Icon Irix Headlamp
Thu Sep 6 15:00 EDT 2012
The Icon Irix headlamps arrived today. I think it's going to be ideal for camping. There's 4 LEDs in the corners flanking a high-brightness LED in the center. The brightness is continuously variable, with the 4 smaller LEDs coming on together first, and the the center LED for the greatest intensity. (This is rather clever, with the 2 types of LEDs giving the light different beam patterns at low and high brightness.) The beam spreads more than the other Icon lights, and may work well hanging inside a tent - where you will often want a dimmer light.
On the headband, it will be excellent for night-time walkabouts. Lots of light when you want it, and less when you want that (like when approaching other people). It may be good to carry on the bike - handy for repairs in the dark, and better than nothing as a backup for headlight failure. (Not sufficient for downhills, but OK uphill and adequate on flats, and certainly visible to oncoming traffic.)
It turns on/off with the brightness knob rather than a push button, so it's not likely to come on accidentally. (I've found a Rogue (2-AA) turned on in my knapsack (shining through), and one of those apparently turned on in shipment because it was on when I opened the box on arrival.) Hmm, I can clip it into its headband facing backwards, turning the headband into a lens cover. I think it's going to be happy living in a pannier.
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/548446.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]
The Icon Irix headlamps arrived today. I think it's going to be ideal for camping. There's 4 LEDs in the corners flanking a high-brightness LED in the center. The brightness is continuously variable, with the 4 smaller LEDs coming on together first, and the the center LED for the greatest intensity. (This is rather clever, with the 2 types of LEDs giving the light different beam patterns at low and high brightness.) The beam spreads more than the other Icon lights, and may work well hanging inside a tent - where you will often want a dimmer light.
On the headband, it will be excellent for night-time walkabouts. Lots of light when you want it, and less when you want that (like when approaching other people). It may be good to carry on the bike - handy for repairs in the dark, and better than nothing as a backup for headlight failure. (Not sufficient for downhills, but OK uphill and adequate on flats, and certainly visible to oncoming traffic.)
It turns on/off with the brightness knob rather than a push button, so it's not likely to come on accidentally. (I've found a Rogue (2-AA) turned on in my knapsack (shining through), and one of those apparently turned on in shipment because it was on when I opened the box on arrival.) Hmm, I can clip it into its headband facing backwards, turning the headband into a lens cover. I think it's going to be happy living in a pannier.
[This entry was originally posted as http://syntonic-comma.dreamwidth.org/548446.html on Dreamwidth (where there are
comments).]