One man's search for the ideal bushwalking headlamp and other lights

Hi

Well having lurked and asked and had answered a few questions time to add back to this great forum. I have a passion for bushwalking and like good gear, lights especially so have been trawling the web looking for options. I tend to use a shot gun approach and buy various things until I find something that works for me. That is a key phrase, "something that works for me". With bushwalking some people think a button battery lamp is all that is required while for me something dragged off a night fighting WW1 warship is more my style.:thumbsup:

Ok primary criteria are reliability, water resistance, simple controls, weight, depth and spread of beam, run time and comfort. Some of the above are compatible while others are contrary to each other. But that is to be expected as the best headlamp is the compromises that suit me. I left out cost as while I will haggle and bemoan price at the end of the day quality is long remembered after price is forgotten.

Ok starters are the old school lights that I have had for a few years.

Princeton-Tec Corona (3 x AA)
Princeton-Tec Quad (3 x AAA)
Princeton-Tec EOS (3 x AAA)
Princeton-Tec Apex Extreme (8 x AA)
Brunton 3W Luxeon L3 (4 x AA or 4 x C)
Kathmandu light (Category killer outdoor shop chain) (3 x AA)

New school starters (Just brought)

Zebralight 31 (1 x CR123A)
Zebralight H51 (1 x AA)
Black Diamond Storm (4 x AAA)
Surefire Saint (1 x CR1234A, 3 x CR123A, 2 x AA)
Spark ST5 XML (1 x AA, 1 x 14500)
Spark ST6 ST6-460NW (1 x 18650, 2 x CR123A)
ITP-01 (1 x AAA)

Other lights

Spark SL6-800CW (1 x 18650, 2 x CR123A)
Black Diamond Apollo (4 x AA)
Jetbeam Raptor RTT0 V5 (1 x CR123A, 1 AA)
Fenix LD01 72 Lumen model (1 x AAA)
Fenix LD01 77 Stainless steel model (1 x AAA) (brought two but one is a gift)
Leatherman S2 (1 x AAA)
Jetbeam 140 Lumen (1 x AA)

And of course battery chargers required.

1 x ANSMANN Energy 8 professional - battery charger /tester (had for few years)
1 x Maha Powerex C808M Ultimate Pro Charger (charge AA/AAA/C/D) (808)
1 x Maha Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne AA/AAA Battery Charger Analyzer (9000)
1 x ML-101 18650 USB charger
1 x Tenergy RCR123A two port charger for their 900 mAH cells, were four now three. Learning experience. Do not brawl with packaging when the floor is tiles!

As you might be able to guess I am looking for a primary and secondary light that can run on the same battery. Great to see that most lights can run on more than one cell type which makes life easier to achieve this. I am looking forward to the revised streamline AA option for the Saint that is been promised. Rather disappointed though that Jetbeam have not used the excellent controls and voltage regulation system from the RTT0 V5 in a headlamp. That would make for one very handy lamp that with a skilful battery box cover any battery type.

So we have the AAA, AA, CR123A and 18650 options covered. In earlier posts on different threads my preference is for a twin AA powered light but such a beast is not out their with the exception of the rather bulky battery pack on the Saint.

Now to nail the right combination for me.

Cheers

have you ordered/own all the "new school" starters? and if not, are you planning to?

robostudent5000 said:

have you ordered/own all the "new school" starters? and if not, are you planning to?

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Yeap just brought and turned up.

Ent said:

Yeap just brought and turned up.

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wow. that is extremely thorough (almost every possible battery type covered) and shows an impressive level of commitment to finding what you want.
i will be expecting a full report of the side by side by side by side by side by side by side comparison very soon.

robostudent5000 said:

wow. that is extremely thorough (almost every possible battery type covered) and shows an impressive level of commitment to finding what you want.
i will be expecting a full report of the side by side by side by side by side by side by side comparison very soon.

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That is the aim. To do justice it will be many walks Given the two Zebralights, Storm and ITP a test run on a two day, one night walk. Injury to fellow walker meant night walk was cancelled so more just camping type workout.

Cheers

I love my Jetbeam RRT-0. Are you a redditor by any chance?

aimxplode said:

Are you a redditor by any chance?

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You have me on that term? To quote one of Australia's less promising politicians, "please explain".

Cheers

Ent said:

You have me on that term? To quote one of Australia's less promising politicians, "please explain".

Cheers

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Hehe, Reddit is a site where users can submit and vote on interesting stories/ideas/articles. Your username 'ent' is referred alot within groups on that site, originating from a character from Lord of the Rings. Seeing your username, I just felt I had to ask if you were a Redditor .

aimxplode said:

Hehe, Reddit is a site where users can submit and vote on interesting stories/ideas/articles. Your username 'ent' is referred alot within groups on that site, originating from a character from Lord of the Rings. Seeing your username, I just felt I had to ask if you were a Redditor .

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No but I am a Lord of the Rings fan. Ents are my favourite creatures of that world. My height, size and dare a say long and rousing style of correspondence sort of fits the profile as well. Also Ent is generally one of the shortest user names so easy for me to remember. Given the success of the books I am surprised it does not feature more in users names so nice to come to site where it has not already been used.

Cheers

Um? Not what I am use to uploading images so I will be image-less.

Ok lets start with the old school that did not make the cut. The first been the Princeton Tec Apex Extreme. This was suppose to be the great light hope but crashed and burned for many reason.

1. The battery pack is not water proof.
2. The battery pack is eight cells of two parallel banks each with four cells in series but the contacts were unreliable with the bigger flat topped rechargeable so you never knew if one or two banks were working.
3. The main beam had an unpleasant tint and "sun spots" with a hole in the middle. Not a good light but the beam was a thrower.
4. The four LED had the same overly bluish tint and did not match well with the main beam.
5. Would start on high and then had to be cycled through all the modes.

The big issue was the mismatch between the main beam and four LEDs. I would lend it to people for night walks and they would find the main beam so bright and focused that they could not see the ground in front of them and if they looked at something close they were blinded and struggled even more to see their feet. They then tried the four LEDs and the light was just acceptable but they lost the distance to spot markers. It quickly became frustrating switching between the beams and after a while it wound up as been used as a massively over weight Quad.

Nice idea poorly executed. Not one of Princeton-Tec's finest design moments. Amazing that it is still been sold. Every kid loved the look as they felt like a serious search and rescue person. Actually the remote battery pack meant it sat well on the head so might have suited the smaller child's head. Very sexy light but failure in the bush.

Cheers

This is going to be an interesting read...

- Jas.

To post pics, you have to use an image hosting service - I use ImageShack (just out of habit - if others have better, please let me know). Just make sure the images are a max of 800 x 800 to conform with CPF rules.

You can also use Flickr or photobucket. I find photobucket easier to upload images with but I prefer Flickr because its more user friendly as far as sorting pictures.

Continuing with what did not work last time with the old school head lamps. This is the Bruntom one.

This is a 3 watt single beam heasdlamp. It has the advantage starting low and then going high along with the option to run on four AA or four C depending on the battery packs used. The AA is split into two doubles and despite the weight of the the four AA does as remarkable good job of spreading the load using a single head band strap. In fact the slim line battery pack concept would be a good one for any headlamp with remote battery pack to follow. The C battery pack is a clip on belt type.

It has a good beam clear of noticeable issue but tends strongly to the blue spectrum. In fact it matches very well with my Cygolite Cross beam so tends to do duty as a jerryrigged headlamp on my bicycle helmet.

The biggest issue is build quality or more accurately lack off. The C battery pack fell apart and the replacement stop working but a piece of copper in the bottom fixed the issue of a broken or loose bit. The double AA battery packs will implode and chuck batteries if bumped too hard. The connector is rather indifferent and sometimes works, sometime does not work. This has all happened under rather light use and never been out in the rain.

Also the single beam is not really suitable in spread to make a light that you can walk by. On the bike the Cross beams give the spread so you can use the Brunton on the helmet to pick up more distant objects to avoid.

In all very poor plastic means it is better suited to light duty. It is not a light I would like to subject to a winter rain storm. Sadly Brunton has lost the plot as once they were a wonderful brand name and I still carry as my most trusted item a USA made compass from them.

Cheers

Hi All

To break away from the headlamps themselves this post looks at the fuel sources for them. On an eight day walk using lithium AAs brought in Australia the bill was $100 for the twenty batteries consumed. Yeap, we get charged about five dollars a AA or AAA for that matter. So battery life and the use of rechargeables will play a big factor in the choice.

I must admit I am rather tempted by the CR123A battery factor as it offers very impressive lumen rating with small size and reasonable run time. The trouble in Australia is they cost anything from six to twenty dollars per battery while in the USA at around $1.20 to $1.60 per battery bulk bought. As mentioned AA and AAA lithium are very expensive as well. This means rechargeable options are worthwhile examining.

Battery testing for the non technical is not an exact science and I envy and respect those forum members with the equipment and willingness to do this. My approach is rather basic and naturally flawed but in a way reflects reality.

First on the CR123A issue. I brought 900 mAH Tenergy protected cells, 500 mAH AW unprotected ones (by accident), and 750 mAH protected cells. As the Surefire Saint is strongly against the use of rechargeables I was limited to using the Zebralight H31 as the test light. Curious are the result when run at 220 lumen.

Tenergy 900mAH gave thirty minutes
AW 500mAH gave thirty minutes
AW 750mAH gave forty five minutes.

Now you could argue that the protection on the Tenergy cells is cutting in early while the unprotected AW were at the mercy of the Zebralight protection system. Well the unprotected cells were not drained beyond their recharge point even if the warning blinking was ignored. Actually the AW cells are internally consistent with the 750mAH ones lasting half as long again. Tenergy ones were new cells as were the AW ones so I can say that Tenergy have a different mAH standard. Ok this shock is not a shock to harden holders of the light but is very disappointing to a newbie as it is not just Fleabay selling inflated mAH ratings.

Now running a Zebralight H31 on full is impressive but normally the second high of one hundred lumens is more than adequate. So rechargeables RCR123A from AW are a worthwhile choice around the camp providing that you have a backup light to change the battery. Assuming AW is not messing with mAH rating then a quality primary from say Panasonic USA should give double the run time so make a worthwhile light to use on the track for walking by. Just have to ensure a fresh battery if changing a battery on track not a good idea.

Cheers

Sorry for spilling the post but either Candlepower does not like Firefox or my connection is rather suspect, it is a 3G wireless broadband connection.

Anyway, now to the AA and AAA rechargeables. The advent of the the Maha battery chargers in my arsenal has given me the ability to confirm a few suspicions and trouble shoot issues. As frequently mentioned on this site, not all batteries are created equal. If their home is Japan then they generally perform better, especially if they carry Sanyo as the family name. If from China and have a name like Vatra then they might be reasonable but not fantastic. If they are from China and have a generic name then Junk (not in the form of a boat either) should be their name.

The break in cycle on the Maha charger is many hours as is the analyse mode so progress has been slow shifting through the various batteries I have. The eight cell Maha has been given a workout using the condition feature. It is worthwhile noting that more than a few Duracells of Japanese origin have been rejected by the four AA/AAA charger as gone high voltage and do not fully charge on the eight cell charger, These batteries have had a gentle life and only ever been charged as an individual on the ANNSMAN charger. The Energiser ones appear to be ok but I have not sufficiently played with them enough to confirm this.

Duracell is very annoying as they are an expensive brand and they were once sold as 2650 mAH but I notice that the same battery is now been sold as 2450 mAH. This suggests that Duracell had a re-think, forced or otherwise, about their claims. The Energisers have always been sold as claiming 2500 mAH.

The Maha MH-C9000 quickly identified the reason for very inconsistent run times with the Duracells in lights and GPS. The measured mAH was all over the shop as mAH ratings were anything from 1000 to 2300 mAH for the AAs. The MH-C808M would charge them but then when tested on the ANNSMAN charger/tester they would be anywhere from 50 to 100 percent charged. This was backed up by the run time in the Black Diamond Apollo with less than two hours to around four been achieved before the red warning light would come on. Testing the batteries would then reveal one to two rather dead cells and others with 30 to 60 percent charge. Also if left a couple of days some would drop from 100 percent to 50 percent or less indicating internal issues.

In other words, Duracells were a chook's lottery and not to be trusted in the bush. Vatra appeared as bad, if not worse. The Sanyos off all types gave a solid performance by comparison, and Energisers indicated at least consistent performance across cells.

All the batteries were of varying and unknown ages but I thinks the Duracells were the newest. Anyway, the good news is the break in mode on the MH-C9000 worked on most batteries to improve performance, in some cases dramatically.

As break-in mode is around thirty-six to forty-eight hours much more work is required to be definitive on results but personally I am very disappointed by Duracell and would avoid buying Chinese made batteries regardless of the well known brand name stuck on them. Also take stated mAH with a lot of salt.

Cheers

I really like my Sanyo Eneloops. I recognize the tradeoffs, and they may not be the highest-performing option out there. But, I am more than happy to trade a little performance for a lack of surprises. They do what I expect them to, and that's worth something to me.

Ted

tedh said:

I really like my Sanyo Eneloops. I recognize the tradeoffs, and they may not be the highest-performing option out there. But, I am more than happy to trade a little performance for a lack of surprises. They do what I expect them to, and that's worth something to me.

Ted

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I agree, especially when bushwalking and a few days in there is nothing worst than variability of performance. I would much rather know and trust so many hours out of a GPS/light than find some batteries last three walking days and then others barely half a day. That is one thing I am testing out and the Maha MH-C9000 charger is helping with. I am testing batteries using the Black Diamond Apollo and as it is a four AA light all it just takes is one bad cell to muck up run times.

I tend to nowadays use rechargeables, as as many I think I need, but carry a spare set of lithium primaries as backup as they are the lightest of all battery chemistry and most likely to work in all conditions.

One sad recurring theme at the moment with AA/AAA batteries is most are somewhat to significantly under their claimed mAH plus more than a few are near flat after a week. I have not put much effort into checking out the Eneloops batteries simply because they have worked well.

It is getting rather tiring the games battery labels play with country of origin and claimed mAH changing. I have a sneaking suspicion that with Energiser lithium primaries you get noticeable run time differences depending if they are made in China, Singapore, or the USA.

As for the deliberate confusion with "me to" brand names with similar names and colour scheme I wonder if legislative action should be considered and enforced. On Fleabay some claims are just ridiculous and when one seller was claiming one thing in the description and another in the specifications I fired off a complaint to Ebay. Yeap, nothing happened and the seller continued on their merry way. Ebay needs to think long and hard about practices or else face a strong back lash with legislative restrictions.

If I have learnt anything it is trust Sanyo Japanese rechargeables and be highly suspect of any other brands. Often the Sanyo batteries are the same price or cheaper than Duracell, Energiser, Vatra and a raft of other you beaut Chinese made batteries.

Have noticed though with Sanyo that the increase in storage life and cycles has come about with a loss in capacity. But then you have the high capacity ones which are reliable for a couple of weeks, so better suited to bush walking where fewer batteries carried is a good thing.

Cheers

Ent said:

That is one thing I am testing out and the Maha MH-C9000 charger is helping with. I am testing batteries using the Black Diamond Apollo and as it is a four AA light all it just takes is one bad cell to muck up run times.

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Why not use simply the discharge function of your c9000 (set to the appropriate mA rate) ? That way you know immediately exactly which battery is the weak link.

Hi Gregozedobe

Thanks for the tip. Still coming to terms with the little monster and using the break-in function to restore more life into rather slack cells. Actually that function appears to work very well. Finding though some cells are rather variable and while getting good mAH rating they go flat quite quick in storage. The ANNSMAN battery tester is also handy doing a quick spot check.


The idea is to get the batteries sorted and then push on looking at each headlamp. Next week will be a test in snow so be good to have batteries in good condition. I will be fascinated to see of the lithium ion ones handle the cold. Assuming we can get to the starting point and not strike closed roads.

Cheers

I really want to point out to you the Petzl CORE battery system for Tikka2 series headlamps. It is a li-ion system and can be programmed to adjust the output level to your tastes and runtime needs. You can carry a couple and swap them out easily, and if you should need to use primaries you can just pop out the CORE battery and pop in any type of 3xAAA batteries. It's a pretty good system and is treating me well so far.