I thought I would start a thread on just this light to aviod confusion with other products. I am in no way associated with, or benefiting from my opinions on this product. I was looking for information on the light as the price makes you want to have more information and reviews before commiting. I have used head lamps for more than 20 years and settled on a 12 volt 5100 style headlamp. I have multiple batteries for this light and hae modified the setup for quick changes on the batteries for long nights. The weight of the 12 volt battery does get tiring after a while thought, hence I was excited to get my hands on this light and see how it matches up.
I brought both lights out tonight and tried to judge the true field of view and the pratical distances you could use this light to shoot. Side by side the Predator light is brighter on the low side than my 5100 style head on the low side. On the high side the 5100 style head appeared at first to be brighter but upon further tests (shining both lights on the side of my white barn from about 100 yards away) it became apparent the Predator light was brighter and shined over the 12 volt light.
The major difference is the tightness of the spot and the tone or color of the light. The LED light gives off a slight bluish color and the 12 volt gives off the harsher yellow light. I don't believe the Predator Light will spook animals without a red lense. I know the 12 volt light does spook them and needs the red lense. I will try it in the field without a lense when the season opens on Friday and I'll let you know how it goes. I think the 12 volt light seems brighter because it also lights up a lot of the surroundings, the Predator Light does not have a huge halo and the tight spot is brighter than the 12 volt. I looked at deer in a field about 250 yards away and had no problem seeing the whole body of the animal with my bare eyes. I've read on another thread that you couldn't see a cow at 100 yards or something like that and I think that is truely inaccurate.
I do think this light will do a tremendous job for those predator hunters who are used to headlamps and want to travel light. If you want to bring out a bizallion candlepower spotlight and light up the world and hope a stupid coyote runs right into it then you may not be happy with this light. You will be able to see eyes reflecting a long way away, probably 500 yards will be easy for this light. The weight of the light is lighter than the head on my 5100 style light and definitely is more convieninet than having the cords and heavy batteries hanging around your waist. There was no heat off this lamp, hence if you did add a red lense cover I don't think you would need a thick cover and probably would need hardly a red tint to it. My 12 volt head would burn your hand if you touched the glass in front of the bulb.
I see the reflector is machined to maximize the spot output and the lense also has been altered from a plain lense to one having many facets which I would assume puts the LED in focus in the spot.
This head looks to be rugged and I have had bulbs blow in the middle of a stand and I don't think you have to worry about the LED burning out..lol I think I could run this head over with my truck and it would be fine. The push button on the top of the light is quiet enough that I would not hesitate to switch it from low to high with an animal approaching. Easy to find and should activate with gloves on.
Sorry about the long thread, those that have received this light I would encourage you to put your impressions on here also. I would give this light a rating of 9 out of 10 for my night time predator hunting needs. It would be a 10 if it was a bizallion candlepower LED light that would last for 100 hours on high per charge. When someone gets that light built put me on the list for the first light off the production run..lol I think we will see an explosion in these types of lights as it seems like this is the biggest breakthrough I've seen in the headlamps in 25 years I've been using them. $269, worth it in my opinion as you use this light every minute you are in the field at night, I'll use mine for tracking deer, chores, basically anything you need a light for. Just for my predator hunting time though will have this light costing me a lot less than $1 per hour per year, in the life of this light I imagine it will cost me less than a penny per hour to have this light.
Thats everything I have until I get a coyote in front of it, I'll let you know.
Headlamp a year or so ago-
Headlamp more than 20 years ago. Been using them a while.
I brought both lights out tonight and tried to judge the true field of view and the pratical distances you could use this light to shoot. Side by side the Predator light is brighter on the low side than my 5100 style head on the low side. On the high side the 5100 style head appeared at first to be brighter but upon further tests (shining both lights on the side of my white barn from about 100 yards away) it became apparent the Predator light was brighter and shined over the 12 volt light.
The major difference is the tightness of the spot and the tone or color of the light. The LED light gives off a slight bluish color and the 12 volt gives off the harsher yellow light. I don't believe the Predator Light will spook animals without a red lense. I know the 12 volt light does spook them and needs the red lense. I will try it in the field without a lense when the season opens on Friday and I'll let you know how it goes. I think the 12 volt light seems brighter because it also lights up a lot of the surroundings, the Predator Light does not have a huge halo and the tight spot is brighter than the 12 volt. I looked at deer in a field about 250 yards away and had no problem seeing the whole body of the animal with my bare eyes. I've read on another thread that you couldn't see a cow at 100 yards or something like that and I think that is truely inaccurate.
I do think this light will do a tremendous job for those predator hunters who are used to headlamps and want to travel light. If you want to bring out a bizallion candlepower spotlight and light up the world and hope a stupid coyote runs right into it then you may not be happy with this light. You will be able to see eyes reflecting a long way away, probably 500 yards will be easy for this light. The weight of the light is lighter than the head on my 5100 style light and definitely is more convieninet than having the cords and heavy batteries hanging around your waist. There was no heat off this lamp, hence if you did add a red lense cover I don't think you would need a thick cover and probably would need hardly a red tint to it. My 12 volt head would burn your hand if you touched the glass in front of the bulb.
I see the reflector is machined to maximize the spot output and the lense also has been altered from a plain lense to one having many facets which I would assume puts the LED in focus in the spot.
This head looks to be rugged and I have had bulbs blow in the middle of a stand and I don't think you have to worry about the LED burning out..lol I think I could run this head over with my truck and it would be fine. The push button on the top of the light is quiet enough that I would not hesitate to switch it from low to high with an animal approaching. Easy to find and should activate with gloves on.
Sorry about the long thread, those that have received this light I would encourage you to put your impressions on here also. I would give this light a rating of 9 out of 10 for my night time predator hunting needs. It would be a 10 if it was a bizallion candlepower LED light that would last for 100 hours on high per charge. When someone gets that light built put me on the list for the first light off the production run..lol I think we will see an explosion in these types of lights as it seems like this is the biggest breakthrough I've seen in the headlamps in 25 years I've been using them. $269, worth it in my opinion as you use this light every minute you are in the field at night, I'll use mine for tracking deer, chores, basically anything you need a light for. Just for my predator hunting time though will have this light costing me a lot less than $1 per hour per year, in the life of this light I imagine it will cost me less than a penny per hour to have this light.
Thats everything I have until I get a coyote in front of it, I'll let you know.
Headlamp a year or so ago-
Headlamp more than 20 years ago. Been using them a while.
