Which floody headlight?

Zebralight H604c

> I am searching for a floody headlight with 18650 and 18350 tube

no 18350

High CRI, 18650 headlamp with custom interchangeable lenses and LED modules:

Nichia E17A/E21A Skilhunt H04RC Group Buy

.

a note about 500 floody lumens…
bigger floods use more battery power on target, than tighter hotspots,
because the same total output is spread over a wider area

example
both lights set to the same total lumen level
you can see the tighter beam is brighter on target (within the smaller hotspot)

therefore I think you might find considerably less than 500 lumens on target, sufficient to work in a cabinet, without wasting lumens flooding a wider area than necessary.

a narrower beam will use less battery power to make the target as bright as a wider beam does

this is the opposite of the truism that multi LEDs are more efficient than singles
they are
but
if the beam is floodyer, it is dimmer on target, at the same Total Lumen output

stands to reason that if I spread 100 lumens out over twice the area, it wont be as bright as 100 lumens focused into half the area… right?:slight_smile:

Moral of the story
Tighter beams are more efficient
Wider beams waste more power.

For close up work the Zebralight H604c or a Skilhunt H03/H04 would be good choices in my opinion.

I’m looking into these myself as my Zebralight H60 (all flood) works well at night but an XR-E is too dim for daytime work light uses.

The Sofirn SP40 could be a good cheaper alternative as moonlight modes wouldn’t be required from the sound of it.

Ahh. Looks interesting, thanks! Any sentences against this light? Price looks much better than the really expensive Zebralights.

I have one on the way from China (bought from sofirnlight.com). My understanding is that the SP40 just has low, medium and high modes (no moonlight mode) and that it has a hotspot due to using an orange peel reflector rather than a TIR (total internal reflection) optic. But reports say that the hotspot is reasonably large, larger than the Astrolux HL01’s.
Headband is supposed to be good.

The ALL$2OFF coupon might still work on the sofirnlight.com store

Sofirn SP40 ? Because heavy even with short tube , cheap driver no stabilization at all, narrow beam not suitable for short distance work. And if you are on a budget why not just buy
D10

The reason is simple: I just didn’t know this light. Looks interesting, I have to read something about it.

But, another idea: how about lights with COB? Are there reasonable lights with COB, or are they all POS?

Almost forgot L shaped with TIR

Wow! That’s currently the most interesting light. But how about COB-LED?

So. Bought for testing one of these Pocketman “Magnetic USB Charging Flashlight XHP50 LED Flashlight Rechargeable with Built-in 18650 Battery 12 Lens Waterproof Head Torch”
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000499758447.html

Tempting, but 50%/70%/100% as “modes” would be hard to tell which is which, they’re so close together.

Yes. By far the best headlight available for close quarters work.

Maybe, but it’s much too expensive. My own Spark is working fine, the new one is for another guy who does not want to spend so much money for a light he is “using one or two times a year”.

You could try one of these (couldn’t resist checking out the only cheap headlamp that’s amazingly not 3xAAA) but as one of the switches went dead on mine just after a few dozen clicks I can’t recommend it. Beam pattern on the “spot light” is bad. Your co-worker might be happy with it if you give him an 18650 and you get a good one. Can be recharged via USB. Coupons here.

How about this ?

Wow, I have looked for a cheap full flood headlight that has a flood beam just like the zebralight H602w which is 120 degree beam angle with no hotspot for a very long time.

some one reviewed and shot a picture of a beamshot of the light in your link, and it looks to have a full flood beam just like the H602w for only $15! It says it weighs 90 grams, I would hope that is the weight with the battery.

The Zebralight, Armytek Wizard, Tiara, Elf, and Skillhunt H03, H04 seem to be about equal in flood capabilities from what I’ve researched. ZL has three lens type so you can get a super flood version if needed.

I saw a BLF post with a Skillhunt H03 converted to a 18350 body. Has that been done for the new H04? I’m looking for a floody headlamp that can act as an EDC light with smaller footprint than my Armytek Wizard. The Tiara and Elf have good lengths but they are wider than I prefer. The Skillhunt H04 looks great if that 18350 hack works on it.

Have you taken a gander at Olight’s H1R?
16340, and available in CW and NW.

Yes, I was about to order the H1R but I don’t like the drop from 600 lumens to 180 lumens at 3 minutes (LOL), that is completely worthless for me and I don’t trust it has a lens that is floody enough for me. I love Olight for the cool, compact designs but I will never buy another one. I just sold my S1 MINI Baton after having it for 2 weeks. The beam is way to tight and cold for me. I had an S1A Baton that I sold for the same reason, not sure why I bought the MINI. I was about to buy the H1R before I realized how bad the lumen output is spaced.

So, now I’m looking at something different. I may try this…Skillhunt H04 18350 mod

Not 18350 but I just confirmed with AT that it is compatible with 2s (8.4v) input (so 18650 or 2xCR123). I’ve found my Armytek Wizard Pro XHP50 to be an exceptional headlamp. Not quite true flood but a soft, even broad beam which is ideal for headlamp use in my experience.