ZebraLight H600(w) XM-L 750 Lm

OK, on this "floppiness" issue with the heavier ZebraLight headlamps...

Unfortunately, yes -- the H600 is certainly a bit to the floppy side when worn with the standard ZL headband and silicon holder....at least, when left with the headband running through the silicon holder loops only one time. Since I don't have before-and after photos of what I did with the H600 headband, I probably need to show a couple of photos for the H501 headband, then what I think is a good solution to solve most of the floppiness of the H600. It's not that I want to exaggerate the flopping effect, but I suppose if you're jogging or doing a lot of rapid head movements you're going to notice it, and I realize from comments I've read this the flopping is a significant issue for some.

Here's a standard headband setup from ZebraLight (H501, in this case), run through the silicon holder slots only one time, as received from the manufacturer.




Here's one for the H501 with the headband doubled back through the holder slots one more time to help add to the comfort level of the silicon holder against the forehead. A side benefit (or maybe a primary benefit) of this extra loop is that it also holds the headlamp more firmly. I'm having trouble remembering who first suggested this routing, but it wasn't me. I just followed the suggestion of another forum member with the rerouting.




But here's what I did with the H600 headband routing by running it through the holder slots one more time. This adds a significant amount of support to the lamp and holder and greatly reduces any flopping of the headlamp. The only problem is that it doesn't leave a lot of room for adjustment with the headband. It still fits me comfortably, but just slightly to the snug side. However, it reduces flopping so much that it's worth considering...depending, I suppose, on the wearer's head size. Again, for me this is not uncomfortably tight -- just snug...and it makes a huge difference with the stability of the lamp.

Bolster said:

But we wants white wall shots, doesn't we?

Click to expand...

I wish I had some white walls. Maybe I can borrow my neighbor's house. :p

Or maybe I could set up to do some ceiling shots...but I bet other members are going to be posting all kinds of wall shots in the next day or two.

I can tell you that on the high setting this thing really lights things up for a headlamp (indoors or out). My only other ZebraLight headlamp is an H501, so you an imagine the difference I'm seeing.

Does anyone have any pics of the H600 in the palm of your hand? I'm trying to see how big it actually is for EDC...

OK, here are a few more relative size pics.

Disclaimer: hand size may vary from user to user... :p

^^
Thanks for the pics!
Really helps get an idea of the size- especially the last one.

Thanks for the great pics varuscelli! Just what I was looking for. I really like the SC600, but would prefer the slimmer form factor of the H600. Thanks again for the pics.

You're welcome, guys.

As another little bit of comparative info, if you want weights with batteries, here's what I get on my scale:

H600 with AW 2200 battery, 80 grams
SC600 with AW 2200 battery, 128 grams

The SC600 without battery weighs almost exactly what the H600 weighs with battery.

varuscelli said:

You're welcome, guys.

As another little bit of comparative info, if you want weights with batteries, here's what I get on my scale:

H600 with AW 2200 battery, 80 grams
SC600 with AW 2200 battery, 128 grams

The SC600 without battery weighs almost exactly what the H600 weighs with battery.

Click to expand...

Wow...I didn't think it would be that much of a difference. Another dent in the wallet...

varuscelli said:

H600 with AW 2200 battery, 80 grams
SC600 with AW 2200 battery, 128 grams

The SC600 without battery weighs almost exactly what the H600 weighs with battery.

Click to expand...

With the light weight of the H600, when it's run in Turbo mode (750 lumens) there's a lot of heat that builds up after a couple of minutes.

The body on this lamp (especially the head) gets hotter than anything else I own. If there were room for it anywhere, I'm sure a "Hot Surface" warning would be justified.

If the lamp is worn as a standard headlamp in it's holder, you probably won't sense the heat at all (I don't).

But when tail standing the H600 (and running it in Turbo mode), if you pick it up in the 2 to 3 minute range, I think most folks would be hard pressed to hold it by the head or with parts of the fingers touching the head. The farther away from the head you hold the lamp, the less hot it is, so holding it with a bit of space between your fingers and the head becomes the obvious sensible thing to do if using the lamp on Turbo and using your hands to pick it up or hold it (your fingers will tell you so).

Once the H600 cuts back to a lower level (after 3 minutes), the temperature slowly drops to a less uncomfortable level...until it eventually drops to only "very warm" and then only warm.

I have to venture a guess that perhaps the high temperatures might be a reason no pocket clip was included. Of course, lots of people would want to use a pocket clip just to secure the lamp in a pocket, and that would certainly make a clip desirable. But if you secured the H600 in a pocket and turned it on Turbo, you might be putting the proverbial "hot foot" effect on yourself -- on your chest or thigh or whatever pocket you clipped it to when it was turned on. But I'm just speculating as to why a clip might not have been included. Of course, the clips might be ready later just as they were with the SC600. Who knows at this point?

varuscelli said:

With the light weight of the H600, when it's run in Turbo mode (750 lumens) there's a lot of heat that builds up after a couple of minutes.

The body on this lamp (especially the head) gets hotter than anything else I own. If there were room for it anywhere, I'm sure a "Hot Surface" warning would be justified.

Click to expand...

Note that if running the H600 at the 420 lumen setting (High/H1) rather than starting with the 720 lumen High/H1 setting, heat buildup is negligible -- the lamp barely gets warm.

It's in Turbo mode where the lamp get hot (not just warm but hot), and the cool-down period after Turbo mode from having a hot lamp to only a warm lamp takes a few minutes after dropping from H1 720 lumens (Turbo) to H1 420 lumens. That is, if you start in Turbo and wait for the lamp to drop to 420 lumens, it tends to hold the heat for a while. If you start at the 420 lumen level, you don't really notice the heat at all.

If you take a look at the silicon holder for the H600, it sure looks like ZebraLight had some kind of plan for a top strap for the headband. Would there be another explanation for the slot at the top of the holder? I've got only the H501w holder for comparison (and it doesn't have one), so I don't know if any of the others have this slot.

I have several and none of em have that slot at the top. Looks like they were thinking top strap with that design, but then scrapped it.

Yeah, that's what I suspect, too. But I wonder why they would have dropped the idea? I have to think it was either that it wasn't working out well or they ran out of time to implement it. My bet is that the top strap couldn't be made tight enough (and still be comfortably wearable) to ease the bouncing/flopping of the lamp. I think they'd have to use heavier headband material all around for these heavier lamps.

I'd be happy of someone made an aftermarket hard plastic holder with a hinged front closure for quick access.
With a wider base to prevent twisting of the headband and rubber backing maybe.

Seems u could make em with a 3d printer prolly. ...

Yeah, that seems like a great idea. Maybe something along the lines of the flashlight holders used on the Fenix headband but a bit less bulky and perhaps more "quick release" design -- and with rubber backing as you suggest. And if something like that were done, it would foreseeably be able to be attached to your headband of choice.

Mine arrived today.
First impressions were how much smaller it is than my SC600, both physically smaller and lighter.

Not been out with the light yet, but in the house comparison shows it to have a little less throw than the SC600 and slightly more flood.


As has already been said the headband is disgraceful.
Although the soft rubber mount is comfortable on the forehead even walking around the house it moves a LOT.

I have a headband i've been using with my SC600 that is a LOT more secure, but unfortunately as it's a hard plastic it's find on the side of the head (SC600) but is very uncomfortable on the front.

Fortunately the battery tube is a LOT bigger than my first revision SC600, it accepts both my 3100mAh cells although the Redilast 3100mAh is VERY tight length wise, to the point were i ended up using the unprotected cell as i'm concerned about crushing the spring and/or cell top.

Another thing i noticed is the thread on the tube/cap interface are extremely rough on my example.
Compared to my SC600 they have a very grainy feel when tightening and loosening it.


For first impressions though so far so good.

Which is good as i'd previously sworn not to buy another ZL.
I was very annoyed at ZL for dumping their first generation SC600's on all of us, that had faith in them and sent them our money months before they released it.
How do they show their appreciation?
By giving us a torch that doesn't accept 80% of current cells :mad:



Cheers
Mark

kwak said:

Another thing i noticed is the thread on the tube/cap interface are extremely rough on my example.
Compared to my SC600 they have a very grainy feel when tightening and loosening it.

Click to expand...

It's a good idea to clean and lube the threads when you get a new light. Not all need it, but I know the first ZebraLight I got (an H501w) really benefited from cleaning/lubing right off the bat (it made a huge difference with mine). If threading the tailcap on gives you a sensation of grittiness, the sooner you do this the better. I use Super Lube (inexpensive and effective), but there's a whole thread dedicated to flashlight lubricants and greases (if you haven't seen it yet). You might already know all this, so sorry if I'm repeating known information.

Comprehensive Grease and Lube Thread

varuscelli said:

Yeah, that's what I suspect, too. But I wonder why they would have dropped the idea? I have to think it was either that it wasn't working out well or they ran out of time to implement it. My bet is that the top strap couldn't be made tight enough (and still be comfortably wearable) to ease the bouncing/flopping of the lamp. I think they'd have to use heavier headband material all around for these heavier lamps.

Click to expand...

I dont really like topstraps but for those who do this slot is really nice. Interesting though, that they didn`t include a removeable one.

I think a good Headband for the Zebras should contain the following features:

• A quickrelease-type holder (i like a clip but it could also be some kind of clamp
• A plastik base where the clip is mounted to for better stability
• perhaps a bit stronger elastics for the heavier lights but thats optional
• for the lighter lights some mechanism like the Petzl Zipka has would be awesome

kwak said:

As has already been said the headband is disgraceful.
Although the soft rubber mount is comfortable on the forehead even walking around the house it moves a LOT.

Click to expand...

really? what if you tighten to where it's not so comfortable? would there be less movement?
have you tried wearing slightly angled on your head?(the headlamp a bit on the top and front of the head)

movement in just walking would be a disaster..

varuscelli said:

It's a good idea to clean and lube the threads when you get a new light. Not all need it, but I know the first ZebraLight I got (an H501w) really benefited from cleaning/lubing right off the bat (it made a huge difference with mine). If threading the tailcap on gives you a sensation of grittiness, the sooner you do this the better. I use Super Lube (inexpensive and effective), but there's a whole thread dedicated to flashlight lubricants and greases (if you haven't seen it yet). You might already know all this, so sorry if I'm repeating known information.

Comprehensive Grease and Lube Thread

Click to expand...

Always a useful guide, thanks for your help :thumbsup:

As you say i did clean up the threads and there was some lube there from the factory, it just seemed very gritty.

I've tried several batteries in it tonight and with removing and refitting the cap the threads have gone a lot smoother.
Odd though as if the SC600 was like that i can't remember it being bad enough that i noticed.

f22shift said:

really? what if you tighten to where it's not so comfortable? would there be less movement?
have you tried wearing slightly angled on your head?(the headlamp a bit on the top and front of the head)

movement in just walking would be a disaster..

Click to expand...

Problem is i only have the use of 1 arm, so getting a tight head band on my head tends to be a bit of a comedy affair involving teeth, nose and elbows :D

It is better tighter, but IMO it only becomes stable when tightened to the point of being uncomfortable.

It is a tough call though, as my other head band has been very stable even with my much heavier TK21.
The SC600 is very stable on that head band to the point where the kids are running and jumping with it on without any problems.

As i say though because my current head band uses a stiffer plastic with a larger mount, it's fine on the side of the head but it's not too comfortable when worn at the front.

The ZL band is very comfortable but not as supportive.
Tough call.

Snapped some pics of my H600 compared to my SC600 and how little difference there is in the internal dimensions but it makes a LOT of difference.
I will point out though my SC600 is a first generation version, the later ones do have a slightly bigger internal diameter battery tube.





Size comparison



Internal diameters of the battery tubes.







Cheers
Mark