well, I finally fiddled with a few budget headlamps...

Other Types of Lights LED Headlamps
1

aw, had to happen eventually… i wanted a low budget headlamp.

I have forayed into this before…a 5 doll.ar “thing” with just a few “electronic” LEDs in a “thing” that clipped onto my baseball cap… kinda cool, but, the clips broke quickly without any real abuse.

bought a tinier clip on the hat thing at walmart, but again, while i liked the light (low powered real LED emitter)? once again the clip broke. bummer.

i have had a couple “built into the hat” ones i sort of liked, but, the watch batteries get old replacing, and, feeling the batteries even when not using it? is annoying.

=

I was GONNA buy a blister pack at a thrift store with a couple of headlamps, those “9 led kind”, but… figured would be complete junk like the “1 dollar” little 9-led flashlights we all hate.

i really wanted SOMEthing to wear on my head just to go out to the COAL PILE every night in winter, and god forbed it was cool enbough for anythign else…. i got a “chinatastic emitter” focusable headlamp for a few dollars at “big lots”

i actually LIKED it for the couple bucks it was? but… the switch went funny… have to take the batteries out to turn it off, put them IN to turn it on… not fun.

i didnt really wanna spend 20 bucks on something, but… went to HOME DEPOT and drifted to flashlights… while my partner was looking at plumbing… they have a “HUSKY” brand headlamps there.

i didnt wanna get into the 15 dollar headlamp HUSKY brand, but, fouond a clearance aisle away from the flashlights? they had 2 or 3 left… it was “last years version” of the sort of beefy looking HUSKY headlamp… marked down to 9 to get rid of them? then these couple were SIX DOLLARS.

(last years version on clearance? just no “turbo mode”)

its a headlamp, not a searchlight, so… for 6 bucks? i liked it enough to try it.

maybe i have been fiddling with “junk” headlamps so much, that my first TASTE of half decent impressed me too easily? but… this was cool. Its the “T-pipe” style… 3xAA carrier, but, unlike MOST 3xAA junk carriers? this one is trying to act like a little “coast” carrier… nicest 3xAA carrier i have seen in a budget light.

fairly THICK plastic construction and well executed rubber, it actually seems “husky” like its brand name.

click stops seem fairly stiff and decent quality for a budget light.

on HIGH, i can spot things up to about 50 yards easily.
on LOW? a lot less, but, more than enough for walking around and working hands free.
last is disco mode, but, what do you want.

what SOLD me?

1) low clearance price
2) looked fairly heavy duty for the low price.
3) switch looked like a “flashlight switch” not one of those little calculator click switches like broke on my other headlamp i liked but the switch went to “always on high”

the included 3xAA energizer alkalines? i played a few minutes with HIGH, but… saved the battery life for working in the basement of the house i am working on… had to shut the main panel off, and lights OUT to rewire the house wiring… i spent several HOURS on low power? no noticeable dimming, i’m impressed.

for 6 bucks? on clearance? i’m well impressed, and now i can see me getting a better headlamp one day, i like it…

light is more of a throwy spot than a flood, but, works well all around.

only thing against it? no modding easily… the carrier has both + and - up TOP… switch seems permanently glued in… no easy access to the driver.

BUT, the headlamp comes apart, and, actually has a nice little aluminum real heatsink in it with little fins. No real heatsinking with a plastic body? but… on hours with LOW who cares.

power for realistic work, and 50 yards is 50 yards.

i love it for 6 bucks… and wets my appetite in the future for a well chosen 18650 better model… i think a couple hundred milliamp LOW with a quality 18650? would be about right for long run time. HIGH POWER isnt a big priority in a headlamp for me either.

2

http://www.gearbest.com/led-flashlights/pp_123518.html

this is about exactly the headlamp that i LIKED, but… the switch broke to “always on high”… with a decent switch? i would have liked it fine…

http://www.gearbest.com/headlights/pp_294544.html

my HUSKY is styled more like this one… with the switch on the end of the side tube though, not on top. my light part and the other two ends all are thick rubber protected.

3

Glad to see someone else is into headlamps too. I’ve been trying to figure out how to build the cheapest headlamp that isn’t too bulky but still uses a real led. The guys at work would go nuts over them. I actually put two of those in the second link in a cart last month, I’ve been waiting for china to fully reopen before I order anything else, already have two packages MIA since Jan.

The host has to be 18650, anything less is junk in my opinion, not enough runtime or power output to be useful in my environment. I was thinking about doing a 4-5000k xpl HI on noctigon (+$8) and a moppydrv Qlite driver @3.04A (+6:money_mouth_face:. $30 for a headlamp isn’t too much to ask, since it would be built by me and reliable, and last forever vs the walmart and home depot junk that breaks. It would throw pretty decent for what it is, and be plenty of light for up close work like we need, as well as long run times on the low/medium modes…. The only question is, is the host decent enough quality to be worth using??

4

I just can’t convince myself that strapping any 18650 to my head is a good investment of my time and effort, all things considered.
I mean, what’s the worst thing that could happen?

Get hit by a falling brick or run into a branch in the dark — bad.
Get hit by a falling brick or run into a branch in the dark and have your head explode — worse.

High output Eneloops look good to me for headlamp use.

5

if you get hit hard enough to piss off an 18650 you are dead anyway.and its embedded in your brain.
use quality cells and forget it.

6

How much impact are you thinking of there?
Seems to me it’d take considerably more of an impact to kill someone than to damage a li-ion.

Well, yeah, falling 1.2 meters and landing on your head could be fatal.

That’s the impact test for li-ions
(and that’s why not dropping them is recommended)

That much impact doesn’t always damage the outside, but can damage the innards (of heads or cells)
And that much damage isn’t always apparent immediately (for heads or cells))

I’ll leave it there, I realize I’m not much of a gambler.
And yes, people do joke about my wearing suspenders along with a belt ….

li-ions are changing fast, and many of the reported failures don’t involve identifiable prior damage at all:

“”the mechanical cell design, especially the fixation of the internal components, determines whether a cell withstands vibrations and shocks. Depending on the cell design and the loading direction, long-term vibrational loads can have additional detrimental effects on lithium-ion cells compared to standard tests.”
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378775315007648

7

I… respect the “safety advocates”, but… i also respect the other side of the coin, the “gee whiz, what are the odds of that happening?” idea…

I mean, if lithium ion cells were SOOOO dangerous, why dont we hear about cell phones blowing up and driving pieces of the cell phone thru peoples temples?

this happened only ONCE in all the billions of cell phones around the world anyone has even heard of.

dont want a 18650 “by my head” in a light, because it might be “dangerous”… and will talk on a cell phone powered by a lithium ion to explain the dangers to someone, lol…

I’m not making fun of lithium ion safety, but… i think more people will get struck by lightning than by having a lithium cell in a flashlight near their head explode, just my 2 cents…

8

I’m sure you’ll be fine, high quality cells, don’t abuse the batteries etc. Very unlikely anything would happen. However, I witnessed my cousins vape mod “explode” in his shirt pocket. It was like a road flare being lit, he’s OK now just third degree burns over his chest and skin grafting. Even though it’s highly unlikely anything will happen there’s no way in hell I’m putting a 18650 next to my head. Sorry don’t mean to hijack thread.

9

The best economic headlamp actually is Boruit RJ-02:

http://www.gearbest.com/headlights/pp_251155.html

You can see my review here:

http://www.forolinternas.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11956

10

actually looks pretty cool, and moreso at the price.

about the only thing i would “add” to the product as a wish list? a LOW mode instead of just on/off, for extended working run time… but i could carry several extra 18650s with me, no biggie.

11

Read the review, Boruit RJ-02 has ramp mode, you can select from 6 to 300 lumens, so also has memory, so you can always turn on in low mode or in any mode.

Here you have the review translated into English:

https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=y&prev=\_t&hl=es&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forolinternas.com%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ff%3D5%26t%3D11956&edit-text=

12

oh, thanks for the english.

Me hablan Inglais muy bien,… y… “un poco de” Espanol.

13

as an update, or… maybe an “epilogue”, lol…

1) the HUSKY headlight? its been dropped and kicked around and rained on, and, it still works perfect. Been almost a month now, and i’m quite pleased. Maybe at 16 dollars, the original price isnt worth it entirely? but… marked down to 6 bucks, its a steal. If i get anything ELSE in the “husky” brand at home depot, and its “beefy” like this? I might start to apreciate the name branding.

2) while i realize this isnt a “rocket” of a modded flashlight? I dont need a FET DRIVER on my head. High is high enough to look around at 50 yards easily, and, the LOW is fine for working in a dark basement with the electrical off.

3) runtimes? heck… i rarely use HIGH, as i want to preserve the energizer 3xAAA batteries that came with it. I actually used LO mode for sometimes hours at a time all month? and its still running good. HIGH is still higher than LO mode, so, i consider that still running. I thought this thing would just E-A-T triple-AAA batteries? But… its a light eater, lol.

4) i cant get an 18650 in there, LMAO… if i could, i would probably do handstands for a 6 dollar purchase, i would figure my runtimes on LO mode would be more ridiculous than i am getting with 3 triple AAA cells. Doesnt qualify as a “complaint”, but…

this beats the ever lovin crap out of the other budget headlamps all over the stores, that have that “calculator” switch… the main selling point for ME was the beefy looking construction, and the flashlight tailcap switch on the T-Tube…

if you dont have a half decent headlight, skip anything that has the “calculator switch” and get this… its rugged and has good runtimes on LO mode.

===

i got BORED, so i picked up the other light that the switch broke to “always on” that made me go buy THIS light i like… i took it apart and put it together, and the switch started working again.

the only claim to fame for this “big lots” 3 dollar headlight? is its got z-o-o-m….

3 dollar build though, lol…aluminum star with the typical yellow-ish “china craptastic” no name LED emitter. star in a plastic zoom body tube, so, theres NO heat transfer. WHich is prolly okay since i doubt its drawing much, lol.

since i have a much better headlight now? i MIGHT get bored enough to play with this one, see what i can come up with. MAYbe i can get a 18650 remote battery pack going, so i can have a low powered zooming headlight, but, i kinda know its not worth modding it, basically.

might just leave it as is, and drop it in the car for a “wheres my cigarette lighter” flashlight while driving after taking the headband off, i dont know.

14

on flash sale for the next 25 hours or so, looks like a good opportunity to use up points — with the infrared trigger it’d work as a nightlight down at ankle-and-cat-height.

15

If you have about $30 to spend, just get a Nitecore HC30 (Not a terribly long way of this with coupon). Or something similar.

The HC30 is light weight takes a single 18650 with over 7 hours of run time at 200 lumens, then with 2 clicks of the button you have 1000 lumens for times when you need it. You also have the reliability of quality electronics, which may help relieve the worry of using lithium on your forehead.

The moon light mode is great for getting around camp without ruining your night vision or waking up other people.

16

ended up going woith the boruit rj02… based on your recommendation. 18650, and, the usb charging makes it convenient and clinched it.

GB had the flash sale thingy on it, and, i had to use up the couple of points i had there, so… what the heck.

17

> boruit rj02

Just rec’d the one I ordered 3/29.
So far so good.

Don’t leave it on “infrared motion sensor” and forget, then pick it up to look into the lens though.

18

i ordered mine on the 31st, just after you… supposably the chinese tracking said flew out of hong kong, and cleared customs in cincinnati? i dont know, as it says “undefined” after every line on the tracking, LMAO

so, its either between here and cincinnati? or… i got “gearbested” and it gets here whenever in the heck it gets here, lol…

19

I’m on the left coast so seem to get stuff from China a bit earlier (unless it comes the long way ’round, as sometimes happens).

The tailcap LED goes red when it’s charging and green when the cell is up to — on my little meter with one rather old AW cell — around 4.17v, entirely OK
I don’t yet know if it actually stops charging or trickles endlessly.

20

i picked mine up at the post office this morning… its really cool, i just love it. I mean, i really liked my husky headlight? but… this is way better on top of that.