Thread: Which headlamp to buy???

Originally Posted by terryf

Out of what, batteries?
There are plenty in stock

Will wait till you have the lights in stock and grab all at once to save on freight.

Originally Posted by McNotty

Would you care to divulge which brands these were?

They were knives so not really relevant to this thread.

I use a headlamp most days walking the dog early (apart from the peak of summer when its light early) must be about 5,000 days of testing so far. My shopping list is: A single 18650 battery, flood AND spot (or adjustable focus), multiple power levels, comfortable (light) and waterproof. The Led Lenser MH10 is hard to beat, although the little wire connecting the battery and the lamp looks delicate it hasn't failed yet. The advantage of that system is it is well balanced - the ones with all the weight on your forehead are more durable but more awkward to wear.
The AliExpress ones i got have all failed. The Nitecore I got wasn't adjustable beam - they may have a better model now.

now as some of you know i repair allot of weird electronic gear so heres a little story
attached are 2 photos, its a pair of 18650 batteries in parallel so theoretically 3.7 volts but double the current capacity as they are in parallel

well my customer complained his light didnt last as long as his mates one with the same model. they both dragged the same current so i cut open the battery pack, the one at the top is a 18650 battery, what is below it is a fake battery filled with what looks like sand to make it weigh the same. since they are in parallel not series the light still works but runs out of power earlier than a proper 2 battery unit.
and this is why you always buy name brand batteries from a reputable person or company

recently brought a couple of the new Ledlensor H7R Core (havent been out long) - very happy with them - 7 year warranty is nice piece of mind if something did go wrong. light is great - easy to adjust both brightness and flood to focused beam, found on well defined tracks dim is bright enough, fits good - secure. We found them on sale so got them for $150 each - just picked up another one for a gift for my father inlaw (full price $199), they're obviously popular as it was actually hard to track one down!

Originally Posted by gonetropo

now as some of you know i repair allot of weird electronic gear so heres a little story
attached are 2 photos, its a pair of 18650 batteries in parallel so theoretically 3.7 volts but double the current capacity as they are in parallelAttachment 153496Attachment 153497

well my customer complained his light didnt last as long as his mates one with the same model. they both dragged the same current so i cut open the battery pack, the one at the top is a 18650 battery, what is below it is a fake battery filled with what looks like sand to make it weigh the same. since they are in parallel not series the light still works but runs out of power earlier than a proper 2 battery unit.
and this is why you always buy name brand batteries from a reputable person or company

Wow!

Originally Posted by gonetropo

now as some of you know i repair allot of weird electronic gear so heres a little story
attached are 2 photos, its a pair of 18650 batteries in parallel so theoretically 3.7 volts but double the current capacity as they are in parallelAttachment 153496Attachment 153497

well my customer complained his light didnt last as long as his mates one with the same model. they both dragged the same current so i cut open the battery pack, the one at the top is a 18650 battery, what is below it is a fake battery filled with what looks like sand to make it weigh the same. since they are in parallel not series the light still works but runs out of power earlier than a proper 2 battery unit.
and this is why you always buy name brand batteries from a reputable person or company

I have had raging customers complain about Nitecore batteries they bought on AE for less than $3 and swear they will never buy Nitecore again as a result. Same thing once cut open, fake Nitecore. I don't personally know of but have read about fake Olights as well. One has to be so careful and as you say, buy from reputable dealers.

That is some dodgy shit

Originally Posted by gonetropo

now as some of you know i repair allot of weird electronic gear so heres a little story
attached are 2 photos, its a pair of 18650 batteries in parallel so theoretically 3.7 volts but double the current capacity as they are in parallel

well my customer complained his light didnt last as long as his mates one with the same model. they both dragged the same current so i cut open the battery pack, the one at the top is a 18650 battery, what is below it is a fake battery filled with what looks like sand to make it weigh the same. since they are in parallel not series the light still works but runs out of power earlier than a proper 2 battery unit.
and this is why you always buy name brand batteries from a reputable person or company

ahh dodgy shit happen everywhere i assure you. from 9800mAH 18650 batteries thru to home audio.
there are sound bars for tv's out there labelled "350W RMS" yet on the back is " max input 150W"..........damn they solved the ev issue (not that i want to own a pos)
now in the old days they at least used to lie about it saying 1000W pmpo (peak music power output.)
now personally i have about 600W rms in my living room with very inefficient speakers and its f...ing loud.
never believe the hype of power ratings.

Maybe im asking too much from a head torch, but Ive just had a play with the ledlenser h19r dual head torch and was massively underwhelmed considering they're close to $500. They claim 3500 lumens and a 300m throw but it didnt come close to lighting up a tree 200 away. Ill have a look at a nitecore but is there anything that is properly grunty? Might just strap a maxtoch shooter to my head and call it good.

Check out the Nitecore HC35 if you're looking for throw

@terryf What are the differences between the Olight and Nitecore 18650 cells?
Which 1 would be better for high usuage for the torches?
Cheers

Originally Posted by cambo

@terryf What are the differences between the Olight and Nitecore 18650 cells?
Which 1 would be better for high usuage for the torches?
Cheers

They both have identical features in terms of protection etc and both are rated for 500 cycles
In essence, performance will be almost identical.

Just make sure you don't get the customised Olight as they are made for specific torches in the Olight series.

@terryf does the HC65 or any similar models come with a red light option? In the market and seen you’re a wealth of knowledge. Cheers, much appreciated

The HC65 has auxilliary red light as does the NU35
There's also the little NU05 warning light that is mainly used by cyclists but pretty useless for anything substantial

HC65 V2 is a newly released update to the original, waiting on stock.