Reading headlamp

Needed
Reading headlamp to be used seated and lying on my back.

Tikka plus. Flood beam, no battery pack on the back of your head. No overhead strap either. Plus, you get long runtimes and can use nimh cells.

Try to see if this one will work for you:
http://www.amondotech.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=867

An independend review is at
http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/led-duet_hlx-513aa.htm

Regards,
Wayne

Readily available energizer headbeam isn't a bad inexpensive light.

Been using the one from CMG and it works fine without blinding you from brighter light bounce back, however I've been on the outlook for something new.

Tikka Plus as suggested, or even the Zipka Plus would be great. They're both small and handy, and very bright too, I might add. I use my Pelican Headsup 3 Leds for reading now that its place has been taken over by my EOS.

for reading, I like

flood light
batteries in head unit (no rear battery pack)
light weight
comfy strap(s)
tilting head

what fits the bill? for me: pt aurora, petzl tikka plus. i also like to use common nimh rechargeables for my reading light, so that rules out other lw lights like the ion and scout. go with aurora or tikka plus and i don't think you'll be disappointed. avoid narrow beam lights like the pt eos. i would not use the zipka or similar lights due to the hard plastic piece at the rear of the head. nice to lean back on a pillow or other support without a hard lump digging into your head. Also, the zipka lacks a tilt feature to adjust the beam up or down.

I've used a PT Aurora for a couple of years now and it works fine. Stay away from anything that doesn't have a flood beam. Even the PT has a bit more hotspot than I'd like for reading, but it's still a good choice.

REI outlet.com has the PT Matrix on clearance for $20.00. I use mine for reading in bed as well as getting up for not stepping on the dog on the way to the bathroom.

The leds are less blue than other headlamps I've seen.

I have both a Tikka (3 LED, not the Plus or TacTikka) and also an Aurora. While I like them both as reading lights I tend to favor the Aurora, but to be honest, I can't figure out why.

Outdoors, I like the Tikka if only for the reason that I have a set of colored filters for it (for night vision preservation and avoiding insects).

[ QUOTE ]
chumley said:
REI outlet.com has the PT Matrix on clearance for $20.00. I use mine for reading in bed as well as getting up for not stepping on the dog on the way to the bathroom.

The leds are less blue than other headlamps I've seen.

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. My PT Matrix (original style, Solo form factor, with 3 LEDs) had very bluish LEDs, and is terribly dim for the size/weight. I'd reccomend a Zipka Plus or Aurora, as they have many times the brightness of the Matrix. Several places currently have the Matrix 2 on closeout. It's a 1 watt Luxeon LED in the same old school PT Solo form factor. It's a nice light, my favorite for nighttime trail hiking, but it's a focused beam, and has only one brightess, so it's not the greatest for reading in a tent at night. Good luck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif

The innova 24/7 works pretty well too.

A little odd looking, but it has nice lighting and all sorts of options for lighting choices.

J

I use the PT Aurora on a nightly basis. I use it on medium setting and it is just about perfect. Very light, runs on AAAs and inexpensive. The beam pattern is floody but not too bright to disturb my wife, yet it makes reading books easy. I use it even when I have the light on because it focuses light better on the page and eliminates shadows.

I just put a energizer 4aa led folding light on my chest. Cheap, less than 4.00 at office depot.

If you have a BigLots they have the LED folding lanterns for $2.99

Ditto for the Energizer 2 led - 4AA light.