A friend asked me for a headlamp with a lot of throw as the only requirement. What’s suitable?
You’ll get a lot of responses here telling you a throwy headlamp is “wrong” because tunnel vision, situational awareness, etc etc.
I would add a throwy headlamp to my collection if there was one on the market with the features I want… For open spaces or larger underground areas, or longer battery life, a throwier beam can be beneficial; obviously there are limits and I’m not suggesting one straps an LEP to their head.
Start by having a look at the thrunite thrower headlamp. Manufacturing Specs and the zeroair review rate the cool white version at 18-21cd/lumen.
Zebralight seem to have dropped all of their non-“F” (floody) models.
Skilhunt H04R (reflector) only does 3.2cd/lumen according to their specs, I’ve the H04 with the frosted TIR lens and it’s visually throwier than this so maybe they have a mistake.
The skilhunt H300R with CW Hi does 4.6cd/lumen.
Perhaps convoy has a solution, I don’t have any experience with the convoy headlamp options though.
From Zeroair review, the Wurkkos HD20 does 6.34cd/lm.
Added a few more, these are manufacturers specs so take with pinch of salt:
Sofirn SP40 3.85Cd/lm
Sofirn HS40 3.8Cd/lm
Fenix HP25R v2 (not budget): 13cd/lm
Fenix HP30R v2 (very not budget): 7.86cd/lm
All of these are just quick and dirty calculations for the turbo modes
Here is a budget find:
Not 100% sure what to believe, but it sports two SST40 in OP reflectors at 5000K and cd/lm seems to be around 10. Should do what my friend wants…
I saw the beam distance in yards and I come to same calculated result as you… (we are both assuming it’s to 0.25lux, as ANSI should be).
I’m sceptical of 10cd/lm however. There isn’t much hard data I could find, but this review by @tactical_grizzly puts the 5000k, single LHD351D at 1.18cd/lm…
Now I know these are different LEDs, but the reflector format is the same, I don’t have any lights with the LHD351D or the SST-40 so I honestly don’t know if an SST-40 could be 10x as throwy as the LHD351D? I’d be more confident to say the Wurkkos specs are wrong …
Incidentally, that review link has a beamshot of the Thrunite Thrower headlamp, it certainly does what it says on the tin!
Boruit D10
Khun @Weerapat_K has this video comparing headlamp beams. I need to watch it a few more times to have an opinion.
At around 1:42 there is the D25S with SST40 which Wurkkos says is the predecessor of H25S. Looks throwy enough on turbo…
Not a bad idea, I’d forgotten about those. Can’t find any data on the output though.
Reminds me of the Kaidomain HL-10 I’ve had my eye on for years but no reviews on the internet so would be buying blind, would also be looking to swap the LED, so not a turnkey solution.
Pick up a D10 a d swap it with a round die yinding led. You can get them in warm tints now amd they throw very well. Even in the OP reflector you’ll get excellent throw.
What’s the original LED in D10 and how does it perform?
" It’s very floody with a hotspot that’s not too intense and blends nicely into the spill. Spill is quite wide."
Its typically been a xm-l2 clone, lile a Latticepower or Latticebright. Sofirn used the LH351D and sst40 in their versions also. I had one with a xp-g2 from Amazon.
The Boriut D10s on Aliexpress pretty much all have xm-l2 clones so 5050 size LEDs.
Performance depends on the battery. With a good battery your mileage may vary, but generally 500-800 Lumens max.