The Cygolite Metro 550 goes for $51 on Amazon and people like it. You should be able to find lights that will last 1 to 1.5 hours on high in the 800 lumen range.
I recommend staying away from AA; those lights are so last century
I have a XinTD C8 V5 http://www.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=109 for $30 (multiple tints available). Buy two $10 protected 18650s and a charger and you are all set. Get a $2 rubber U mount (will hold any 1” diameter flashlight) and you’ll be able to remove the light easily.
If I were you, I would be asking for 2 headlight suggestions, one the killer 18650 headlamp, but a smaller one that is the best single AA headlight.
There are some fantastic AA headlights now for general use that are super light, and so very convenient.
I love my Nitcore HC50, but for my indoor projects I prefer my Fenix HL30, and look forward to someday having a single AA Zebralight, or whichever is the most floody brand when the time for me to buy comes.
I own a lot of fenix stuff, I always liked them. Not the most powerful in terms of brightness but always well built and quality components are used in them. I don’t own any nitecore’s but I’ve always wanted one. Who’s the best vendor now days for fenix and nitecore?
I also can recommend the Xtar H3. You can really leave it on turbo. I’ve tested it with fully charged 3,400 mAh batteries.
It gets warm, of course. But you can still hold it in you hand without getting unconfortable.
Once you have the clip adjusted, you can wear it in you breastpocket. So you don’t have to fuss with the headband.
Zebralight recommendation here too.
Why?
I actually own one and it has seen inclement weather and conditions multiple times and still goes strong.
Is robust and light, can be detached and used as a hand torch in a pinch.
Also a decent range of options (research is your friend between the model differences).
For what it is worth..the HC50 is a good balance between throw and flood. The JetBeam HC20, Nitecore HC30, and Xtar H3 are all "throwy" headlamps. Diffuser film would possibly be a good idea. The Skilhunt with TIR (H02 and H15 and H01), Zebralight, and Armytek are "floody".
Myself, I prefer the H02 and the H15. I also use an HC50. My HC30 and H3 are backup only because the hotspot is not conducive for what I do. FYI...Skilhunt also comes in NW tint ;)
HC50 here as well. Perfect for general use. I use mine whenever I'm modding, or working in the dark in general. Great selection of modes for point blank to medium range (~40 yards). Stays on your head and keeps the desired angle, but can be silently adjusted easily. The voltage indicator is a nice time saver and accurate to boot. The red mode is fantastic for keeping all the bugs on your friend's side of the boat. :D
I still haven’t found a headlamp to dethrone my nitecore hc90. Had it from the day it was released. A bit heavy but that extra mass allows me to run turbo forever. Plenty bright and I like how it’s a slider instead of a switch to turn on/off.
Makes it easy even with gloves on.
The additional red,green,blue light is a plus also
It was a tossup between the Nitecore HC30 and the Zebralight….I really wanted the Zebralight but in the end the HC30 was around $30 cheaper, and it was available for immediate shipping via amazon prime…the zebralight was not
I ended up purchasing the HC30 from Amazon http://amzn.to/1QnoIG1 for $54.99 shipped. Since I have prime its showing my delivery day as tomorrow!! That’s overnight :). I will report back on how I like it. It may have too much throw I might end up replacing the lens with a diffuser lens or using scotch tape. I seen another member had replaced the lens and it worked great.
I’ve got an Armytek Wizard Pro wide in warm tint. TIR optic all flood but 950 lumens when I really need to light up camp. It’s been bulletproof for the near couple years I’ve had it. Lot’s of camping trips, and even a few caving trips so It has had its share of bumps and bruises. It runs an 18650.
I got the HC30 in the mail …. The damn thing doesn’t accept unprotected saynos? Or any unprotected cell for that matter?? I’m stuck using it with an old trustfire protected cell with only 1000mah capacity left in it (its several years old)
Anybody know a workaround for making unprotected cells work, or know where I can get a good deal on a couple QUALITY protected cells?
EDIT: I added some solder to the anode of my unprotected 18650s and it made a “DIY” nipple that gave me the extra length I needed to complete the circuit. Now the HC30 works with unprotected cells.
Quote: “I got the HC30 in the mail …. The damn thing doesn’t accept unprotected saynos?”
Google “magnetic battery spacers”. These are small magnetic disks that can be attached to the positive end of a flat-top battery to turn it into a button-top. Typically they are 8mm diameter and 1mm deep (you can stack stack them to get 2mm or 3mm). A couple of sites that sell them are:
At the present (29/Jan/2016) one of the best deals I have found on button-top 18650 batteries are Panasonic 3400mAh Li-ion, at UK £12.61 (US $17.55) for 4 batteries (Note that the price can change on a daily basis).
There are a lot of bad scam batteries out there, so buy reputable names like Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Sony, KeepPower, Xtar. Avoid like the plague anything with “Fire” in the name.
As to recommendations for a headlamps, a bit late, but for the benefit of others. I think Fenix makes excellent quality lamps. For brightness (maximum beam intensity) the Fenix HP30 with a quoted maximum ANSI beam range of 233m, sounds hard to beat (I don’t have one myself). It uses two 18650 batteries in a belt-mounted battery-pack, so it also gives long runtimes. It’s a high power throwy lamp suited to serious expeditions, caving, mountain search and rescue, and the like. On the downside it is somewhat heavy and cumbersome for every-day use.
For a 1x18650 lamp for close work the Fenix HL55 is an excellent choice, it has a very large spot and a wide bright spill. It has a 10 lumen mode that is very good for reading and close work, next is a 55 lumen mode that is enough for safe cross country walking though without much throw, the other brightness modes are 165, 420, and a 900 lumen Burst mode. Because it has a very floody beam, the maximum beam range is only 116m.
The Jetbeam HC20 is a decent 18650 hiking lamp with a medium size spot and medium bright and very wide spill. The biggest drawback is that the lowest brightness mode is 70 lumens, this will drain the batteries faster than necessary in some circumstances because a 10 lumen mode is enough for many things. It has a max beam range quoted as 140 meters.
I would rate the Xtar H3 as another decent 18650 hiking lamp, if it were not for the fact that the rubber mounting bracket on mine split within the first two weeks. I did take the lamp in and out of the bracket about five times. If you put it in the bracket and leave it there, you may have better luck. The low mode on the H3 is also 70 lumen like the Jetbeam HC20, the H3 does have an ultra-low “moonlight” mode of 1 lumen, but this is too low to be useful for anything except checking your watch. I seem to get better runtimes out of the H3 in 70 lumen mode compared to the HC20. I suspect that the max beam range of the H3, quoted as 157m, is exaggerated, perhaps by as much as 13m.
For an 18650 lamp with long runtimes, the Rayfall H1LR is hard to beat (except for the Fenix HP30). I get well over twice the runtime of my other headlamps with the H1LR. It has a twist-switch, which is much more convenient and easier to change modes quickly than a button switch. The price of the long runtimes is a small compact spot and a relatively weak spill beam, In spite of that, I do like it a lot as a hiking lamp, as I know it will keep going strong for many hours after my other lamps would have given up. The H1LR won’t accept flat-top batteries, and you can’t use magnetic spacers because of the magnetic switch.
Another 2xAA headlamp is the Fenix HL35 with a quoted max beam range of 85m. In addition to AA alkaline and NiMh batteries the HL55 can take 14500 Li-ion rechargables, the Nitrcore HA20 can’t take 14500 rechargables, but has better quoted beam range.
For a light weight 1xAA the Fenix HL21 is an excellent lamp. It is my all time favourite headlamp. It comes with a flip up diffuser, which gives you the choice between a long throw (93m) mixed beam, or a very floody beam with the diffuser down, and this at a flick of the finger (the diffuser can remain attached to the lamp as it hinges). The only significant drawback to this lamp is a relatively short runtime due to its only having one AA battery (but you can always carry spares).
For a cyclist the Jetbeam HC20 with its long throw might be a good choice. This is also a good lamp for hikers, but a 10 lumen mode to conserve battery power would have been nice. The Xtar H3 also is worth considering, but be aware of possible splitting of the rubber bracket.
For long runtimes Rayfall H1LR is miles ahead of all except the Fenix HP30, but the H1LR has a small spot and weak spill.
For an all round 18650 headlamp suitable for indoor or outdoor use the Fenix HL55 is my recommendation.
For an all round light weight headlamp, the 1xAA Fenix HL21 wins hands down. This is an excellent lamp for hikers, but also for electricians and the like.
For a killer all-powerful, light up the moon lamp, the Fenix HP30 sounds like the best.
All the lamps mentioned in this post meet IPX6 or above. Most of the lamps will take flat-top batteries, the Rayfall won’t, and I don’t know about the Fenix HP30.
