There’s no substitute for a good headlamp when you need to use both your hands for a task. But making a headlamp compact enough for EDC is difficult because of the bulk of the head strap. I’ve tried using a right angle light clipped to some part of the front of me to act as hands-free lighting, but with the clothes I normally wear it did not work well and it was a poor replacement for a headlamp. Then I thought of the idea of using my glasses as a mount for a small flashlight. There are some cheap clip-on options available that use button cells and a 5mm LED, but I wanted something rechargeable and with a quality beam.
This mod was simple once I found the right light. From some testing I knew I wanted something less than 15g . So AAA/10440 lights were out since they are typically more than 20g loaded. I also wanted a button rather than a twist switch which rules out most 10180 lights. The TIKI fit the bill; 12g, a side button, nice beam, and useful modes.
I used 8mm x 2mm neodymium disk magnets. They are strong enough to work through the thickness of the glasses arm so I could stealthily put the magnets on the inside and not look like a doofus with magnets on my glasses. I used epoxy to attach the magnets. The light works quite well as a headlamp. I can’t adjust the up/down angle, but it works fine for most tasks. My biggest complaint is that the button is not easy to press, and, for this application, I would prefer a more normal e-switch UI instead of the double-click-to-turn-on, no memory UI of this light.
Obviously this solution doesn’t work if you don’t wear glasses, but maybe this will help some of you looking for a very compact headlamp.
