Cheap Chinese headlamp vs Zebralight

What makes a Zebra light better than a head lamp like this:

there is one pic with the hand pushing the button. makes the light look bigger than a coffee can.

cant compare, never ran that brand. but I love my zebra.

I showed a guy at a place I worked at my Wowtac A2S headlamp and instead of him buying one like mine he ordered one similar in design to that one with the 3 LEDs in separate housings. My Wowtac blew it away in output and useful light even though it had 3 LEDs I'm thinking they were chinese clones not Cree LEDs and not driven anywhere near hard enough to get more than about 300 lumens or so out of the main one plus they are optical lenses on the one I saw making for the focused ball of light instead of a more of a flood with a hot spot in it.
I don't have a Zebralight but know it is higher quality than my Wowtac and I believe one model has an output of about twice what mine does about 1700 lumens? My advice on a headlamp is NOT to buy any headlamp that you haven't read a good review of in a flashlight forum not on amazon or other sales site. Zebralights are IMO way too expensive to invest in and use like a toy but worth it for those who can afford them. My $30 headlamp does 900 lumens which for me is plenty and cost is low enough that I am not afraid to use it all the time instead of paying 75 dollars and up for a Zebralight.

In other words without a review of Chinese made products you can get snookered as they exaggerate on output, runtime, and quality of components. The Chinese clone LEDs are decent for what you pay for them but if you want more than a budget cheapo light you have to make sure that they have quality drivers, LEDs, and construction otherwise you pay $20 for a headlamp that barely does better than a 3AAA cheapo in the local stores.

waloshin said:

What makes a Zebra light better than a head lamp like this: Link removed...... Bill

Click to expand...

Is this a trick question? You have been here for years, you must have read some reviews .

In short......everything

Driver with programmable UI, LED choices(real ones not fakes), build quality, efficiency,anodising,potted, light weight....everything. Who would want that fugly son of a.....on their head. With some cheap junk battery......no thanks!

For a good value (cheap) lamp, check out the skilhunt H03. Little searching , can be found for $25 ish, hard to beat for that amount . Available in CW and NW, similar UI in ways to zebra although not as refined.

Hah! Looks like he got a bite...

Pay $30 for something that may last 2 weeks, or $75 for a light that puts out better light quality, has better user interface, much more compact design, virtually guaranteed to be significantly more durable and reliable, and a warranty that really means something.
I would go for the ZL. I wouldn't be caught dead with that goofy looking thing on my head.

Thanks everyone for the responsed. My friend did purchase that Chinese one so I was curious to how it compares. If you guys want I could create a video showing the beam of it.

+1.
ZL.

InvisibleFrodo said:

Pay $30 for something that may last 2 weeks, or $75 for a light that puts out better light quality, has better user interface, much more compact design, virtually guaranteed to be significantly more durable and reliable, and a warranty that really means something.
I would go for the ZL. I wouldn't be caught dead with that goofy looking thing on my head.

Click to expand...

waloshin said:

Thanks everyone for the responsed. If you guys want I could create a video showing the beam of it.

Click to expand...

No thanks. Thread closed.

Bill