When will BLF bring out their own Headlamp????

And start selling internationally. And offer a shorty tube. And BLF UI. And so on….

One single headlamp design probably won't be acceptable for (nearly) all of us. We might want to talk about BLF headlamps of different form factors (I would definitely welcome a single 21700 headlamp, and probably a single 18350 one and a single AA as well for people who don't like li ion batteries - and people who want to give customized headlamps as gifts for non flashaholics).

I use a headlamp a lot, and this is my favourite one at the moment:

Not the best looking light in the world…

Good weight distribution with the batteries on the back.
I put in a Nichia 219C CRI90+ 4000K and replaced the reflector with a very wide angle floody TIR, which i frosted myself additionally.
Simple 3 mode Nanjg AK47 driver with 3x 7135, so it’s 3 Watts max power.
Reverse clicky switch (no drain when off).
Obviously this light is for near field / close up work, such as modding flashlights and painting.

The 2x 18650 last very long, and it has a USB charging port.
Due to the low current (max 1050mA) and thus low Vf you have the same output until the batteries are discharged.
But it still gets pretty warm on 3 Watts.
I mostly use it on medium, which is 30-40% or approximately 1 Watt.
The low mode is good for reading a book (if that’s your kind of thing).
The high mode i don’t use often.
In fact, i could live with a single 7135 for a driver, but the low voltage warning of the Nanjg i wouldn’t want to miss.

So, it’s a great light for long modding sessions, soldering, close up hobbying, etc.

…but here (of course :smiley: ) i read ideas for lumen monsters…
But wouldn’t that give you a lot of light in front of your eyes due to dust and water particles in the air?
But i guess you would wear it higher on your forehead, whereas i have mine just above my eyebrows.
Plus mine is a flooder, so it’s useless in the mist / dust / smoke.

Anyway, i think we need different headlamps for different circumstances.
This one here is pretty useless for riding a bike, for example…
But a powerhouse headlamp would be useless for close up work.
Headlamps like the Skilhunt are in between, not really good for either…

21700 sounds like a good idea for a headlamp. Could make it more versatile with batteries. 21700 or 18650 + spacer or 3 aaa’s + holder.

A follow up on the XHP70.2 costs.
A compact driver for a 3000 lm light is indeed an expensive thing.
But a headlamp can do with 1000 lm. And a 1000 lm driver will be more efficient than 3000 lm one.

Though I think that the ubiquity of XP-sized LEDs makes this choice better despite that XHP70.2 seems more efficient.

Jerommel has a good point about thinking about the primary use of the lamp. I’ve got three headlamps (2 Petzl and one Zebralight) and have headbands for a Convoy S2+ or a Fenyx cr123a flashlight for the most part they are used on low to mid levels. Few people need 1000+ lumens to work on a car or putter around the house or workshop. Too much often just blasts a great reflected beam into your eyes.

That said, I’ve used different headlamps for night backpacking (hit the trail after work in the dark, hike for a few hours and be in the mountains when you wake up) and the higher levels with floodier beams have come in handy finding a campsite in the middle of the night. I went caving three times and the ability to have a powerful beam was great when in larger spaces or for peering down dark passageways.

Having a few high cri lights has made me appreciate the better color rendering. My first Petzl’s leds were so cold and blue that it made distinguishing objects in the woods very difficult. Pretty terrible. My Zebralight with 80 cri looks wonderful in the great outdoors.

I did have a long talk with a guy at Zebralight before I got my floody headlamp. He explained the benefits of a floody beam by being able to pretty much see your feet without turning or tipping your head. You can light the trail ahead and still see the roots and rocks that might trip you up by just glancing down with your eyes. The wash of light without a hotspot avoids the “follow the bouncing ball” syndrome that a throwy light can have while moving. If I needed to spot something further up the trail or scan the treetops to find out what the heck was making that terrifying sound, I’d easily pull out a second light in my pocket that was tailored to that use.

After thinking more about the lights that attach to your sternum strap, I wonder if it would be less useful because to see something off to the left or right, you’d have to turn your entire body to see it. I don’t know how much of an issue that would be but it’s something to consider.

I do like having the battery in the light because I sometimes use my Zebralight headlamp on a length of paracord around my neck to light up the area directly in front of me while sitting in camp hands-free. A battery pack at the back of the head might not allow that with the same ease. If the light was a winner (floody, good cri, good UI, decently powerful with a really great low level and able to run for a good long time) I’d probably still buy it if it had a battery pack in the back.

One last thing: like Jerommel mentioned, reading at night with a headlamp is something I do often on the trail. Ramping would be prefect to find the correct brightness for reading in my hammock or tent without waking my wife.

I think the next step is to have a company or individual with the skills to come up with a form factor that would be open to criticism and adjustment. Then we could give our $0.02 to tweak it into a great light at a budget price.

I would like to see 18650 headlamp with high CRI, ramping UI, with good, big, ergonomic button. It should be as compact and lightweight as possible for 18650. I’d like to have throwy beam with option to make it floody (in my Petzl headlamp there is sliding diffuser for this purpose).

Id love a modern rear mounted 2-4x 18650 battery pack and a nicely heatsinked large led. Seems like almost all the companies going with the compact angled head format now.

Agro and you should look into mountain bike lights with the appropriate headband.

Most mountain bikers don’t want to carry more than two cells on their head.

I read that most of you want a headlamp that has high cri and high output.
What led is available that can do this?

The nichia 219c is not available anymore.
The Samsung LH351D is a nice options but reports say that it suffers from some green in the beam… Not really good for a high color quality light.

XPH50/50.2 90cri 3 step have very good light and hi efficiency.

Huh??
Or did you mean the 219B ?

That’s a 6v or 12v led unfortunately… would require a boost driver which is too expensive.

Both if I recall correctly. I thought I’ve read somewhere that they both are discontinued.

Difference in price between boost and buck driver is not very lage.

Wasn’t talking compared to a buck driver.

A boost driver with enough power in the limited size there is, is probably not possible.

Congrats on your 1234th post, Thijsco. :slight_smile:

Again linear driver? It is not serious.

say that to ZL , nitecore , imalent and so on. Or we again back to head rocket with 30000lm with 1ms to stepdown ?)

Skilhunt h03 with 18350 tube and Anduril and i’d be happy :smiley:
though i would be keen to see the Samsung 90 CRI emitter

Why even discuss the merits of spot versus flood? We should have both, with two separate optics! This would require a two-channel driver (or two drivers, independently operated?) Still, I can’t think of any reason not to do so. Even cheap headlights are doing that, some better than others.

High output versus low? That debate has been going on at BLF for a while and we will never get it resolved because some people have opinions that facts can’t compete with. Let’s define what the purpose of the headlamp is, then make it bright enough for that purpose. If it’s going to need long battery life, then a more efficient driver is recommended. For most drivers that means lower top output. But if it needs to accommodate seeing well into the distance, then more output is needed. If it has to do both, then a more expensive linear FET driver with high output capability and high efficiency even in low modes is the best choice. led4power has that, but not in two channel output AFAIK.

Note that high output and high efficiency don’t necessarily collide, depending on some design choices.
A buck + FET driver could be powerful and efficient and reasonably compact. Costlier than buck alone, but not much.
ADDED:
I see that you added led4power drivers to your post…
I think that the reason they are somewhat expensive is that they are unique top-end items.
Led4Power has invested a lot of effort into perfecting the design and you pay more for his time than for components.

But I may be wrong about it.