The big LIGHTS thread 2011-2014

Ouija

Just ordered one of these for my commuter. Mainly for the glowing outer ring, lol.



£25 with six cell battery pack or £11 without.

rowlers

That looks great. I'm now considering something like this for my helmet instead of a torch. At least you get the battery weight off your head and longer run times...
Problem is there are to many to chose from!

apreading

Ouija wrote:

Just ordered one of these for my commuter. Mainly for the glowing outer ring, lol.



£25 with six cell battery pack or £11 without.

Looks like a single head version of my Jexree Owl, even down to the back place, colouring and emblem on buttons etc. Its a really good idea but I do find the flashing rings have such good side visibility that I can see them when riding and they are a bit distracting. Would be perfect with some kind of hood to stop them flashing at me! I tend to use the flashing rings during the day when I just want to be seen and they arent going to spoil my night vision, with the main beam turned off, then at night I use just the main beam.

marcusww

Thanks for all the help and recommendations I bought in the end:

Cree C8 XM l2 U2 for road bike from DX
Nitecore 2i charger from lightmalls

Cree C8 XM l2 U2 for a present to a yachtsman - with cheapo 12v charger from DX
Cree 501b XML U3 with cheapo charger as present from Lightmalls

Very addictive this light business - have managed to harvest about 30 cells from old laptops some good, some bad - but as a none commuter it will probably take the whole winter to go throught them once charged.

kevinharley

Can anyone recommend a cree headtorch suitable for running off road? I've used my xml head units with seperate battery packs, enough light on med or low setting to run by, but too heavy & hassly with the lead and sep battery pack. Must be something of good value and bright enough? Ideally would be better to run off aaa atteries as I dont really want the expense of getting batteries and a charger ... But open to suggestions

bennett_346

AAA batteries won't power anything with near the capability to be used for riding off road.

kevinharley

Headtorch for RUNNING ... is what I said ;-)

So, any suggestions ... And although aaa is preferred, if they're not going to cut it, theb I'll consider the 18650 type

bennett_346

kevinharley wrote:

Headtorch for RUNNING ... is what I said ;-)

So, any suggestions ... And although aaa is preferred, if they're not going to cut it, theb I'll consider the 18650 type

Running can mean either physical exercise or the running of an electronic device

Ouija

kevinharley wrote:

Can anyone recommend a cree headtorch suitable for running off road? I've used my xml head units with seperate battery packs, enough light on med or low setting to run by, but too heavy & hassly with the lead and sep battery pack. Must be something of good value and bright enough? Ideally would be better to run off aaa atteries as I dont really want the expense of getting batteries and a charger ... But open to suggestions

As it happens, i have the perfect recommendation.....



Use this on my head when i'm riding as a back up light when i occasionally need to look into the bushes or wander around off the bike. It uses CR123A camera batteries (though i use the LiOn rechargeable kind to save on money). It also comes with a barrel extender to use a longer battery (17670) but i wouldn't bother with that unless you want to look like you've got a pack of Rolos stuck to your head. In it's shorter configuration it's a tiny little light that weighs a few grams and throws out a lot of light. Simple on and off switch that easy to use with gloves plus variable brightness (press and hold button to dim light or double tap it to activate a slow flash).

Only thing to remember with this type of torch is that switching it off at the button still drains a little power so your supposed to unscrew the cap half a turn to fully turn it off. For this reason, the length of battery is critical and you HAVE to use shorter unprotected batteries.

rowlers

Ouija wrote:

Just ordered one of these for my commuter. Mainly for the glowing outer ring, lol.



£25 with six cell battery pack or £11 without.

What sort of beam pattern are you expecting from this? Any idea of what the light unit weighs?

Ouija

rowlers wrote:

Ouija wrote:

Just ordered one of these for my commuter. Mainly for the glowing outer ring, lol.

£25 with six cell battery pack or £11 without.

What sort of beam pattern are you expecting from this? Any idea of what the light unit weighs?

All i know is what's in the ad, so i'll have to wait and see. The ad says 350g for the light and 300g for the battery pack. Not that i really need the battery pack but clicked on the Pay button before i realized they were selling it without.

bhosty2

kevinharley wrote:

Can anyone recommend a cree headtorch suitable for running off road? I've used my xml head units with seperate battery packs, enough light on med or low setting to run by, but too heavy & hassly with the lead and sep battery pack. Must be something of good value and bright enough? Ideally would be better to run off aaa atteries as I dont really want the expense of getting batteries and a charger ... But open to suggestions

I've been looking for a running headtorch too. I came across the following:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... php?372013

but they go for about £30 on Amazon which is more than I'd hoped to spend - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olight-Headlamp ... B00FC2R7M0

Ouija

bhosty2 wrote:

kevinharley wrote:

Can anyone recommend a cree headtorch suitable for running off road? I've used my xml head units with seperate battery packs, enough light on med or low setting to run by, but too heavy & hassly with the lead and sep battery pack. Must be something of good value and bright enough? Ideally would be better to run off aaa atteries as I dont really want the expense of getting batteries and a charger ... But open to suggestions

I've been looking for a running headtorch too. I came across the following:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... php?372013

but they go for about £30 on Amazon which is more than I'd hoped to spend - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olight-Headlamp ... B00FC2R7M0

My immediate response to looking at that was it was a lot of stuff to have strapped to your head. Most of my bike lights came with head mounts but I've only ever used them once like that before deciding i just don't want that much stuff on my head. Hence the move toward a single mini torch with no leads, battery packs etc.

kevinharley

Thanks ouija ... Looks just like the thing I'm after. Can it be used with the headstrap that typically comes with the cree xml separate head unit and battery pack lights? Also, link to suitable batteries and charger would be helpful (I have sealed battery packs for my bike lights so never charge them separately.

Thanks

kingofthetailwind

Anyone recommend a mount for road bars for a 502b torch. It's 3cm wide and the two mounts I've bought are too small?

Ouija

kevinharley wrote:

Thanks ouija ... Looks just like the thing I'm after. Can it be used with the headstrap that typically comes with the cree xml separate head unit and battery pack lights? Also, link to suitable batteries and charger would be helpful (I have sealed battery packs for my bike lights so never charge them separately.

Thanks

I doubt it unless you strap it to one with tape. I just use the headstrap provided....



As for the batteries, a CR123a camera battery will run the light at over 300 lumens with a longer runtime but would get expensive. Look on the same site as i linked to the torch and type 16340 into the search engine. 16340 is usually the designation for the lithium Ion rechargeable version of the same size battery with the added advantage that it will run the torch brighter (CR123a's are only 3.2v whereas 16340 rechargeables are 3.7v.... 4.2v fully charged). They don't run for as long unless you drop the brightness a little but save money in the long run. Try and find a couple with a decently high mAh. You'll also find chargers on there.

Alternatively, ebay usually sells bundles with chargers.

Also worth mentioning this little Ultrafire Mini 01 XM-L T6 keyring light.



Very, very bright (the Mini 02 is twice as bright) and also uses CR123A/16340 batteries. With a little bit of bodging can mounted on the side of your head (something like the nitecore head strap can be used). Though it's steel so feels a little weightier.

wishitwasallflat

KingOfTheTailwind wrote:

Anyone recommend a mount for road bars for a 502b torch. It's 3cm wide and the two mounts I've bought are too small?

These work really well if you remove the bolt and fix them with a cable tie instead. I have had two 501 type torches on my 30mm road bars for a few years now with no problems. Using cable ties just means its slower to remove and refit but I is leave mine on all winter and refit each year. Don't know anything about this seller but these are available loads of places (can't remember where I got mine so can't recommend anywhere).

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bike-Cycle-Bi ... 43bc34899f

johnmcl7

Marcusww wrote:

Looking for opinion?
I ride dark narrow low traffic roads at night and am not keen on helmet lights.

I am looking for long and wide beam and wanted to know if anyone has tried something like this or knows what kind of beam / light this would throw?

http://www.lightmalls.com/uniquefire-uf ... ch-2-18650

I bought one of those (pretty sure anyway, looks the same) and was very disappointed with it, I was expecting a really wide powerful beam but alongside other single XML-T6 lights it didn't actually look much different at all surprisingly. As others have noted it's too big to be mounted on a bar practically due to the length so it easily gets knocked. Mine lasted an hour and then failed but I just went with a refund as even if it was working I wouldn't have used it, I prefer the smaller single 18650 designs and having more than one mounted.

Just been reading through the last few pages but not seeing anything definite on the XML2 vs XMl-U3 debate. Some of the sites don't seem to list the LED banding for the XML2 but others are listing it as a T6 so I'm assuming the rest are as well. Any thoughts in practice which is better or do they have different strengths/weaknesses? Planning on ordering both to see but if there's one definitely better I'll stick with that. Also, what is the difference between the WF-501B and WF-502B bodies?

John

john2002

going by this site http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree a XML-U3 and a XM-L2 T6 are about equal. imoa i would go for xm-l2. only 1 or 2 dollars more than xml-u3.

501 has a smaller head
502 has a bigger head

Ouija

john2002 wrote:

going by this site http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree a XML-U3 and a XM-L2 T6 are about equal. imoa i would go for xm-l2. only 1 or 2 dollars more than xml-u3.

501 has a smaller head
502 has a bigger head

They also have different tailcaps (502 the thread is on the inside, 501 it's on the outside) so you can't use replacement tailcaps or remote switches designed for one with the other.

kevinharley

Back to the Headlight for being able to run with off-road ...

I like the simplicity and light weight of Ouja's suggestion, and also think that Bhosty2's suggestion is goo, although pricey.

Didn't really want to faff with getting seperate chargers and batteries, but may well do so. Also, looking to get one for my wife too, so want to keep costs down.

But this was suggessted by someone on Runners World Forum ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350913750614? ... 852wt_1536

It'll be heavier than either of the other two suggested ... I don't think that will be an issue for me particularly as I have run a few times with my bike lights (its trailing the lead from the headstrap mounted head unit down to the battery pack in a pocket that's annoying), but just wanted your advice about the spec etc ... at £12.19 this looks brilliant value (although I've just noticed the postage, at £20 each)! Has anyone seen / used something similar?

kevinharley

Follow up question for Ouija ...

Your headlight recommendation - at 300-ish lumens, would this be bright enough to run with off-road. And how good is the headstrap ... would it keep the light secure enough not to be bouncing around all over the place?

Cheers

bamba

Ouija wrote:

john2002 wrote:

going by this site http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree a XML-U3 and a XM-L2 T6 are about equal. imoa i would go for xm-l2. only 1 or 2 dollars more than xml-u3.

501 has a smaller head
502 has a bigger head

They also have different tailcaps (502 the thread is on the inside, 501 it's on the outside) so you can't use replacement tailcaps or remote switches designed for one with the other.

regarding the head size, visually they make look different ,but internally the 501b/502b has the same head size, they share the same drop in and reflectors.

john2002

kevinharley wrote:

But this was suggessted by someone on Runners World Forum ...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350913750614? ... 852wt_1536
quote]

here it is for only £10 with free p&p but you have to buy the batteires seperately.
http://www.lightmalls.com/power-style-hx-t6-bright-cree-xm-l-t6-led-headlight-2x18650

kevinharley

Apologies guys - I really should do all my research and roll my questions up into one post rather than several ... :oops:

Anyway, a view, please, on how these headtorches would fare:

http://dx.com/p/cree-q5-310-lumen-3-mod ... 650-132747

http://dx.com/p/cree-xp-c-r5-xr-e-r5-28 ... amp-134276

I presume with both of the above, the batteries are sold separately, and I would still need a charger?

This looks like a UK distributer of the type of bigger, more powerful cree xml lights I was linking to earlier:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1600-Lm-CREE- ... 587wt_1141
and
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1600Lm-CREE-X ... 394wt_1170

Lots of brightness - in all likelihood overkill ... what kind of lumens would a light like this be running on the medium setting?

The other think I looked at - and which was recommended on a runners forum is this:
http://www.alpkit.com/shop/cart.php?tar ... gory_id=25

but I suspect this is not realy going to be bright enough?

Ouija

kevinharley wrote:

Follow up question for Ouija ...

Your headlight recommendation - at 300-ish lumens, would this be bright enough to run with off-road. And how good is the headstrap ... would it keep the light secure enough not to be bouncing around all over the place?

Cheers

Yes. That's why i like it. It only weighs a few grams and is solid enough not to jiggle about (being held so close to the skin of your forehead and sideways mounted there is less to want to rock backwards and forwards). I have two of the 4v head lights you just posted and those were the lights i was referring to earlier in the thread when i said i've only ever been out with them once and found them too annoying. Not only are they big and cumbersome, their weight and the fact they protrude so far from your forehead means they tend jiggle about a bit and, when on a bike, actually are a little harder to operate as the button is situated between the back of the light and your head/helmet (your leaning forwards on a bike so the light has to be tilted further back, giving less room).

I mean, personally, i don't wear a helmet any more as i don't want something that big on my head. Strapping a big light like that to it was a step too far but your tolerance may be greater than mine for that sort of thing and those types of unit do have longer brightnesses and runtimes due to the larger battery packs.

As for the brightness thing. 350/400 lumens is probably bright enough for low speed off road stuff (running). On a bike, you'd be wanting over a thousand lumens minimum due to the fact your coming at things faster and need to throw more light up the trail. Again, it's a case of what your used to. If you've been running with a 1000 lumens of light on your head the drop to 350/400 might seem somewhat drastic.

john2002

bamba wrote:

Ouija wrote:

john2002 wrote:

going by this site http://flashlightwiki.com/Cree a XML-U3 and a XM-L2 T6 are about equal. imoa i would go for xm-l2. only 1 or 2 dollars more than xml-u3.

501 has a smaller head
502 has a bigger head

They also have different tailcaps (502 the thread is on the inside, 501 it's on the outside) so you can't use replacement tailcaps or remote switches designed for one with the other.

regarding the head size, visually they make look different ,but internally the 501b/502b has the same head size, they share the same drop in and reflectors.

i didnt beleve you, so i just tried to interchange them and the are identical :oops: so what is the point in having the two different body casings?

bamba

who knows , the 502b, looks and feels a nicer torch imo.

bamba

Ouija wrote:

Just ordered one of these for my commuter. Mainly for the glowing outer ring, lol.


£25 with six cell battery pack or £11 without.

do you think these will take the standard p60 drop in ? was think of them and putting xml2's in .

Ouija

Depends what you mean by 'p60'. If your talking a Pill like drop in unit (as seen on 501/502 torches) i'd imagine not, though there is no way of telling without taking the light to pieces.