Paul Plowman
After swearing blind that my exposure enduro was all you needed and that you don’t need a head light I finally decided to sort one out. After searching around on the internet for a couple of days I managed to find an LED I thought could do the job, its a Seoul P4 Emitter, so I set about making my own!
I used an old
Vista light housing and dremeled the inside out, and using heat conductive glue I glued in an aluminium plate to conduct some of the heat, to this I glued the LED, a lens holder, and a collimator lens. I then wired it to a constant current power supply in a neat little aluminium box and an on/off switch. It was starting to take shape all be it very home made looking! The LED will draw 1 Amp continuous, so some serious batteries are needed. So I opted for Saft Double C cells, which are rated for 5.8Ah so in theory should last for 5.8 hours!
Dusk Till Dawn 08 was its first outing, the battery and power box went in my bag, the switch on my shoulder and the light on my head. I couldn’t wait for it to get dark and once it did I was not disappointed. It was as bright as my Enduro and made the single track in the twisty woods a pleasure!! I was a little worried about it over heating, but it only ever got warm to the touch (It may have been the rain keeping it cool?). The battery lasted with no problems for two laps and I only changed it just in case!
To sum up I have a homemade 240 lumen headlight for around £30. Bargain!!!
Paul’s Rating 8.5/10
- Looks homemade
- A little on the heavy side 422g
- Bright as you like
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