The folks at
Dorcy sent me a couple of headlamps to review. Even though I have various lights on my various bikes, I find a lamp that straps to my head to be very handy because it points right where I'm looking. For doing night repairs, setting up camp, locating road signs, a good head lamp is a very handy item to have and I tend to bring one on all my adventures.
The two Dorcy lights are almost identical in appearance, both have a single LED and are powered by 3 AAA cells. Both lights have a claimed run-time of 12 hours and each weighs just under 3 ounces. Each light fits comfortably on my head.
I've found replacing the stock strap with a bit of innertube rubber threaded through the helmet vents works well if you want to mount the light to helmet.
The difference between the two lights is apparent once you see them in action. The
41-2097 has a tightly focused 134 lumen spot beam, while the
41-2096 has a wider 120 lumen broad beam. Both lights are quite bright and have high, low and flash settings. The light head can also pivot 50 degrees so you can point the light where you want it.
The two pictures below show the lights pointed at a garage about 30 feet away. The
41-2097 is the top picture and the
41-2096 is shown below.
Both lights seem more than adequately bright. For walking, running or low speed riding, I prefer the light with the wider beam.
For illuminating at a distance, the 41-2097 with the spot beam wins out. In the pictures below, I'm standing about 60 feet from the garage door. Again, the 41-2097 is illuminating the top picture and the 41-2096 is lighting the lower picture.
The Dorcy 41-2097 and 41-2096 seem to be a real good value. They retail for about $25 each but at the moment Dorcy has a buy one/get one deal at their website at:
www.dorcy.com
One final bit off caution, if you do use a headlight, try not to look directly at somebody. These lights really are blindingly bright.
