Mark W
Well-known member
A few weeks back I sought experience of others on a good headlamp to use for duck hunting. I needed one that is bright enough to illuminate everything I need to see while floating/paddling down small streams at night and then enough power for me to see everything once I get to the spot intended. Lot's of good advice offered and here is what I ended up with.
I initially purchased the Coast HL7 on the advice of Eric. I liked the simple user interface and the ability to easily change lumen output and the ability to change from spot to flood. I brought it home and put in some AAA batteries and headed out. I liked the light very much except for one thing, the color temperature (and possible the color rendering index) wasn't right for what I desire. Higher color temperatures (white light contains more blue in it) tends to wash out greens and ice. Since I intend to use this to see low overhanging branches in pitch darkness and intend to use it out ice fishing, this one wouldn't work to well for me and it went back. Very nice light though.
The search began for something else. Started on the web and narrowed it down to a few. Went to a few stores to try some out and found the Petzl's and Black Diamonds to be off in their lumen output numbers and the ones I was looking at ran off of normal AAA or AA cells. Disadvantage on using alkaline cells is that the output of the headlamp tends to start decreasing the moment you turn it own and it slowly gets dimmer until it just doesn't work anymore.
I narrowed further and decided that the Fenix (pronounced Phoenix) had what I was looking for. They had what was claimed "natural white" output which I later learned was a lower color temp LED and a higher CRI output. Both items that were important to me. They also had a wide variety to choose from. I decided that their HL-55 was the light for me and now I began searching for a place to actually see one in action.
Fenix did not make this easy. Every place they sent me to to see one didn't carry it. Online I could order it but the return policy was a 25% restocking fee if the package was at all damaged (which it would be when getting out the headlamp). I then found that Home Depot could order the lamp and if it didn't meet expectations, I could return it. And to make it even better, they matched others lower online advertised price ($20 less than HD price).
Just got the light a couple of days ago and I have to say it exceeds my expectations. It is not quite a spot light, nor is it a total flood lamp. Nice compromise. The color temp of the natural light is very nice and makes seeing things in the dark much easier than other spotlights and headlamps I have. This one is a keeper.
Pro's
- Great white color output. I'm guessing it must be around 5000K which is very nice. Lower would have been even better
- Nice color rendering. The newer Cree LED used in this lamp has high (over 80 CRI) ratings which is where you want to be to see colors accurately
- 4 modes of output plus a turbo mode. Output can go as high as 900 lumens when in turbo. High output is 450 lumens which is plenty bright for most needs.
- Nice compromise on spot verse flood beam pattern
- long run times. 450 lumen output will run for 3.5 hours or so. Online independent testing confirms this is accurate
- Runs off lithium ion cells which means you get the full lumen output until the battery gets to its unusable state. When it gets there, it doesn't shut off, it drops down one output level so you get advanced notice of when you should start thinking about butting in new batteries.
- runs off one battery, no battery packs behind your head. Some may see this as a disadvantage.
- waterproof somewhat, not as much as others but good enough for what I need.
- lightweight machined aluminum
- lifetime warranty. Fenix is a company that stands behind their products and is customer friendly from what I have read online. HAven't experienced this first hand but others are very impressed with their customer service.
- lots of opportunities to mod this headlamp if this is your thing.
- Super user friendly interface. One button on the side, usable with gloves on controls everything. Push the button once and it turns on. Every push after changes output levels (4 different levels). Push button in for a second and the light turns off. When you turn it back on, it returns to the last output you selected. TO get to turbo mode, you hold in this button for 2 seconds or so. Turbo mode automatically turns off after 30 seconds or you can push the button once again and the light returns to last output level selected.
Cons
- requires 18650 or CR batteries which is an extra expense. You can purchase quality CR's online for under $1.00 each if you go that route. Reputable 18650 protected cells start at around $10 and then you have to purchase a charger made for lithium cells which adds $20 or more for a reputable 2 cell multi charger.
- No other color LED's in the headlamp. This I didn't want as I never use the red or green modes in any of my other headlamps I currently have. I find the "moonlight mode" of this headlamp good for my needs but others may prefer other colors, or lower output.
- Price was around $43 bucks when HD matched it. For what you get, this is would be considered a low cost headlamp compared to comparable units but it is higher than the Coast products or others that you can buy at Walmart for $25-30.
- Turbo mode (900 lumen) only stays on for 30 seconds. Some may find this not enough.
If you want to read more about the Fenix HL55 product, you can find it here on their site.
Very impressive product. Have never seen a headlamp with this kind of power.
http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-hl55-led-headlamp/
Mark W
I initially purchased the Coast HL7 on the advice of Eric. I liked the simple user interface and the ability to easily change lumen output and the ability to change from spot to flood. I brought it home and put in some AAA batteries and headed out. I liked the light very much except for one thing, the color temperature (and possible the color rendering index) wasn't right for what I desire. Higher color temperatures (white light contains more blue in it) tends to wash out greens and ice. Since I intend to use this to see low overhanging branches in pitch darkness and intend to use it out ice fishing, this one wouldn't work to well for me and it went back. Very nice light though.
The search began for something else. Started on the web and narrowed it down to a few. Went to a few stores to try some out and found the Petzl's and Black Diamonds to be off in their lumen output numbers and the ones I was looking at ran off of normal AAA or AA cells. Disadvantage on using alkaline cells is that the output of the headlamp tends to start decreasing the moment you turn it own and it slowly gets dimmer until it just doesn't work anymore.
I narrowed further and decided that the Fenix (pronounced Phoenix) had what I was looking for. They had what was claimed "natural white" output which I later learned was a lower color temp LED and a higher CRI output. Both items that were important to me. They also had a wide variety to choose from. I decided that their HL-55 was the light for me and now I began searching for a place to actually see one in action.
Fenix did not make this easy. Every place they sent me to to see one didn't carry it. Online I could order it but the return policy was a 25% restocking fee if the package was at all damaged (which it would be when getting out the headlamp). I then found that Home Depot could order the lamp and if it didn't meet expectations, I could return it. And to make it even better, they matched others lower online advertised price ($20 less than HD price).
Just got the light a couple of days ago and I have to say it exceeds my expectations. It is not quite a spot light, nor is it a total flood lamp. Nice compromise. The color temp of the natural light is very nice and makes seeing things in the dark much easier than other spotlights and headlamps I have. This one is a keeper.
Pro's
- Great white color output. I'm guessing it must be around 5000K which is very nice. Lower would have been even better
- Nice color rendering. The newer Cree LED used in this lamp has high (over 80 CRI) ratings which is where you want to be to see colors accurately
- 4 modes of output plus a turbo mode. Output can go as high as 900 lumens when in turbo. High output is 450 lumens which is plenty bright for most needs.
- Nice compromise on spot verse flood beam pattern
- long run times. 450 lumen output will run for 3.5 hours or so. Online independent testing confirms this is accurate
- Runs off lithium ion cells which means you get the full lumen output until the battery gets to its unusable state. When it gets there, it doesn't shut off, it drops down one output level so you get advanced notice of when you should start thinking about butting in new batteries.
- runs off one battery, no battery packs behind your head. Some may see this as a disadvantage.
- waterproof somewhat, not as much as others but good enough for what I need.
- lightweight machined aluminum
- lifetime warranty. Fenix is a company that stands behind their products and is customer friendly from what I have read online. HAven't experienced this first hand but others are very impressed with their customer service.
- lots of opportunities to mod this headlamp if this is your thing.
- Super user friendly interface. One button on the side, usable with gloves on controls everything. Push the button once and it turns on. Every push after changes output levels (4 different levels). Push button in for a second and the light turns off. When you turn it back on, it returns to the last output you selected. TO get to turbo mode, you hold in this button for 2 seconds or so. Turbo mode automatically turns off after 30 seconds or you can push the button once again and the light returns to last output level selected.
Cons
- requires 18650 or CR batteries which is an extra expense. You can purchase quality CR's online for under $1.00 each if you go that route. Reputable 18650 protected cells start at around $10 and then you have to purchase a charger made for lithium cells which adds $20 or more for a reputable 2 cell multi charger.
- No other color LED's in the headlamp. This I didn't want as I never use the red or green modes in any of my other headlamps I currently have. I find the "moonlight mode" of this headlamp good for my needs but others may prefer other colors, or lower output.
- Price was around $43 bucks when HD matched it. For what you get, this is would be considered a low cost headlamp compared to comparable units but it is higher than the Coast products or others that you can buy at Walmart for $25-30.
- Turbo mode (900 lumen) only stays on for 30 seconds. Some may find this not enough.
If you want to read more about the Fenix HL55 product, you can find it here on their site.
Very impressive product. Have never seen a headlamp with this kind of power.
http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-hl55-led-headlamp/
Mark W
