BIG Maine Rain/Wind storm! Four hundred thousand households were without power!

Hi all,

I'm a (fairly long time) member of CPF but new to the Headlamps page. Maine was hit by a MAJOR Storm on Oct. 30th. 2017 and (along with nearly HALF the Households in the State of Maine) my Electrical power was knocked out at 4:30 a.m. Monday morning and only restored yesterday Friday late afternoon Nov. 3rd. 2017. Man, what a week! At any rate,
I must report that (of all the Flashlights I own) the TWO most useful flashlights for my situation was the LUMINTOP TOOL AAA, a FANTASTIC little (and VERY handy) performer. LOVE it! I presently own three Lumintop Tool's and plan on purchasing several more TOOLS just to keep in different draws/Cars/Coat pockets etc. The second light that proved to be VERY handy was a "cheapie" (older model ?) "Energizer" LED Headlamp (which I believe I purchase at a Thrift Shop). While not a powerhouse by any means, this very comfortable/lightweight "Energizer" Headlamp proved very useful moving about a darken large house. Heck, I even used both the Headlamp AND the TOOL at the same time when needed. All this being said,
I am seeking suggestions for a better quality Headlamp that would have more useful modes i.e. "low to high" and if possible a RED LED as well. Prior to this Maine storm, I had been researching different Headlamps looking at the likes of fancy Fenix, Nitecore, Zebralight etc. However, after my experience of being without power for five nights, I believe a COMFORTABLE/LIGHTWEIGHT Headlamp will be more to my liking. Now, while the little cheapie "Energizer" Headlamp did the trick, I do not want to rely on a Headlamp using "coin" batteries. I'm thinking.....perhaps a unit that uses either AA (or 14500) or AAA batteries would be the best bet ? I thank you in advance for any help/suggestions/recommendations you may offer.

SixCats! in Maine

Nitecore HC90 headlamp is my favorite.

I do not own them myself (yet ), but you should check out the Manker E02H (AAA size) and E03H (AA size), they might fit your needs.

Thanks guys, I will check em out!

SixCats!

No headlamp suggestions but as a fellow electricity deprived mainer I found a large floody light that tailstands was very usefull. An old maglite saw a lot of duty as a room lighter for me.

Hi Gt,

Glad you made it through that crazy storm! I had the top section of a 30 foot Birch Tree snap off and nearly creamed my old Camry! Missed by inches! A floody light is good! On the whole, I got through this event ok. Living in the (semi) Sticks however, I have a Well and no electric means NO running Water! I need to re think the purchase of the Bison Pump. That being said, I HIGHLY recommend you purchase a lil' Lumintop Tool AAA. As far as a new Headlamp, I'm giving a hard look at the BLACK DIAMOND SPOT. No doubt a good light for the money and appears perfect for my needs. Of course this now means I'll be buying a bunch of different Headlamp types.....AA, AAA, CR123, 18650's combos etc. It never ends!

SixCats!

Red light only preserves night vision if it's deep red/660nm or above and so dim that you can't see that it's red; nearly all red LED lights are red-orange/~630nm and very visibly red. Look to Rigel Systems astronomy lights for 660nm super dimmable flashlights (with the caveat that using non-white light to complete any task that requires color recognition is essentially impossible,) short of that the one upside of regular red lights is that bugs can't see it and so aren't drawn to it.

Seconding the recommendation for a tail standing light, especially one that is warm-tinted; no better power outage light than the cozy and comforting glow of a warm-tinted emitter..

For emergency around the house applications I would recommend a floody Zebralight AA headlamp e.g. the Zebralight H53Fw, paired with an eneloop AA to for a decent shelf life without breaking the bank. Only 56g with battery installed, can tail stand, comes with a headband and a sturdy pocket clip, has more than enough max output (320 lumens) for general purpose lighting, and it can do 0.3 lumen for over a month (0.01 lumens for 3+ months but not exactly practical), if you really need to preserve that battery life. The only downside for you is the lack of a red LED. You can always up the ante and go for a 18650 version, but without electricity, you are on your own when those 18650 are out of juice.

So get both, you know you need 'em

Ummmmm........


SixCats!

I would go for a Zebralight H53F series if you want AA powered. It has a frosted lens with nice floody output, is very light, has great output and runtimes, and offers many different outputs to chose from. They make two versions: Neutral White H53Fw(4500K) and High CRI Neutral White H53c(4000K).

I have owned and tried many different brands of headlamps and Zebralight is definitely my favorite by a large margin. I think you will be very happy with it if you get one.

I have the zebralight H52fw and H600fc.

the H600fc has much better color temperature, CRI and a more floody beam, since this is 18650 powered I use this for outside the house for longer runtime. I plan on getting the new H600fc mk 4 for the hopefully even better runtime and tint.

The H52fw is for inside the house use (usually to read in bed)

Thanks guys for the suggestions. As I mentioned in my thread, I KNOW I will (like I did with LED Flashlights) be buying several Headlamps in the future.
Since I now own sooooo many Flashlights (everything from AAA to AA to CR123 to 14500 to 18650 and of course the old "D" cell Mag lights) I'm thinking (for INDOOR use)
the BLACK DIAMOND SPOT will be just what the Doctor ordered! That being said, I KNOW I'm also going to want a SERIOUS HEAVY DUTY (if you will) Headlamp in the future as well.
I've always wanted a Zebralight and this may just be the excuse I need to justify it's purchase. However, I will still have to again compare the Zebralight with the Fenix and the Nitecore and ?

tech25, does the Zebralight using 18650's also run on CR123's ? For the most part, ANY (expensive) Flashlight/Headlamp I consider purchasing MUST run on more than one Cell type.
Also (CPF members) : what are your thoughts regarding rechargeable battery in Headlamps ? Sounds like a cool idea but.....another thing that might go wrong ? Thanks.


SixCats!

SixCats! said:

what are your thoughts regarding rechargeable battery in Headlamps ? Sounds like a cool idea but.....another thing that might go wrong ? Thanks.

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For actual power outages, I prefer alkaline/primary use and a stock of them to draw from; trying to keep track of which rechargeable cells are charged or empty, how to charge cells, which devices have rechargeables in them is time and mental-process consuming when you need to figure out how to keep the heat source going and what's for dinner and etc - skip all that, pop out the dead battery and pop a new one in from the pile, on to the next task.

StarHalo said:

For actual power outages, I prefer alkaline/primary use and a stock of them to draw from; trying to keep track of which rechargeable cells are charged or empty, how to charge cells, which devices have rechargeables in them is time and mental-process consuming when you need to figure out how to keep the heat source going and what's for dinner and etc - skip all that, pop out the dead battery and pop a new one in from the pile, on to the next task.

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That is why I like the Lights that can take different Power Sources.
At the moment I am into lights that can take 14500 LiIon, 14500 LiFePo, AA NiMh, AA Lithium and AA Alkaline cells. Same for 10440 and AAA or 18500 and triple AAA.
With those I know: If it is the right shape and size my light will run with it
To a lesser degree I try to buy 18650 lights that can run on 2x CR123A or 18350/16340 lights that can take a single CR123A instead.

Just borrowed my daughters H53Fc to weight it. Came in at 46 grams with L91, and 62 with Eneloop Pro. Quite light weight, and Zebralights ace the low-to-high.

The 18650 ones do NOT want CR123As. Personally that's never really bothered me, since 18650 is the most common fuel for us. You can get quality cells cheaply, so keeping a bit of a stock isn't that much of an issue, and beyond that they're easy to recharge, with lots of chargers running off of USB or 12V, that gives you options like power banks, cars, solar, generators, and so on.

Especially given the excellent runtimes on Zebras, it's easy to last a looong time with 18650s, and then it's still possible to fall back on AA lights with L91, Eneloops and so on.

I used to want dual CR123A and 18650 for most of my lights, but after having run the numbers a few times, and the pile having grown, I'm not too worries anymore.

I'm just mentioning it since you mention having a good selection of flashlight, so it wouldn't surprise me if you also have a good selection of 18650s, or a good reason to get it.

I do have an inventory of CR123As and more than a few lights that will take them, but AA L91 offers significantly longer storage, the AA lights can be used with Eneloops giving long term storage for rechargeables as well, and 18650s will keep usable energy for at least half a year, probably 12-18 months or more.

Makes sense to me to focus new purchases around 18650 and AA (L91 and LSD NiMH).

Not at all trying to claim my way is the one true path here, just sharing my reasoning for moving focus away from CR123A, in case some of it makes sense.

I'll still keep them in stock, just no longer making it a priority for new lights, especially not if it's at expense of anything else (like low lows).

Hi terjee,

Darn it. I wish the Zebralight 18650 model would also take CR123's as well. That being said, I do indeed own two Flashlights that use 18650's : The KLARUS XT-11 and the KLARUS XT2C. Of course the KLARUS's will also take (2X)CR123's. At any rate, this does not mean I wouldn't consider the 18650 model Zebralight as I plan to purchase more 18650 cells. After the recent Maine Storm (and loose of power for five days and nights) not only am I looking for new Headlamps, but, I'm also researching likes of a 18650 LANTERN such as a FENIX CL-25R (one cell) and/or the FENIX CL-30R (three cell) model. Both models use 18650's. I also own a NITECORE Charger for charging my 18650's (and 14500's use in my FENIX LD-11) which sadly is no longer made. The LD-11 is one of my favorite small one cell lights that (unlike the new model) does NOT have that damn SIDE switch. This much for sure I can say......I use the brightest modes for VERY brief time periods. Loooooong run time on low (or Moonlight mode) is waaaay more important to me.

Don't forget the battery powered radio..

I remember some one posted his experience of stuffing a CR123 in his 18650 ZL along with a dummy cell and it works. Don't recommend it though.

Hey StarHalo!

Oooh God, I must have at least EIGHT battery operated Radios (and a hand cranked BayGen) that I completely forgot I had stored away lol.

Of all the radios I own, one ONE could (just barely) pull in "AM" Station (I live in the Semi Sticks). I was lucky to be able to at least listen to the last two games of the World Series. Besides looking at new Headlights and Lanterns (and 55 GALLON Water barrels) I'm going to purchase [h=1]Sangean FM-Stereo RBDS/AM Digital Tuning Portable Stereo Radio (Black) PR-D5[/h]which is designed to pull in "AM" Stations from afar! My other Radios are mostly AM/FM/SW Radio Shack, Sony small portable. It was the little (older) SANGEAN AM/FM Radio that did the trick and allowed the Wife and I to listen to the World Series! No doubt I'm going to spend a bit of money for all the items I want/need but, after going a week without power (having to deal with the Wife) I want to be damn sure if/when the power goes out again, we will be in better shape! Truthfully, I would of considered it a VACATION if during this past Power outage, I were on my own. Uggggh.

SixCats!

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SixCats! said:

I'm going to purchase Sangean FM-Stereo RBDS/AM Digital Tuning Portable Stereo Radio (Black) PR-D5

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Be aware that digitally tuned and stereo design radios require significantly more power than analog tuned/"needle and dial" and mono units; if you need big-gun signal pulling but want it to go easy on batteries, look to the CCrane CCRadio-EP, which is slightly cheaper than the Sangean and with slightly better performance, but with no active digital tuning circuit and only one speaker you get considerably more runtime. See the review here. (The internally-updated "PRO" variant pictured below will be released next year.)