I have been on the lookout for a lightweight budget headlamp to basically use as a host. I looked all over and the best one actually showed up on Amazon for $22. There is also a USB rechargeable version for a bit more money.
https://www.amazon.com/MCCC-Headlight-Waterproof-Direction-Rechargeable/dp/B071ZVLNZL
An Amazon reviewer said this light is a clone of the Nitecore HC30 even down to the UI, and I think that is correct. In the pictures below it is compared to 2 other headlamps: the Wowtac A2 on the left and the Skilhunt H03 on the right. It is compact and lightweight. As it comes the MHL-010 weighs 42g without cell, compared to 55g for the A2 and 44g for the H03. After my modding the MHL-010 is 45g because of a different MCPCB and driver.
I, like many here, like to customize the light by putting in a different driver and/or LED, so while I will try to cover the basics of the light’s stock characteristics, I am focusing more on its function as a host. Here is everything you get; it includes the headlamp, strap, 2200mAh 18650, and wall charger.
The stock LED appears to be an XML2 which is very cool white. The MCPCB is 16mm round, and thin (~1mm) and aluminum. I measured 3.6A on high with a charged sanyo GA cell. As far as I can tell the UI is the same as the nitecore HC30. The UI description below is from Zak’s review of the HC30 on reddit. There are 5 modes. The shortcut to high from off is not described in any of the MCCC documentation, but it does function as below.
https://www.reddit.com/r/flashlight/comments/3ohx9h/nitecore_hc30_review/
Taking apart the light is easy as none of the threads are glued. The driver is press-fit into the head quite hard. I had to lightly hammer it out with a screwdriver. The driver size is 20mm. The battery tube presses directly on the driver ground ring. The MCPCB is adhered to the shelf with a white compound. There is a relatively large concave area in the center of the shelf, but the rest of the shelf looks flat. Overall the quality and machining looks good to me.
If you are OK with the UI, the stock driver might work fine for you. I doubt it is constant current, but I have not tested it. I modded the light with a 5000K SST20 and a qlite 8x7135 driver with anduril. The attiny85 is more sensitive to voltage spikes so I added the filtering/decoupling circuit which emulates the first D4 driver. There is a 4.7 ohm resistor in series with the diode to pin8 of the MCU. There is a 0.1 uF cap to ground at pin8, and a 10 uf cap on the other side of the diode.
The description on amazon says it is rated IPX4. It appears as waterproof as most lights I’ve encountered. The sealing strategy at the bezel is not one I’ve seen before, I think. There is a shelf in the head around the reflector which the oring sits in. The picture is not great, but below left shows the shelf, and below right shows the oring on the shelf. The lens then presses on the oring and seals the opening. By the way, I discovered that the lens is actually plastic. The height of MCPCB/spacer/reflector is somewhat critical for the sealing to work properly since the lens should apply pressure to both the oring and the reflector.
Luckily, even though I’m using a thicker-than-stock copper MCPCB, the height of my setup nearly exactly matches the stock height because the stock centering ring is quite thick. Below right is the stock MCPCB and centering ring. Below left is a standard 1.6mm copper MCPCB with the centering ring I used.
I plan to use the light for trailrunning which is why I want it to be light, and in my lighting strategy my headlamp is more throwy. A domed XML2 sized LED along with DC fix would work very nicely for up close stuff. I converted my A2 to that setup for up close stuff.
So this is quite a good light/host: among the lightest 18650 headlamps. The driver/UI is probably not everyone’s preference, with its hold-for-off functionality. I hope this review helps some of you looking for a quality lightweight headlamp host.