LED Front Lights Headbanded/Helmet

KonaKurt

Can anyone recommend any good quality front LED lamps that are either helmet mountable or better still, simply elaticbanded around the head?

I want to spend between £20 - £50 ideally for a quality unit that will last.

I can only find naff cheapo lamps. I bought one which only worked for a week... leqrnt my lesson!

KK.

freeagent

i've got an LED Lenser head torch.. I think it was about £30, and is brilliant.

diy

See my suggestion in the What Light thread - you wont get anything better for run time and power than an XM-L or XPG powered light.

Then you can go for either a home made elastic mount (discussed in the thread) or use one of the flashlight mounts to attach the torch to your helmet.

Unfortunately there aren't too many XM-L or XPG headmount lights in your price range. They also really need to be run on li-ion cells not AA or AAA.

You can get Lensers in maplin for about £30, but they are only about 150-160 lumen and use pretty dated CREE LEDs rather than the current CREE LEDs which are 500/1000 lumen (though in the above recommended formats are more like 330 for the XPG and 500 for the XM-L)

KonaKurt

Any other good quality recommendations, that are not cycling specific?

(ie, other sport specific or maybe popular with ramblers/walkers??)

So long as it's a quality unit that I can strap to my head/helmet, it will do!

I prefer units with more than 5 LEDs....

Kurt.

cougie

Try the fenix torches - you can strap them onto a helmet with a Livestrong band or similar.

diy

Do you have an idea of how much light output you want?

if you are not looking to a great deal of light (e.g. sub 200 lumen) then any of these are fairly cheap.

Alternatively if you do want a lot of light, have a look at the helmet strap mounted magic shine.

Should through about 500 Lumen.

KonaKurt

I just wanted to add that I yesterday bought myself a Petzl Tikka XP, which is SUPERB!
I was initially sceptical about single LED units, but this tiny little package packs an impressive 60 Lumen with the option of a 'diffuser' lens setting to spread the beam out to a wider field. I admit that 60 Lumen is likely to not be enough output for fast 'n furious offroading, but as a back up light, or for more leisurely riding in the dark, this can't be beaten! It's claimed 60 metre range is quite impressive based on it's tiny size.

It also has a very handy red LED built in for those moments when you need extra marking from the rear. A handy 'low battery' indicator warns you of low power, and the super comfortable (and funky) elasticated headband is also superb!!

Great things DO come in small packages!! 9/10
KK.