FENIX HP30R headlamp

Discussion in 'Reviews' started by Bushman5, Oct 18, 2018.

  1. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    picked this headlamp today up from Miss Christina at WARRIORS & WONDERS (BLADES CANADA) right here in Vancouver BC Canada. Great Family run store. Jay, Steven, Christina, Jake and all the other crew have supplied me for literally over a decade PLUS now. I think i actually helped Jay pay cash for his new house with all my purchases.... ;) :D

    I have owned a LOT (over 36 now) of high end ($$) LED headlamps over the years..........Olight, AceBeam, SureFire, Fenix, and a lot more i have sold off over the years as the LED and Li-Ion battery technology advances (and it advances EXTREMELY rapidly......)

    this light retails for around $130 USD, or if your in Canada $180. The extra hi capacity batteries I bought were $65.


    I was drawn to the FENIX HP30R for three reasons, and three reasons only.........very long run times, the ability to charge other devices from the battery pack, and the remote mount battery pack. My needs as an end user in daily outdoors, hiking, camping and extreme situations are EXTREMELY focused when it comes to gear........The LED specs and number of modes were secondary to the battery life and remote mounting of the case.

    so lets get started and unbox this beast!

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    this is what I was excited about.....the remote belt mount or Molle/Pals mount dual (2) 18650 li-ion battery case. You can use this for the headlamp, or, with the included USB cable , charge external devices like cell phones, other micro USB chargeable batteries or gps etc.
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    ROBUST construction, sealed extremely well from the environment, submersible for several hours.
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    external USB,micro USB charging ports
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    takes 2 x 18650 li-ion rechargeable batteries or 4 x primary li-ion CR123 batts (SureFire). COmes with 2 Fenix 2600 mAH li-ion rechargeable's (more on this later)
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    bead blasted stainless steel clip, extremely strong , fits belts or Molle/Pals loops.
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    soft stretchy headband
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    external charging USB cable
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    the head lamp unit (die cast aluminum), came with a spare baseplate. (EDIT: its for the head straps - my bad)
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    mounting accessories ( cable control clips)
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    manual
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    Perturbed PipSqueak Cat Tax (fyi thats a full size apple box he is in.....)
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    MORE COMING!
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2018
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  2. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    pic showing the battery case clipped to the molle/pals webbing. It does wiggle around a bit, but its NOT coming off. A simple rubber band thru the webbing and case would solve the wiggle, if it was an issue for someone.

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    on the shoulder straps

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    now one thing i did notice, was that the battery cable is quite long (this is good), but its permanently attached to the headlamp itself.........i would much prefer the cable be attached to the battery case, so if i wanted to remove the headlamp, the cable could be left in place threaded thru the webbing............as it sits now, if you want to remove your webbing or pack, you have to take off your head lamp and remove the cable from the straps of the webbing or pack. Its a small beef...but its the little things that annoy .

    the cable itself is long enough for a 6' tall person to wear the battery case on their belt. The first run had a much shorter cable and boy did people complain to Fenix. So Fenix upgraded the next run to have a longer cable.

    The cable is stiff....you definitely notice it while wearing the headlamp, buts its not too much of a bother. I do have a concern that during winter (cold) use , the cable may get very stiff and brittle....and since its hardwired into the headlamp...you can;t replace it if it cracks.....time will tell.

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    the 18650's can be charged in the battery case itself, via a Micro USB charging port. I like this feature.

    Something else that someone had noticed about the battery case, if you can find an extra battery case ...is that you can run a USB cable out of one case into the other, for even longer run times.


    charging external devices is easy, pop open the rubber seal, attach a USB cord and plug into you external device. Simple.
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    specs: (from fenix site, as equipped with 2 x 2600 MaH 18650's. (I used the 3500 MaH 18650's - greater capacity and runtime and full amperage)

    impressive specs (runtime and distance) for 2 x 2600 MaH 18650's. I fully expect to push these runtimes about 75% more with the 3500 MaH 18650's.

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    more as i use it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 20, 2018
  3. kreeves

    kreeves Moderator Staff Member

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    I have the Fenix HP25R and has (1) 18650 battery. I had the HP25 before that. The HP25R is very bright and it will last several hours while caving.
     
  4. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    Thats what i wanted.....long run times at full amperage, enough to get me thru the night or many nights if need be. . I bought the heavy capacity 3500 Mah li-ion batteries to get even more run time and consistent amperage when running high beam.

    i also sorta wanted this light for winter activities, so i could tuck the battery case into the jacket pocket and keep the batts toasty warm.
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2018
  5. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    Some action pics in the Adventure thread.

    My only annoyance so far is the stiff cable that connects from the headlamp to the remote battery case. Fenix could have used a detachable flexible cable.

    If i were to design this headlamp, it would have only 6 modes: flood low, flood high, spot low, spot high, red night mode and a flashing beacon mode.

    I would make the cable more flexible, detachable from both the battery case and the head lamp, and one operating switch (magnetic)

    Still this is a great adventure headlight, the flood mode is perfect.
     
  6. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    the thermal management system on the headlamp is pretty good. This light gets HOT when both Hi Flood & Hi Spot modes are used. Not hot enough to notice on your head, but if you touch the headlamp body you will remove your hand away quickly. The thermal management shuts off the flood mode without warning and leaves you with the spot mode. I have yet to have the spot mode shut down, i think this is due to the large cone reflector drawing away the heat from the led chip.

    in heavy rains, rain mist, and fog situations, it becomes impossible to see very far, the light just bounces back at you off the suspended water molecules. Even on low modes its difficult. That is not indicative of a problem with this headlamp, it can be applied to pretty much all lights.
     
  7. Bozho

    Bozho Member

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    Hi Bushman!

    Apart from the ability to use the battery as an external battery pack, is there another reason to prefer external battery with cable for the headlamp - perhaps better balance or less weight on the headband?

    I am using an Olight H2R for a bit more than an year and so far I am happy with how it works as a headlamp - and it can also be used as a regular flashlight, when removed from the headband. With a few spare batteries I can have a whole week of camping with all night usage on the lower modes.
    A downside is that the turbo mode is available only with the factory batter (or another high discharge 18650 I believe), but not with a regular one. However 600 lm is available with all batteries and for my needs it is enough. But the 2300 lm of warm light from a honey comb TIR optic are impressive (and they eat the batter fast!).

    Cheers!
     
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  8. Bushman5

    Bushman5 Member

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    yes, i wanted to remove the bulk of the batteries off my skull. I'm not tough like the grunts that have NVG and battery packs on their ballistic helmets.....LOL

    Basically i wanted a headlamp for winter use, where i could run the battery pack inside my jacket to keep the batteries warm for maximum battery life in -10 to -30 C temps. As well as get the weight off the my head.

    you are correct on the Olight going thru batteries quick!
     
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  9. Bozho

    Bozho Member

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    I haven't thought about low temperatures, but it really makes sense! I have bought some Olight 18650 3400 mAh batteries, that are listed as working fine at -10 Celsius, however I have not tested them in such cold weather. I like the summer :cool:

    For your winter adventures having the batteries stay warm would really be nice.
    I have recently gotten a water and shock proof power bank and the H2R can work while charging from it, so if I get some USB extension cable I would be able to have twice the regular battery capacity, if needed. Perhaps it won't be very convenient with their little magnetic charging cable though :D
     
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