Headlamp information and questions

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Redfin

Redfin

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G'day all, I'm looking to purchase a pair of LED headlamps and was wanting some feedback from those that use them.
On the list of wants if a rechargable onboard battery, the ability to 'zoom in and out' and have different brightness settings, and
of course be comfortable.

I've had a preliminary look and at this stage the Led Lenser H14R.2 looks the goods.

Would anyone here have any experience with these?

I believe in purchasing quality goods that will last, so please no links to Fleabay knockoffs etc.
 
I have Roo Lights, HID lights made by the same people as Light Force Lights.
They work very well and are great value for money. They come in 2 sizes.
Jaros :p
 
Probably not what you want to hear but i have bought quite a few LED lights from $1.50 ebay jobs to $140 lenser's and guess which ones i found to be the brightest, most durable and efficient... ebay jobs. The best torch i have is $6 ebay one which i have had for 6 years, driven over and dropped in the creek and on the rocks more times than i care to count. Both my lenser torches were a major disappointment and neither of them survive today in good working order. Would never pay the asking price for a lenser again. All AA torches i should add.
I admit that some of the ebay torches were dumpers but even the average ones were on par with the lenser. IMO, like a lot of things (not all) you are paying for the brand name. If i needed another torch I would buy 10 different ebay ones instead of lenser and with a bit of solid use weed out the shite ones.
I'm taking about pocket torches btw, not big spotlights and my headlamp i got from the army disposal a few years ago and it still works fine.
Just my 2c.
 
G,day Redfin,
I have one of these and its brilliant (pun intended) :D
1422168490_led_lensor_1.jpg


1422168516_led_lensor_2.jpg


My one and only complaint is the headband is a bit tight on full adjustment, but I do have a large boof head! Am sure it will stretch a bit or my head may shrink haha.
Great light and last for ages.
Double thumbs up for these! :cool:

Cheers,
Billy.
 
Jaros said:
I have Roo Lights, HID lights made by the same people as Light Force Lights.
They work very well and are great value for money. They come in 2 sizes.
Jaros :p
Click to expand...

They may be a tad heavy for my head Jaros, LOL 8)
 
Aldi had the one I got given, $12 or $14, no complaints from me. Camping hunting detecting is been bloody good. Dunno how much better they get in terms of features but its definitely possible to get a lot for a little.
 
Sorry i didn't see that was for that !! sort of head-- :lol: :lol: :lol:

Redfin said:
Jaros said:
I have Roo Lights, HID lights made by the same people as Light Force Lights.
They work very well and are great value for money. They come in 2 sizes.
Jaros :p
Click to expand...

They may be a tad heavy for my head Jaros, LOL 8)
Click to expand...
 
Iv got a Princeton tech, at 2years of out of warranty the battery door broke' company replaced it even out of warranty' after it had been through hell and back' also spent part of its time in the wash cycle having a bath. I will not buy another brand!
Affordable and out right durable in many ways, before the Princeton tech I had a Led lenzer but hated how bulky it was.
 
Make sure you get one with a Cree lens with at least 120 lumens.
Cheers Steve.
 
Whatever you get, make sure that the battery connections are fairly firm and if they use coil spring connections that this is a good quality as I have several that are great lights, variable power, variable beam width, but after a while the spring connections weaken and the connections become unreliable.

Rob
 
I just buy the energizer headlamps , and have put them up against lenser headlamps and the lensers are no brighter or push a beam further than them.

chuck in 3 rechargeable AAA batteries and good to go , im done paying for petzl's and lensers etc , when I can buy a energizer headlamp for as little as $18 online and have it do just the same job.

they make them 130-140 Lumens with an ipx7 rating , and have seen an energizer model at 200 lumens .
 
Hi Redfin
As an ex outdoors retailer I would suggest the more reputable brands with good warranty, spare parts etc would include Led Lenser, Princeton Tec, Petzel and Black Diamond.
Cheers
Bob
 
Adam Lastnme said:
Probably not what you want to hear but i have bought quite a few LED lights from $1.50 ebay jobs to $140 lenser's and guess which ones i found to be the brightest, most durable and efficient... ebay jobs. The best torch i have is $6 ebay one which i have had for 6 years, driven over and dropped in the creek and on the rocks more times than i care to count. Both my lenser torches were a major disappointment and neither of them survive today in good working order. Would never pay the asking price for a lenser again. All AA torches i should add.
I admit that some of the ebay torches were dumpers but even the average ones were on par with the lenser. IMO, like a lot of things (not all) you are paying for the brand name. If i needed another torch I would buy 10 different ebay ones instead of lenser and with a bit of solid use weed out the shite ones.
I'm taking about pocket torches btw, not big spotlights and my headlamp i got from the army disposal a few years ago and it still works fine.
Just my 2c.
Click to expand...

I have also found this to be the case.

In most cases the difference between a $25 ebay head lamp and a $300 name brand is $275. I am still using ebay Lithium Ion batteries I bought from China seven years ago and the torches I bought then also still work. The latest headlamp I bought from ebay cost me about $25 three years ago and came with lithium ion batteries and charger. It still puts out a better light than a $300 Streamlight I owned. Your money, spend it where you like.
 
Thanks to everyone for their input, am down to a few models to research.
I like to buy local over the counter, with quality products from reputable companies with warranty and proven and tested performance.

Just one more question.

Insects? How attracted are they to headlamps?
or do you use the 'red' light mode.
 
I've never had a problem with bugs whether I'm in tunnels, camping, fishing or night detecting.
Its the best option for hands free lighting available.
Cheers Steve
 
+1 on the energizer headlamp. Bought mine from woolies for $40. The 60 hour model that is. I also have a $150 petzl and it's a great headlamp. The main difference I have found is battery life. The expensive headlamps will go for 300 hours in power save mode and my energizer lamp really does burn through the batterys much faster but is on par in all other respects. Red light mode is the only way to go if there's a lot of insects about
 
Redfin said:
G'day all, I'm looking to purchase a pair of LED headlamps and was wanting some feedback from those that use them.
On the list of wants if a rechargable onboard battery, the ability to 'zoom in and out' and have different brightness settings, and
of course be comfortable.

I've had a preliminary look and at this stage the Led Lenser H14R.2 looks the goods.

Would anyone here have any experience with these?

I believe in purchasing quality goods that will last, so please no links to Fleabay knockoffs etc.
Click to expand...

Hi Redfin. I do a lot of caving and detecting with headlamps and can tell you that the h14r causes too much interference with minelab gold detectors. They are unusable. The princeton tek apex and other high performance models are ok but you need to switch to low beam when you bend to dig a target and are close to the coil. I will post some links to the cheap chinese models that have worked well and have a good beam spread
Cheers RDD
 

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