Headlamps

The Zebralight H54Fc N is great. The Nichia 519A emitter is as good as the legend says with the neutral tone, beautiful color rendering... just a smooth and even beam (in the Fc version), perfect for close-range work. Something else I've noticed recently is that the older H53 I have was significantly brighter with a lithium primary (the Energizer silver ones, not the Li-ion rechargeable 14500) than with a fully charged high-discharge Eneloop, indicating that the driver is not optimized for the 1.2 V Ni-MH. No such problem with the H54; the light is just as bright with Lithium primary or Ni-MH. Every few years Zebralight comes out with a revised version of their AA headlamps. The H5x series remains the king of single-AA headlamps. Now I'm curious about the SC65c HI with the Nichia 719A emitter... yes I do miss the 18650 brightness and endurance, but those unprotected lithium cells are annoying to deal with - need special chargers, cannot buy online and ship by air, more and more restriction about lithium cells with air travels.