[review] Hurkins Orbit

Lightbringer · 2018-10-23T06:11:59.000Z

Incredible area-illuminating headlamp.

I like headlamps, I really do. As goofy as they might look to observers, they free up both hands so you can do things with both hands, vs holding a light in one and being constrained to working one-handed with the other. I have a small army of Boruits, which I’ve modded to wider-angle TIR lenses for more flood vs throw, making it better for reading and doing close-in work without having to “aim” your head to direct the light where you need it. So when I saw an ad for the Hurkins Orbit, I was fascinated, as it was almost a “mule” light, a ring of LEDs with minimal optics, to direct the light over a very wide area.

I got one, and was impressed! Having a “tiara” of LEDs flooding a wide area with bright white light eliminates any hotspots, gives you an incredibly wide field-of-vision, and lets you see everything around you with no blind spots, nor “tunnel-vision”.

Right from opening the box and removing the Orbit, I saw class. A molded plastic tray cradled the headlamp itself, the charging cable, the carrying case, everything. Everything was ready to go as far as the headlamp, no assembly required, just charge the cell and then light it up! (I admit, I fired it up before charging it, just to get a quick look. )

Just plug it into a USB jack and watch the small green LED “bargraph” light up in sequence as it charges. I don’t recall how long mine took to charge, as I just left it cooking whilst I did something else. When activity stops, it’s fully charged.

10 “main” bubble LEDs in front, and 2 rectangular chip-LEDs on either side, make up the lighting array. A nice neutral white light bathes everything in view, especially when cranked up. The big wheel on the back of the unit is as simple and intuitive as you can get. Just press and hold for a second or two to turn it on, then crank the wheel one way or the other as a “volume control” to dial in the brightness you want. When done, press and hold again to turn it off.

The box says that it can keep lit for 100hrs (on its lowest setting, of course), and that sounds about right, as it’s just a few lumens of output at minimum brightness, enough to let you see where you’re going when it’s pitch-black. Full-tilt, it lights up a whole room. 1000 lumens sounds about right. In a dark basement, cranking it up lit up the room as if the overhead fluorescents were on.

My only complaint about the controls is that it seems biased towards higher settings, and when cranking it down, there’s an abrupt jump from medium to minimum. And conversely, when at minimum, one “click” almost doubles the light output, and there seems to be an abrupt jump to higher brightness. I’d prefer a smoother, visually-linear control. Alas, this is a common failing in almost every light I have that has ramping (headlamps like the RJ02, lights like the TK18, etc.).

Okay, complaints… The light is a nice blanket of light, but there’s a slight yellowish band of light at the extreme bottom of where it shines. Normally, it’s not even noticeable unless you’re up close to a white wall, or are even using the light to read, in which case you’ll see the yellowish band at the bottom. Even then, it fades from view unless you move your head and make the band move as well.

Also, light output is more or less angled straight out, so if you do want to read, or see at a lower angle than straight-ahead, you’ll have to position the headband pretty much at eyebrow level. It’s not uncomfortable or anything, just unconventional. I’m used to having headlamps across the forehead, not riding that low. Still, it’s minimally intrusive, but I should point it out.

Outside, even a minimum setting is enough to provide ample light to keep from falling into holes, but it’s nice to be able to really light up things all around you. It’s not a thrower, so don’t expect to see anything 100yds out, but it’ll let you see everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, in the immediate area. That’s the beauty and appeal of the Orbit!

Going down a completely unlit stairway is so much nicer (and safer!) when you’re not just throwing a little disc of light in front of you, but lighting up the entire stairwell. Again, not much light is needed, but cranking it up to full, just because you can, is pure joy.

I don’t keep any lights with lithium cells in the car, but I could see the appeal of using this to, say, change a tire at night if you had to. No blind spots, nice even lighting, being able to see and chase down rolling lugnuts, etc., would be a great use foe the Orbit.

It’s funny, but I’ve been actually finding reasons to use the Orbit. Going into the attic to fetch something? Why bother to turn on the lights? Just don the Orbit and crank it up! Being that I’m recuperating a bit and have been doing plenty of crossword puzzles (and playing Angry Birds ), having a super-flood of light without having to turn on the overhead lights is so much nicer. And being able to just get up and walk to the kitchen for a drink or a snack, and not even having to touch a lightswitch, is an experience in itself.

Admittedly, it won’t replace headlamps that are throwers (if you want to go spelunking or anything) and even wide-angle headlamps, but it fills in a need I didn’t even realise I had. And now that I discovered it, I don’t want to go back to The Old Way.

Sorry for being a bit long-winded, but I’d definitely give it a thumbs-up.

Lightbringer · 2018-11-22T20:22:19.000Z

Curious if I’m the only one who has one of these?

Anyone else get one? Like it?

I edited the review on Amazon because I was brooming out some cobwebs, and the really wide-angle (ie, out to the sides) let you (me) see what’s dangling down next to you, waiting to pounce. I like spiders just fine, just not crawling on my head.

AEDe · 2018-11-22T20:29:32.000Z

I have it too Review. Hurkins Orbit

hank · 2018-11-22T20:29:48.000Z

interesting. I’ve put Carclo elliptical TIRs in several of my headlights and nightly carry flashlights, to get a wide floodlight.

I’d like to see a coverage chart of this headlight. Maybe a picture taken staring into a corner at a white wall from ten or twenty feet?

Dioda · 2018-11-22T20:44:26.000Z

There was another very solid review by another member. Seems the QC and overall design need a lot of improvement.

Lightbringer · 2018-11-22T22:23:58.000Z

hank:

interesting. I’ve put Carclo elliptical TIRs in several of my headlights and nightly carry flashlights, to get a wide floodlight.

I’d like to see a coverage chart of this headlight. Maybe a picture taken staring into a corner at a white wall from ten or twenty feet?

AEDe beat me to it.

For throw (eg, his outdoor shots) I’d stick with a conventional headlamp like my ol’ Boruit. I can swap the TIRs in that pretty quickly, and like the 60° lens I got in there now. Its come-with ~30° lens is kinda throwy, a bit much for any close-in work

Indoors, though, I was using it (the Orbit) as a mule, and liked the nice even spread of light, especially at the sides. Dodging spiderwebs t’other day, this was especially important, as I hate bugs crawling on me, moreso when there are seemingly dozens if not hundreds of just-hatched baby spiders swarming everywhere, rappelling down on little streamers alllll over the place.

Using it indoors for the most part, I never even thought about its waterproofness, or lack thereof. Yeah, that could be pretty bad outdoors in the rain and such.