Head torches again
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Head torches again
My Pezo myo XP battery compartment is broke so I'm looking for a new head torch probably a brighter one. Are people still using the bright bike lights one a lot? Any other suggestions?
- frog
Re: Head torches again
I got a Gemini Xera 950 lumen light the other month. I've been using it on some local night events. I can't complain about the performance of the lamp, which seems bright enough at full strength or nearly full strength (there are 3 programmable options). But haven't tested the battery over anything siginificantly longer than 1 h yet. The battery is a lot quicker to charge (ca 3 h from empty) than my old Silva (17 h).
Issues: The lamp itself attaches to the headband with a (heavy duty) rubber band. This doesn't seem great to me (in principle). More problematically, the direction (up and down) of the beam is adjustable to some extent, but with the way the lamp attaches to the headband, even with the lamp in the furthest "up" position, it was still pointing too far down at the floor for my liking. Using it as supplied (in pre-race testing...), I had to run with my head held back to see any distance ahead. So I solved this using my woodworking skills to modify the lamp-to-headband attachment, and now it is fine. But I can't really recommend this lamp for use out of the box, which is what you'd expect, I think.
Issues: The lamp itself attaches to the headband with a (heavy duty) rubber band. This doesn't seem great to me (in principle). More problematically, the direction (up and down) of the beam is adjustable to some extent, but with the way the lamp attaches to the headband, even with the lamp in the furthest "up" position, it was still pointing too far down at the floor for my liking. Using it as supplied (in pre-race testing...), I had to run with my head held back to see any distance ahead. So I solved this using my woodworking skills to modify the lamp-to-headband attachment, and now it is fine. But I can't really recommend this lamp for use out of the box, which is what you'd expect, I think.
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ic - yellow
- Posts: 98
- Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 3:33 pm
- Location: retired
Re: Head torches again
The Brightbikelights torch is still available and has been upgraded to 1000 Lumens. They have introduced a number of other running head torches too.
HT-1: 1000 Lumens / £29! Seems too good to be true. 2 x 18650 Li-ion cells (probably 5200mAH). Battery life is not given but on full power may be up to 1.5 hours so possibly borderline for night-o. Focussing lens.
HL40: 600 Lumens / £54. Battery pack 1 x 18650 Li-ion cell (probably 2600 mAH). Claimed 1 hour on full power so probably too short for a night-o event. Focussing lens.
Spiker 1211: 850 Lumens / £73. Battery pack 4400 mAH (probably Li-ion or Li-Po), claimed 3.5 hours on full power. Focussing lens.
"Orienteering Light Set": 1000 Lumens / £78. Battery pack 4 x 18650 Li-ion cell (probably 10,400 mAH). Claimed 3 hours on full power. Non-focussing.
HL50: 1800 Lumens / £85. Battery pack 2 x 18650, claimed 7,200 mAH. Claimed 2 hours on full power. Head mounted battery pack, about the same weight as 4 x AA cells. Non-focussing. Possibly also too good to be true. For comparison the Lupine Piko X7 at 1200 Lumens is about £270 and the Lupine Wilma 14 at 2800 Lumens is about £450!
Personally I think the focussing feature is not really necessary, and only produces a ringed beam compared to the nice clean beam that you get from non-focussing units, or from a focussing unit fully zoomed out.
I also think the "orienteering light set" previously MJ-808, has a sub-optimum beam pattern, being better suited to cyclists travelling quickly - a bright spot in the centre quickly fades as you move out. I have fitted a diffuser to mine and with that the beam pattern is excellent.
The HL50 looks an amazing light for the price and if I was buying a new torch I'd go for that one, especially as the battery pack is head mounted. You do have an option of extension cable for body mounting the battery pack. This one has a diffuser available too.
You might consider the LED Lenser products. They have upgraded their range this year and I've bought an H7R.2, the Li-ion rechargeable version, claiming 300 Lumens. I bought it to light up uneven road surfaces / alleyways / Street-O when I don't want to lug the MJ-808 (900 Lumens) around. It's great for that but when I used it for running in the woods I found the beam was just too weak for the totally confident off-road running I can do with the MJ-808, but still better than your old Myo-XP. I could intensify the beam by focussing down but the beam becomes ringed when I do that so I prefer to keep it zoomed out. It lacks a top strap and I have to make the strap pretty tight to stop the lamp sliding down around my ears. This is the only real criticism. About £54.
HT-1: 1000 Lumens / £29! Seems too good to be true. 2 x 18650 Li-ion cells (probably 5200mAH). Battery life is not given but on full power may be up to 1.5 hours so possibly borderline for night-o. Focussing lens.
HL40: 600 Lumens / £54. Battery pack 1 x 18650 Li-ion cell (probably 2600 mAH). Claimed 1 hour on full power so probably too short for a night-o event. Focussing lens.
Spiker 1211: 850 Lumens / £73. Battery pack 4400 mAH (probably Li-ion or Li-Po), claimed 3.5 hours on full power. Focussing lens.
"Orienteering Light Set": 1000 Lumens / £78. Battery pack 4 x 18650 Li-ion cell (probably 10,400 mAH). Claimed 3 hours on full power. Non-focussing.
HL50: 1800 Lumens / £85. Battery pack 2 x 18650, claimed 7,200 mAH. Claimed 2 hours on full power. Head mounted battery pack, about the same weight as 4 x AA cells. Non-focussing. Possibly also too good to be true. For comparison the Lupine Piko X7 at 1200 Lumens is about £270 and the Lupine Wilma 14 at 2800 Lumens is about £450!
Personally I think the focussing feature is not really necessary, and only produces a ringed beam compared to the nice clean beam that you get from non-focussing units, or from a focussing unit fully zoomed out.
I also think the "orienteering light set" previously MJ-808, has a sub-optimum beam pattern, being better suited to cyclists travelling quickly - a bright spot in the centre quickly fades as you move out. I have fitted a diffuser to mine and with that the beam pattern is excellent.
The HL50 looks an amazing light for the price and if I was buying a new torch I'd go for that one, especially as the battery pack is head mounted. You do have an option of extension cable for body mounting the battery pack. This one has a diffuser available too.
You might consider the LED Lenser products. They have upgraded their range this year and I've bought an H7R.2, the Li-ion rechargeable version, claiming 300 Lumens. I bought it to light up uneven road surfaces / alleyways / Street-O when I don't want to lug the MJ-808 (900 Lumens) around. It's great for that but when I used it for running in the woods I found the beam was just too weak for the totally confident off-road running I can do with the MJ-808, but still better than your old Myo-XP. I could intensify the beam by focussing down but the beam becomes ringed when I do that so I prefer to keep it zoomed out. It lacks a top strap and I have to make the strap pretty tight to stop the lamp sliding down around my ears. This is the only real criticism. About £54.
- Steve
- orange
- Posts: 135
- Joined: Wed Feb 08, 2006 10:57 am
- Location: Herts/Bucks badlands
Re: Head torches again
I got my latest set from 7dayshop.com. Similar (the same as?) the BrightBikeLights orienteering set, but for much less money. Currently selling for £45, but I got mine for under £30 earlier in the year so look out for offers.
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martyn - off string
- Posts: 33
- Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:18 pm
- Location: Yorkshire
Re: Head torches again
Some recent info from Bright Bike Lights:
The SF548 4000 lumen light is too heavy to be comfortably mounted on a headstrap. It's really a mountain bike light - and as you point out would make reading a map too difficult as even on low it would be too bright.
The HL50 is an excellent headlight and in standard configuration should last for two hours on full. Standard configuration has two cells mounted on the rear of the headstrap. You also have the option of adding an additional four cell battery (double the runtime) and extension lead and removing the cells from the headstrap. Full details are on the website:
http://www.brightbikelights.com/ferei-h ... -headlight
I would recommend the HL50 - taking the HL50 complete extension pack as well will give you an extremely flexible light which will compare with the best on the market.
http://www.brightbikelights.com/ferei-h ... nsion-pack
The SF548 4000 lumen light is too heavy to be comfortably mounted on a headstrap. It's really a mountain bike light - and as you point out would make reading a map too difficult as even on low it would be too bright.
The HL50 is an excellent headlight and in standard configuration should last for two hours on full. Standard configuration has two cells mounted on the rear of the headstrap. You also have the option of adding an additional four cell battery (double the runtime) and extension lead and removing the cells from the headstrap. Full details are on the website:
http://www.brightbikelights.com/ferei-h ... -headlight
I would recommend the HL50 - taking the HL50 complete extension pack as well will give you an extremely flexible light which will compare with the best on the market.
http://www.brightbikelights.com/ferei-h ... nsion-pack
- dj
- orange
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:26 pm
- Location: The Good North
- dj
- orange
- Posts: 115
- Joined: Sat Apr 17, 2004 12:26 pm
- Location: The Good North
Re: Head torches again
That site states that H50 would run 2 hours on full (1800 lumens) with two 3400mah batteries. That battery type has 12.2 Wh energy, so lamp must consume only about 12.2 W, right? That power will not give you 1800 lumens, only about half of that. Not that it would be enough. The biggest con most likely is the strap, lighthead ending up too low on your forehead, too close to eyes. It should be a lot higher to not get blinded in fog and rain. It may be little better if you wear it upside down without the over the head strap. IMHO false advertising and not a good strap design.
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Jagge - white
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 1:40 pm
Re: Head torches again
My current lamp of choice is the Mila Vega. Lots of pennies but worth it. I use it a lot too. Mila do others for less. www.mila.se - Ultrasport and CompassPoint have started selling more of their range. Mila are orienteers who make lamps for orienteers and others. A huge amount of R&D and testing goes on to make their lamps suitable for running at night. Things I had never considered. They dont compromise on quality, which of course, costs. Having been to their mini-factory, I now know what this means. So you need to think if you just want a £25 lamp to get round a few Night Leagues and training runs, or something you can rely on in a team relay that matters somewhat. Swedish club OK Tisaren for example had so many issues with Magicshines going wrong they banned them from the first two teams at TioMila and Jukola. These cheaper lights definitely have revolutionized people's enjoyment of the dark, which is great. Too many people were put off night O by bad experiences with dim lights.
The choice out there is immense. So choose wisely
The choice out there is immense. So choose wisely
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Ravinous - light green
- Posts: 278
- Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 9:48 pm
- Location: Just by Monty's Bunkers
Re: Head torches again
If you're only looking to do one or two night events a year, then get a cheap Chinese kit such as a Magshine or similar and carry a spare torch. Otherwise, get something with a better build quality. I've seen problems with batteries, both quality and usable life, poor headstraps that won't hold the lamp steady, etc. Also some lights claim the LED manufacturer's Lumens for the LEDs used but don't provide the rest of the kit to deliver this or have a beam design optimised for running.
I bought an AyUp headtorch kit from Australia about 5 years ago and liked it so much that I bought an updated kit last year. The AyUp lights don't claim to be the brightest but at over 700 Lumens they provide enough light and are the lightest kit around (system weight is 260 g). The Lithium Polymer battery lasts very well (> 2.5 hours on High) and I charge mine after three night events. They are also waterproof to 2m - my original kit was fully submerged on one night event but continues to work without problem. The current kit is AU$ 210.00, which equates to less than £112.00, + carriage from Oz and comes with its own bumbag and has a really comfortable head torch harness.
Another qualty kit to consider is the Hope Vision R4 Lightweight, which Ribble Cycles are currently selling for £133.95. A few club members use these and they look very good.
I bought an AyUp headtorch kit from Australia about 5 years ago and liked it so much that I bought an updated kit last year. The AyUp lights don't claim to be the brightest but at over 700 Lumens they provide enough light and are the lightest kit around (system weight is 260 g). The Lithium Polymer battery lasts very well (> 2.5 hours on High) and I charge mine after three night events. They are also waterproof to 2m - my original kit was fully submerged on one night event but continues to work without problem. The current kit is AU$ 210.00, which equates to less than £112.00, + carriage from Oz and comes with its own bumbag and has a really comfortable head torch harness.
Another qualty kit to consider is the Hope Vision R4 Lightweight, which Ribble Cycles are currently selling for £133.95. A few club members use these and they look very good.
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Wayward-O - light green
- Posts: 274
- Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 10:26 pm
- Location: Going around in circles
Re: Head torches again
I've never had any problems with the standard light sold by Bright Bike Lights. I used one which is several years old last week for a long night ride and the battery lasted a few minutes over 3 hours. Unless you take your night-o very seriously, I wouldn't spend more than £50.
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mharky - team nopesport
- Posts: 4541
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 3:39 pm
Re: Head torches again
I don't take my night orienteering very seriously and picked up one of these. It was fairly decent, on full power, for the a little under two hours I was out at the southern nights. There were definitely better lights out in the forest that night, but I expect that they had cost a lot more than the £15 I'd paid.
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Simon - brown
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2004 7:40 pm
- Location: here or there
Re: Head torches again
That looks like a perfect back-up light for those who do take it seriously
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mharky - team nopesport
- Posts: 4541
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 3:39 pm
Re: Head torches again
1800 lumens XM-L T6 U2. That's like saying 1800 horsepower 2 liter 4-cylinder V8 engine.
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Jagge - white
- Posts: 61
- Joined: Mon May 08, 2006 1:40 pm
Re: Head torches again
The description's a bit confusing to say the least - comes with 2 batteries yet it says it needs 3 AAA cells
- roadrunner
- addict
- Posts: 1059
- Joined: Fri Sep 02, 2005 8:30 pm
Re: Head torches again
The headtorch uses the two supplied batteries. There is also a small UV torch and that requires the 3 x AXA.
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Simon - brown
- Posts: 532
- Joined: Wed May 19, 2004 7:40 pm
- Location: here or there
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