# Energizer Hard Case Professional Headlight 100 Lumens?



## tron1974 (Dec 31, 2007)

I was looking around the energizer site and saw this headlamp. I have not seen it locally or in the forums. 100 lumens with 3 AA batteries?

I also can't find any other information about the light.





Link to hard case pro headlamp


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## Lit Up (Jan 1, 2008)

Sweet. I wonder how weather resistant it is.


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## adirondackdestroyer (Jan 1, 2008)

Does that use a Cree? If it does than I NEED one!


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## dw51 (Jan 1, 2008)

It's kind of funny. I was just looking at this as well at the Energizer site and was going to post the exact same question. I hope someone can fill us in on this light.


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## TorchBoy (Jan 1, 2008)

"Pipe inspection"?


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## TorchBoy (Jan 1, 2008)

adirondackdestroyer said:


> Does that use a Cree? If it does than I NEED one!


Probably a "Powerful 3 watt LED by Lumileds" like others in the range. :ironic:


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## swxb12 (Jan 1, 2008)

Looks good :thumbsup:

I think Lowe's carries a 2xAAA "Hard Case" light with a Cree, so this could be another Cree for sure.

No blue LED? woohoo. Like an improved Rayovac 1xAA, though lacking a diffuser...so not really? We'll have to see a beamshot. I hope it's decent.

I think this could retire my RR K2 (aka Costco Rayovac).


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## PhantomPhoton (Jan 1, 2008)

Hmmm looks like 3xAA. Not bad. I wonder how easy it is to access the LED. I really don't know what the use of the green LED is. If any resident plumber would like to let us know what pipe inspection would have to do with anything please let us know.  I'd likely replace the Green with a good white floody 5mm LED. Or maybe a low wavelength UV if the job called for it. Having reds pre-installed, it would be easy to replace them with IR or Amber if those suit one's needs better. Good potential IMO. It all depends on if we can get good access to the leads to do some soldering.
I wonder if the battery pack is in the front or the back. 3 AAs up front would be kinda hefty.


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## TorchBoy (Jan 1, 2008)

If those red LEDs are for night vision, wouldn't it make more sense to have just one? If they put out so much light that... oh, never mind. They probably just have two in series because they can, thanks to the lower forward voltage.


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## Monocrom (Jan 1, 2008)

Lit Up said:


> Sweet. I wonder how weather resistant it is.


 
An Energizer headlamp?.... Generally zero water-resistance is often a safe bet with those.


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## TMorita (Jan 1, 2008)

Monocrom said:


> An Energizer headlamp?.... Generally zero water-resistance is often a safe bet with those.


 
This is in the Hard Case professional series, not the regular series.

I have the 2D Hard Case flashlight, and the 4D Hard Case lantern, and they both use O-rings in the right places, so this one is likely to be water-resistant too.

If it's built as sturdy as the rest of the series, it should be pretty good.
Does anyone know if there's a rear battery pack or not?

Toshi


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## Monocrom (Jan 1, 2008)

TMorita said:


> This is in the Hard Case professional series, not the regular series.
> 
> I have the 2D Hard Case flashlight, and the 4D Hard Case lantern, and they both use O-rings in the right places, so this one is likely to be water-resistant too.
> 
> Toshi


 
That's a good point you brought up. Might pick one up myself the next time I head to Home Depot.


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## jzmtl (Jan 1, 2008)

Does look good. It has a top strap, and the size of front portion seems too small for 3 aa cells so I'm imagine it use a rear battery compartment.

I'd like to know what's with green led and pipe inspection as well.


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## Rzr800 (Jan 1, 2008)

jzmtl said:


> I'd like to know what's with green led and pipe inspection as well.


 
I'm not sure that this has anything to do with it; yet I'd always use a green LED to decipher dirty/scratched (raised or recessed) stamped metal serial number tags on used equipment. Never found anything that worked better.


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## Rzr800 (Jan 2, 2008)

Was the 'night vision' mode previously offered in this light http://www.energizer.com/products/flashlights/worklights/Pages/flexible-rubber-work.aspx the red LED now included above?


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## Rzr800 (Jan 2, 2008)

Called Energizer...not available until "spring"  through (supposedly) Home Depot. The different color modes might make this a decent seller for them.


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## Marduke (Jan 2, 2008)

Considering they just released two other Cree Hard Case lights, this one is probably Cree also. Almost has to be for the 100lumen claim. Also, their Hard Case line is quite waterproof.


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## Cavelightchris (Jan 2, 2008)

I am sort of a research expert when it comes to google, so I typed

red led night vision green army

I knew some of this stuff at one point in time but forgot it all:

"[FONT=arial, helvetica, sans serif]It has been said that the green light will not interfere with the hunt, that animals are 'blind' or indifferent to green light.[/FONT] 

 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The green LED is also a good night vision retention color that will allow you to distinguish colors such as yellow and red on a map or chart, and provide a great night light for walking or hiking yet not upset most animals. For the military, night vision equipment does not easily detect green light. Thus, more and more military personnel, hunters, and other similar consumers are switching to green LED as their choice of personal as well as duty light. This is evident by the increasing orders for green LED flashlights of every kind."[/FONT]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]http://www.theledlight.com/nightvision.html
[/FONT]​


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## TMorita (Jan 2, 2008)

Cavelightchris said:


> I am sort of a research expert when it comes to google, so I typed
> 
> red led night vision green army
> 
> ...


 
Okay, now I'm imagining some guy running around inspecting the pipes of wild animals without disturbng them, kinda like Robert De Niro in Brazil crossed with a park ranger.

Toshi


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## Marduke (Jan 2, 2008)

I am fairly certain that the green is for some sort of leak detection.


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## TorchBoy (Jan 2, 2008)

Cavelightchris said:


> "It has been said that the green light will not interfere with the hunt, that animals are 'blind' or indifferent to green light.


And deer (we are told in this country by those who sell blaze orange camo gear) can't see orange, so what _can_ they see?



Cavelightchris said:


> Thus, more and more military personnel, hunters, and other similar consumers are switching to green LED as their choice of personal as well as duty light. This is evident by the increasing orders for green LED flashlights of every kind."


Or it might possibly be just a fad. But that's OK.



TMorita said:


> Okay, now I'm imagining some guy running around inspecting the pipes of wild animals without disturbng them


 :huh: :duh2: oo:


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## Cydonia (Jan 2, 2008)

3AA alkaline in series = 4.5V = direct drive LED's. Or am I wrong? Isn't this headlamp just going to be like a Dorcy 3AAA direct drive junk - only on 3AA this time, and in a bit better made housing? 

Nothing wrong with direct drive... I actually favor it for simplicity and real "reliability" but...

When is this thing going to be available - or is it "in stores now"? :ironic:


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## Marduke (Jan 2, 2008)

Cydonia said:


> 3AA alkaline in series = 4.5V = direct drive LED's. Or am I wrong? Isn't this headlamp just going to be like a Dorcy 3AAA direct drive junk - only on 3AA this time, and in a bit better made housing?
> 
> Nothing wrong with direct drive... I actually favor it for simplicity and real "reliability" but...



Could be, or maybe they are using a cheaper buck circuit over a more expensive and less efficient boost circuit. Also, their Hard Case Pro line is top notch for housing quality, I expect this light to follow suit.



Cydonia said:


> When is this thing going to be available - or is it "in stores now"? :ironic:



Read post #16


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## jzmtl (Jan 2, 2008)

Another thing, there seems to be only one switch on it, so I hope it's not hi-lo-red-green-off like their other headlights, totally defeat having red led to begin with.


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## PhantomPhoton (Jan 3, 2008)

Cavelightchris said:


> [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The green LED is also a good night vision retention color..."[/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
> [/FONT]​



Pure marketing BS imo. Green is not a good night vision retention color, unless their definition of _good_ is different from my definition of _good_.
The color green is what we're most sensitive to. Therefore using green we need the least amount of lumens to see something but because we're most sensitive to it it impacts us the most.

3 Alkilines don't hold 4.5v under load, especially when worn down a bit. It is hard to say what they're using, but they're going to have to buck the voltage down to use the red LEDs anyway so I assume they'll have something decent in there for the High power LED and the green as well.


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## TorchBoy (Jan 3, 2008)

PhantomPhoton said:


> The color green is what we're most sensitive to.


... using our day vision. Our night vision's most sensitive colour is further over in the cyan. (I'm thinking glow worms now.)


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## Marduke (Jan 3, 2008)

PhantomPhoton said:


> Pure marketing BS imo. Green is not a good night vision retention color, unless their definition of _good_ is different from my definition of _good_.
> The color green is what we're most sensitive to. Therefore using green we need the least amount of lumens to see something but because we're most sensitive to it it impacts us the most.
> 
> 3 Alkilines don't hold 4.5v under load, especially when worn down a bit. It is hard to say what they're using, but they're going to have to buck the voltage down to use the red LEDs anyway so I assume they'll have something decent in there for the High power LED and the green as well.



Ever notice that the 3 cell headlamps always use 2 red LED's? They can run them in series direct drive off 3 cells and get <2.25v for each LED


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## TorchBoy (Jan 3, 2008)

Marduke said:


> Ever notice that the 3 cell headlamps always use 2 red LED's?


Why yes, back in post 9. :wave: (OK, so I didn't say they _always_ have two.)

But tired alkalines would be putting out ~1V each, giving a total of 3V. Even red LEDs would be quite dim with only 1.5V to run on. I hope there's a bit more regulation than a glorified resistor.


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## chmsam (Jan 3, 2008)

With regards to the color of the light and night vision it's good to remember that the amount of light is very important as well. Any color light that is too bright will over power night adapted vision.

There are several different colors used at different levels of brightness that suit different tasks. There is no one color that works for all situations. So while red, green, and even blue LED's are becoming more popular on headlamps and flashlights as well, they might be a fad but they also really can serve different purposes especially with adjustable levels.

For example, reading a map with a red LED can work great for preserving your night vision but is useless if the roads are marked in red. Green light works better in that case. Blue is used for finding blood trails while hunting as the blood shows up as dark and even black spots that really stand out. Green works well with maps as I said above, but adjusting a telescope or using a star chart is done better with red. There is no one best choice for all tasks combined. Practical usage tends to develope practical solutions, and demand drives the market.

I am more concerned about the amount of brightness for headlamps like this. Not all tasks require 100 lumens of white and other colors tend to function better at far lower levels for the tasks for which I need a headlamp.


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## f22shift (Jan 7, 2008)

3aa sounds too heavy


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## TMorita (Jan 7, 2008)

f22shift said:


> 3aa sounds too heavy


 
Nah. You just need to work out more often.

Toshi


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## ltiu (Jan 7, 2008)

f22shift said:


> 3aa sounds too heavy


 
Use L91 !


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## tty5150 (Feb 14, 2008)

So, the light hit the market:

http://www.botachtactical.com/enhaprhe.html

Looks like they add diffuser - great idea, I like flood of my single AA rayovac. 

Is there more info? Regulation, PVM, runtime, possibility to change green to white 5mm led, etc?

I'm thinking about Black Diamond Zenix IQ Head Lamp for $30 but I'll wait for review of this Energizer.


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## adirondackdestroyer (Feb 14, 2008)

That's good news. I forgot all about this one. I wondering if Lowe's will carry it.


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## TorchBoy (Feb 15, 2008)

That actually looks quite nice, but I think I'd prefer white LEDs to the red and green. What sort of switching does it have?


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## chmsam (Feb 18, 2008)

Energizer has a pdf data sheet on this light.

Model number TUFHD31P.
Typical weight (with alkalines) 7.12 oz. (201.50 g.) (Yes, I would like to use lithiums!)
Cree XRE
Dimensions: Light 3.12 x 2.12 x 1.13
Battery Pack 3.00 x 2.75 x 1.13

Looks like it has a separate switch for the white LED (has a high and low) and for the green and red LED's. Switch is on top of the light.

Says it has a flip up diffuser but doesn't show it in the down position so you cannot tell if it is just for the white LED or for the colored LED's as well (which would be very nice for my use).

Top strap is removable.


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## tty5150 (Feb 18, 2008)

Thanks for info. Do you have a link to this PDF? 

If the case is not glued it looks like a nice base to mod.


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## TorchBoy (Feb 18, 2008)

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/tufhd31ph.pdf - and (typically ) I couldn't find it linked on Energizer's consumer site or technical site.


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## TorchBoy (Feb 18, 2008)

chmsam said:


> Says it has a flip up diffuser but doesn't show it in the down position so you cannot tell if it is just for the white LED or for the colored LED's as well (which would be very nice for my use).


If you followed tty5150's link in post 33, the pic at botachtactical.com shows it to be over both.

Anyone know what the two switches operate (and how)?


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## tty5150 (Feb 18, 2008)

TorchBoy said:


> http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/tufhd31ph.pdf - and (typically ) I couldn't find it linked on Energizer's consumer site or technical site.



Thanks for link. Looks like diffuser is hidden inside lamp when not in use. Quite interesting and useful.


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