Zebralight are just very, very expensive when compared to other lights, like those Convoys.
I don’t see why I should pay £100 for a Zebra (H600) when the Convoy, etc, are like £20?
They strike me as a “premium” brand, whereby you pay a lot for the name. I’m sure they’re good, but I want a budget light (hence why I’m here!)
I did consider the H600Fw for a long time. The other downside was that it uses only 1x 18650, so runtimes were short (50 mins on full brightness or something, then it steps down).
Of course the AA Zebra are lower output and less run time, so only the H600 was on my radar.
You can have a LOT of brightness, OR you can have a long run time. You cannot have both, unless you are willing to carry around a mess of batteries. LED’s are good, and you can improve efficiency, but I would guess you have figured out you are not going to get anywhere even remotely close to your original post request.
One of the things you are buying with that premium price is workmanship and top quality components that have that improved efficiency, and likely reliability, though maybe reliability is not that important underground?
If you don’t want to pay for it, you are going to have to build it.
k9, lets make clear your intentions and we’ll figure out more details from there…
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Do you want a bright ass light for the sake of having a bright ass light, or is it for a specific purpose within the cave? (It’s perfectly OK to want something stupid bright, a LOT of us here have lights way brighter than we’ll ever find practical use for.)
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What sort of runtime do you want? (determines number of cells, weight/sizee
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How long might you keep it on stupid bright mode? (determines heatsinking a little —> weight/size)
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Does the colour of the light matter? (warm light shows up the browns and reds within a cave better than cooler light)
First Convoy is a prefered light for mods.
Second you said you had a ton of AA batteries.
Theird just because you dont see a reason to pay the premium does not mean a reason does not exist.
Forth if your only objection to the H600 was run time buy better batteries and take a few extra with you.
Fifth Yes AA is lower max output but not “necessarily” a shorter run time.
@eebowler: my intentions! OK… I guess I better think about this…
The cheapo headlamp I bought is bright enough to get around, truth be told. I just wanted more In the last place I went there were shafts that I could not see all the way down. That’s OK, I even put some magic tape over it to make it more floody, so I was not expecting much throw anyhow.
I guess what would be useful is a companion light, with more lumens, and (perhaps) a touch more throw, for the occasions where I want to light something up real good. Like when I want to see right down an incline shaft to see if there’s water down the bottom. Or to light up a massive chasm/stope (useful for photography).
I guess I could even make a case for 2 more lights: one throw monster and one flood monster.
Either way, I just wanted to see if I could get more light on a strict budget.
I would prefer neutral over cool (don’t really want cool at all). I don’t know if I want fully warm light, it tends to make everything yellow, doesn’t it?
Runtimes: well, I have yet to be underground for more than an hour, but expect to be going progressively longer and longer, up to a couple hours. If changing 18650 batteries with cold, wet hands isn’t a problem, then I could just take more cells, true.
I’ll be a dick and tell you straight up that you need to spend more money.
Get a good charger for your cells (nitecore D4 for eg.)
GET GOOD, brand name cells from a reliable source. Good cells have REAL capacities and put out more current that ‘chinese cells’. They are also safer wrt internal construction.
Convoy lights are good and stock lights approach 1000 lumens. The convoy C8 has more throw than the cigar style lights.
(3.5) A relatively cheap zoomie would have more throw than the C8 but lacks side spill.
Multiple LED lights with multiple cells are a good option for a lot of lumens. The Supfire M6 has a great design and good output. With more money, it can be modded to have an amazing output with good tint…
Buying a bike light is an option as well. It comes with battery, charger and sometimes with a headlamp strap. They however, also have exaggerated lumens so you’ll have to do some research to get something good.(garrybunk and iAmA4wheeler are the bike light people)
WRT headlamps, Zebralite and Armytek are top dogs wrt brightness. The jetbeam HC20 seems like a good deal but it doesn’t have a low enough low mode for me so I haven’t bought one as yet.
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AA cells will give you decent runtimes in a well built light but,can not put out too much current so would not be lumens monsters.
Focusing on these two for a moment, can I get some recommendations for a safe 18650 charger, and some decent batts? Also recommended places to buy them from?
Would be hugely helpful.
Could you skew recommendations to cheaper end of the spectrum (without sacrificing safety?)
Where you buy from in the UK is a toughie only locals can help you with. Nitecore i2 and i4 are older chargers that function well. I use an i4 almost every day. WRT cells, lower capacities generally = lower costs. As James said, Panasonic, Sanyo, samsung are brands we all trust. IF you want to be extra cautious, protected cells have additional safety however, if the light does not have low voltage warning, when the protection kicks in, the light just goes out… A real sucky situation in a cave. however, if the light does not have low voltage protection, and the cell drained till DEAD , it becomes a potential fire hazard on recharging—> even more sucky. :Sp Good US source (as reference) for chargers, cells etc can be found hereand here
EDIT: some regulars here buy from China based sites without problems (other than long wait).
A good headlamp… and now I have several, is about 600-1000 lumens max. Most headlamps that have nearly 1000 lumens have step downs, which means… 1000 lumens for a minute or two before some sort of thermal regulation occurs, and they cut back the power to cool the light down. Even 6000 lumens in a hand held light does the same thing. You need copper and aluminum to help handle the heat. I would recommend getting a Spark, a Zebralight, or Armytek single 18650 style headlamp. Then when you need more light, you also have a flashlight… The Noctigon Meteor reaches 6000 lumens briefly. But realistically a 1500-3000 lumen light can be something relatively compact and affordable. Strapping 6000 lumens to your head has many many logistical problems, that I would say are hard to overcome with current or even foreseeable technology- as detailed by many posts in this thread. Personally I find 400-700 lumens probably enough in a headlamp… it balances heat and overall brightness.
In the last place I went there were shafts that I could not see all the way down. That’s OK, I even put some magic tape over it to make it more floody, so I was not expecting much throw anyhow.
Nitecore i2 and i4 are older chargers that function well. I use an i4 almost every day. WRT cells, lower capacities generally = lower costs. As James said, Panasonic, Sanyo, samsung are brands we all trust. IF you want to be extra cautious, protected cells have additional safety however, if the light does not have low voltage warning, when the protection kicks in, the light just goes out… A real sucky situation in a cave. however, if the light does not have low voltage protection, and the cell drained till DEAD , it becomes a potential fire hazard on recharging—> even more sucky. :Sp Good US source (as reference) for chargers, cells etc can be found