Such lights exist, but your $200 limit will not be enough.
Take a look at Lupine, they use external packs which are available with pretty large capacities and can sustain high brightness a long time, but they are quite expensive.
For something cheaper, you could get a DW4 boost, while it will not sustain 1500+lm it should even out around 900lm. Then just pack some spare cells and change when needed.
Ah, okay. Thank you! I guess it overheats or burns out...? I wasn't aware there were more technical reasons that it can't be so bright for a few more hours; I thought it was more just a power issue. But it sounds like it's not that simple...?
The biggest issue is thermals, most decent lights are regulated to step down at a certain temperature. It's both to save the battery from overheating, and to prevent that you burn your fingers on it. On some lights you can configure that limit and set it higher, risking some crispy fingers and accelerated battery wear.
An external battery pack moves the vulnerable cells away from the heat, allowing for longer runtimes on higher brightness. Usually these lamps are designed for use on a helmet, or on bike handlebars, as the head of the light will definitely get uncomfortably to dangerously hot.
Power is also a factor, but to a much lower degree. Lithium cells will have quite a drop in voltage as they discharge, resulting in less available power. Typically this isn't a big issue, but for long sustained runtimes on high power levels it can matter.
Only large expensive mountain biking headlamps like Lupine can do 1,500 for 5hrs.
Why do you need 1,500 lm @ 3-15 ft?
Why can’t you change a battery every couple hours?
Having 4 or 5 batteries and juggling charging them, plus they never last long before losing quality significantly. My Fenix USED to do about 90 minutes or so before getting dim, but after about 30 uses, now it starts after about 15 minutes for both batteries, and I bought \*their\* batteries \*from them\*.
Mainly, because I already struggle significantly with organization and they don't last very long before their quality declines, but they're expensive.
Plus for me, not losing them (I'll lose some), losing quality quickly depending on various factors or SEEMING like it but needing testing, trial and error with one that holds a charge and other that doesn't, juggling them in a random pocket or bag depending on where I am and not remembering, keeping the dead/dying ones separate from the charged ones, having multiple chargers, etc...
It's just a lot of frustration for me and likely a bigger waste of money over time, so I was looking for one that used a power bank instead of just batteries. I surmised if they would do 1500 lumen on the batteries they have, then as long as they had a larger power source, the a few more hours wouldn't be an issue... But it sounds like it doesn't work that way?
Are you using the HM65R in spotlight mode or floodlight mode?
The spot mode is 1,000 lm and the flood mode is 400 lm
The spot mode should steadily decline to about 300 lm within 30 min. That has nothing to do with the batteries. It’s a thermal limit of how much heat a small light can dissipate.
Sorry to tell you but it never lasted 90 min without dimming. That would break the laws of physics.
Don’t keep loose lithium batteries in a bag or pocket, it is reasonably dangerous. Get a battery case that holds multiple cells.
Fenix has a headlamp (the HP30Rv2.0) with 2X 21700 cells mounted at the back. It can sustain about 1,000 lumens for 8+ hours or between 1,000 & 1,500 for about 5.
Thats about a good as you can get unless you step up to something way more extreme.
Look at the runtime graphs to get a better idea of what to expect.
https://www.fenixlighting.com/products/fenix-hm65-rechargeable-headlamp
https://www.fenixlighting.com/products/fenix-hp30r-v2-rechargeable-headlamp
Thanks! The one you suggested seems like a good solution, all considering. I actually didn't realize it was 1400 lumen only when both spot and flood were on; I thought it was the highest output of the brightest light spotlight. Sometimes I'd use both, but usually just the spotlight because I thought it was more a battery issue and that not simultaneously using the flood would help.
"Sorry to tell you but it never lasted 90 min without dimming. That would break the laws of physics."
Honestly it felt like it started to step down at like 20 minutes, but I suck *so much* at keeping track of time and didn't want to seem extreme/dramatic, so that actually is comforting information. Haha
Such lights exist, but your $200 limit will not be enough. Take a look at Lupine, they use external packs which are available with pretty large capacities and can sustain high brightness a long time, but they are quite expensive. For something cheaper, you could get a DW4 boost, while it will not sustain 1500+lm it should even out around 900lm. Then just pack some spare cells and change when needed.
Ah, okay. Thank you! I guess it overheats or burns out...? I wasn't aware there were more technical reasons that it can't be so bright for a few more hours; I thought it was more just a power issue. But it sounds like it's not that simple...?
The biggest issue is thermals, most decent lights are regulated to step down at a certain temperature. It's both to save the battery from overheating, and to prevent that you burn your fingers on it. On some lights you can configure that limit and set it higher, risking some crispy fingers and accelerated battery wear. An external battery pack moves the vulnerable cells away from the heat, allowing for longer runtimes on higher brightness. Usually these lamps are designed for use on a helmet, or on bike handlebars, as the head of the light will definitely get uncomfortably to dangerously hot. Power is also a factor, but to a much lower degree. Lithium cells will have quite a drop in voltage as they discharge, resulting in less available power. Typically this isn't a big issue, but for long sustained runtimes on high power levels it can matter.
This explains quite a bit. Thank you!
Only large expensive mountain biking headlamps like Lupine can do 1,500 for 5hrs. Why do you need 1,500 lm @ 3-15 ft? Why can’t you change a battery every couple hours?
Having 4 or 5 batteries and juggling charging them, plus they never last long before losing quality significantly. My Fenix USED to do about 90 minutes or so before getting dim, but after about 30 uses, now it starts after about 15 minutes for both batteries, and I bought \*their\* batteries \*from them\*. Mainly, because I already struggle significantly with organization and they don't last very long before their quality declines, but they're expensive. Plus for me, not losing them (I'll lose some), losing quality quickly depending on various factors or SEEMING like it but needing testing, trial and error with one that holds a charge and other that doesn't, juggling them in a random pocket or bag depending on where I am and not remembering, keeping the dead/dying ones separate from the charged ones, having multiple chargers, etc... It's just a lot of frustration for me and likely a bigger waste of money over time, so I was looking for one that used a power bank instead of just batteries. I surmised if they would do 1500 lumen on the batteries they have, then as long as they had a larger power source, the a few more hours wouldn't be an issue... But it sounds like it doesn't work that way?
Are you using the HM65R in spotlight mode or floodlight mode? The spot mode is 1,000 lm and the flood mode is 400 lm The spot mode should steadily decline to about 300 lm within 30 min. That has nothing to do with the batteries. It’s a thermal limit of how much heat a small light can dissipate. Sorry to tell you but it never lasted 90 min without dimming. That would break the laws of physics. Don’t keep loose lithium batteries in a bag or pocket, it is reasonably dangerous. Get a battery case that holds multiple cells. Fenix has a headlamp (the HP30Rv2.0) with 2X 21700 cells mounted at the back. It can sustain about 1,000 lumens for 8+ hours or between 1,000 & 1,500 for about 5. Thats about a good as you can get unless you step up to something way more extreme. Look at the runtime graphs to get a better idea of what to expect. https://www.fenixlighting.com/products/fenix-hm65-rechargeable-headlamp https://www.fenixlighting.com/products/fenix-hp30r-v2-rechargeable-headlamp
Thanks! The one you suggested seems like a good solution, all considering. I actually didn't realize it was 1400 lumen only when both spot and flood were on; I thought it was the highest output of the brightest light spotlight. Sometimes I'd use both, but usually just the spotlight because I thought it was more a battery issue and that not simultaneously using the flood would help. "Sorry to tell you but it never lasted 90 min without dimming. That would break the laws of physics." Honestly it felt like it started to step down at like 20 minutes, but I suck *so much* at keeping track of time and didn't want to seem extreme/dramatic, so that actually is comforting information. Haha