Finding a bright, tough, light weight, dependable and inexpensive head lamp is the “Holy Grail” of most cavers. (Caving is a lot more fun when you can see where you are going). But, do you remember when LED lights started to be used in ’01 and ’02? They just were not bright enough but the energy efficiency was attractive. Well, LED s have been improved as the years went by to where most cavers are using them. I think the LED headlight has finally arrived with the new light reported here.
I found the E-Gear HL-130 at the winter 2010 Outdoor Retailer show. This light was recently upgraded with a new LED. It was bright; 180 Lumens bright. It has a focus function, high and low settings, and looks well made. The HL-130 runs on 3 AA batteries in a case on the rear of the head and has 3 colored lights for nite vision applications. There is also a red “tail light” on the back of the battery case. There is a lifetime warranty.
Knowing that we cavers are not “easy” on our equipment especially head lamps that get wet, dirty, bumped and banged, I began to conduct my own equipment test on it to see if it was as good as it looked.
BRIGHTNESS TEST: I compared its brightness as specified by the manufacturer to 7 other head lamps and it was clearly the brightest, and the price (MSRP $50) was much less than anything even close to its brightness. The Princeton Tec Apex (MSRP $85) was the closest at 130 Lumens. The beam pattern has some halo effect but is as close to smooth as any other light.
DROP TEST: Repeated (10) drops onto a hard surface from 6 feet had no effect on the HL-130.
BURN TIME: One of the most important questions about a light is how long do the batteries last? Well, that depends on how dim you can use the light. The different manufacturers have different definitions for end of battery life. So, I created my own definition. I had used the batteries in my Petzl Myo to the point that I was ready to replace them. I set up a light meter 3 feet from the lights and read 294 lux with my old batteries and 491 lux with new batteries. Then I did the same test with the E-Gear-130 and got 4390 lux on high and 1914 lux on low. (9 times what the Myo will do) Then, I ran the E-Gear 130 on high. After 8 hours it was down to 1312 lux and after a total of 22 hours it was down to 190 lux which is as dim as I would ever want to use and approx. two thirds of what I was using in my last cave with the Myo. The company literature advertises 16 hours on high and 32 hours on low. I can agree with that rating as being realistic.
WATER TEST: I turned the head lamp on high and put it in a bucket under 6 inches of water and let it soak. 14 hours later the light was still working. I took the light out, put in a fresh set of batteries. I was surprised to see that it was still working and shining brightly. I could see that water had collected inside the lens cover. I let it run off and on for 3 days. Then it began to do erratic operation and failed. I took the light apart and found that the circuit board had become corroded by water and had caused the electronics to go hay wire. This light is not listed as water proof, but it did a remarkably good job after being under water for so many hours and then not being dried out. I found that by tilting the head forward to the end of it’s ratcheting ability, the back can be taken off to drain the water from the inside of the light housing. I have also found an insulating varnish made by GC Electronics (part# 10-9002-A) that can be applied to the circuit board to make it water proof.
CAVE TEST: This light has been used in 4 separate caving trips and the reports have been very good on the lights functioning and brightness. Most of the time it was used on low and wide focus with high and narrow available to look down passages. The only negative feedback was that one caver wanted the broad focus to be wider.
CONCLUSIONS: This light is bright enough and the burn time long enough. Many other observations not reported here led me to the conclusion that the only real competition is the Apex. The E-Gear 130 could be improved if it was waterproof and the three small lights were used for broad lighting.
THE FUTURE: Regulation with a boost function to keep the brightness up to the end of the battery power would be a plus. Of course we would always want longer battery life. How about rechargeable lithium batteries? I think all of these things are coming. The flashlight hackers are doing it now. See the flashlight forums on www.dealextreme.com
The other lights in this comparison were: Fenix HP-10, Black Diamond Icon, Energizer Ultimate Lithium, Mammut Lucido X-Zoom, Petzl Myo, Princton Tec Apex, Brunton L3. These lights were chosen based on: 80 or more lumens, priced under $100, powered by AA batteries at the rear of the helmet.
By: Kent Scott NSS 61947 * (801)225-3931 * flashgordon325@yahoo.com
Field tester: Debbie Spoons NSS 61744
Field tester: Michael Leavitt NSS 61917
PDF VERSION OF REVIEW
PURCHASE PRICE - Kent Scott retails the light for $50 and this includes postage and handling to US adresses. Thanks again Kent for bringing this great light to the attention of the Timpanogos Grotto.
