Headlamps

[Grant Lamontagne]

Actually quite well. The Triode doesn't have any significant throw but since I was just using it to make notes it was perfect for that.  It was about -25C with the wind chill (-10C without) and I was out for about 11 hours.  It was being constantly switched on and off with no visible deterioration of the light or single AAA battery.

The only issues I had were small ones- there is very little difference between high and low so it was a bit confusing when switching off since it always goes high, low, off even if you've had it on high for a while.

Also, the switch isn't terribly easy to find when wearing gloves. Its not hidden but its also not terribly prominent.

All in all not a bad light if you are changing a tire, making notes or doing other relatively close up work. It would be decent enough for a night hike or climbing or any other job where you don't need to see any significant length away. Its also not super bright so it's not going to kill your night vision. I felt it was perfect for low light applications like writing in a notebook as my eyes adjusted easily from the lit up notebook to the semi-dark shipyard.

Def

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[Grant Lamontagne]

I finally managed to get myself a new headlamp.  It's a Princeton Tec Fuel headlamp:



I got it a few weeks ago and I am really liking it so far.  It's light and more or less water resistant so I don't have to worry about wearing it in the rain.  It's not the brightest light out there but it's pretty bright.  I don't need to signal aircraft with it, but it does light up about 20-25 feet ahead of me well enough on high and about 10-15 on low.  That's more than enough to keep me from tripping over things, which is exactly what I wanted it for.

Def

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

I finally managed to get myself a new headlamp.  It's a Princeton Tec Fuel headlamp:

(Image removed from quote.)

I got it a few weeks ago and I am really liking it so far.  It's light and more or less water resistant so I don't have to worry about wearing it in the rain.  It's not the brightest light out there but it's pretty bright.  I don't need to signal aircraft with it, but it does light up about 20-25 feet ahead of me well enough on high and about 10-15 on low.  That's more than enough to keep me from tripping over things, which is exactly what I wanted it for.

Def

It's a good, entry level choice.    I'm a bit of snob with headlamps though...   

I use a headlamp around the house almost daily, actually, for a lot of different things, not just camping or hiking.  So my standards for a headlamp are pretty high.

Eventually you can move up to a Zebra or a Spark!   

[Grant Lamontagne]

To be honest, I really just wanted something decent without spending a lot of money.  I don't use a headlamp that often so I didn't really see any need to spend big bucks on a serious one.

Of course if I was a serious headlamp aficionado then yes, I'd have probably opted for a higher end one.  Still, as my general flashlight history shows, I am not much of a light snob.

Def

[Syph007]

Heinz steered me into the zebras and I love them!  I use my Zebra H51w all the time in the shop, or to do random things at night where its nice to be hands free of holding a flashlight.  Great light for the money.

[Grant Lamontagne]

I'll get a Zebra eventually- they do look like good lights.  I got this one locally for about half of the cost of a Zebra though.

Def

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Right now, I think the Zebras are the best headlamps for the money.  You could buy one of the Surefire ones, like the Saint, or the Minimus (I think they're coming out with another model now too), but they're just do dang pricey.  I'm sure they're bulletproof lights, like other Surefires, but I've never had any reliability issues with my Zebras, or my Spark, and I've definitely put them through some paces. 

My H51Fw has seen several multi-hour nighttime sessions of cutting and splitting logs, receiving a good coating of sweat each time, and my Spark has been caving, and gets regular use around the house.  I keep it in a drawer next to my desk and use it for sewing patches on clothing or on a pack, working on small items, etc.

My H51Fw is my dedicated hiking/camping light though, simply because it has a sub-lumen mode, which the Sparks lack.  For me, for camping and the like, it's an essential feature.  I also really like the UI of the Zebras; best UI of any light I've ever used IMHO, torch or headlamp.  On the other hand, I like the "T" body design of the Sparks better; the extended emitter housing works well for wearing it over a hat, or under a hood, as much less of the beam profile is blocked.  Zebras simply can't be worn with a hat or under a hood because of the perpendicular angle of the emitter and being flush with the body of the light.  I have tried using the clip to attach it to the bill of a cap, but it's not nearly as secure that way as I would like it to be.

I'll try and set aside some time to do a side by side comparison of the two, and post it in the Reviews forum when I can.  They're both great lights, but slightly different beasts whose subtle differences lend themselves to different applications.

[MeadMaker]

Argh, you guys are killing me.  I successfully fought down the urge to buy a Zebra, now you have me wanting one again. 

I've got good lights for my needs, bike riding, dog walking, illuminating the inside of the equipment that I sell during demonstrations, etc.  But now I am wondering how a Zebra might  make my life more enjoyable.   

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

Argh, you guys are killing me.  I successfully fought down the urge to buy a Zebra, now you have me wanting one again. 

I've got good lights for my needs, bike riding, dog walking, illuminating the inside of the equipment that I sell during demonstrations, etc.  But now I am wondering how a Zebra might  make my life more enjoyable.

The real jump is from cool white, which is the type of emitter that most LED based lights have, to a neutral neutral or warm tinted light.  There are also the high color rendering index (HCRI) lights, which are yet another step entirely...

The cool tints usually have a bluish cast in their beams, sometimes purple, or occasionally green.  I really have come to dislike cool tints, and won't buy any light that doesn't have a neutral, warm, or HCRI emitter.  One thing about the Zebras, is they are starting to use a new HCRI emitter from Nichia that is whiter than most other HCRI or neutral white emitters.  Normally, HCRI emitters are warm tinted; the HCRI XPG's in the Quarks I have are warm tinted, with a nice peachy, almost rosy cast to the beam.  They look very much like traditional incandescent flashlights.  Most neutral tint emitters tend to be slightly warmer, they have a yellowish cast in their beam.  The new HCRI emitter that Zebra is using, so far only in the H502d, is much whiter; the tint is closer to the cool tints, but yet isn't blue at all from everything I've seen/read about them.  They're supposed to be pretty much a pure white beam, like mid-day sunlight.

Lights with these other tints are usually not as bright as the cool tints though; they lose anywhere from 10 - 25% of their total output because changing their tint requires they have a phosphor coating on them with different elements in it, which absorb some or all of the bluer light, and only lets the warmer wavelengths through.  However, the benefits are that even with a neutral tint emitter that isn't specifically made to do color rendering better, you get better color perception out of it, particularly with the HCRI emitters.  The advantage is that you get better depth and color perception with a neutral, warm, or HCRI emitter.  They simply make things look more natural, and you can see edges and shadows better with them, than compared to a cool tinted light.

There's a lot of visual psychophysics involved with this, and that's part of what makes it fun for me, as my doctorate in psychology is in psychophysics and visual perception.  For brevity, I won't go into any of that here, but if anyone is interested, let me know and I'll start a thread where people can post questions about these kinds of things and I'll do my best to answer them.  I know a lot about this stuff, including what kind of light is best for dark adapted vision, and so on.

Back on topic, once you get a neutral, you'll never go back to a cool tinted light.  There are some people who actually prefer a cool tint, but they are few and far between in my experience.  In the long run, once you get bitten by the torch bug, you eventually learn that it's not brightness that really matters, but beam quality and tint.