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Can you confirm the weight of the HC50?
130g seems awfully high.
What is the weight of the head strap and the weight of the light separate?
HC50: 85 grams (3.0 oz)
HC50 + headband: 130 grams (4.6 oz)
HC50+ KeepPower 3400: 133 grams (4.7 oz)
HC50 + KP 3400 + headband: 178.6 grams (6.2 oz )
It’s heavier than the Spark (which is boarder line too heavy for a headlamp) and can only use protected button top cells. These are the two main drawbacks for me.
If they made it slimmer and lighter and able to use any type of cell, I would have already placed my order.
Still, it looks like a bargain for a quality headlamp. The two drawbacks may not be an issue if you are using it on a helmet and only use protected cells.
I didn’t realize that included the headband weight. I threw some of my Spark’s on the scale, with their headbands, no battery, in order to facilitate a comparison for anyone that is interested:
SD6: 120g
ST6: 112g
SX5/battery carrier on headband: 180g
SX5/battery pack on hip: 130g
SD52: 118g
SD73: 110g
(The headbands weigh in at 40g.) I use the Panny NCR18650B flat top unprotected in the SD6,SX5, and ST6, protected or unprotected 14500 cell (unprotected sanyo or protected Nitecore) with a dummy cell in the SD52, and 2XTR10440 Trusfire + 1 dummy cell in the SD73.
The main reason we use Spark’s is not of much importance to most users: they are RFI Shielded (we cannot afford to have RFI interference with our avalanche transceivers and VHF radios). The second reason is tint, we need high CRI for patient assessment and apparently we are going to be able to get T3 versions special built by the Canadian dealer. The third reason is Spark themselves, they are very forthcoming in helping address ‘special needs’. On the other hand, we asked Fenix if we could get some of those brackets they use on their headbands, (as in ‘stand-alone’ without having to purchase the headbands), so we could mount high CRI lights on our packs for patient assessment for First Responders, and we were basically told (in a polite way) to ‘Go Pound Sand’.
You could also use some Zebralight tips / tricks to mount the headlight in a more convenient place… such as around your neck, or clipped to your torso or backpack somewhere. All you need is some double-sided velcro and a shoelace. Maybe a cable lock. It makes headlamps much more versatile.
Thanks for the interest. Had a look at the link. Fortunately the SD series Sparks already have the magnet option, which indeed is handy at times. I’ll play around with that cable lock idea, and may use shock cord instead of the shoe lace and see how that goes.
Just got back from a 9km night ski, it was –22C so it was not a good environment for ‘tweaking’ my setup with mitts and glove linters on. However myself and my spouse had hip belt and chest strap mounted lights. We cannot have the lights ‘swinging’ around the fall line, so I elected to mount the lights in brackets fastened to the hip belts with 3” malice clips, and we each had a Spark SD6 clipped on the chest strap with flood lens, and a headlamp, so each person had 4 lights in total. Overkill for the uphill, but a nice luxury for the downhill sections. The Fenix brackets seem to be the best, but as I mentioned in a parallel post Fenix is not forthcoming with helping us obtain more brackets without buying the whole headband, so I’m using some brackets previously bought from Fasttech.
Hip belt mounting means getting the forward facing angle pretty exact. In my case I had the angle too acute and could not adjust it due to the temperature, but with some fine tuning it appears to be do-able. Given I have 3 or 4 different packs I use depending on the circumstances, getting each one ready may prove to be a time consuming and expensive setup.
While the lower mount is critical to avoid reflection when there is a lot of snow falling, it also has the side benefit of enabling two people to turn and talk to each other without blinding one another with their headlamps.
Thank you for the measurements CalvinIS & TSellers. It is much appreciated, may your next torches shine like 1000 suns.
Hello TS,
I have a River Rock Designs head lamp that has served well but I have been exploring shoulder strap and belt-mounted light positions too. Here are a few photos with a holster that may work for you:
FT has this one but you may be able to walk in to a local store to buy the Nite-Ize version. The clip rotates and ‘snaps’ to about 8 positions.
The lanyard (clip and hose washer, too) may help to keep the light from sliding out of the holster… at least that’s how I keep from losing the light.
I would like to know if this is rugged enough for your application. Thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
One final question, I am almost hooked in.
Does it have some kind of low voltage protection? Will it shut down automatically (~2.7v) if I am using an unprotected 18650?
@BROODMASTER
Thanks for the suggestion about that Ultrafire case, I’ll probably grab one on my next FT order to play with. It looks like the swivel clip on it is very similar in design to this one from FT, which I used tonight along with the Fenix. The problem both of the generic OEM models seem to have is there is a lot of room in the clip to move around on a webbing strap, that’s why the Fenix bracket is better, but having to buy the headband means you’re going to be paying about $10.00 per bracket as opposed to 1/4 that for the generic clip from FT. The other design feature on the Ultrafire bracket that would be of concern to me is the way it clips on, it looks like it could fall off if it gets inverted or if something pushes upward on it from below, as commonly may happen when you take your pack off and set it down.
Excuse my photography skills. Photo size comparison of Ultrafire H5, Spark ST6(18650), Nitecore HC50(18650), and Zebralight H51(AA). Initial impression is the Nitecore is not front heavy like the Ultrafire and Spark so it will have less of a tendency to twist in the headband holder. The weight doesn’t seem all that great on the head but comparing it to the Zebralight of course it feels heavier. One of the best things I like about this light is the 5 brightness levels and spaced nicely. Ultrafire is 14500/AA, Spark and Nitecore are 18650, Zebralight is AA.
Those are interesting shots. After looking at them one thing I could not help but notice was the reflector seems much smaller on the Nitecore than the others. Does that have much real world effect on the beam characteristics?
Floodiest to throwiest: Nitecore, Zebralight, Spark, Ultrafire. The Nitecore is a flooder, at about 7 feet the beam is about 25 feet wide. Hardly noticeable hotspot but beam gets weaker the farther away from the center, smooth all the way. Would be great for close up work, not so for distance work.
Both unprotected and protected cells work fine but they do need to be button top. Don’t know where you read protection was required, it’s not in the paperwork.
Says in the paperwork that turbo will turn off after 3 minutes but left mine on for over 20 minutes and it stayed on turbo with no stepdown. Also says when temp reaches 55C it will step down, 20 minutes and no stepdown. The temp got warm but not too hot to hold, could not even feel the heat on my bare head through the headband.
I have a Spark ST6 460NW that was XM-L. I was easy to upgrade it to XM-L2 with an emitter swap. I noticed you have the XP-G version of the Spark. I guess the driver couldn’t handle an upgrade to XM-L2? However I got a bunch of XP-G lights from DX and FT and just for the heck of it left the 1.6A drivers in them and put XM-L2 into them. They draw 2amps at 4.2v now, and after about a month they still have not fried up. Your Spark might do the same if you ugraded to XM-L2, but the problem it may not be an easy fix if the XP-G driver does not stand up:
Yeah, the Spark and Zebralight were just recently purchased on closeout, both around $42-$45 shipped. I don’t use headlamps very often and not into paying big bucks for one. From reading some of your posts you use them a lot and can justify the latest leds.
Ironically due to the reflection problem, I’m trying hard to move the brunt of the lights to my hip belt. It’s just a lot harder to get things pointed in the right direction from there, but then again that’s something my spouse has been saying for years.
I ordered a neutral white armytek wizard pro today as well as the nitecore h50. I am curious as to how easily I’ll be able to pull the nitecore apart to slap a neutral XM-L2 in? Does anyone have any thoughts on this yet?
Doesn’t look easy, not much bezel sticking out and it has the red leds on each side so not much clearance for pliers.