Technologically speaking head torches have always been the poor cousins of flashlights; there are an abundance of specialist manufacturers employing be-spectacled men in white jackets to engineer hand held flashlights from exotic lightweight anodised alloys, resplendent with digitally regulated circuitry and the latest advancements of light emitting technology, thus achieving staggering levels of power and efficiency.

Such is the lure of these shiny objects on the male psyche that a number of dedicated collectors’ forums exist, inhabited by the silhouetted forms of men squinting at light meters, bathed in the brilliant glow of their own personal supernovas, mumbling incoherently about Lux, Lumens and thermal runaway.

Headlamps by comparison have been little more than ugly plastic boxes, utilising technology that’s laughably outdated or even, heaven forbid, a Bulb!
You’d be hard pushed to find anyone disturbingly stroking the knurled and scalloped surfaces of a headlamp whilst uttering hushed comments about ‘tolerances’.

This looks set to change though as ‘Zebra Light Ltd’ usher in a new generation of headlamps that bring the genre up to speed with their latest offerings, the H50 Q5 and H30 Q5.

Whilst this will no doubt please the luxophiles amongst us, its also very good news for all headlight users, as their designs are exceptionally robust, powerful, efficient and most importantly functional.

The H50 Q5 is the model most likely to be of interest to bushcrafters as it runs on a single common variety AA battery, at its highest of its 3 settings it produces 66 lumens; to put that in perspective the ubiquitous Pezal tikka produces a maximum of just 26 Lumens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good review of the H50 Q5 from the light technology boffins at candlepower forums can be found here: http://www.cpfreviews.com/ZebraLight-H50.php

The UK importer and home of high-tech shiny things www.flashaholics.co.uk agreed to provide BushcraftUK with a H50 Q5 for evaluation and in the brief time we have had it we have been very impressed, we plan to bring you our own Bushcraft orientated review on the H50 Q5 as soon as we have the opportunity to exercise it somewhere suitably harsh and unforgiving.

 

 

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