I work 12 hour nights at my job and I am outside for 1-2 hours multiple times each shift throughout the night. My job has given me a headlamp but the battery life has gotten really bad in a short amount of time (had flashlight for 3 months). The bright setting is great and I can see a decent ways in front of me but the bright setting only lasts about 15 minutes and I can't keep dealing with that. I want a good headlamp. Idk how much good lights cost but im not worried about the price. Help is appreciated!
Flashlight in pic is the one I currently have.
For anyone curious, I work at a waste water treatment plant.
by MikeAuxBig
6 Comments
The flashlight in the picture is the one you got for the job? It’s a decent flashlight, but it has a small battery and inefficient driver.
If you want high sustained output for longer times, you’d need to get a 18650 or 21700 battery based light (obviously going to be more heavy!)
This one can hold high output for a long time: https://armytekstore.de/flashlight/models/armytek-elf-c2-max-usb-c-pcb-white-en/
Here is a review, it can hold the Sofirn HS10’s turbo output for >2 hours: https://1lumen.com/review/armytek-elf-c2-max/#performance
Another great option is the Sofirn HS21, but it has a smaller battery than the Armytek. I’d recommend just buying and carrying a spare 18650
Sofirn HS21 is most often suggested here. If you are working in a hard hat, you may also consider 21700 form factor headlamps.
Battery life depends on a few things.
The big one is is battery weight, and there are too many that want infinite battery life on 14500/AA batt4eries because they have a since belief that their sense of entitlement should be strong enough to override the paws of physics because entitled. 21700 batteries are a bit heavy but offer ~40% more runtime than 18650 and ~400% than those who think anything heavier than a 14500/AA would snap their neck because they see absolutely no difference at all between 120g and 120Kg.
Sofirn tends to use FET+1 drivers that have fuck-all efficiency. And the HS10 has a 16340 battery with no more capacity than a 14500, just fatter and shorter. And here I am rocking Firefly L60s and L70s with 21700 batteries *(5 times the capacity)* and Lume drivers *(far more efficient)*.
Yeah hs10 is good but not for outside work.
Sofirn hs21 is often suggested here and indeed it’s nice.
Maybe look into convoy h4 since it’s 21700 and will last longer than 18650
If you’re fine with the weight, I’d go for a 21700 battery one at least.
Multiple batteries to swap in will keep it bright for longer.
From ones I have – if you have the budget an Imalent HT70 provides a regulated 900lumens for a few hours or 500lumens for a good bit longer. A few spare batteries and you could have 900 lumens for your whole shift.
If you haven’t, a Wurkkos HD20 is a great budget choice.
If you’ve got an even bigger budget and capacity for weight on your head, or are fine to have the separate battery pack in a pocket etc (and play with coupons, cashback to get the price down) – A fenix HP35R has 2×21700 batteries in it’s sealed battery pack and a mode that ends on 500 lumens can last about 12 hours.
https://preview.redd.it/0uf9b4t01jxg1.jpeg?width=982&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37defd500a53ab24417cdea01a085a520724f129
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