Looking for an LED Cap-Lamp.

[Dougal]

I'm looking for a basic LED light that I can clip onto a miners style hard-hat. Anyone got leads for me? This will likely be an internet purchase.

So far on the net I can find intrinsicly safe ones (not needed), rechargable Li-ion ones (not wanted) and a slew of ones with remote battery packs and lots of fancy features I just don't care about.

But all I need is a basic LED head-lamp that takes AAA batteries (so they can be swapped out quick when the flatten) and clips onto the existing bracket on the hard-hat.
No remote batttery, no wires, no charger. Just nice and simple self-contained light which takes batteries.

Anyone seen one?

[DeeJay]

LED Head Lamp Light Torch Zoomable Zoom 5W Focus Cree | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Led-Head-Lamp-Light-Torch-Zoomable-Zoom-5w-Focus-Cree-/180656467807?pt=AU_Sport_Camping_Hiking_Lamps_Torc hes&hash=item2a0ff6ef5f)

Dougal,
I have one of these & have found that there are lots of cheap copies. I have about 6 head lamps & will soon get another off Ebay & ditch a couple of the copies. One I bought in a shop thinking it was the same - it looks almost identical but it is less than half the power for same battery usage..
I hope this one is the same as the one that is my favourite, my buy history doesn't go back that far but this one looks identical..
I have the really powerful ones but difficult with the rear battery & I find a high % of those special 18650 batteries can refuse to charge up.

[isuzutoo-eh]

For caving I use a Black Diamond branded light, but I bought it from a bricks and mortar shop. It isn't quite as brilliant as a high-end caver's head lamp but plenty good enough for me at this stage. It takes 3 AAAs inside the main body.
My old Tikka is a good unit but nowhere near the brightness.

EDIT: My head lamps use an elastic strap, not a clip. My bad.

[Dougal]

LED Head Lamp Light Torch Zoomable Zoom 5W Focus Cree | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Led-Head-Lamp-Light-Torch-Zoomable-Zoom-5w-Focus-Cree-/180656467807?pt=AU_Sport_Camping_Hiking_Lamps_Torc hes&hash=item2a0ff6ef5f)

Dougal,
I have one of these & have found that there are lots of cheap copies. I have about 6 head lamps & will soon get another off Ebay & ditch a couple of the copies. One I bought in a shop thinking it was the same - it looks almost identical but it is less than half the power for same battery usage..
I hope this one is the same as the one that is my favourite, my buy history doesn't go back that far but this one looks identical..
I have the really powerful ones but difficult with the rear battery & I find a high % of those special 18650 batteries can refuse to charge up.

Can you ditch the strap and clip it straight onto a cap like this?
http://www.westlandworkgear.co.nz/images/350/298/h60.jpg

I've already got head-band lamps and they work quite well. But they don't play nicely with the hard-hats I need to wear on some work sites.

[DeeJay]

Looking at the one I have, it hinges on the bottom & is rounded on the top side so not reversible, otherwise you could have cut the part that sits on your forehead to fit in the clip.
I took it you wanted one to just put the head strap over the helmet but I guess it just slips off again:(

[gromit]

I got a cheapy from a camping shop (or it may have been a $2 shop) took the headband off drilled two small holes in a safety helmet and attached using a cable tie.

It's been used in a few gold mines in the VIC High Country.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/06/1359.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/cradley/media/Stuff/DSCN2425_zps7ced3189.jpg.html)




Colin

[Dougal]

Yeah I've got this nice light attachment point already. It'd be nice to use it.

[Dougal]

I got a cheapy from a camping shop (or it may have been a $2 shop) took the headband off drilled two small holes in a safety helmet and attached using a cable tie.

It's been used in a few gold mines in the VIC High Country.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/06/1359.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/cradley/media/Stuff/DSCN2425_zps7ced3189.jpg.html)




Colin

That's a good solid plan B. Just hoping to find a suitable Plan A.

[Judo]

I don't like your chances of finding one that fits the bracket on the helment. (Happy to be wrong). I would buy a cheap one with an elastic band that you can feed through or behind the bracket to hold it in place. Is that your exact helment? A lot of helments have slots or clips that are to hold the light elastic band in place.

Depends what you call cheap, but I would vote for Black Diamond and Petzl brands.

This is my knowledge from an outdoor sports perspective. Maybe if you look at lights suited for industry work (construction, mining, etc) you will find one that fits the bracket. In sports, I only ever see elastic band ones.

[debruiser]

I know you said it's not what you want.... but if you like seeing stuff in the dark I suggest an ay-up light... originally designed for bicyles but also come with head band mount stuff....

Batteries go for 3 hrs or 6 hrs on low... on the little battery....

Ay Up Lights - the best Bike Lighting System available - Home (http://www.ayup-lights.com/)

[Basil135]

Have a look at Bunnings or Jaycar.

Seen them there. Basically, baseball caps with a row of LED's along the brim of the cap...

[Judo]

Have a look at Bunnings or Jaycar.

Seen them there. Basically, baseball caps with a row of LED's along the brim of the cap...
Obviously no good if Dougal wears his baseball cap backwards though. :p

Also, I think he needs to wear a helment as well, so a cap may be tricky...

[Dougal]

[FONT="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="2"]I don't like your chances of finding one that fits the bracket on the helment. (Happy to be wrong).

I don't like my chances either. But if there is one, I'd like to find it.

I can find plenty that fit the bracket, but they all have unique chargers (which means in 2 years when the internal battery is dead, they're useless and when I forget to charge them, they're useless) and some have large external batteries.

Modifying a head-band type is the Plan B.

In places I don't need to wear a hard-hat, I use the head-band ones I've already got. But these have a battery pack on the back, which means two pieces and a cord to mount on a hard-hat. I'd buy a self-contained one for plan B.
Like these:
New-8202A 3W LED 170lm 3-Mode White Light Headlamp - Blue + Silver (3 x AAA) - Free Shipping - DealExtreme (http://dx.com/p/new-8202a-3w-led-170lm-3-mode-white-light-headlamp-blue-silver-3-x-aaa-161290)
NEXTORCH 4-Mode 3-LED Warm White Light Headlamp - Black (2 x AAA) - Worldwide Free Shipping - DX (http://dx.com/p/nextorch-4-mode-3-led-warm-white-light-headlamp-black-2-x-aaa-162578)
Super Tiger 120lm Cree XP-E R2 LED White + Red LED 3-Mode Zooming Induction Headlamp - Free Shipping - DealExtreme (http://dx.com/p/super-tiger-120lm-cree-xp-e-r2-led-white-red-led-3-mode-zooming-induction-headlamp-201148)
Retractable Zoom Lens Osram White LED 140LM 3-Mode Headlamp with Strap - Black + Red - Free Shipping - DealExtreme (http://dx.com/p/retractable-zoom-lens-osram-white-led-140lm-3-mode-headlamp-with-strap-black-red-126410)

[Dougal]

So I ordered one of these about a month ago with the intent of removING the strap and modifying the bracket to clip into my hard-hat:
Retractable Zoom Lens Osram White LED 140LM 3-Mode Headlamp with Strap - Black + Red - Free Shipping - DealExtreme (http://dx.com/p/retractable-zoom-lens-osram-white-led-140lm-3-mode-headlamp-with-strap-black-red-126410)
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/07/1216.jpg

It just arrived and unfortunately it's rubbish. The light pattern has a bright centre which is too small regardless of zoom and is surrounded by a deep black shadow before you get some more light out the edges.

So I'm deciding right now whether to try and change the depth of the reflector or just pick another one to try.

[d@rk51d3]

You can't switch out the lense with one of your old ones? You may get a better light spread.

[Dougal]

You can't switch out the lense with one of your old ones? You may get a better light spread.

I think it's the reflector rather than the lens. The reflector isn't your normal parabolic type shape, instead it has a flat washer around the LED and a shiney cylinder around that.

A maglite reflector might work, but I'm not going to butcher a $30 maglite to fix a $10 head-lamp.

I'll give it a try in the dark tonight and see if my impressions improve. The LED in it seems quite good, it's just the reflector setup.

[Judo]

Damn that's unfortunate... I hate it when cheap rip off products don't live up to my expectations!

[Dougal]

Damn that's unfortunate... I hate it when cheap rip off products don't live up to my expectations!

I do love it when cheap direct ship products do live up to expectations though. My success rate with DX stuff is pretty good.

The next one I was going to order is out of stock.

[Judo]

I do love it when cheap direct ship products do live up to expectations though. My success rate with DX stuff is pretty good.

The next one I was going to order is out of stock.
Yep, luckily it does happen or we wouldn't keep ordering the cheap stuff! :)

[Discomark]

These guys have quality LED headlamps with good prices and free shipping.
HeadLamps (http://www.ledtorches.com.au/headlamps/cat_3.html)

Cheers
Mark

[Dougal]

So, I've spent half a hour playing with this thing.

The LED is actually very good, it's just the lens/reflector setup. I spent a bit of time playing with the reflector setup and turned 1mm off the collar so I could open up the zoom to wider and hopefully get rid of the dark shadow.

It helped, but not enough.

Then I turned the lens (convex one side) around while I had it apart and everything came right. I was then able to strip it down further and turn the lens around permanently. The zoom went to a usable width down to a usable focus (before went from too narrow to way too narrow) and the dark shadow disappeared.:cool:

So, I'm now perfectly happy with my $10 light, I just need to mount it to the hard-hat.

[Don 130]

If it doesn't work out, have a look a this website. It claims over 20,000 entries for head torches. I've bought a few small items from it with success.

Wholesale led headlamp - Buy Low Price led headlamp Lots on Aliexpress.com (http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=led+headlamp&catId=0&initiative_id=AS_20130710003310)

Don.

[Dougal]

If it doesn't work out, have a look a this website. It claims over 20,000 entries for head torches. I've bought a few small items from it with success.

Wholesale led headlamp - Buy Low Price led headlamp Lots on Aliexpress.com (http://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?SearchText=led+headlamp&catId=0&initiative_id=AS_20130710003310)

Don.

Well what do you know? They've got exactly the same unit for $3 less.:D
Camping Night Outdoor High Power Zoom 3 Mode LED HeadLight Headlamp Free Shipping-in Headlamps from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com (http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Camping-Night-Outdoor-High-Power-Zoom-3-Mode-LED-HeadLight-Headlamp-Free-Shipping/532637483.html)

Two zip ties and it's securely attached to the hard-hat and working nicely. I had to get some firewood in the dark to try it out.
I did have a fancier plan than zip-ties. But it's hard to mess with perfection.:angel: