# Anyone Used the Fenix Headband?



## NathanF (Sep 15, 2009)

Anyone have any experience using the Fenix headband, as seen here? http://www.fenixlight.com/viewnproduct.asp?id=38

I've got an L2D that would fit in it, but I'm a little concerned with how the alignment of the light and balance issues will play out versus a regular, center mounted headlamp.

Right now I'm looking for a bright (>=180 lumens) headlamp. I would have bought the new fenix HP10, but the fact that you can't run turbo mode for more than 3 minutes is a deal breaker. I figure my L2D in the above mount might do the trick.

Thoughts?


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## *Dusty* (Sep 15, 2009)

I've got one, I use an L1d on one side with the battery carrier on the other. 

It is very comfortable, and stable with the additional centre band on top, the only downside I can see is there could be a slight glare in your eye, but only if you aren't wearing a hat. you also get two holders for another light should you so wish.

Direction isn't an issue as it is easily adjustable


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## TooManyGizmos (Sep 15, 2009)

I use one and think it works very well.

Adjusts to light just what you're lookin at .


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## Afraid-of-the-dark (Sep 15, 2009)

Is anyone using a non-Fenix light in it? 

I'm wondering if an AA-MiniMag or my Surefire E1L etc would fit. 

If I put a light in each available loop would I officially be dorky?


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## AusKipper (Sep 15, 2009)

Nutnfancy had:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95VrEh4tmM

He seems to like it.


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## jblackwood (Sep 16, 2009)

I use my Nitecore D10 (w/o clip) in it. Fits better than my L1T (only Fenix AA I have).


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## MichaelW (Sep 16, 2009)

AusKipper said:


> Nutnfancy had:
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q95VrEh4tmM
> 
> He seems to like it.



I was going to suggest that Nutnfancy split a CRV3 so he would have a brighter turbo mode. But if you elect to 'just' use a L91, then it won't overheat.


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## GrnXnham (Sep 18, 2009)

I use one with an L2D in it.

If you wear glasses, you get some glare.

I don't feel I need anything on the other side for balance with an L2D.


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## gooseman (Oct 2, 2009)

I use it for trail running in several configurations: (1) one sided setup with either Fenix LD20 or EagleTac P100C2 (17670)







Notice I cut off the cylinders. It makes the setup a little simpler. The plastic is pretty gummy, so it never cracked each time I tried it (twice).

I also use it with lights on both sides. I may put a throwy (P100C2) one on one side, and a more floody light (LD20/PD30) on the other.

I really like the P100C2 because its bezel twists very easily to switch modes. You can easily do it with one hand. The Fenix, on the other hand, doesn't twist so easily between regular and turbo modes while in the head band.

I wish Fenix would make the following improvements (1) bring the clamp a little further in for better center of gravity and (2) let the clamp take slightly larger lights (like small 18650s ) and (3) make the section of the clamp that touches your head more ergonomic.

As Nutnfancy said, the adjustments can come loose on occasion. I recommend setting the main band to its loosest setting, put it on, and then tighten it after its on your head (this is very easy to do, because of the way the band is looped around the triglide). The band doesn't slip as much when under tension and it is against something (your head).

If you don't have a lot of hair where the light clamp touches your head, it can be a little annoying. I wear the headband over a do-wrap for comfort.

I highly recommend it, and still prefer it to almost any consumer-grade headlamp. Many lights you can use with this will blow away a regular consumer-grade headlamp.


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## gooseman (Oct 4, 2009)

I forgot to mention ... some lights which may seem like good candidates for the headband may not work so well in practice if they have shiny stainless steel bezels like the JetBeam Jet I Pro V3 (one of my favorite EDC lights) and some EagleTacs with SS bezels. My subjective observation was that the light has a tendency to reflect off the SS bezels to cause more peripheral vision issues. But its difficult to know for sure until you try it.


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## Bort (Oct 5, 2009)

I have one, and use two L1t lights in mine, and mostly on the low setting. I use it mainly working on hot rod stuff in the garage at night. It sure beats the old 5mm led headlamps.


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## daf3m (May 21, 2010)

I just received mine.A minor detail :Single CR123 bodies (like my PD20 Q5) have to be mounted by the their head and not their body .I suppose this also limits heat transfer to the air..Alternatively ,if somenone wats to use eitehr the red filter or a diffuser,you mount it by the tail cap ,but somehow, i don't "like" it..

I 've just found out that the o-rings have phosphorous(GITD) and i so excited because nothing similar is available around here..So i am gonna use them to my TK11!!super!!


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## Tunga (May 29, 2010)

I have a PD30 and I use the clip to hang a tritium light keyring on it so I can find the torch easily in my tent at night. Am I correct in thinking that I would need to remove the clip in order to use my PD30 with the Fenix headband


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## daf3m (May 30, 2010)

You can either remove it or mount it by it's head or tailcap.Of course there would a balance issue affecting mostly the sense on your head.


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## Tunga (Jun 9, 2010)

To those who have tried this headband, what would you think about putting a red filtered PD20 on one side, and a PD30 on the other side? Do you think would that be too heavy or imbalanced?


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## daf3m (Jun 9, 2010)

If you want to see(focus the beam) in front of you ,yes it becomes unbalanced .If you also have attached the battery storage (with batteries) ,then it becomes heavy .In my opinion it is better to use it over an engineers helmet .


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## Tunga (Jun 9, 2010)

daf3m said:


> If you want to see(focus the beam) in front of you ,yes it becomes unbalanced .


Is this still in reference to mounting them by the end so that the clip can be left attached? I realised I can thread my Tritium dongle onto the tailcap lanyard so I wouldn't need to do that, could mount them centrally as intended. I am more thinking about left vs right, would the weight difference be noticeable? And if I removed the PD30 then will it be heavy on one side? The torches are pretty light so maybe it'd be fine.

I guess what I'm really thinking is that I like the idea of this a lot but I'm not sure how natural it will feel in practise to have torches strapped to the side of my head!


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## daf3m (Jun 9, 2010)

If you want to see in front of you have to get them closer to the forehead.Consequently the overhead band loosens and everything gets unbalanced .It doesn't matter whether you attach the PD20 by its head or its tail .

Having only one flashlight(anyone) is not a problem at all .As long as it is away from the outer edge of your forehead.
The weirdest feeling is when you look at the mirror..!


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## Tunga (Jun 9, 2010)

Ah, I see what you mean now, you have to move the torch holder forward on the band so that it angles inwards slightly. Yeah that makes sense.

Thanks for the help  .


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## apontes (Jun 9, 2010)

Afraid-of-the-dark said:


> Is anyone using a non-Fenix light in it?



I use it with one or two Akorays 106. The MG L-Mini doesn't fit though, because of the larger diameter. Haven't tried the Quarks.




Afraid-of-the-dark said:


> If I put a light in each available loop would I officially be dorky?



Well, you could mount a laser on one side, a flashlight on the other and wear it with a Borg costume...


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## Telkwa (Jun 9, 2010)

We have two Fenix headbands. Both are running a Quark AA R5 on one side and a Fenix MC10 on the other. Total weight with batteries and all is almost 9 oz. Doesn't seem objectionable. I've experimented with nudging both light clamps forward along the horizontal band so that the beams meet out ahead, then pushed them further so that the beams crossed over each other. 

I didn't feel like the headband was becoming imbalanced or the top strap was trying to slide forward at all. I didn't have to move the flashlight clips very far to get the beams crossing. Everyone's heads are shaped differently, of course, but I did not experience what daf3m describes. Perhaps daf3m is talking about pushing them way forward so that you can illuminate something within arm's reach?


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## Tunga (Jun 9, 2010)

I will mostly be using it at campsites, we take groups teenagers on expedition weekends as part of their Duke of Edinburgh award so I end up wondering around in the evenings helping them with tents/cooking/etc. As such I would like something handsfree to use but the exact beam angle is not that important, I can live with the beam being slightly off centre if that's how it fits best. Hopefully can angle it in a little bit anyway.

Ordered the headband today, I will test with my PD30 R4 and if I like it then I'll grab a PD20 R2 or something to use with this permanently. Will be handy to be able to attach both as needed.


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## daf3m (Jun 9, 2010)

Telkwa said:


> Perhaps daf3m is talking about pushing them way forward so that you can illuminate something within arm's reach?


 

That is exactly what i meant! further more my head size is "S" (so it is my helmet).


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## Cataract (Jun 9, 2010)

I swear by my fenix headband for hiking. 
I wore it with just one or a combo of L2D, PD30, Quark AA^2, Quark RGB and even 2 flashlights along with the HP10 (triple area headlamp = you can se everything along the path with minimum lumens! You do have to tighten the top band every now and then with so much weight, though) 

Never had an issue with balance. 
The only issue I have is that because I wear glasses, I have to attach the flashlights closest possible to the end of the tailcap, so the light is coming out from the bezel even with or a little in front of my glasses. I've dropped just about any other headlamp, since this is the only one of two products that I can adjust in a way I don't get anoying glare in my glasses. Plus Nothing else offers so much configurability!

In short, I've never had any issue period, no matter how I've used it...


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## Tunga (Jun 11, 2010)

Recieved mine yesterday, haven't had a chance to try it out with my PD30 yet but I was messing around with the band. A few things I noticed:

I've seen a few people complain that the vertical band cannot be attached without a torch grip (or battery pack) on either side. This is simply not true. I've also seen people claim that they found a way to bodge it to attach without one of these. The band is clearly designed to be attached in this way (if you want to), it has a special clip at one end for exactly this purpose. Was very happy to see that anyway, will be good for running it with just one torch on.

The way that the adjustable part of the main strap is threaded is wrong in my opinion. The default setup makes it easy to tighten while you are wearing it but it also slips over time. It is trivial to rethread the band so that it stays tight and does not slip under any kind of tension, I can post a diagram if anyone is interested.

Anyway I am generally very happy with it, don't think the weight will be an issue at all with PD30 + PD20 for example. And I think it will be relatively easy to add/remove torches while wearing it which will be quite handy for me.

In theory you could attach one of the torch grips onto the vertical band and have a torch on the top of your head. You wouldn't be able to angle it down except by sliding the band forward so not very practical in situations with other people around. I will try it out for fun though  .

Edit: Made a little diagram in case anyone wants to try out the alternate threading. Basically just detach the end with three bars (the two bar cannot detach), fold it back on itself, and reattach there instead.


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## Telkwa (Jun 14, 2010)

Thanks for the clip re-threading diagram. You have a talent for thinking out of the box. It never occurred to me that you could indeed put one of the flashlight receivers on the top band!!


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## seanxxwang (Aug 20, 2013)

Tunga, if possible, could you please send me or re-post the diagram again, I recently ordered a Fenix headband and can't figure out what you mean about the alternative threading. Sorry for being dumb...


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## Outdoorsman5 (Sep 3, 2013)

seanxxwang said:


> Tunga, if possible, could you please send me or re-post the diagram again, I recently ordered a Fenix headband and can't figure out what you mean about the alternative threading. Sorry for being dumb...



Hello Seanxxwang, and welcome to CPF. You have posted a question in an old thread that hasn't had a post since 2010....don't worry, many of us including me have made this mistake more than a few times. It may be easier to getting your answer by contacting one of the Fenix dealers like FenixTactical.com. Their email address is [email protected].

Good Luck!


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