Anyone here have a Fenix HP05 headlamp? or you can suggest something under $50.

S

Squashfan

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Jun 6, 2012
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And how do you like it? I am thinking about a headlamp and this one came up with a little research.
I am not looking for anything fancy. Just a good strong light I can use while keeping my hands free.
I am actually thinking of mowing my yard with it on. Does it flood well? Or maybe someone will say that I could get a better light cheaper. Please See my list of features for my criteria. Thanks.

The features I like are:
Takes readily available cells. The former is a must for all my lights. In this case, the cells are AA.
Simple on and off switch.
Battery case seperate from the light (didn't know I wanted this until I saw it as a feature.)
No stupid switching through a thousand modes to get to the one mode I use. (Yes, modes are different to me from the switch.)

Cons:
Eats alkaline batteries in turbo. Don't think I will have much need for tubo though.
 
I don't have the HP05, just a few other fenix lights. My current headlamps are the fenix hl10, black diamond gizmo, spot and icon(older led version)

A couple of thoughts. While the battery case being separate from the light is nice for balance, it does make the light a bit more awkward to store and handle, and if you are hard on gear, its an added point of failure. Not a big deal if you are just around home.

Easy to get batteries, good idea there, but there are a few on the market that have internal batteries. that is an option for around home lights that you are going to be using often and able to easily recharge. I'm thinking of the black diamond revolt and sprinter. the sprinter is a bit above your price bracket, but you can wait for a sale if you wanted. Otherwise rechargeable AA or AAAs are easy to do, over time cheaper, and better yet, don't leak and kill your light.

If you don't have a huge amount of experience with headlamps, and don't have a specific purpose in mind, I would recommend getting a black diamond gizmo. its pretty much one mode, you can dim it, and it will flash, but in general its just on or off. they are like 20$, last a decent amount of time on 2 AAAs, and you will find if they work for you or not. Its nice and floody, so that should cover night time yard work.
There are so many headlamps on the market right now, a lot of manufactures are just throwing things at the wall to see what sticks. Some of them are super specialized and some are a bit over the top in my opinion. a massively bright headlamp is pretty good at blinding the user since you cant look away from the reflection like you do with a hand-held. plus I've found that high power headlamps and fog make my eyes all funny.

All that said, it looks like the Fenix is a lot of light for 50$ so that isn't a bad choice. Hope I didn't muddy the waters too much.
 
I have 4 of the Fenix F/L's and I really like them and I have never had a problem in any way.!
Problem with Batteries ~~ buy Eneloop Batteries and a charger and your problem is solved.!**
 
Don't have the type a proper reply but thanks for the suggestions. What about the Black Diamond Storm? I have found them for a couple of bucks more than the Gizmo.
 
harkamus said:
Foursevens Atom AL headlamp. Google it.
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Nice light but it runs off of cr123. That's a deal breaker to me.

On the subject of eneloops, I have looked into them but they aren't cost effective for me. I don't have enough high drain items.
 
Fenix headlamps are amazing. Pretty much the only lights they make that aren't overpriced, I think (all of their handhelds are matched by Nitecore at lower prices.)
 
Actually, the regular eneloops are even better than alkaline in low drain applications, since they have a low self discharge rate, and don't leak. there are better NiMh batteries for high drain. but if you are only using a few batteries a year, I can see the upgrade being a bit much.

The storm is also a great light, gives you more waterproofing if its the new one. I think the old version was only ipx4, but I'm not sure. But I doubt you'd be getting the new one for gizmo price. (but if you were, thats a heck of a steal) The fenix is going to give a longer runtime I think than the storm, so that might be a way to go there. Otherwise, grab something cheap, and see what you learn. If you are buying a black diamond light online make sure you know which one you are getting, right now lots of the old lights are on sale, and they are not well marked as being the old version, I've even seen a few on the bay using the new spec numbers. buyer beware.
 
From thinking about it, I am looking for a more floody than throwy light.

It is the 2013 Storm for about $24. Or I can get a 2013 Spot for $30. If it starts raining, I will be going indoors.

Sorry for the curt replys. I am typing on the go.
 
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Squashfan said:
Nice light but it runs off of cr123. That's a deal breaker to me.

On the subject of eneloops, I have looked into them but they aren't cost effective for me. I don't have enough high drain items.
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You can get the Atom AA which runs of a single AA battery and outputs 70 lumen. It is compatible with the headlamp kit that sells for ~15 bucks. If you shop around, you can find the Atom AA and the headlamp for your budget.
 
harkamus said:
You can get the Atom AA which runs of a single AA battery and outputs 70 lumen. It is compatible with the headlamp kit that sells for ~15 bucks. If you shop around, you can find the Atom AA and the headlamp for your budget.
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I see that now. Thanks!
You wouldn't happen to have a Fenix E11 laying around would you? I just measured my E11 with calipers and it has a diameter of approximately 0.847". Maybe it would fit? I would be curious about what lights fit in that headband besides just foursevens lights.

Gadgetgeek, thanks for the warning on the Black Diamond.

The list right now in order of interest:
Fenix HL10 or HL22
Energizer Brilliant Beam (this is a budget option)
Black Diamond Storm ( the 2013 cheap version)
Atom AA with 360 kit.
 
Don't think a Fenix E11 fits the Foursevens headlamp. The base of the headlamp compatible Foursevens lights is hexagonal in shape. The flashlight base mates with the headlamp mount and stays put via a magnet. We use it quite a bit around the house.
 
Thanks for the info, harkamus. I was at a big box store and ended up getting a Energizer Brilliant Beam Headlight. It seems to be bright enough. High mode seeems to have about the same throw as my Fenix E11 does in high mode. Didn't want to do to much testing in one night. I might wake the neighbors... I does need a padding on the back of the headband clip. That is the only complaint I have right now. One thing that would bother others is the red mode. The red LED hot spots are not lined up at all. I think the hot spots are supposed to be side by side but the two spots are almost on top of each other. The two low mode white hot spots aren't lined up either but the are so close you can't tell in use.
 
Squashfan said:
Thanks for the info, harkamus. I was at a big box store and ended up getting a Energizer Brilliant Beam Headlight. It seems to be bright enough. High mode seeems to have about the same throw as my Fenix E11 does in high mode. Didn't want to do to much testing in one night. I might wake the neighbors... I does need a padding on the back of the headband clip. That is the only complaint I have right now. One thing that would bother others is the red mode. The red LED hot spots are not lined up at all. I think the hot spots are supposed to be side by side but the two spots are almost on top of each other. The two low mode white hot spots aren't lined up either but the are so close you can't tell in use.
Click to expand...

I have the same one, picked it up at Home Depot. It puts out 100 lumens and has good throw with 3 useful lighting modes. I use mine almost everyday for work and it has held up very well. Not bad for $25
 
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