a well-marked trail but too little output to navigate on poorly-marked or overgrown trails. I don't know what it is like to hike in the Adirondacks.

Personally, I am not comfortable using it as my only light source because I feel that it is just a smidgen too low output. But you're asking amongst flashlight enthusiasts. If you are used to using something like a Photon Light it will be a massive improvement.

But again, often I plan even my day trips to run into the night because I find night hiking to be very enjoyable, and in situations where you are cold, tired and hungry and can't wait to get back to the car the higher output of something else is a real comfort.

Re: Update on Mammut Performance?

Thanks very much Carrot. ADKs are much like the Catskills. Well marked trail it will be. I ordered this light the other day, now I need to find the best deal on Lithium AAs.

Which Lithiums should I choose?

Based of Carrot's readings:

off: .06mA
low: 76.5mA
high: 93.5mA
red: 69.3mA

And this chart:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?278063-AA-Ragone-Plot

1.5v * 0.0935A = 0.14025W

Looks like the Energizer AA Advanced Lithium batteries, would run just as long as the Energizer AA Ultimate Lithium batteries when hiking the trails on High, no?


...basically the highest draw of this headlamp hardly registers on the Ragone plot, and thus I'd be wasting money to go with the more powerful Energizer AA Ultimate Lithium batteries when considering run time. Can someone check me on this (this is not my strong suit)? Anything I should consider about these two batteries in terms of run time when it gets cold?

For reference:
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l91.pdf
http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l92.pdf

Thanks for all the help, I appreciate it.http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l92.pdf