Around $50 depending on options!
this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2023
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Mfgr page: https://www.skilhunt.com/portfolio/h150-aa-14500-usb-magnetic-charging-led-headlamp/
AA/14500 dual fuel anglehead light, USB magnetic charger for 14500 only, wonder what happens if you try to charge an. AA. Wonder if there charge contacts spark if shorted on the outside of the light.
33g w/o battery, has 3 point headband, eh?
Complex, non Anduril UI. 650lm in CW on 14500, around 225lm on AA. Removable tailgate magnet. Has some kind of 55 day moon more. Wonder if that is AA only.
Overall imho: meh, ok light but I don't understand the excitement. Too much lumenitis in these lights anyway.
Skilhunt has one of the least complex UI’s around. Press for on, hold to cycle modes, double press for turbo. Not sure if too many share you opinion of it being “complex”.
Not sure what “lumenitis” is, but most people are excited for the H150 because of the Nichia 519a in 4500k, Skilhunt build quality, and excellent drivers with flat regulation.
Simple UI, flat regulation, 519a? What else could I possibly want??
I'd gladly trade the simple UI for a DWIM UI. If there were a blatant sign that I crossed the line between " thermally unsustainable" and "I can do this until I am about to swan-dive into LVP territory" then sure. As it stands, I think slightly better mode spacing is required.
That said, I think Skilhunt gets it less-wrong that the fanatically-worshipped Zebra UI. At least Skilhunt/ESKTE/Skeet puts their thermally-unsustainable modes in Turbo by default.
Idk about current zebtalight ui's but my H50 has simple L-M-H 3 level UI that is fine. I like the DWIM idea, that gradually tapers brightness for very long runtime as the battery depletes.
I'm on mobile rn, will reply to your other post later.
For me, DWIM means "bidirectional ramping mode" since I have yet to find a stepped-mode UI that has the spacing to get me the amount of like I need in a wide variety of situations, and few that allow me to dim a light without cycling through the higher modes first or power-cycling the light. Zebra's G5 is actually the furthest from DWIM since it has only 3 steps each with 2 sub-levels, and I never know what combination of presses and holds I need to get something that is closest to what I want/need. And G6/G7 are hard to program to choose up to 6 out of the 12 possible (often no-optimal) levels.
Part of why I fell down the rabbit hole is that I found that flashlights can do so much more than LMH. And it's easier to set Anduril to a 3-level stepped-mode operation than to get most non-Anduril lights to DWIM status.
Hmm, ok, I tend to follow McGizmo's view that levels should be spaced 10x apart, so LMH=1,10,100 lumens suits me fine. But Anduril is almost a "software-defined flashlight", so if you prefer ramping then you also came to the right place.
I'm unfamiliar with the Zebralight G5 but I get the vibe that Zebralight had made poor decisions lately, so it fits. I try to refuse to buy non-Anduril microprocessor lights except the simplest ones. I'm not always successful at that, but I do try.
A lot of lights have that UI. Anduril merely adds a few optional options to that. Many UI's that people regard as "simpler" than Anduril are pretty much just Anduril Simple UI with 10H removed.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people fail to realize that.
I have several Andruil lights that I really like. The problem for me is that I frequently need the internet to remember how many clicks or holds from ON or OFF are needed to get it to do something I want or need. Andruil is great but the complication (outside of simple mode) just isn’t always desirable. The other downside to most Andruil lights is that they commonly use FET or direct drive. For folks who prioritize flat regulation, it makes most of them less desirable.
Anyway, there’s a place in my collection for all kinds of UI’s. That’s part of the fun.
As someone in the excited camp, I have to ask what small headlamp is your favorite?
There aren't a huge number of AA/14500 headlamps on the market, and until pretty recently, all AA/14500 lights were pretty bad at actually being dual-fuel, usually lacking LVP and having terrible mode spacing on 14500. The Skilhunt M150 was the first one I saw that really nailed it, and the H150 is its headlamp equivalent.
I love my Zebralight H50 but its led is inefficient by today's standards, so I think there are gaps to be filled. Parametrek's review of the Nitecore HA11 was very positive. I don't have one myself though. I'm not crazy about the 14500 concept in general. Some people are more into it than I am so maybe that's where the excitement is. What I really want is a 1aaa version of the H50 or HA11.
Lumenitis is a disease affecting a certain segment of flashlight designer. It makes them build the light to overheat and deplete its battery as fast as possible, instead of optimizing the actual likely usage. Example: Manker E02 II, which is longer and heavier than the H50 despite being a 1aaa light instead of 1aa. I'll post more soon about this.
Added: another example, various people have commented that the otherwise wonderful Skihunt E3A. should be dialed back for more runtime, say to 20 lm/5 hrs. But no, they keep it at 100/1.
After having gone through a few natural disasters that the AA-worshippers think utterly vindicate their fanaticism to he utter and total superiority of AA-compatibility, I have to say that I am unimpressed by anything that combines the downsides of alkaleaks (low lumens and low wH) with the biggest weakness of Li-ion (needs to be charged instead of replaced).
I appreciate that some, like Acebeam and Skilhunt, go for sustained lumens over startup peak lumens, and am a fan of boost drivers in general, but I think that the backlash to hotrod lights is a bit extreme. I've used TS10's to keep my home nicely lit during prolonged power outages. Yeah, it has a reputation as a hot rod since its a 14500 light that can do 1400 lumens, but at lower levels that do not involve the FET, it can hold enough lumens to do what it needs to do for many hours despite being a 14500 light with a driver that isn't a boost/buck driver and cannot take the first battery to sell out when TSHTF.
One nice thing about Anduril is that it can do the no-FET-needed levels that prolong battery life when you just need a little light, and despite the fear-mongering, it doesn't actually operate any differently from many other lights that copy it's Simple UI mode and merely omit 10H and the (easily ignored) options it unlocks. How do you think I get my TS10's to hold "don't walk into wall or trip over the cat" light levels for 8+ hours despite the low mAh of 14500 cells? I have options between M1 and M2 that Skilhunt's and Zebra's UI lack.
IMO, all lights need a ramping mode that allows for achieving a a nice balancing point between output and runtime. And I have yet to see a stepped-mode-only UI hit that balance with their mode spacing.
People really underestimate this. It's very hard to buy AAs when there's a hurricane warning.