Been through a variety of cheap head torches - don’t mind if they don’t last that long or I find aren’t so great and pass on to others.
Currently for really cheap ones I’ve found a single XM-L with a reasonable sized reflector does about the best job.
Have one of these which the switch broke on, but seemed a bit brighter than the single; www.ebay.co.uk/itm/401151038145
All the other multiple ones either were held on by bands and drooped down with use, or were less bright than a decent single one.
Used pretty much daily - dog walking, cycling, general ‘seeing stuff’ in the dark. Also for festivals etc, occasionally.
Looking mostly for the brightest I can get for the money.
I like that the cheap ones generally have a red light on the back.
There’s lots of features I’d like (ie optional diffuser to flatten beam for use with things close up, remote hand switch so it can be switched onto flash when running, USB socket for charging phones.) - but happy with one that’s decently bright.
I can’t say which is best as I’ve only had a couple,
but I really like my Crelant CH10 in NW.
18650 with a stepless dimmer that goes really low.
I have mine set to 2 mode - high and very low.
I’ve got a few different headlights and
I’d agree with Suncoaster regarding the crelant CH10, great light for the price
The other one I use a lot is the nitecore hc90, masses of flood but in a useful way when combined with the easy to adjust the brightest slider, expensive though especially considering the cost of the crelant CH10
I have a Skilhunt H15, NiteCore HC30 and Xtar H2. Love all of them as they each serve a different purpose. I think the Skilhunt H3 might also be a good choice, although I didn’t care for the switch location. Also, based on what I’ve read, some have opted for the Xtar H3 Warboy instead of the Nitecore and have been quite happy. The two are virtually identical in terms of spec, output, etc…
Something like the H3 Warboy I’ve wondered about for running and adding a chest mount - the shape should work well for that. (I’ve got a gopro chest mount somewhere I’m sure I could adapt.)
What sort of run time do people find they get from these lights?
I’ve got a couple of decent KeepPower 18650s that last a good few hours in my current XML headtorch on max brightness.
That is just another cheap Chinese generic head lamp claiming to have a cree led & massive output.
In reality it will be a Lattice Bright emitter & the 1,600 lumen claim can be divided by 4 to get a truer output figure.
Also I would not trust the onboard charging on these head lamps over a standard charger.
Have you looked at the Olight wave series ?
The H25 is about £80, has 800 lumens, a 5200mah battery,acts as a power bank & can be operated hands free by way of the infra red sensors. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Olight-H25-Wave-Rechargeable-LED-Head-Torch-/172364957991?hash=item2821c08927:g:wfQAAOSwTA9X9Ryi
I have the 1,500 lumen H35 wave model which I really like a lot but that is well above budget at around £180.
Oh yes, I know not to even consider trusting the figures.
However, I’ve found it does a very decent job - definitely for the price. Have wondered about trying to soup it up a bit with a better driver. Haven’t tested the amps it’s drawing.
I do have various balance chargers, though recently have been using the provided charger, which is a bit risky
(I did have a Xtar 2 x 18650 charger, but it blew up a battery at work, which didn’t impress my boss - fill the building with a nasty stench and bits of battery all over the workshop bit it was in.)
Ah, thank you for reminding me - I have looked at the Olight H35 before, but when I tried to find it before posting, couldn’t remember the name (think I was searching for a K35 or something.)
Like that it’s got a decent battery (for instance for when working my garage at night etc) and that it can be used to power USB devices.
Would like a flash mode ideally (either for cycling, or when running I’ll often stick it on flash and point at signs or the ground to give cars the best chance of seeing moe.)
I am not sure if it meets what you are looking for , but I just did a review on the ThruNite TH20 headlamp. I really like this little light with the infinity mode adjustment and for closer work with a floody beam it is great. It is AA or 14500 either one and under $30 US ,
Review HERE if interested.
For running or cycling I generally don’t need too much flood and having a bright centre slot helps to illuminate down the road/trail/etc.
I’d prefer to keep to 18650 batteries, as I already have them.
It’d be nice to have a floody-option for cases like working in the garage, or trying to illuminate something for close-up work. My ideal torch would have the option to do both, but I’d spending a good bit I want throw with incidental flood generally.
Great beam and while I didn’t think it was that much brighter than others, the bright centre section is much wider.
Using it riding a push bike to return to my caravan at Glastonbury had people moving aside a good way ahead - guessing they thought I was a car/truck etc!
The IR ‘wave’ functionality is really annoying however - I must check to see if it can be permanently disabled. It could be useful when running, I could see - where I may have the light off until crossing a road (though I prefer a flash setting for that), but doing anything close up it catches reflections etc and often turns it’s self off just as I lean down to look at something where I really need it!)
The powerbank functionality (equivalent to a 10ah 1s bank of course) at Glastonbury to keep my ailing phone battery up during the day - being able to charge it every night from my 700ah 12v battery bank in my van helped :).
But you have to disable it every time that I see, bella?
I often turn head torches on and off regularly - doing work on vehicles at night, stuff with my dog in similar circumstances - some weekends I’m in a half lit warehouse working with vehicle parts etc - so it’s a bit of a pain to have to turn it on then hold down the button again to disable the wave function. Haven’t checked where the sensor is, but could maybe block that.
No more money on torches for a bit I’m afraid Chris, but cheers anyway :).
