Hello dear members of BLF, this is Sofirn team.
Your suggestions for our headlamp are all received. Thank you so so much for your support and valuable opinions.
The are still few questions to be solved:
1.about the battery: 18350 or 18650?(if 18650 then the light will be heavier)
2.about the emitter: 4000k or 5000k? What emitters do you recommend for red light and white light?
3. about the shape: T shape or L shape?
4. Some people mentioned that leave the pocket clip on the light while its in the headband, otherwise it’s more likely to lose the clip, but how to achieve that, any ideas?
5.How to arrange the emitters? Or other suggestions?(not good at painting lol )
We will collect your feedback to our R&D team. Please feel free to share your thoughts and ideas!!
Any other suggestions, leave a comment too~
Wish you all the best.
For myself the user interface is as important as the physical design.
Ramping is important with direct access to a moonlight mode.
If there is a red mode it has to be easy to get to. Red light is commonly used to preserve night vision, having to go through 2 white mode defeats the purpose of red light.
If the popularity of H25LR is any indication, an ultralight preferably regulated headlamp with two emitters: high CRI and deep red, could be a winner.
I would sell my soul (at least part of it) for a 18350, ultralight, 5000-4500K high CRI + 660 nm red, can be T-shape (or L), or emitters above battery, magnet could be nice (clip optional). The best UI I’ve seen is simple no-memory a few steps starting from moonlight two-button for red and white. The only blinky is red flashing - that’s useful.
There is a reason why Nitecore NU25 (2017) has such a legendary status in the ultralight community despite not excelling in anything other than being super small, super light, and super useful. A version of it with replaceable battery and better LEDs would be appreciated I’m sure.
One interesting aspects of NU25 is replacing the headstrap with shock cords. Users were doing it routinely, then Nitecore introduced that in the latest models by default. And they use nice GITD and reflective shockcords. Small is beautiful!
18650 for sure, also you can provide to buy shorter 18350 tube
It is quite personal, for me 4000 K is great, but everything from 4000 to 5000 should be fine
L shape only!
I always leave clip on light, just in case that I need light to hang over belt, backpack or whateover
The last one or second from bottom
It would be a hedlamp so in this case most important is high CRI and nice uniform flood - but not too floody, just for general use nad walking. If you also put a decent driver buck or boost - it will be great light.
What is the purpose for that headlamp? Answer it and when and only then you can answer to all other questions. And when you answer to all questions you’ll find out that Skilhunt H serie is the answer for L shape and Boruit D10 is for T shape.
18650
Weight <50gr.
Serviceable - repairable.
Simple UI with more low modes. Low modes makes red light useless.
I would like to see both, 18650 default and 18350 tube available for a few $ (or the other way round, as you did for IF19).
Depends if you want to make it more for indoor/workshop (4000K + floody optic) or outdoor/hiking (5000K + more throwy optic) use. Both are good in my opinion.
I prefer L shape + magnetic cap for flexibility.
Yes please! You can look at Olight Perun Mini 2 headband/clip design. I am using Sofirn HS10 with clip attached in a Olight headband
I prefer the triple TIR with 2W + 1R. Might also make for a second version which is 2 5000K + 1 2700K LED for tint mixing? In that case, Anduril 2 firmware would be useful, as it can do that already and needs no new firmware.
If you want to reach enthusiasts with this light, make it Nichia 519A, an efficient buck driver, Anduril 2 with accessible flashing pads, and make a threaded non-glued bezel, so we can replace LEDs if we want. If you want it for the general audience, probably your usual SST-40 because they are affordable and bright, and that is all the mass market seems to care about. If you want to reach both enthusiasts and mass market with one product, maybe SFT40 5000K as a middle ground?
There is one idea for a clip if the light is small enough (i.e. dedicated 18350 - there is plethora of 18650 headlamps already). I think I’ve seen it somewhere but can’t recall where.
Instead of molding the head strap bracket to hold the entire light, design it so that the light can be clipped to the bracket - the clip already holds the light. The bracket could be smaller and flatter. The light can be rotated up an down. The clip will never be a nuisance as it is the integral part of the light mounting to the bracket. The whole thing would be lighter and the design more elegant. It may require designing a unique clip and bracket assembly, but it could be a win-win, I think.
p.s. I think I got it. Clipping is different from what I envisioned, but nice. The rest is about what I would like except for the special magnetic charger cable and the price…
18650 with 18350 tube options;
4000K high cri, monochromatic red light;
L-shape for sure;
not stretchy loop headband, only c-clamp, so clip can be on the light + easy removing.
2 white leds and 1 red. Quick access to red, 1 hold from off maybe + ability to change brightness. Charging port if there is enough space.
IMO having a light with red light and not having really quick access to it isnt even worth building.
Yes but it works fine without the clip… FWIW. I really like the bracket design
Easy to remove the lightm easy to adjust, but retains the light well. I think tweaking the design would make it possible to use it with the clip attached.
Surprising, well somewhat, how different peoples preference often are. I really don’t like side switches on headlamps. They never seem to be where I can find them easily. A switch on the end of the light never gets “lost”. Much easier when I don’t want to take the light off of my head to find the darn switch.
Lol, i am the complete opposite. I don’t like rolling a light in my hand to find a side switch, so my hand held lights have rear switch. For a Headlamp, it doesn’t roll or move much so all i need to do is pinch the head which is easier to operate than an end switch
Agree with you 100%. Small and light at the cost of output any day over a heavy 18650 with big lumens.
I still use my NU25, and my 3xAAA Alpkit Gamma over any others because they’re small and light.
18350 for me, floody, 5000k, no magnet or the option to remove it. No clip either. A head light that isn’t trying to do anything else. No red led, just a simple, even ramping moonlight to high and back. Main usage being for the user to see things in the dark, not for people to see the user, no strobes or blinkies.
For who accept lithium chemistry in front and use headlamps as work can consider a lightweight lipo battery format with flexible UI, instead thousands useless lumens.
But people is worry about difficult to replace batt. and parasidic drain.
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