Which Zebralight

gixer

Thru Hiker
You can always diffuse a H600 beam with a bit of plastic, water bottle etc

You can't add much throw to a H600f though
 
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gixer

Thru Hiker
Some diffusers from bits of plastic

Red one is a gas cannister cap
Round one is a old film canister
Bodged one is a spray can lid cut to size

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11028244_10153168272679851_1333793860_o_zpsdi2xbgrr.jpg


You can use pretty much anything, water bottles make good diffusers

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el manana

Thru Hiker
:(
I want a 600 series headlamp, i generally prefer neutral/warm tints but i don't really know why.

I have never tried a flood or floody light having always wanted throw in the past but for a night- time camp and emergency headtorch i am not sure...

I am still confused & undecided.....
:(

Do you intend to use it for night walking?

I have a Flood and a throw. The Flood gets used the most as better around camp but i would also have no problems in using it for an emergency night walk. Compared to my previous torch, a Petzl Tikka XP, the flood is far superior in every aspect (the inferior long range doesnt matter as the XP's far distance is not strong and gives little benefit anyway).

If your getting one only, a throw in your tint e.g. H600w or H52w would make sense (i prefer cool white), but unless a regular night walker, it wont make a difference anyway.
 

Whiteburn

Thru Hiker
:(
I want a 600 series headlamp, i generally prefer neutral/warm tints but i don't really know why.

I have never tried a flood or floody light having always wanted throw in the past but for a night- time camp and emergency headtorch i am not sure...

I am still confused & undecided.....
:(
I've found the H600W pretty good for night walking, far prefer the wide beam. Normally use in mid mode but in high mode I can easily see 50m+. Started carrying a cheapo LED flashlight ($2.50) with a tight beam for route spotting but primarily it carries a spare cell for the Zebra.
 
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EM - paul

Thru Hiker
I've found the H600W pretty good for night walking, far prefer the wide beam. Normally use in mid mode but in high mode I can easily see 50m+. Started carrying a cheapo LED flashlight ($2.50) with a tight beam for route spotting but primarily it carries a spare cell for the Zebra.

What he says. A powerful wide spilling beam is far superior to a long throw in a night hike scenario. Route selection in the dark requires a good peripheral view of options and a spot just doesnt do it.
 

gixer

Thru Hiker
Just to show there is no right or wrong, just what we prefer

I do not like a floody light when hiking

The H600 gives a 80° beam so we're not talking tunnel like vision here.

To give some idea what that beam looks like
If you look ahead the beam lights all you can see except for a slight area right on the edge of you peripheral vision

With the H600f if give you a 10° wider beam
In use this gives a ever so slight area of darkness right at your peripheral vision

With the H602 you can pretty much see as far as your eyes can swivel in their sockets :D


Couple of things worth thinking about though

It's a head torch, in my experience your eyes move very little when night hiking, if there is anything to see at your peripheral vision then you'll move your head
So for actual hiking a wide beam is useless
In my opinion it's just those lovely lumens getting away unused, so a wide beam is just not efficient :bag:

You're hiking so you are looking at least a few meters in front of you
Purely a guesstimate, but with the H600 if you look around 3m in front of you the beam is wide enough to easily illuminate a dual laned road, so as i say it's not like the H600 offers tunnel vision

Lastly,
The further away you can see a obstacle like a rock or a tree root the better use you can make of shadows to tell how high it is.
I find that with a more floody beam i'm looking more down than forward so it's difficult to gauge height of obstacles as there is very little shadow
If we take a flatish path the further away we illuminate a obstacle, the better 3d view we get
It's like the same effect as mounting the torch lower. i.e, longer shadows


The difference between the H600 and H600f is very small (beam width wise)
The difference between the H600 and the H602 is very noticeable, IMO the H602 is a great camp light but it does not make a good hiking light

Saying that my mate runs with a H502 and is chuffed to ****** with it
I recon a bic lighter would offer more throw :D:D:D:D:D:D
He's borrowed my H600w and prefers his H502

Takes all sorts :whistling:
 

JKM

Thru Hiker
I've found the H600W pretty good for night walking, far prefer the wide beam. Normally use in mid mode but in high mode I can easily see 50m+. Started carrying a cheapo LED flashlight ($2.50) with a tight beam for route spotting but primarily it carries a spare cell for the Zebra.

Is that the 80/12 spill/spot version?
I was looking at the mk2 version http://www.zebralight.com/H600w-Mk-II-18650-XM-L2-Headlamp-Neutral-White_p_117.html
But mk1 may have a different beam patern
 

gixer

Thru Hiker
Just done a search and found this vid


Really shows the real world difference in beams between the H600 and H602

For hiking use i recon using the white gate as a gauge is useful as it's unlikely we'll be hiking on paths wider than that gate.
 
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JKM

Thru Hiker
Has anyone in the UK ordered from zebralight.com, and if so, did you get stung for duties?
 

el manana

Thru Hiker
Zebralight spreadsheet

Filter the columns by choice may help with the decision making.

I would check the accuracy of the data before using it to make purchasing decisions.

I'm still none the wiser, despite starting the thread
My alpkit gamma has showed its Achillies heel at last. Yup, battery compartment. After years of sterling sevice.

The big decision is battery type then probably beam type.

If you open the attached spreadsheet and filter the torch/head column and the battery column by what you want then you should be left with 10 or less. I decided AA lithiums were good enough for me, didnt really need the 18650 and if i go rechargeable, can always use Eneloops.

Then you only have to decide which beam and light type - neutral or harsher(?) cool white (which i prefer). The hardest choice after battery is beam; hotspot, floody or flood (headtorch only).
 

Balagan

Thru Hiker
Has anyone in the UK ordered from zebralight.com, and if so, did you get stung for duties?
All orders outside the US ship from China and like everything shipped from China, mine came with the usual silly price on the customs slip. I can't recall but it was something like 10 bucks...
 
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JKM

Thru Hiker
Feeling a little apprehensive as i have just blown the best part of £100 :eek: on a H600w Mk III XHP35 Neutral White and a couple of 18650's


http://www.zebralight.com/H600w-Mk-III-XHP35-Neutral-White-18650-Headlamp_p_186.html

I went for the 80/12 spill in the end as i cant imagine not having a bit of throw and i can rig some kind of diffuser if necessary.

Along with the 2 18650s i already have, i should have a decent complement of lighting/charging :thumbsup:

My other forays into 18650's so far were a lumintop prince which was just too fancy for sticking in a rucksack and i did not like the metal button & a blf a6 which i still cannot work the interface on...

Hopefully the zebra light will quench my thirst for an 18650 powered light.
 

gixer

Thru Hiker
No no noooooooooooo not that one, that's the wrong one





























Just kidding :p

Welcome to the slippery slope :wacky:

Did you order the batteries from ZL?
 
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JKM

Thru Hiker
No no noooooooooooo not that one, that's the wrong one

Given the length of time i have dithered for and the complexity of the decision process, i would not be remotely surprised if i have chosen the wrong one....

If only they made them with the body, switches etc in one piece with an interchangable head.
 

Teepee

Thru Hiker
Feeling a little apprehensive as i have just blown the best part of £100 :eek: on a H600w Mk III XHP35 Neutral White and a couple of 18650's


http://www.zebralight.com/H600w-Mk-III-XHP35-Neutral-White-18650-Headlamp_p_186.html

I went for the 80/12 spill in the end as i cant imagine not having a bit of throw and i can rig some kind of diffuser if necessary.

Along with the 2 18650s i already have, i should have a decent complement of lighting/charging :thumbsup:

My other forays into 18650's so far were a lumintop prince which was just too fancy for sticking in a rucksack and i did not like the metal button & a blf a6 which i still cannot work the interface on...

Hopefully the zebra light will quench my thirst for an 18650 powered light.

I can't remember if it came with instructions, I just looked at this to get my head around it; http://toykeeper.net/torches/blf-a6/final/blf-a6.txt

FWIW, reprogramming it didn't seem worth the hassle, it's a pretty good setup as is ( is what I told myself when the reprogramming failed :redface:) 1 click on for 1 lumen, longer press for 1200 lumens, or a series of short clicks to cycle through.
http://toykeeper.net/torches/blf-a6/final/blf-a6.txt
 
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EM - paul

Thru Hiker
I can't remember if it came with instructions, I just looked at this to get my head around it; http://toykeeper.net/torches/blf-a6/final/blf-a6.txt

FWIW, reprogramming it didn't seem worth the hassle, it's a pretty good setup as is ( is what I told myself when the reprogramming failed :redface:) 1 click on for 1 lumen, longer press for 1200 lumens, or a series of short clicks to cycle through.

I recall having a go on your light and i couldnt make it go. I then remember you demonstrating it to @Jacko1066 and not being able to work it yourself :D
 

gixer

Thru Hiker
The ZL programming can take a bit of getting your head around.
Once you've done it once it's pretty easy to remember though, first try it's tough to get the speed you click right.

As Teepee says the factory settings are pretty much spot on, so it's really only the basic programing that gets used.

Keep finger on the switch, it'll cycle through 3 levels low, medium, high
Take your finger off the switch when you find a level you want

If you then double click you can access another output at that level

99.9% that's really the only programming you'll need to do.

Me Mum has had a SC5 for a year or 2 now, she's a cracking Mum but isn't well known for being able to pick up on technology easily.
She's mastered the SC5 though, so it can't be THAT tough :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 

EM - paul

Thru Hiker
The ZL programming can take a bit of getting your head around.
Once you've done it once it's pretty easy to remember though, first try it's tough to get the speed you click right.

As Teepee says the factory settings are pretty much spot on, so it's really only the basic programing that gets used.

Keep finger on the switch, it'll cycle through 3 levels low, medium, high
Take your finger off the switch when you find a level you want

If you then double click you can access another output at that level

99.9% that's really the only programming you'll need to do.

Me Mum has had a SC5 for a year or 2 now, she's a cracking Mum but isn't well known for being able to pick up on technology easily.
She's mastered the SC5 though, so it can't be THAT tough :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

im happy with the ZL controls, was on about petes budget light forum thing
 

Cameron M

Summit Camper
I got the ZLH32w H32w CR123 because it is the lightest of the Zebra offerings. It is certainly impressive, but I am more fond of my Black Diamond Ion, which at 1.5 oz with lithium batts is a huge upgrade from the Petzl eLiTE. Just depends on how much night hiking is anticipated.
 
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