# headlamp recommendations



## calebra (May 29, 2010)

hello all, i am a bit at a loss here, that with all the latest LED technology available, the majority of headlamps i have seen in camping stores are built with 1st generation leds! from Petzl to black diamond to all the rest i couldnt find one that was worth $1. yes i could go for Lupine if i was wealthy, but is there anything as good out there for less?
btw i canceled my HP 10 order, its pie in the sky.

cheers

steve


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## TorchBoy (May 29, 2010)

There is exactly one sticky thread in this headlamps forum. Guess what it's about? New generation LED headlamps.


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## calebra (May 29, 2010)

TorchBoy said:


> There is exactly one sticky thread in this headlamps forum. Guess what it's about? New generation LED headlamps.


a wealth of information there, and if thats new generation we are in trouble deep. am looking for something that will give me 250 lumens minimum to say 700 maximum, or even 1200L from an xpg tri....57 L on high is just ridiculous!...


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## TorchBoy (May 29, 2010)

That's a worry, half-watt hasn't posted at all this year. Buy a Scurion if you want that many lumens.


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## calebra (May 29, 2010)

TorchBoy said:


> That's a worry, half-watt hasn't posted at all this year. Buy a Scurion if you want that many lumens.


cheers for that mate but for those dollars i can buy a lathe and build one myself, hmm, might just do that...:thumbsup:


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## ifor powell (May 29, 2010)

For cheap big lumens then the magicshine is your only option other than the DIY route.


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## TorchBoy (May 29, 2010)

calebra said:


> for those dollars i can buy a lathe and build one myself, hmm, might just do that...:thumbsup:


I'd love to see the results. I'm way too cheap to buy either a Scurion or a lathe myself.


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## TorchBoy (May 29, 2010)

I've just seen your slightly older WTB thread asking for offers for triple XP-G headlamps. I made my own recently (1000+ lumens) for about US$32 - no nicely lathed housing on that! I strongly recommend the DIY route.

However, I also saw a Magicshine last Tuesday and it looked quite nice, smaller than I expected, and reasonably bright.


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## calebra (May 29, 2010)

TorchBoy said:


> I've just seen your slightly older WTB thread asking for offers for triple XP-G headlamps. I made my own recently (1000+ lumens) for about US$32 - no nicely lathed housing on that! I strongly recommend the DIY route.
> 
> However, I also saw a Magicshine last Tuesday and it looked quite nice, smaller than I expected, and reasonably bright.


http://www.lux-rc.com/view.php?p=con...case/L30/order

this looks pretty good, have made contact with them, see what they have headlamp wise, and the pricing looks correct...:wave:


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## ahorton (May 29, 2010)

calebra said:


> ... am looking for something that will give me 250 lumens minimum to say 700 maximum, or even 1200L from an xpg tri....57 L on high is just ridiculous!...



What is your application?

I'm interested to know why you want the 700-1200 Lumens.

When I designed my headlamps I discovered that I couldn't carry a big enough battery to run that kind of output for long. In broad terms, you are looking at carrying at least one 18650 cell per hour of runtime for 700 lumens.

So I got around this by having only 400 (emitter) lumens in the flood (twin XP-Gs) and a separate 250 (emitter) lumens (XR-E with 30mm aspheric) for throw. This works on the fact that when I wanted lots of light, what I really wanted was to see far away. Within 20m, 400 lumens is heaps to see everything very clearly.


So what are you wanting all that flux for?
... and how long do you want to run it?


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## calebra (May 29, 2010)

ahorton said:


> What is your application?
> 
> I'm interested to know why you want the 700-1200 Lumens.
> 
> ...


what u say makes sense, 400 lumens is enough and i forgot the battery weight issue, what i need it for is hiking, rough (ish) terrain, where i may need both hands for support, 3 modes would be great as 400 lumens all the time isnt an absolute need...

also dont mind carrying spare batts in backpack...


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## ahorton (May 30, 2010)

calebra said:


> what u say makes sense, 400 lumens is enough and i forgot the battery weight issue, what i need it for is hiking, rough (ish) terrain, where i may need both hands for support, 3 modes would be great as 400 lumens all the time isnt an absolute need...
> 
> also dont mind carrying spare batts in backpack...




In that case, you may consider my headlamps which are for sale here.

at least to get an idea for what you can make yourself.

Compared to the stuff in shops, you'll almost certainly get a better light for cheaper if you make one yourself (as Torchboy has suggested).


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## calebra (May 30, 2010)

pm inbound, ready to deal :wave:


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## TorchBoy (May 30, 2010)

calebra said:


> http://www.lux-rc.com/view.php?p=con...case/L30/order
> 
> this looks pretty good, have made contact with them, see what they have headlamp wise, and the pricing looks correct...:wave:


Ah yes, I remember a thread where he was sorting out the datasheets. Pity he goes for the mystery navigation - "Showcase" then "Order" isn't the most conducive for finding the sales page.



ahorton said:


> In that case, you may consider my headlamps which are for sale here.


That is one _very_ nicely done headlamp. :twothumbs


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## calebra (May 30, 2010)

A quick thanks to ahorton for his help here and i am the proud new owner of the SPIKE. top notch work done here, folks, get off the fence on this one if ur on the market for a real headlamp, this one rocks!:wave:


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## ahorton (May 30, 2010)

calebra said:


> A quick thanks to ahorton for his help here and i am the proud new owner of the SPIKE. top notch work done here, folks, get off the fence on this one if ur on the market for a real headlamp, this one rocks!:wave:




Thanks calebra!

Nice to meet a flashaholic in my own town. I thought I was alone.

For those who are curious; I named it 'SPIKE' after the navigation term meaning something like 'to navigate to a checkpoint perfectly' or 'to find the checkpoint without making any mistakes'.


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## TorchBoy (May 30, 2010)

ahorton said:


> ... in my own town.


That is so cool!


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