A step up in brightness from Aurora

Hi folks,

I've been evangalizing the use of headlamps for a number of uses, ever since I discovered how useful they are. I've been using the Aurora for a while, and am especially happy with the following features:

- Very light weight on my head
- Able to direct light via a hinge
- Multiple brightness levels

However, I've found over the past few months that there are a number of uses for which the Aurora's top brightness doesn't cut it for me. I'd like to move to a light that has all of the features above, but whose top brightness is a step up from the Aurora. I realize that probably means more LEDs, and a little more weight, and a little less runtime (if still powered by 3xAAA), but as long as it's just "a little", I'm good to go.

Among the candidates would be something like the Streamlight Septor. The head is on a hinge, 1/3/7 LEDS (I assume Septor on 7 LEDs is much brighter than Aurora on 3 high -- can anyone confirm?), 3AAA so it shouldn't be too much heavier. Is the Septor a good match? Any other candidates? Thanks!

How about the newer Petzls, like the Tikka Plus or Zipka Plus? They both have 4 LEDs each with variable light switching abilities. Both are very lightweight, hinged and run on 3AAAs. Difference is the Zipka has a retractable cord so it stores away very neatly while not usig the headband...

Ah, forgot about the Petzl plusses, thanks. I sometimes like to read with the headlamp so the Zipka doesn't work (big plastic knob digging into the back of my head), but I'll have to take a second look at the Tikka Plus.

Joe

I don't think the SL 7 LEDs are substantially brighter than the 3 LEDs from the Aurora. I have the Septor listed as 25/40/80 cd on my Web site, probably with the reflector removed as it is smoother then (major criteria for me is reading). This is close to the 21/46/93 measurements at flashlightreviews.com

Flashlightreviews.com lists the Aurora as 15/35/65

Remember, the surface illumination works at the inverse square so you have to quadruple the light output to provide the same brightness at twice the distance.

Did I mention I was blown away by the L4?

I'm also going to try to avoid buying any more non-lithium lights. I've had two more leak this summer...with batteries within date and not run down--but in the LA heat.

Cheers,

Richard

Yukon HL from Ptec. Iw Luxeon for high brightness and 3 x 5mm leds for low brightness.
Unfortunately it is a bit bigger than the Aurora.
Take a look at the Photn Fusion as well.

Streak is correct, 1w is the way to go. Wouldn't suggest the Yukon though. It has the battery pack in the rear which wouldn't be good for laying down and reading. I would suggest the Matrix 2 from Princeton tec. Should be available 1st week of Nov. It also has the 1w, but has the batteries in the front. You can reveiw it at PT's website:
Princeton Tec
Go to "What's New". It's the first one on the list.

Well, with the Matrix and Yukon, it looks like I can get the battery configuration I want, or the multiple light levels, but not both. Given that, I'd probably stick w/ multiple light levels. thanks for the pointers

Here's the link to the complete review I did a while back on the Septor vs the Aurora

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB3&Number=69613

Cheers,

Richard