Anchorage Daily News LED article...

Here's an interesting article from the Anchorage Daily News about LEDs & Headlamps. It's almost more of a review of a Black Diamond H/L, however some general LED info was included so I posted it here. Mods feel free to move to Reviews if you think it's more appropriate there:

New Hyperbright headlamp lights up Alaska nights
LED: Light emitting diode good for slow skiing and running.

By CRAIG MEDRED
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: December 7, 2003)
Seventy to 100 feet ahead on the trail, the Labrador retriever named Hoss stopped at the sound of his name and turned to look back.

His eyes, caught in the beam of the headlamp, lit up like a pair of sapphires in the dark. The message they sent back was simple: Technology is a wonderful thing.

The light that lit those Labrador eyes was coming from a HyperBright LED (light emitting diode) in Black Diamond's new Zenix headlamp. LED headlamps first hit the market a few years back. They had two big advantages over conventional headlamps and one even bigger drawback....

Click here for full article...

He said that no LED can match a 10-15 watt incandescent!? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twakfl.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/whoopin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rant.gif
My MR-X can!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

Hello Rick,

Good article.

So, have you checked it out yet? What do you think?

Tom

Hey there Tom...haven't seen ya around in awhile. Have I checked out "what" yet? The Black Diamond? I recently scored a Princeton Tec Yukon HL on eBay for $40 (well ok, had to add $7 shipping (still cheaper than MSRP), but still haven't received it yet.

I've got several Petzl Tikkas, and a couple PT Auroras. They are nice, but I wanted one with a little more throw as well as a closer "flood" capability. I also wanted to stay away from incandescent. The Yukon HL should provide that, but when I saw this article (which isn't totally correct - point noted, but hey a non-flashaholic wrote it) I thought maybe I should have spent more time in REI checking them out!

You must use a headlamp in your sort of work, eh? What are your thoughts? BTW, there was another article about some guys that are doing your sort of work up here...I'll see if I can retrieve it and send it to you.

Black Diamond could have done better if they designed it with AAs, and had Lithium AAs in mind, as well as Alks and rechargables. The article is honest enough: 10 - 15 watt incandescant bulb. No LED can do that good, yet. Decent heatsinking, and the Alaskan cold will handle heat dissipation just fine.

Yep I agree on the Lithiums. The Black Diamond weighs in at half of the Yukon HL (if 4 oz. is a concern to someone), but the Yukon HL seems to have a longer runtime "published" with the brighter LED - but shorter with the 5mm LEDs. I can see a shorter runtime with 3 vs 2 5mm LEDS. PT says there's is a Luxeon Star, but what is Black Diamond's "Hyperbright"?

I was comparing them at our sponsor e-headlamps site.

Black Diamond's "Hyperbright" is a 1W LS. Couldn't be anything else. Also looks like the optics is a standard NX-01.

Hello Rick,

I just picked up a Matrix 2. On a recent camp out we had a chance to check it out.

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=400685&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=14&fpart=1

The side emitter is a little different, but it works well. I believe the Yukon HL is similar. I always take battery run time with a grain of salt, but I think even with low batteries it will out shine the Tikka.

I wonder if the Black Diamond is a side emitter?

Tom