Review: Skilhunt H02 Headlamp with Full HD Video Review and Pictures.

Glad they finally improved it. They seemed to have made their low, lower- in their new light too.

wow. Great review and pics…I assume this is a floody headlamp?

Nice review!!

I have the newer version from the group buy, with better mode spacing, and I have to say the latter mode spacing is truly spot-on! I’m enthusiast of this light, very versatile and well made. I advise everybody to join the GB while it’s active, I ordered a second one a few days ago because it’s too good a deal for such a useful lighting too.

I have just ordered a Skilhunt H02 headlight/flashlight and wondered if any of the extension tubes that are available would fit so that I could run it off 2 x 18650 cells to lengthen the run-time.

The Skilhunt website states that the torch runs on 3 to 9 volts, so 2 x 18650 cells should be possible.

It is just a matter of finding an extension tube with threads that fit.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks

You may want to rethink this a little. Not sure if you would want to run 2 x 18650 cells in a headlamp. It will be long and heavy. It will feel awkward while on your head. Just thinking outloud.

Would it not be simpler to carry another cell in the pocket, instead of on your forehead? Just thinking out loud :bigsmile:

I really do want an extension tube!

I might not want to use it every time I use the light, but I definitely want that option.

Does anyone know which of the available extension tubes will fit?

Thanks

Maybe an E-mail to the company would help you out?

The trouble is that Skilhunt themselves do not make extension tubes. The available extension tubes for 18650 lights that I have seen are made by 3rd parties.

Once my light has been delivered I could then identify in engineering terms the thread needed for the extension. But I still would not know what threads the available extensions have and I would be very surprised if a seller of them would be able to tell me.

Looking at various extensions on sale and reviews from purchasers, I can see that there are AT LEAST two different threads used. One is used by an Ultrafire light and the other by a Convoy C8 light.

Yes, very floody.

As floody as a ZL H602?

Couldn’t tell you, as I don’t on a single Zebralight. But seeing as it looks like just a bare emitter, and I had a Spark SG5, probably not quite. I personally prefer the TIR optic like the Skilhunt and Armytek to the ultra floodiness of the Spark, or the hotspot of a reflector like the Fenix HL50 (all headlamps I own). In my opinion, there is a point where the light is too scattered, and you have to use a higher setting than you would on a light that focuses a bit more. A TIR optic gives me plenty of light where i need it most, and enough of spill in my peripherals.

Once you get the light, you may have to do a little trial by error, until you get what you need. You may just need an additional 18650 tube to thread onto the original host. Just have to be sure of the threads, and the size.
I know, that is probably what you’re looking for know, but…… You will end up having a frankenstein light. :slight_smile:

Mine hasn’t arrived yet, so I’m asking: if you hypothetically wanted full flood from the H02, not using the TIR optic, you could just remove the optic, and use it with a bare emitter, right? Obviously you wouldn’t want it bouncing around in a pocket or pack, but for home use (sitting on a shelf or whatever), it would be fine, right? Or does that optic hold other things in place?

You know I haven’t removed mine yet. I would guess it should be fine, it seems it should just sit there without a problem… if you were going to pick it up and move it around a lot, I’d leave the optic on.

The TIR optic holds the star down. I suppose you could use thermal adhesive to glue the star down, but with that big gap, I’m sure a bit of the output would be lost back inside of tube.

I’ll just include my observations here as a mini review, as people looking for reviews will find MHanlen’s.

First, I want to contradict the OP’s assertion in post 45 that it’s a “very floody” headlamp; it is not. His assertion is clarified and better-reflected in post 47, where he contrasts the H02 against headlamps which are in fact very floody. Perhaps he meant in post 45 that the projection is even—as in: the projection is one big, fairly even (if not extremely wide) hotspot. But evenness of beam does not equate to “very floody”, or wide width.

So, projection angle (which isn’t published, and on which, I’ll say politely, there is scant information) is much narrower than I anticipated. I was hoping the optic would be more of a “diffuser” (like frosted tape). But no, it’s actually a TIR (Total Internal Reflection) optic. This is good for many, but bad for me: I like bare-LED style “full flood” in my headlamps. The hostpot is surprisngly almost identical in size to an SK68 in flood mode (in other words, not extremely wide), but with a more diffuse edge. And of course, much brighter, with a much better tint (I got Neutral White). The throw cast from an SK68 in “bare LED” mode (lens removed) is almost precisely double the width of the H02 beam. Most people have an SK68 clone, so that can give you an idea.

This is a matter of preference, but I like to wear headlamps as clip-ons and necklaces, because in warmer months, insects like to fly at your face if you’re wearing a light on your head. Mule-like floods work well for those applications, as the light won’t be precisely aimed when clipped or hanging. When I tried to clip the H02 to me, the aim was always too left, right, high or low… just too narrow. So I tried it on the head mount.

One thing that wasn’t clear to me before the purchase, is this mount is made purely of rubber. The rubber itself is very soft and supple, which is very nice for mounting the rings. It’s just that there’s no plastic frame to help the rubber keep its shape. So, it can distort out of shape if you don’t have the flashlight evenly mounted. (I tried to push the neck, which is wider than the tube, through one of the mount holes, to more-center the emitter.)

On my head, the H02 did much better for me, due to much more precise aiming that head-mounting allows. I still like to have more even lighting for peripheral vision; again, preference. The H02 does not light up the whole room in front of you, but a circle in front of you. I feel this was not adequately revealed in feedback I read previously. I believe the angle to be similar to many reflectored flashlights, and probably also the reflectored H02R version, except with a smooth, even distribution of light within that hotspot. This was my biggest disappointment with the H02. But to others, that may be a plus.

I may try to remove the optic, but having been told the optic holds down the emitter star, I don’t have time to mess around with that now. But I’d like to in the future.

In every headlamp mount I’ve used, the light ironically felt lighter when I didn’t use the top head strap. This was no exception, and was probably the best example so far. Felt much lighter with the top strap disconnected. But it will take some doing to completely remove the top strap. Some of the strap connectors seemed to be threaded backwards; I’m not sure if this was intentional.

Tint was good. It was however more warm than cool. Pretty much a yellowish. Not as warm as incandescent and a “warm tint” LED lamp bulb I have. The SK68 beam looked very blue-ish next to it. I’d prefer a step towards cool (not sure what tint rating that would be), but the tint is good, and probably my favorite thing about the light. I would not want warmer than this. I understand the tint rating is 3C.

I personally like the interface. Let’s face it: with a soft switch, you’re going to have to hold down the button to do some kind of function. That will either be to turn it on, turn it off, or switch modes. You single-press to change modes. You single-press to turn it on (memory), double-click to turn on in Low mode, or hold to turn on in High mode. Makes a lot of sense. You hold to turn it off. Some people complain about that, BUT, think of it this way. Which do you do more: change modes, or turn the light off? For every time I turn the light on, I usually change modes at least once, often several times. So, I’d RATHER have single-press to change modes (instead of long-press to change modes, like ZEBRALIGHT). To me, this resembles the half-press of Reverse Click switches, and I think it’s intended to. (I prefer a hard switch anyway.) So to me, this is the best fundamental interface, better than Zebralight (not in mode numbers, just fundamental UI navigation), because I don’t like holding down to change modes. No one likes delays, but I’d rather hold down to turn off. For safety though, I think the safest is to hold down to turn ON, but this is not going to happen.

I would not carry the H02 in a pack (or pocket) without being in Lockout mode, and I don’t like to have to rely on that. This is one reason I just don’t like soft switches. Most of us have probably had a light accidentally turn on in a pack or pocket. Those occurrences usually (not always) involve soft switches (happened to a friend of mine with a twisty/momentary).

The switch is not hard to press. I could handle (and would probably prefer) a little firmer, for safety. It’s in a good position, and ‘clicks’. It’s actually perfect IMO if you’re not going to pack it anywhere (shelf queen).

The magnet is really nice to have. It holds the light, but not with the strap mount attached, as others have noted.

I expected to scratch the finish a bit with the clip, and did, even using silicone grease. But to be fair, I scratched my Zebralight’s finish a bit doing the same (though not as badly). So far, I think the clip is okay, and I don’t think it’s flimsy, unlike a comment I read. I think the shape of the clip is unusual and perhaps unnecessarily complex, though.

The next-closest light I have I can compare this to is a Zebralight H502 (AA/14500, full flood). I used to EDC the Zebralight until I apparently lost it (I can’t find it). I will never again spend that much money on an EDC light. Runtimes were short, and the GITD ‘reflector’ created an odd green cast to the light, but it was very light, easy to wear and carry (even more of a need for tailcap lockout, though); and the customizable modes were my favorite feature, effectively giving you double the modes.

Even though this light doesn’t use PWM (Pulse Width Modulation), it still produces a lot of RF (radio frequency/electromagnetic) radiation. Probably not as much as the Zebralight, but still a lot. The way you can test it, is to hold it to an AM radio, and change modes. Zebralight claimed their lights were shielded, but to me, that clearly wasn’t the case. If you don’t mind holding a cellphone to your ear when you talk, you won’t care about this. But personally, I would not use one of these on my forehead for many hours or over years. The worst LED RF offenders in my home are my LED lamp bulbs (I don’t use them at my bedside), which in turn are about as bad as CFL. LED’s themselves don’t emit EMR; it’s the driver circuitry. I have a single-mode XR-E flashlight that emits no detectable RF.

I’m grateful to Skilhunt for not gluing these flashlights. I like that the head can unscrew, just like the tailcap. I like that this seems to be the most mod-able decent headlamp out there.

Brightness: I won’t dispute the 800 Lumens claim, but I expected it to seem subjectively brighter. I am familiar with flood versus reflectors, tins and all that, so I don’t think it’s the effect of the TIR; I just feel like I was expecting more at max, especially with its “narrowness”. I need to keep it at Level 3 (out of 4) to have it satisfyingly bright (‘380 lumens’). I am therefore among the apparent few who would’ve preferred the original mode spacing, for the brighter medium modes. Level 1 (which I think is same as original, 5 lumens) with the TIR is pretty good for reading something you’re holding at about book-reading distance, or a little closer.

In conclusion, this was actually my most-anticipated flashlight purchase ever, even more than my Zebralight. In the end, I’m a little disappointed, because I actually prefer the beam from a Franken-headlamp I cobbled together out of two Ebay cheapies, using my favorite parts of each. What I do like, is I didn’t pay a ridiculous amount to find out, so I don’t feel bad about the purchase, but unless I make a breakthrough in removing the TIR optic, I don’t think I’ll buy a second or the Reflector version. I guess this is the somewhat unpleasant reality behind why some of us keep buying lights (even though the hobby is enjoyable): we never really find what we like. (Unless we make it or mod it.)

Thank you brjones for this outstanding hands on mini review….
It looks like I will not be purchasing it too. I never knew about drivers emitting RF/electromagnetic emissions….Is it for all flashlights? I use mine daily as a night side lamp with a baby in room. Maybe put it farthest in room or remove it?
From what you describe, I certainly would not purchase the skilhunt as I want floody beams in a headlamp which is at least on par with the Zebra H52.

Brjones is right on the money. Once folks discover how useful bare emitter headlamps are, it’s game over. My H602w is used daily. With a super wide beam, it pretty much lives on my head when the sun sets each night. So far the ONLY application in which I wouldn’t want a mule headlamp (and perhaps an accompanying thrower flashlight) is caving. Ran some lava tubes today, and I wished I had a slight bit more throw. But in the 6 months I’ve been using the light, this is the only time I wished it had any throw at all, and that’s simply because caving makes holding a second light impractical. I had a Tiara A1 pro before my Zebra, and was extremely disappointed with the narrow beam pattern of the TIR. I can only imagine that a traditional reflector beam pattern for a headlamp would be even more of a let down.

Simply put, mule headlamps are life changers. I love working on cars and now I can annoy my neighbors until 2am (or whenever I get sleepy) working in, what appears to be, broad daylight. I can’t wait for a MT-G2 mule headlamp with a waist-mounted battery pack running 2s2p 18650’s.

Take a look at the Spark headlamps. They have a mule type emitter and a very simple UI. There is also a different bezel that you can change out that is for distance. And it is built extremely well.