Cheap but powerful headlamps!!

[leavittwoodland]

I have been looking at building a headlamp to save money and get a strong headlamp, but i found that i dont know enough about electronics and all that to build one. I have since found a bright, cheap but quality headlamp! Here are the links to the lights on Amazon:

1200 lumens for $26.00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KXDO8Y/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(You can also find the light in 4800, 3600, and 2400 lumens on Amazon as well, but in my opinion this 1200 lumens is plenty bright)

I bought this light a couple weeks ago, and havent tested it underground yet, but have used it camping and in the yard. While camping i found it almost embarrassingly bight as even on the lowest setting people stared! I am currently doing a duration test on the batteries to see how long i can expect one charge to last. I am going on the 11th hour of testing on the low setting (which btw is remarkably bright and more than enough light for underground in most circumstances) and the battery still has NOT run out! Personally i rarely spend more than 11 hours underground so i am very impressed! (I will post an update on how long the batter lasts on High, Medium and Low settings).

Pros:
Very bright
Great rechargeable battery pack
Very cheap relative to the competition
One charge lasts a long time
Even after 11 hours on, the light doesn't get hot at all!

Cons:
Not super sleek
Mounting to a hard hat could be tricky

I will update this with more info as i use it more! I will post some pictures soon as well! Overall i am very impressed with this light and cant wait to use it in July when i get back up to mine country!

[Joanne]

That looks like a heck of a light for the $. It might be a bit of a challenge to get it mounted up on your helmet, but that wouldn't stop me. It will be interesting to see how you like the beam pattern on it. Give us a report once you go underground with it.

Heck, for that price I'm temped to buy one to play with, or as a "loaner" light.

Nice find!

Joanne

[Joanne]

I have been looking at building a headlamp to save money and get a strong headlamp, but i found that i dont know enough about electronics and all that to build one. I have since found a bright, cheap but quality headlamp! Here are the links to the lights on Amazon:

1200 lumens for $26.00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KXDO8Y/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(You can also find the light in 4800, 3600, and 2400 lumens on Amazon as well, but in my opinion this 1200 lumens is plenty bright)

I bought this light a couple weeks ago, and havent tested it underground yet, but have used it camping and in the yard. While camping i found it almost embarrassingly bight as even on the lowest setting people stared! I am currently doing a duration test on the batteries to see how long i can expect one charge to last. I am going on the 11th hour of testing on the low setting (which btw is remarkably bright and more than enough light for underground in most circumstances) and the battery still has NOT run out! Personally i rarely spend more than 11 hours underground so i am very impressed! (I will post an update on how long the batter lasts on High, Medium and Low settings).

Pros:
Very bright
Great rechargeable battery pack
Very cheap relative to the competition
One charge lasts a long time
Even after 11 hours on, the light doesn't get hot at all!

Cons:
Not super sleek
Mounting to a hard hat could be tricky

I will update this with more info as i use it more! I will post some pictures soon as well! Overall i am very impressed with this light and cant wait to use it in July when i get back up to mine country!

So what do you think of your light? What has your experience been with it so far?

I purchased one of these for my bike and it was delivered yesterday. I threw it on the bike to give it a quick test and found that it worked as advertised. Three brightness modes. The switch on the back of the light shines green when the battery is charged and turns read as it runs down. The battery pack appears to be a 4 cell 18650 battery pack with the cells connected in parallel. The pack voltage after charging was 4.2v. It came with an interesting headlamp harness but looks like it could be adapted for helmet usage without too much problem. $25.76 on Amazon today. Can't hardly buy a crappy LED headlamp for that.

Overall for the money it looks like a good deal between the light, battery pack, charger, and headband. I would consider using this lamp as a backup, or to mount on a helmet as a loaner when friends want to come along but don't have any gear. Also at that price I would consider mounting one or two on a video camera to see if I could get any underground footage. Lots of possibilities.

Joanne

[leavittwoodland]

I love it! I have bought another one since, and have nothing but great things to say about it! The only thing i can knock it for is that when i use it above ground (camping, @ the beach, etc) its brightness is almost embarrassing! But that is more of a personal problem lol

I still recommend them! I am thinking about getting one of the brighter ones just for kicks, so ill let you know if/when i do that, and what i think of that!

[Joanne]

I have been looking at building a headlamp to save money and get a strong headlamp, but i found that i dont know enough about electronics and all that to build one. I have since found a bright, cheap but quality headlamp! Here are the links to the lights on Amazon:

1200 lumens for $26.00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KXDO8Y/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

(You can also find the light in 4800, 3600, and 2400 lumens on Amazon as well, but in my opinion this 1200 lumens is plenty bright)

I bought this light a couple weeks ago, and havent tested it underground yet, but have used it camping and in the yard. While camping i found it almost embarrassingly bight as even on the lowest setting people stared! I am currently doing a duration test on the batteries to see how long i can expect one charge to last. I am going on the 11th hour of testing on the low setting (which btw is remarkably bright and more than enough light for underground in most circumstances) and the battery still has NOT run out! Personally i rarely spend more than 11 hours underground so i am very impressed! (I will post an update on how long the batter lasts on High, Medium and Low settings).

Pros:
Very bright
Great rechargeable battery pack
Very cheap relative to the competition
One charge lasts a long time
Even after 11 hours on, the light doesn't get hot at all!

Cons:
Not super sleek
Mounting to a hard hat could be tricky

I will update this with more info as i use it more! I will post some pictures soon as well! Overall i am very impressed with this light and cant wait to use it in July when i get back up to mine country!

So what do you think of your light? What has your experience been with it so far?

I purchased one of these for my bike and it was delivered yesterday. I threw it on the bike to give it a quick test and found that it worked as advertised. Three brightness modes. The switch on the back of the light shines green when the battery is charged and turns read as it runs down. The battery pack appears to be a 4 cell 18650 battery pack with the cells connected in parallel. The pack voltage after charging was 4.2v. It came with an interesting headlamp harness but looks like it could be adapted for helmet usage without too much problem. $25.76 on Amazon today. Can't hardly buy a crappy LED headlamp for that.

Overall for the money it looks like a good deal between the light, battery pack, charger, and headband. I would consider using this lamp as a backup, or to mount on a helmet as a loaner when friends want to come along but don't have any gear. Also at that price I would consider mounting one or two on a video camera to see if I could get any underground footage. Lots of possibilities.

Oh yeah, the lumen output is nowhere near what they advertise. The CREE website says 1040 lumens max at 10w. I can pretty well guarantee it's not running at 10 watts. I will probably put the battery pack on my hobby charger and find out what it's actual capacity is. The instructions say about 4,000 ma which sounds a bit low for 18650 batteries. The good thing is that you could build a high capacity pack without much work.

Joanne

[Hawkeye-TP]

That looks awesome. What a find! for that price I'd be interested in trying it too. What have I got to lose?

My current favorite light is the Guard Dog Halo I found on Amazon. For $29 it is super sturdy and bright. I know, it is not a headlamp. I have attempted to strap it to my helmet but it was a bit heavy and lopsided. I have dived with this below 20ft and had no problems. While it says it is 290 lumens, I have yet to find a light brighter! It is a very focused beam and my buddies have taken to calling it the laser. This sucker will punch light down adits and shafts like you won't believe. When I want to see what is ahead or down that hole, I pull this out. It is far brighter (again as a spot light) than my current work horse:

The Spark SD6-500cw which is a very powerful flood. It is not so cheap or so bright as what you have stumbled upon with that bike light. But it is 500lm which is very bright, and only the size of a 18650 battery. And it is a tank: It is water proof ipx8 and very solid. It will handle dives, spills, mud, scrapes. It is also magnetic and will attach strongly to any metal. I actually bought it because I needed a headlamp that can reliably handle repelling through a waterfall in a cave. I also needed a light with no hotspot for filming purposes. It is $100 and so far has excelled perfectly!

[Joanne]

That looks awesome. What a find! for that price I'd be interested in trying it too. What have I got to lose?

My current favorite light is the Guard Dog Halo I found on Amazon. For $29 it is super sturdy and bright. I know, it is not a headlamp. I have attempted to strap it to my helmet but it was a bit heavy and lopsided. I have dived with this below 20ft and had no problems. While it says it is 290 lumens, I have yet to find a light brighter! It is a very focused beam and my buddies have taken to calling it the laser. This sucker will punch light down adits and shafts like you won't believe. When I want to see what is ahead or down that hole, I pull this out. It is far brighter (again as a spot light) than my current work horse:

The Spark SD6-500cw which is a very powerful flood. It is not so cheap or so bright as what you have stumbled upon with that bike light. But it is 500lm which is very bright, and only the size of a 18650 battery. And it is a tank: It is water proof ipx8 and very solid. It will handle dives, spills, mud, scrapes. It is also magnetic and will attach strongly to any metal. I actually bought it because I needed a headlamp that can reliably handle repelling through a waterfall in a cave. I also needed a light with no hotspot for filming purposes. It is $100 and so far has excelled perfectly!

That flashlight is really nice, especially for the price. I've been using a SolarForce L2P with a 3-mode XML drop-in. I like it but it's over twice what you paid for yours! I'm guessing that 290 lumens is a pretty honest rating. The rating on the bike lamp is just stupid. I would guess it's in the 200-300 lumen range, which is about what I want.

I have always wanted a Spark. I know that everyone thinks that Zebra is the cat's meow and I'm sure they are fine lights, but I have always liked the look and function of the Spark headlamps. I always run my headlamp in flood mode when I'm underground. If I need a spotlight to see something I grab my L2P. An 18650 powered flood sounds like a win/win for me! I've been thinking of picking up another headlamp for times I don't want to wear my helmet and it looks like a great candidate. Who knows, maybe I'll pull the trigger on one.

Thanks for sharing!

Joanne

[Joanne]

I have been looking at building a headlamp to save money and get a strong headlamp, but i found that i dont know enough about electronics and all that to build one. I have since found a bright, cheap but quality headlamp! Here are the links to the lights on Amazon:

1200 lumens for $26.00

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KXDO8Y/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I just passed the link on to my boss since he and his wife like to ride bikes. We will start a "run" on them.

Joanne

[Hawkeye-TP]

Ok, I gave in and ordered one of these Windfires bike lamps. It arrived last week and was a little disappointing. It was bright yes, but it didn't come with the mount for, well, anything. I had no way to attach to the head strap or a handle bar. Also it had three power setting, Hi, Lo, and strobe that you had to click through to turn the light off. After ten minutes of use the strobe issue really annoyed me. Also, I had bought a second battery pack and the cable from the lamp did not fit.

I returned the darn thing. But I was intrigued and the price is so low. So I bought another from a different vendor. It arrived today. All the issues are fixed! This light is a different color of metal, has four modes (the strobe is optional on this model) fits both batteries, and came with the needed part to mount anywhere. And it is awesomely bright. The best part, it cost a scant $22.75!

Can't wait to get underground and test it.

[Kiel]

Awesome, 23 bucks a ripping deal

[Joanne]

My friend Tony from England bought one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Geizland-Headl...s=xml+headlamp



The light head is the same as yours, but the real advantage to this particular one is that it is built primarily a headlamp.

Although he didn't take it underground, he did use it around camp and it worked quite well. I'm thinking about buying a couple for those times non-explorers want to give mining a try. A couple of hard hats with those lights would make an outstanding set up. If I didn't already have my light, I would be ordering one of these as my primary light.

HawkEye, it will be interesting to hear your experience with the light.

Joanne