fantastic headlight setup on the cheap!

[datz510]

Yep, we'll see how these are. So far, they'v been very durable. I've purposely thrown them around the house and outside to see how the internals hold up. So far, not a single glitch. And for $5 for a stinkin BRIGHT waterproof & long battery life flashlight, that was enough for me to be happy with it. And if it breaks, I can order about 20 more and still be cheaper than a high end light.

BTW, Lenny, I have the two extra handlebar mounts sitting here at the house, so dont order any of those.

 

[sparky]

Does it really stay bright the whole 20 hrs, tho?

I'm highly doubting that only one of these could be effective in real nighttime MB riding scenarios. Perhaps two, but then you're still talking about $10+$10~14 for two bike mounts.

I think something like the other Coast flashlight I bought, the Coast 7732 or something else could be had for $40 or less and would provide a brighter, wider, & longer lasting beam.

But I think the Fenix L2D Q5 is still the flashlight to beat for bike riding at night. There was also the Dosun M1 bike headlight for $72 with the "CPF8" discount. There's also a cheesy video at that link. Tell me if that $5 light compares in a similarly dark environment.

P.S. - that light is only water-resistant.

 

[datz510]

Tell you what.. I'll go turn on one of the lights and let it run all night and into tommorrow to see how long it lasts. These still have the cheap crappy chinese batteries in them too, so it should be interesting.

I have a full set of high output NiMh batteries I can drop in that will provide even better performance if needed.

So, its around 11:30pm now.. I'm gonna go turn the light on and take a photo of the resulting beam. I'll be up all night, and will take photos every 4-6 hours and see how long these cheap lights last.

I am willing to bet that these little lights will run pretty close to 20 hours on one set of batteries.. I dunno about the cheap chinese batteries that come withe them, but next test could be with some nice high output Energizers or Duracell lithiums.. But realy, if the batteries do die out on one light while rding, then what?? grab spare set of batteries out of bike pouch swap them out and keep on biking... Or just use the other light to get home?

So, here goes.. starting the test now.. Exactly 11:30pm Sunday night.

edit: Light is now on.. Photo taken of the beam @ 11:30pm.

 

[datz510]

Does it really stay bright the whole 20 hrs, tho?

I'm highly doubting that only one of these could be effective in real nighttime MB riding scenarios. Perhaps two, but then you're still talking about $10+$10~14 for two bike mounts.

I think something like the other Coast flashlight I bought, the Coast 7732 or something else could be had for $40 or less and would provide a brighter, wider, & longer lasting beam.

But I think the Fenix L2D Q5 is still the flashlight to beat for bike riding at night. There was also the Dosun M1 bike headlight for $72 with the "CPF8" discount. There's also a cheesy video at that link. Tell me if that $5 light compares in a similarly dark environment.

P.S. - that light is only water-resistant.

Stilll.. this is a $5 flashlight that you're comparing to a $40, $70, or $100 light? For $20 for lights plus mounts, these will defnitely get me down the road safer than the crappy $20 Bell headlight I had before.

Tell you what, we can test the water resistance too.. I'll go throw one in my pool overnight if you want if that would prove anything. If it doesnt work afterwards, I'll order another one for $5. You can throw yours in your pool overnight as well and we'll compare in the morning.

My point is that these are a very economical solution and are much superior to just about anything else out there that is $20.

 

[sparky]

Lemme know how far it is away from your target, and the other lighting info, so that I can *try* to replicate it when my light(s) gets here. If you have windows, it might let light in by your third shot and ruin the whole experiment.

 

[datz510]

Ok, will do.. going to measure target distance right now.

distance is 30ft to target.. a white door in my hallway. Right now, there is no ambient lighting at all other than the flashlight.

The other thing is that cameras are not made equal.. I set mine to shutter speed control with no flash. 1.5 second shutter speed. I'll see how its doing after about 6 hours with a comparison shot using the same settings.

Also, these flashlights have had an hour or so put on them already, as I've been using them around the house, so we'll need to keep that in mind as well.

edit *** Its funny that I'm even bothering with doing this.. but I have nothing else to do...

 

[sparky]

My point is that these are a very economical solution and are much superior to just about anything else out there that is $20.

Somehow I'm doubting this. I don't give a dern about the water-resistance because I never ride my MB in the rain. I'm most interested in the power of the beam over time and how it actually works while riding... how much you can actually see.

I was reading some reviews of that light, and most seem to say that the $10 light with 20+ LEDs is easily worth the money... but lots of them also have problems with the connection, or the light just dimming or cutting off on its own.

I'm sure there are other quite a few lights by Fenix or Coast that would be worth the money over a $5 light. They have LOTS of different flashlights.

But we'll see for sure soon enough.

 

[datz510]

And lemme know if you want to take me up on the pool challenge.. I throw mine in the pool for 24 hours.. you throw yours in the pool for 24 hours.. and we compare afterwards.

I'll even throw mine in the water while its turned on to make it more fun...

 

[datz510]

Somehow I'm doubting this. I don't give a dern about the water-resistance because I never ride my MB in the rain. I'm most interested in the power of the beam over time and how it actually works while riding... how much you can actually see.

I was reading some reviews of that light, and most seem to say that the $10 light with 20+ LEDs is easily worth the money... but lots of them also have problems with the connection, or the light just dimming or cutting off on its own.

I'm sure there are other quite a few lights by Fenix or Coast that would be worth the money over a $5 light. They have LOTS of different flashlights.

But we'll see for sure soon enough.

true.. I read about the connection issues as well. Looking at the internal construction, i can see why it would happen. THere is a single circuit board at one end of the light with the LEDs on it. THen there is a plastic battery carrier that the batteries fit into. This is where the problems are going to occur. Nothing a little wire and a soldering iron couldnt fix. Its still a $5 flashlight.

I also saw the 20 LED lights. I wanted to go with two lights. Mainly for backup, also for form factor. Total of 18 LEDs between both of these.

 

[datz510]

Went and checked on the light.. 1.5 hrs later, brightness has dropped considerably. I'm sure it is due to the cheap chinese batteries that came with the light. Definitely still enough light to ride with though. We'll see if it runs all night.

Next test, I'll throw some high output NiMh batteries in and see how the light does. I'm gonna go find my NiMh batteries and throw them in the charger now to get them ready.