I have both here... wanna have some pics? I also just received a Trustfire Z1 which is in the headband right now.
Isn't a bike helmet with standard flashlights mounted better for this purpose? I always feel weird wearing headbands in public. I have the yellow angle light from KD here. It is quiet large and heavy and very, very throwy with a small hotspot and a small spill beam. Not optimal in a light with that configuration. I will put it on my head tomorrow and let you know if I find it useful or not.
... be warned... I suck at making beamshots.
It's throwy indeed, only dedicated thowers like the SkYRAY 1JC8, SAiK SA-305 are more throwy... I think... Nautic wrote that it uses a TIR optic. I always would buy my UF H2B again as a flooder (even though it also has low PWM). Perfect would be something like the Trustfire Z1 , if someone figured out how to fit a glass lens instead of the reflector. The flood is perfect when I screw the reflector off. The yellow light is large compared to my H2B and Z1, but on a headband every mm and every gram counts. On longer night bike tours there is no alternative to 18650 batteries... 14500,16340,AAs all suck... either in runtime or output or both. A very slim 18650 light with well spaced modes on a bike helmet might be what you are looking for. The biggest turn-off for me is always the low PWM frequency on low/medium modes while riding a bike. That UF-2100 looks promising in that regard, but I wish that it had more brightness levels.
Some pics as promised.... the yellow angle light is too big and heavy for headband use... Z1 is way better in that regard... the H2B is best but a little dim (scared to use 14500s, because of the questionable internals)... Z1 without reflector blows everything else away ... perfectly even, very large radius beam and very bright.... looking for suitable glass lenses now.
As promised a totally overexposed, misleading beamshot, don't read anything into it, the KD angle light hospot is much smaller in reality...
yellow light on the left , Z1 on the right (with reflector)
Might try to get better beamshots later..
Unscrewing the complete housing + reflector... like this:
I haven't tried to unscrew just the reflector like this....
Both pics from DX
If you are aiming for a large spill beam radius, you got to loose the reflector housing on the z1, also.
You have 2 modes... turbo with 1.5 amps and very short runtime (SF protected 123) and 0.13 amps on low and reasonable runtime. It gets pretty hot on turbo and I don't know if the reflector is needed for cooling or not.
I pulled the trigger on this one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Mode-Zoom-AA-14500-Headlight-Torch-Light-Headlamp-9-/250779304687?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a639c82ef
It can be found at 7$ in ebay, but the seller didn't supply it to Spain.
I think it should not be difficult to mod in case the led is not a good one, it has more material to disipate heat than the majority of headlamps on its price range, and in the worst of the cases, I could keep the holder for other AA/14500 flashlights.
I like more the one I purchased, should have a bit more of runtime on 14500, and more or less equal on AA, and I find it easier to mod in case it is needed.
I already have another similar to the concept you meant, it is a copy of the led lenser H6, which is not too bad, but has less material to dissipate the heat from the led.
And yes, it could be a problem with the weight, if it is, I will add a strip from front to back, it should release some pressure on the head in case it has to be too tight.
It turned up again - under the driver's seat of my mother's car...
Where it had been for quite a long time (Like 9 months). Still has the same cell in it and it still emits light.
Nicepost! sorry for digging that up.
yepyep, nice thread, thanks!
i will order it too -- because it's so cheap and useful.
btw Vectrex, time to update your sig ;)
EDIT: order placed. First time ordering something from KD!!
And now the wait begins.
I don't know where to begin ;-)... maybe we need a collection/sig thread... just for reference... no talking... I also wanna list all the lights I have given away as gifts/ sold. That way people could scan very fast what experience is available on which light on BLF.... also it's easier to see which background/experience a person has... but putting it in a sig is getting a little ridiculous.
yeah hehe. now the wait continues. *sigh*
collection thread .. very good idea. each blf member with 1 post only :)
Had had time finding these, thus upping the thread.
Ordered.
I have it since more than a year. A very good headband. The same than the one included with the H2b
does this UF headstrap can fall down unconsciously when used on head?
maybe due to the weight of the light?