Front light recommendations - £60 budget

[jayonabike]

+ for the hope vision 1. Well worth the money. I picked up (4) Energizer 2450mAh rechargeables for £14.99 from Argos. 1 charge is enough for me to cycle to work and back all week (i work nights, so always cycling in the dark.)

 

[Steve Austin]

Another vote for Hope

 

[jig-sore]

get a hope vision one, you won't regret it

 

[Flying Dodo]

If you haven't got the message yet, get a Hope.

 

[RedBike]

The Hope is a great light but it eats batteries. You need the best recharable batteries you can get hold of. I got caught out a few times on my commute with the batteries dying. I also struggled to get the high capacity batteries recharged overnight ready for the next morning.

I now use this..
http://redbikes.blogspot.com/2010/05/900-lumen-helmet-mounted-light-review.html
Far, far brighter than the Hope.

 

[dav1d]

Quick point on the Hope- you also need to cost in some decent re-chargeable batteries as they don't come with the light,I'd say maybe £10 should get you 4.Oh and you'll get about 8 hours on level 2(medium) setting which is decently bright.

Is it pencil batteries it uses? If so, you can get rechargable batteries from Home Bargains for around £5 for 4 which also come with a charger (they seem to be decent enough batteries, around1500mah I think), or if they've sold out of those (they often do), they do a 2 pack with a charger for £2.99.

 

[Shaun]

Fairly universal in your recommendation boys and girls ... I'll have a shop around for a Hope 1 then ... thanks.

 

[summerdays]

Is it pencil batteries it uses? If so, you can get rechargable batteries from Home Bargains for around £5 for 4 which also come with a charger (they seem to be decent enough batteries, around1500mah I think), or if they've sold out of those (they often do), they do a 2 pack with a charger for £2.99.

I've been using 2500 and 2600 ones. Don't know what the numbers mean but Mr Summerdays told me to use those ones out of our collection of batteries with different numbers on.

 

[GrahamG]

Definitely need to be using over 2000ma - the higher the figure the better as it's in reference to capacity - I use 2800ma rechargeables for the fenix torch and they last very well indeed (for ref. I think standard duracells are about 3200ma).

One thing worth pointing out is that decent quality, high capacity rechargeables need to be looked after properly with a 'smart' charger - don't just get the cheapest plug in available as it just charges the batteries on a set cycle, smart chargers measure the remaining charge and time accordingly so they don't get over-charged which can reduce battery life. It means £15 instead of a fiver but it's well worth it.

 

[jimboalee]

Don't prat about.

http://www.brightlites.co.uk/content/product_view.asp?cid=4&pid=165

These are the jobbies.

 

[jimboalee]

Definitely need to be using over 2000ma - the higher the figure the better as it's in reference to capacity - I use 2800ma rechargeables for the fenix torch and they last very well indeed (for ref. I think standard duracells are about 3200ma).

One thing worth pointing out is that decent quality, high capacity rechargeables need to be looked after properly with a 'smart' charger - don't just get the cheapest plug in available as it just charges the batteries on a set cycle, smart chargers measure the remaining charge and time accordingly so they don't get over-charged which can reduce battery life. It means £15 instead of a fiver but it's well worth it.

I'll second that.

Tesco, would you believe, sell a "1 hour" charger for £20 which measures the battery temperature.
It pushes 2 A through 2100 mAhr NiMh AA cells until the cell's temperature has reached the limit, and then swithes down to a trickle.
It takes AA and AAA ( 850 mA charging current ) so is good for the AAA cells in the P7 lenser.

My digital camera is the ultimate battery tester.
Duracell Ultra Alkalines last 25 minutes.
2500 mAhr NiMh last about 45 minutes.
Any other batteries, Carbon cells and half charged NiMh last about 10 seconds.
I blame the 2Gb microdrive and its motors..

 

[Shaun]

Thanks for the recommendations.

Hope Vision 1 from www.tredz.co.uk for £66.95 with free delivery.

Sorted ...

 

[Flying Dodo]

Get 2 Hope's.

 

[potsy]

Get 2 Hope's.

That's what I and a few others on here have done,looks good too with 'twin' headlights

 

[potsy]

Two hopes with rechargeables then, I guess.

Good decision CoG,just make sure to get decent batteries 2450's or better and you'll get decent time out of them.