carrot
Flashaholic
I caved not too long ago and bought a Zebralight on the recommendations of others here.
(Caved, as in gave in, not going caving, in this case.)
I thought that the mass consensus had to be right: they were right about many of the other lights I have purchased on recommendation.
I got an H31Fw. I specifically picked it because people crowed about how good the neutral white tint was for the outdoors, because I love flood, and because I expected to be using it in all manner of weather conditions, including extreme cold.
It is not going to be seeing any of these.
This past year I have been fortunate enough to be graced with the company of many people who share my enthusiasm for what I might deem "extreme outdoors appreciation." We're talking 20 mile day hikes on rugged terrain, often with at least a few of those miles by artificial light alone, not even my more technical pursuits of mountain biking and rock climbing.
This has meant that headlamps have become an even more important part of my kit. I have been testing all manner of headlamps from the high end to the low end. Often, I will have to lend out one or more headlamps out to my hiking group, as though they are already prepared in many other ways, including emergency gear and extra clothing, they are still Unenlightened. It also fortunately means that I get to see a lot of headlamps in action, and that I get to evaluate them on a long-use basis, which is often difficult to orchestrate otherwise.
All of the headlamps that I have used from traditional headlamp manufacturers (mostly of the 3xAAA style) pass with flying colors. Unfortunately, the Zebralight H31Fw does not, and I am very disappointed, as I had high hopes for it, being both lightweight and powerful.
Here is why:
Headlamps are often used for quite lengthy periods of time, as it is natural for the user to simply forget that the illumination so conveniently provided is emitted by an electronic device on his head, as well as simply being needed for such lengths.
As such, the Zebralight H31Fw does not offer sufficient runtime, as rated on the official website. 0.9 hours or 2 hours on high is simply unacceptable. Its greatest feature, high output, is also its greatest downside! Now, of course this can be mitigated by simply using it on medium, for 12 or 23 hours. Unfortunately, there is no way to make medium the default output level, as a single click (the easiest action) immediately goes to high, and the way to access the lower modes (long click or double click) requires far more dexterity of cold fingers.
This incredibly low runtime or poor UI decision (depending on your point of view) would be pretty much quite acceptable if not for the worse side of it: there are no low battery indicators, and if the battery is low enough the light won't even turn on, even if it was working minutes before!
This has happened twice now to me in actual use, and is pretty much repeatable with every low battery I have in my used cells bin.
Let me relate to you my most recent dayhike this weekend, a leisurely 15 mile hike that ran for several hours after dusk. We are wearing headlamps and we reach the top of a mountain, a nice bald peak with low trees and a great clear view of the sky. We drop our packs, grab some snacks, and turn off our headlamps to enjoy the beautiful night sky, to observe the light pollution from the city, and to save battery power.
At this point, my Zebralight H31Fw had been running on medium (M1/37lm) for a couple of hours and seemed to have no sign of stopping, still putting out ample light. I shut it off to save battery power and enjoy the cool dark night.
A few moments later, we finish our snacks and decide it's time to move on. She clicks on her Tikka 2 (a loaner) and I click on my H31Fw. Nothing happens. I click it again. More nothing. And again. Nothing.
At this point, I realize what has happened. The battery has fallen in voltage, either by cold weather or by usage, below the headlamp's regulator circuit's necessary startup voltage. The startup voltage, like in many smarter or regulated lights, is higher than the necessary voltage to keep the light running. Effectively it means the battery is dead, as far as the headlamp is concerned.
At this point, I am frustrated. I assumed that I'd have enough runtime to finish this hike safely because there was no sign of low battery. I stow the Zebralight.
Luckily, I have a second headlamp in my pack, my new Black Diamond Spot that I have been testing. I click it on. The battery meter blinks red, indicating that it is very low on batteries. I'd been using it a lot the past few weeks, walking around the house as well as adventures on the weekends. It's dim, dimmer than the Tikka 2 on a used but still relatively new set of batteries, but thanks to the throwy lens setup it's enough that I can continue to lead the way back to the trailhead. We sling our packs and go.
I count the batteries in my head mentally. I still have two spare AAs for my GPS. I still have four CR123s for my Surefire L1 and Zebralight H31Fw. I still have my rechargeable Petzl Tikka XP2 CORE and three spare AAAs for that (or the BD Spot, or the Tikka2). But changing batteries is an extra hassle I'd rather avoid.
Which brings me to my last problem. Changing batteries. On the Zebralight it is a hassle, perhaps even a liability to change batteries. You don't want to get any water inside, right? So you have to stop what you're doing, fumble around in the dark to find your spare batteries, and then fumble around some more to put a new battery in and screw the cap on. Hold on a second! Where'd you put the cap? The cap's gone! You've dropped it in a stream, off a cliff, down the trail. The battery cap is too easy to lose because it is not attached!
Normally this is not a big issue for me. Pretty much every flashlight has a detachable battery cap. The Surefire Saint Minimus has a detachable battery cap. This is just nitpicking right? Wrong. That's the last problem, and it compounds on the other two, which combined, make the Zebralight totally unsuitable for my needs. In other words, the last straw.
On all other headlamps I have used, you are given ample warning that your battery is going to die. How this situation is presented to you ranges from the cleverly minimal to the incredibly complex. Some simply dim down when the batteries run dry. Others have power indicators. Some do both!
This is actually the most important feature of a headlamp: being given the opportunity to milk the batteries as long as possible, until YOU are ready to replace them, not until the headlamp is ready (read: can't turn on) to replace them. This lets you get done safely with whatever you were doing and swap the batteries at the most opportune time for you to do so.
It is incredibly important for some uses of a headlamp that you not be forced to replace the batteries at any given point. You should be able to do it at your convenience. That means you don't need to change your headlamp's batteries when you are up to your chest in water. You don't need to change your batteries when you are hanging on a cliff face (climbers hate to be forced down in the middle of a climb!). You don't need to change your batteries when you are cold and tired and your fingers are numb because you've been hiking in the cold, wet, dark weather for the past few hours.
I do concede that the Zebralight is lightweight, powerful, well-made, and aesthetically pleasing with a fairly intuitive user interface. However, the above problems combined are too much for me to overlook.
A few notes on other qualms:
In my experience thus far, the neutral white tint does not give me anything special for hiking. Yes, it is nicer to look at things with it. No, it doesn't help me see the trail better, or obstacles I encounter, or even noticeably add contrast to the world around me. Hi CRI, on the other hand, as tested with the HDS EDC Hi-CRI P4, does make a difference, a notable one in fact. My fault for not waiting for the H31c to come out. Do I recommend a "w" model? Maybe. Things do look better, but only up close, like, in my hands close. At any distance, I could hardly tell the difference between neutral-white and cool-white LEDs. I still felt like I was "walking on the moon."
The flood is lovely for seeing the trail directly ahead of your feet, and beautiful for reading maps. However, there is simply not enough throw with the frosted glass to see trail markers and blazes ahead of you, nor enough to get a good sense of your surroundings. My fault for picking an H**F model. Do I recommend an F model? Yes, but not for hiking blazed or wooded trails where the path ahead may be non-obvious.
The silicone holder feels weird on my head. I don't like to wear the Zebralight without a hat under it. With the hat, however, I could care less how weird the silicone holder is.
For these, YMMV. Under the conditions I used my lights in, this was my direct observation.
One last note that is guaranteed to come up in response:
"You should use rechargeables so that you are always guaranteed a minimum runtime from the start." -- I will try them as soon as I can find some of my RCR123s. They seem to have all grown legs and disappeared. It still doesn't fully mitigate the problems.
"You should use the AA version" -- No. I always use my Eneloops in mated pairs and as for primaries, the temptation is too great to use alkalines over the much more expensive lithiums. And everyone knows that alkalines are the #1 source of grief amongst new flashaholics.
TL;DR:
My H31Fw has four problems, of which each alone would not be cause for major concern, but combined, cause serve to make the light unsuitable for my needs.
These concerns are:
- Runtime (on the default setting) is way too low
- No low battery warnings
- Startup voltage of circuit is too high: light can be running fine and will not turn back on if turned off
- Battery cap is not tethered or otherwise permanently attached
PS:
As some solace to Zebralight lovers, I will no longer complain about past quality control or reliability issues as perceived or reported, since I cannot say the same from experience.
PPS:
To Zebralight, if you are listening: If you correct my top three issues, I'll buy more headlamps from you. Seriously, no grudge here. If they are taken care of, an H31c would shoot to the top of my favorite headlamps list pretty quickly.
(Caved, as in gave in, not going caving, in this case.)
I thought that the mass consensus had to be right: they were right about many of the other lights I have purchased on recommendation.
I got an H31Fw. I specifically picked it because people crowed about how good the neutral white tint was for the outdoors, because I love flood, and because I expected to be using it in all manner of weather conditions, including extreme cold.
It is not going to be seeing any of these.
This past year I have been fortunate enough to be graced with the company of many people who share my enthusiasm for what I might deem "extreme outdoors appreciation." We're talking 20 mile day hikes on rugged terrain, often with at least a few of those miles by artificial light alone, not even my more technical pursuits of mountain biking and rock climbing.
This has meant that headlamps have become an even more important part of my kit. I have been testing all manner of headlamps from the high end to the low end. Often, I will have to lend out one or more headlamps out to my hiking group, as though they are already prepared in many other ways, including emergency gear and extra clothing, they are still Unenlightened. It also fortunately means that I get to see a lot of headlamps in action, and that I get to evaluate them on a long-use basis, which is often difficult to orchestrate otherwise.
All of the headlamps that I have used from traditional headlamp manufacturers (mostly of the 3xAAA style) pass with flying colors. Unfortunately, the Zebralight H31Fw does not, and I am very disappointed, as I had high hopes for it, being both lightweight and powerful.
Here is why:
Headlamps are often used for quite lengthy periods of time, as it is natural for the user to simply forget that the illumination so conveniently provided is emitted by an electronic device on his head, as well as simply being needed for such lengths.
As such, the Zebralight H31Fw does not offer sufficient runtime, as rated on the official website. 0.9 hours or 2 hours on high is simply unacceptable. Its greatest feature, high output, is also its greatest downside! Now, of course this can be mitigated by simply using it on medium, for 12 or 23 hours. Unfortunately, there is no way to make medium the default output level, as a single click (the easiest action) immediately goes to high, and the way to access the lower modes (long click or double click) requires far more dexterity of cold fingers.
This incredibly low runtime or poor UI decision (depending on your point of view) would be pretty much quite acceptable if not for the worse side of it: there are no low battery indicators, and if the battery is low enough the light won't even turn on, even if it was working minutes before!
This has happened twice now to me in actual use, and is pretty much repeatable with every low battery I have in my used cells bin.
Let me relate to you my most recent dayhike this weekend, a leisurely 15 mile hike that ran for several hours after dusk. We are wearing headlamps and we reach the top of a mountain, a nice bald peak with low trees and a great clear view of the sky. We drop our packs, grab some snacks, and turn off our headlamps to enjoy the beautiful night sky, to observe the light pollution from the city, and to save battery power.
At this point, my Zebralight H31Fw had been running on medium (M1/37lm) for a couple of hours and seemed to have no sign of stopping, still putting out ample light. I shut it off to save battery power and enjoy the cool dark night.
A few moments later, we finish our snacks and decide it's time to move on. She clicks on her Tikka 2 (a loaner) and I click on my H31Fw. Nothing happens. I click it again. More nothing. And again. Nothing.
At this point, I realize what has happened. The battery has fallen in voltage, either by cold weather or by usage, below the headlamp's regulator circuit's necessary startup voltage. The startup voltage, like in many smarter or regulated lights, is higher than the necessary voltage to keep the light running. Effectively it means the battery is dead, as far as the headlamp is concerned.
At this point, I am frustrated. I assumed that I'd have enough runtime to finish this hike safely because there was no sign of low battery. I stow the Zebralight.
Luckily, I have a second headlamp in my pack, my new Black Diamond Spot that I have been testing. I click it on. The battery meter blinks red, indicating that it is very low on batteries. I'd been using it a lot the past few weeks, walking around the house as well as adventures on the weekends. It's dim, dimmer than the Tikka 2 on a used but still relatively new set of batteries, but thanks to the throwy lens setup it's enough that I can continue to lead the way back to the trailhead. We sling our packs and go.
I count the batteries in my head mentally. I still have two spare AAs for my GPS. I still have four CR123s for my Surefire L1 and Zebralight H31Fw. I still have my rechargeable Petzl Tikka XP2 CORE and three spare AAAs for that (or the BD Spot, or the Tikka2). But changing batteries is an extra hassle I'd rather avoid.
Which brings me to my last problem. Changing batteries. On the Zebralight it is a hassle, perhaps even a liability to change batteries. You don't want to get any water inside, right? So you have to stop what you're doing, fumble around in the dark to find your spare batteries, and then fumble around some more to put a new battery in and screw the cap on. Hold on a second! Where'd you put the cap? The cap's gone! You've dropped it in a stream, off a cliff, down the trail. The battery cap is too easy to lose because it is not attached!
Normally this is not a big issue for me. Pretty much every flashlight has a detachable battery cap. The Surefire Saint Minimus has a detachable battery cap. This is just nitpicking right? Wrong. That's the last problem, and it compounds on the other two, which combined, make the Zebralight totally unsuitable for my needs. In other words, the last straw.
On all other headlamps I have used, you are given ample warning that your battery is going to die. How this situation is presented to you ranges from the cleverly minimal to the incredibly complex. Some simply dim down when the batteries run dry. Others have power indicators. Some do both!
This is actually the most important feature of a headlamp: being given the opportunity to milk the batteries as long as possible, until YOU are ready to replace them, not until the headlamp is ready (read: can't turn on) to replace them. This lets you get done safely with whatever you were doing and swap the batteries at the most opportune time for you to do so.
It is incredibly important for some uses of a headlamp that you not be forced to replace the batteries at any given point. You should be able to do it at your convenience. That means you don't need to change your headlamp's batteries when you are up to your chest in water. You don't need to change your batteries when you are hanging on a cliff face (climbers hate to be forced down in the middle of a climb!). You don't need to change your batteries when you are cold and tired and your fingers are numb because you've been hiking in the cold, wet, dark weather for the past few hours.
I do concede that the Zebralight is lightweight, powerful, well-made, and aesthetically pleasing with a fairly intuitive user interface. However, the above problems combined are too much for me to overlook.
A few notes on other qualms:
In my experience thus far, the neutral white tint does not give me anything special for hiking. Yes, it is nicer to look at things with it. No, it doesn't help me see the trail better, or obstacles I encounter, or even noticeably add contrast to the world around me. Hi CRI, on the other hand, as tested with the HDS EDC Hi-CRI P4, does make a difference, a notable one in fact. My fault for not waiting for the H31c to come out. Do I recommend a "w" model? Maybe. Things do look better, but only up close, like, in my hands close. At any distance, I could hardly tell the difference between neutral-white and cool-white LEDs. I still felt like I was "walking on the moon."
The flood is lovely for seeing the trail directly ahead of your feet, and beautiful for reading maps. However, there is simply not enough throw with the frosted glass to see trail markers and blazes ahead of you, nor enough to get a good sense of your surroundings. My fault for picking an H**F model. Do I recommend an F model? Yes, but not for hiking blazed or wooded trails where the path ahead may be non-obvious.
The silicone holder feels weird on my head. I don't like to wear the Zebralight without a hat under it. With the hat, however, I could care less how weird the silicone holder is.
For these, YMMV. Under the conditions I used my lights in, this was my direct observation.
One last note that is guaranteed to come up in response:
"You should use rechargeables so that you are always guaranteed a minimum runtime from the start." -- I will try them as soon as I can find some of my RCR123s. They seem to have all grown legs and disappeared. It still doesn't fully mitigate the problems.
"You should use the AA version" -- No. I always use my Eneloops in mated pairs and as for primaries, the temptation is too great to use alkalines over the much more expensive lithiums. And everyone knows that alkalines are the #1 source of grief amongst new flashaholics.
TL;DR:
My H31Fw has four problems, of which each alone would not be cause for major concern, but combined, cause serve to make the light unsuitable for my needs.
These concerns are:
- Runtime (on the default setting) is way too low
- No low battery warnings
- Startup voltage of circuit is too high: light can be running fine and will not turn back on if turned off
- Battery cap is not tethered or otherwise permanently attached
PS:
As some solace to Zebralight lovers, I will no longer complain about past quality control or reliability issues as perceived or reported, since I cannot say the same from experience.
PPS:
To Zebralight, if you are listening: If you correct my top three issues, I'll buy more headlamps from you. Seriously, no grudge here. If they are taken care of, an H31c would shoot to the top of my favorite headlamps list pretty quickly.
Last edited:
