# Best $20-$40 headlamp



## dave43 (Dec 23, 2007)

What do you think? Need something for ice fishing. The brighter the better.


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## da.gee (Dec 23, 2007)

zfreak has some good deals on Princeton Tec EOS headlamps over in the Marketplace. They are decent stock but I sent a couple to datiLED and he modded them with a Seoul LED ($32). They are awesome. It would put you over your $40 budget but you'd have an excellent product.

zfreak sells out fast so go take a look if it is of interest to you.


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## sabre7 (Dec 23, 2007)

Fenix L0D Q4?- a little over $40, very, very bright, comes with clip, mount on brim of baseball hat... instant headlamp!! when not ice fishing use it as an EDC light or general use. Even has snowflakes on it too!!


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## WadeF (Dec 23, 2007)

If you want something floody check out the Zebralights, which will be $39, or $49 for the Q5 version. These don't have much throw, and are mainly for lighting up all around you:

http://www.zebralight.com/

The nice thing is they offer a very low, low, which works great for a book light, and runs for a long time, I think 3.5 days on low.


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## ltiu (Dec 23, 2007)

River Rock K2 headlight. 

Available at Target stores for around $26. 

Water resistant (but tested waterproof up to 2 feet by myself). 

Uses 3AA. 

Very bright on high. Long runtimes (around 12 hours) on low.


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## fishx65 (Dec 23, 2007)

Lowes and Meijer carry a 3AAA Luxeon Dorcy that I like to take ice fishing. It has an electronic switch that makes it very easy to operate with gloves on. About the same brightness as my EOS with a much smoother beam. $19.99


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## dave43 (Dec 23, 2007)

ltiu said:


> River Rock K2 headlight.
> 
> Available at Target stores for around $26.
> 
> ...



You like this better then the ROV 1W Sportman extreme?


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## ltiu (Dec 23, 2007)

dave43 said:


> You like this better then the ROV 1W Sportman extreme?



I think you are referring to the ROV 1watt single AA headlight?

Then my answer is yes. Why?

1) Way brighter.
2) Way longer runtime. Even on high. On low, runs for at least 12 hours or more.
3) More functions, high, medium, low, stobe.
4) Comes with a rear red LED that can stay on or blink - for bicyclist who need a blinking red LED behind them to keep cars from hitting them from the rear.

The only issue I have with the River Rock is the reflector does not produce an even smooth light. The spot is kind of oblong with some shadows.


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## dave43 (Dec 23, 2007)

I read about the K2...the only problem I see is that some say it's heavy and I'm worried eneloop nimh's won't fit in it. i like the low power setting which the ROV doesn't have.


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## ltiu (Dec 24, 2007)

dave43 said:


> I read about the K2...the only problem I see is that some say it's heavy and I'm worried eneloop nimh's won't fit in it. i like the low power setting which the ROV doesn't have.



It is indeed a bit tight in the battery compartment for NiMH. Sad NiMH's are a bit thick. I use L91's on mine all the time.

It's not heavy at all. I mount mine on my helmet though so the helmet may actually weight more.

And some say heat is an issue, but I have never had an issue with heat. I have been using mine for spelunking for 5 months now (about 10 trips of sharp rocks, dirt, water, dust, sweat) and it has not failed me. Quite reliable I would say.

I have converted 3 fellow spelunkers over to it form their Petzl Tikka Plus. The biggest selling point is the brightness. They all saw that the low setting on the K2 is brighter than the high setting on the Petzl Tikka Plus.


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## dave43 (Dec 24, 2007)

Does anyone know if the eneloops batteries would fit? 

Itiu, It looks like you have the RR and Rayovac which are rated 85 and 45 lumens respectively. Is there a big difference in brightness between the two?


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## WadeF (Dec 24, 2007)

dave43, if you're going to be out in a lot of cold weather you might want to run Energizer's lithium AA's. They aren't rechargable, but I hear they are the best in cold environments. The Zebralight seems to perform best with them. Be sure to check out the reviews on teh Zebralight in the Flashlight Review forum. It's a single AA light, very small, light, and comes with a lot of nice accessories.


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## BSBG (Dec 24, 2007)

Black Diamond Zenix IQ ($25-30 on sale) plus a SSC P4 star ($10) and ten minutes with a soldering iron and a screwdriver:

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182768


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## ltiu (Dec 24, 2007)

dave43 said:


> Does anyone know if the eneloops batteries would fit?
> 
> Itiu, It looks like you have the RR and Rayovac which are rated 85 and 45 lumens respectively. Is there a big difference in brightness between the two?




Eneloops fit but you will have a hard time taking it out.


The RR is way much brighter.

Also, some more difference:

1) The RR is a spot light type with good throw. The ROV with the diffuser off is also throwy but the spot is a very tiny dot.

2) The ROV with the diffuser on is floody. The RR does not have a diffuser and stay spot all the time.

3) The RR has a longer runtime and dims towards the last hour or so of battery life, stating constant most of the time. The ROV just dies after about 2-3 hours of use without warning.


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## DaveG (Dec 24, 2007)

Just picked up a ROV-K2 at Costco for $12.97,liooks like a close out item.If you can find one that is a good deal.


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## ltiu (Dec 24, 2007)

BSBG said:


> Black Diamond Zenix IQ ($25-30 on sale) plus a SSC P4 star ($10) and ten minutes with a soldering iron and a screwdriver:
> 
> http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=182768



Can someone confirm if this is water resistant? I found out recently that most Black Diamond headlights are not water resistant. No o-rings and no claim on packaging that it is water resistant. Unlike Petzls which do claim water resistance.


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## Alan B (Dec 24, 2007)

The RR K2 seems to have overheating problems with Lithium and in some cases NiMH. The heatsink is very small and enclosed in plastic. They depend on the internal resistance of the Alkaline battery to limit the current, apparently. More info here:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2189203

Many inexpensive headlamps seem to have problems with Lithium AAs. My favorite headlamps are the Petzl MYO XP and the Zebralight. The MYO XP has had problems with Lithium AAs, but it loves NiMH. The Zebralight loves lithium AAs, as well as NiMH and Alkaline work fine also. 

The Zebralight with a Lithium AA is amazing in the long runtimes. With any battery type the LED has 3 very useful levels of light output with large differences between the levels, so low is really low, bright is 50+ lumens, and medium is in between. It has a very good even flood pattern. For throw I use a handheld flashlight (or the MYO XP headlamp). The Zebralight is also waterproof and incredibly light so wearing it for hours is not a problem at all. It also runs a long time on a single AA - it is very efficient.

-- Alan


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## ltiu (Dec 24, 2007)

Alan B said:


> The RR K2 seems to have overheating problems with Lithium and in some cases NiMH. The heatsink is very small and enclosed in plastic. They depend on the internal resistance of the Alkaline battery to limit the current, apparently. More info here:
> 
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2189203
> -- Alan



I feel the claims of overheating problems are from folks who tested the lights indoors in a controlled environment. Not in real-life outdoor real-world situations.

I have real-world/real-life experience with these RR K2 and I have had very good experience with them. 

I run these on high for more than an hour at a time and no issues so far. I've had my light for over 5 months now and taken it to 10 trips and used it on high for more than 1 hour at least 3 times. I always use L91's.

It is still working really well.


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## Spence (Dec 25, 2007)

Princeton Tec EOS.
:candle:


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## guyg (Dec 25, 2007)

I just bought an Energizer H/L. It has three sets of lights. The single is 1 watt, then to the two red leds and last is the 2 low power leds. The low power ones should be plenty for close range use such as fishing. I use mine a nite to roll up my tarps in the dark.


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## BlackDecker (Dec 26, 2007)

Spence said:


> Princeton Tec EOS.
> :candle:



The EOS is still the defacto standard in that price range. Once you get past the 3AAA factor, it's still a winner. The ROV 1W 1AA runs a tight second. If that light only had low/high on the Luxeon and a white 5mm LED instead of that weird blue one, it would be the hands down winner.


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## dave43 (Dec 26, 2007)

2) Way longer runtime. Even on high. On low, runs for at least 12 hours or more.
3) More functions, high, medium, low, stobe.

Doesn't it have a low setting on lux?


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## ltiu (Dec 26, 2007)

dave43 said:


> 2) Way longer runtime. Even on high. On low, runs for at least 12 hours or more.
> 3) More functions, high, medium, low, stobe.
> 
> Doesn't it have a low setting on lux?



I don't understand your question? 

" ... low setting on lux." ???


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## dave43 (Dec 26, 2007)

luxeon... It was a bad question. I was questioning the above poster but they were talking about no low setting on the Rayovac headlamp. I agree if the 5mm blue light were white it would be perfect.


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## ltiu (Dec 26, 2007)

dave43 said:


> luxeon... It was a bad question. I was questioning the above poster but they were talking about no low setting on the Rayovac headlamp. I agree if the 5mm blue light were white it would be perfect.



Oh, yes. The Rayovac 1 watt LED has only one setting. It turns off without warning when battery is dead. The red LED serves as the "low". The red sometimes works on weak batteries after the 1 watt dies.


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## hopkins (Dec 26, 2007)

Hi Dave43
Icefishing while wearing a headlamp -brighter the better- spec:

Runtime should be all night- no changing batteries in the dark.
beam should have both flood and throw- to see neighbor Icefishers
hold up their catch or liberating items from your vehicle.

Probably any H/L with a 1watt luxeon LED and multi modes - low,med.hi.

AA battery models will let you run brighter longer while AAA battery models
need to be conserved on low to last all night with brief uses of high power.

I've got a nice Garrity 8LED H/L - about $25 -will run on high 12 hours with fresh charged
AA 2500mah NimH batteries all from OSH. Take the battery charger in your car and insert topped off
batteries into the headlamp when you get to the ice for max runtime.


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## ltiu (Dec 26, 2007)

hopkins said:


> I've got a nice Garrity 8LED H/L - about $25 -will run on high 12 hours with fresh charged
> AA 2500mah NimH batteries all from OSH. Take the battery charger in your car and insert topped off
> batteries into the headlamp when you get to the ice for max runtime.



I used to have this exact same headlight. I really liked it except for one thing: 

It is not waterproof. Water got in during a caving trip and it fried.


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## hopkins (Dec 26, 2007)

Hi Itiu 
Wow I'm impressed! Caving is tough of people and gear.

In hindsight would Gooping all the headlamp openings with sealant have helped?

Maybe if dave43 does not plan to poke his head down thru the icehole looking
for fish he'll be ok with a Garrity 8LED H/L. :thinking:


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## ltiu (Dec 27, 2007)

hopkins said:


> Hi Itiu
> Wow I'm impressed! Caving is tough of people and gear.
> 
> In hindsight would Gooping all the headlamp openings with sealant have helped?
> ...




The water entered through the front part of the light (the head assembly) - the LED + circuitry. The thing is surrounded by rubber but that was not enough. You cannot silicone goop since the rubber surrounding the head assembly is not removable. You'd have to tear things apart to remove the rubber (by cutting the rubber) and that destroys the head.

Also, if you notice the battery compartment does not have an o-ring.


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## hopkins (Dec 27, 2007)

Hi Itiu - Agree with you the battery compartment needs a tricky mod
to make it watertight.
The headlamp can be taken apart thus: while looking at the leds twist the
front hemisphere counterclockwise (hold the rear half stable)
The rubber coating has an invisible seam. Twist only about 1/10 of a full
revolution. Then insert a flatblade screwdriver into the now evident seam
on the side (not top or bottom) A little prying and the front comes off
like you've opened an egg.
See the rubber o-ring. I was gooping that and the power wire hole
plug but its probably only good for rain not caving.

Note I added 3 pennies to the heatsink (1 shown) not very expertly
but hey 'all mod experience is good' 
Nice and bright for $25.


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## mdocod (Dec 27, 2007)

I have that garrity as well, I enjoy it overall but would not recommend it for ice fishing as you will probably be wearing heavy gloves, and the 2 little buttons on top of this headlamp will be almost impossible to activate the way you want to activate it without fat-fingering both buttons or something to that effect. I had a buddy barrow it for caving and it did fine, I have used it a lot for stuff around the house and I really like the runtime and beam pattern. 

For COLD weather performance I suggest lithium powered lights. Check out the StreamLight Argo HP. And if you are willing, mod it with a Seoul or Rebel emitter. The Argo runs for 4 hours on high on 2 CR123 cells, and runs for about 20 hours on low. Low is plenty bright for nearly everything (I have used it caving and camping and working on cars and fixing stuff around the house and power outages etc etc etc). If you take the time to mod it the low will be as bright as the high and the high will be as bright as most "3W" style lights except it will still only be consuming 1W. The Argos single easy to push button is good for gloves, simple interface is good also IMO (2-3 levels is plenty for most people IMO), it's just low-high-off, repeat.


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## hopkins (Dec 27, 2007)

Yup , I like it too.
The buttons are not glove friendly but hey, it'll never turn on by accident!

Scenario:
Dave 43 would arrive in his car, put the H/L on his head, switch it
on high or medium for the whole night. And with stocking caps and a hood to keep the battery temperature up not an issue there. Just fishing on the ice.

Front battery model types can indeed freeze so not good unless lithiums
are used. 
.
Could be Dave43 wants to avoid costly lithiums, a guess from the price
spec he's stated. 

Going to mod this Garrity and a MYO XP sometime. thanks for the info.
Headlamp do rule when out in the snowy winter nights!


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## ltiu (Dec 27, 2007)

hopkins said:


> Hi Itiu - Agree with you the battery compartment needs a tricky mod
> to make it watertight.
> The headlamp can be taken apart thus: while looking at the leds twist the
> front hemisphere counterclockwise (hold the rear half stable)
> ...



Don't forget the battery pack. It does not have an o-ring around the cover.


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## hopkins (Dec 28, 2007)

Ya the battery pack needs some water resistance. 
How about a quick fix like some RTV gasket goop. The low odor
kind that cures by a moisture from the air reaction. 

With the battery compartment open, run a bead around the top edge
than clamp it shut on some fresh batteries. wipe up excess that oozes
out.
Add a little to the battery cable out area.

Do you think it could be rainproof Itiu?

Its not glue and is real rubbery when cured and can be pulled apart
easy. No danger of the battery compartment being permanently shut.
A bit messy but so is mucking around in a damp forest or a cave?


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## dave43 (Dec 28, 2007)

mdocod said:


> I have that garrity as well, I enjoy it overall but would not recommend it for ice fishing as you will probably be wearing heavy gloves, and the 2 little buttons on top of this headlamp will be almost impossible to activate the way you want to activate it without fat-fingering both buttons or something to that effect. I had a buddy barrow it for caving and it did fine, I have used it a lot for stuff around the house and I really like the runtime and beam pattern.
> 
> For COLD weather performance I suggest lithium powered lights. Check out the StreamLight Argo HP. And if you are willing, mod it with a Seoul or Rebel emitter. The Argo runs for 4 hours on high on 2 CR123 cells, and runs for about 20 hours on low. Low is plenty bright for nearly everything (I have used it caving and camping and working on cars and fixing stuff around the house and power outages etc etc etc). If you take the time to mod it the low will be as bright as the high and the high will be as bright as most "3W" style lights except it will still only be consuming 1W. The Argos single easy to push button is good for gloves, simple interface is good also IMO (2-3 levels is plenty for most people IMO), it's just low-high-off, repeat.



I thought about lithium but there is no need to stock up on expensive lithiums when there is a less costly solution...Eneloops.


https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2285398#post2285398


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## ltiu (Dec 28, 2007)

hopkins said:


> Ya the battery pack needs some water resistance.
> How about a quick fix like some RTV gasket goop. The low odor
> kind that cures by a moisture from the air reaction.
> 
> ...



After gooping, best thing to do is to test it by putting it under running tap water and dunking it inside a pail of water for a few seconds and see if water gets in.


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## ltiu (Dec 28, 2007)

dave43 said:


> I thought about lithium but there is no need to stock up on expensive lithiums when there is a less costly solution...Eneloops.
> 
> 
> https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2285398#post2285398





I use Eneloops quite a bit, except for when I am actually using my lights inside a cave. Eneloops are heavy, noticeably when you have something like 5 AA batteries on your head plus another 15 spares in your pack. It may not sound like a lot of extra weight. But carrying all that extra weight slowly wears you down crawling inside a cave.

I use Lithiums primarily for their weight to power ratio.


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## degarb (Dec 28, 2007)

mdocod said:


> I have that garrity as well, I enjoy it overall but would not recommend it for ice fishing as you will probably be wearing heavy gloves, and the 2 little buttons on top of this headlamp will be almost impossible to activate



Having a headlamp in work environment that need battery switch every 1.75 hours is like inviting your workers to a 20 minute cigarette break ever hour and forty minutes. Two hours is nothing in a real world work job.

I LOOve the 8 led Garrities, often bringing them to bed. The main down side is I can't buy expect directly from manufacturer here, and I don't think these are modifyable to a Cree. If they had a heat sink and a Cree, I might marry mine.

As stated the thing can be gooped for better water resistance. I also found a dot of hot glue on each of the top buttons makes controlling light levels/battery life easier. (This mod lasts a few weeks before glue pops off.) Also, electrical tape is needed for reading with light without shining in one's eyes. As far as failure with cord from battery pack, I finally had to hot glue the wire to the side because after 2 years of use (toted in bottom of car trunk of one of my workers) it finally developed a break in the wire.

I am holding off buying four more lights, waiting for them to drop a q5 or rebel or something in them.


BTW is a 3 watt lux 3 any more efficient driven at 1 watt than a lux 1? How does k2 compare?


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## dave43 (Dec 28, 2007)

ltiu said:


> I use Eneloops quite a bit, except for when I am actually using my lights inside a cave. Eneloops are heavy, noticeably when you have something like 5 AA batteries on your head plus another 15 spares in your pack. It may not sound like a lot of extra weight. But carrying all that extra weight slowly wears you down crawling inside a cave.
> 
> I use Lithiums primarily for their weight to power ratio.



How much heavier is a eneloop AA then an E2 lithium AA? 2....3 times more heavy?


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## ltiu (Dec 28, 2007)

dave43 said:


> How much heavier is a eneloop AA then an E2 lithium AA? 2....3 times more heavy?



27g (AA Eneloop) vs. 14.5 g (AA e2 Lithium)

Links:

http://rechargeablebatteryinfo.com/sanyo-eneloop-rechargeable-batteries.php

http://data.energizer.com/PDFs/l91.pdf


It's also a bit wider. More space and more weight for less power.

Trust me, if you are crawling on your belly for hours at a time, an extra gram weighs like an extra kilo.


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## hopkins (Dec 29, 2007)

Hey dave43- 
once you get out on the ice for some fishing, take a picture and
post it on this thread.

Hopefully framed with you pulling a trout out of the 
icehole at night, while wearing the new headlamp!


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