Re: Recommended 18650 Zebralight & Armytek for backpacking? Which batts & charger?
Terjee thank you very much for that spreadsheet! Exactly what I was looking for to navigate all the Zebralight models. Did you throw that together or was it a community effort? Great work.
It's actually Zebralight official, linked straight off of the front page, with the big red "Compare all models"-button. For some reason a lot of people (myself included) seem to miss the big red button, and only notice the sheet after it's linked to here on CPF. ;-) I guess I've just discounted it assuming it would just link to a page showing all of them or something like that.
Do you know what the Mk IV H600 and H53 models will offer that the Mark III models don't? I can easily wait until mid-December.
The big thing with the new lights coming out is more configurability. With the old version, you have High, Mid and Low, can toggle between H1 and H2 for the High, similar for M1 and M2, and L1 and L2. You can also configure the second level (H2, M2 and L2), but the core fo the UI is fixed; Click will always give you one of the high-modes, holding the button down for a bit will always give you one of the low modes.
With the new lights coming out, you get more freedom in how you program them, so you could have single-click be low for example.
(This might all sounds a bit confusing, but blame that on my explanation, it's actually very intuitive in use. A bit less so with programming, but use feels very natural and intuitive).
There's also some changes in which LEDs are used, but this all depends on the models. The H600Fc for example, goes from 83-85 CRI and up to 93-95, lumens go from 800 to 1568, but tint-deviation also goes from 2 to 3 step (not good).
Personally I don't really feel I need more than 800 lumens from a headlamp, so the major factors for me would be CRI, tint and UI.
The spreadsheet has all the details so you can compare the models pretty efficiently.
Are there any tradeoffs for the higher CRI "C" headlamps compared with the neutral "W" models? Appreciate your thoughts on my questions 1-5 above especially on how the C models differ from the W models aside from CRI.
As a rule of thumb with C vs W, C has higher CRI, tends to be a bit warmer (4000k vs. 4500k) and tighter tint-variation, but W tends to offer a bit more lumens. The H600Fc is currently listed as offering more lumens than the H600Fw, but people have been wondering if that's a mistake in the spreadsheet.
As a cross country skier and winter backpacker I know Norwegians really know their night ski headlamps!
Haha, yeah. While I tend to stay indoors during winter, night-time in mountains does bring a certain level of motivation to have quality lights. There's been quite a few time where things would have turned serious quite fast if I didn't have lights, but they saved the day. Darkness coming early during the winter-half of the year adds to this. A lot also try to not just bring what you need for when things go well, but also what you'd need if they don't. IE: If you expect to be home an hour or two before sunset, definitively bring 2 lights pr. person. ;-)
Anyway, I'm no expect (yet?), as I've (so far) stayed clear of common brands like Pretzl and Nitecore for headlamps, so you'll find people here more experienced than me with those.
And the questions above:
1) I'll check the spreadsheet terjee posted below, but in general, is there a tradeoff in lumens or runtime for higher CRI? So for example, would the higher CRI H53C trade lumens or runtime for the better color rendition? Is there any downside to higher CRI headlamps?
You often loose some lumens when you go from W to C, and that's the primary tradeoff. Some also like the 4500k temperature more than 4000k temperature.
While there are exceptions, it seems to me that there is a clear tendency that the more experienced people are, they'll:
- Care less about lumens as long as it's enough (The C usually offers more than enough, so the even more of the W-series isn't an issue).
- Care more about high CRI
- Prefer warmer lights
Or put differently; Newer people tend to prefer W, more experienced tend to prefer C, but that doesn't always make the C better. Each is just picking according to their own preference, and what's right for them at that point in time.
I think my preferences are somewhat typical of those that's been into lights for a while, I prefer the C-type for almost all my uses, but there's an exception for day-time. I almost always use my lights in the dark of night, at home, during travel or in the woods, but if I'm looking into a deep hole in the middle of a clear and sunny day, I would prefer the look of a cooler light. That happens so rarely though, that I'm usually not making purchase decisions based on it.
2) How does the beam pattern on the H53C compare with the beam pattern of the H53W? For hiking, backpacking and running I like a beam pattern with a stronger center hot spot for distance with a flood all around it.
3) How does the beam pattern on the High CRI H600Fc differ from the standard CRI H600w and H600Fw? Is there any tradeoff in lumens or runtime on the H600Fc?
There's definitively people here better able to answer this than I am.
In general though, I'd expect the C vs W to be comparable, I don't think an average user would notice a huge difference without a side-by-side comparison. Better if someone more else fills in the details I think, all of our ZL headlamps are the floody ones.
For the F vs. non-F though, I'd really like to show you this:
http://www.fonarik.org.ua/products_thumb/Zebra_compare_H600Fw-H600w_mk2.jpg
Not my shot, but it illustrates the difference quite well, although maybe a bit exaggerated by the whiteout.
Largely a personal preference, but if at all in doubt, I'd say get the F-version for a headlamp. It'll help avoid "bouncy ball"-effect when running, give better peripheral vision, work better indoors, and in general be a better solution for almost all use-cases (personal opinion though!). If I need something to throw far (inspect path ahead and so on), then I'd much rather use a handheld flashlight as a side-thing.
Often tradeoffs are "A works better for this, B works better for that" and so on, but for headlamp I feel F really is better for almost *my* whole range of uses, from indoors to woody to more open areas.
4) I thought of the Eneloop Pro only because Zebralight tested run times for the H53W with the Pros and in general I want the best performance possible for a headlamp that I regularly use in the outdoors, and for short trips generally carry a spare AA. Before the Eneloops, I would use Energizer Lithium and still would use Energizer Lithium in very cold conditions. Do the Eneloop Pros offer cold weather performance close to Energizer Lithiums?
According to data sheets and marketing material, I'd say that it approaches that of the L91 lithiums, but doesn't quite match it. Check out this for example, and search for temperature:
http://www.panasonic-eneloop.eu/pdf/99152100_ENG_eneloopCat_2015_LR.pdf
Also this:
http://www.produktinfo.conrad.com/d...en-PANASONIC_MIGNON_AKKU_ENELOOP_PRO__4ER.PDF
Experiences people have shared go a bit either way.
I'd definitively trust Eneloops over Alkaleaks in cold weather, and also over other NiMHs. I'd be fine going out on a cold day with Eneloops in a light, but I'd also definitively bring L91 backup batteries.
Cold weather is somewhat special though, since "everything" can suddenly become harder, especially if it's really cold. Want to actually change to the L91 backups? Can be surprisingly hard if the battery cap is frozen stuck, and your fingers are freezing cold.
Could be an idea to have a backup-light with L91 already in perhaps, or have the backup light in an inner pocket, so it's kept above freezing.
5) Anyone have runtime stats on the H53W on regular AA Eneloop compared to the Eneloop Pro?
Not that I'm aware of, but you can find a pretty good approximation using HKJs battery comparison:
http://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Common18650comparator.php
If you find the battery drain that most closely resembles what you see with the Pro for the level you're interested in, and then compare with the "regular" eneloops, it should give you a pretty decent idea of what to expect.
Personally I tend to always go with 18650 for my primary lights, both headlamp and flashlight. I haven't had any major problems with temperature, but Bergen is a bit warmer than the rest of Norway. It's worth noting that the VTC5A are rated for usage down to -20C for discharge:
http://www.accushop.at/images/products_images/apdf/Sony_US18650VTC5A.pdf
I would expect the performance to be less than at "room temperature" though, but at the same time, at higher output levels, there's a significant amount of heating going on as well.
Please do keep in mind that a bunch of this is influenced by personal preferences, although I do think I'm fairly typical. There's still the issue that I clearly prefer Fc-versions for headlamps for example, while someone else might strongly prefer non-F and colder LEDs.
