Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

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Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby botkin02 » May 1, 2011 11:08 am

I just completed my first major cave trip with my new Fenix Hp-10, and here are my thoughts. This isn't going to be scientific at all, just initial impressions.

The Fenix is relatively light, though after 8.5 hours in Tumbling Rock my head felt a little droopy! The construction feels very substantial. The lamp itself is constructed of aircraft aluminum attached to a high impact plastic body. The battery pack, located on the back of the strap is made of the same plastic as the front bracket. When I opened it after my trip there was no water and no dirt. The two screws that hold the battery pack cover in place feel like they could come out; they're probably on some sort of washer because they don't come off outright but I think if I pulled hard enough they might... dangerous situation in a cave if you lose one of those screws! The battery pack is also not fixed on the elastic strap, you could theoretically slide it to the left side of your helmet if you felt so inclined.

The light itself is a very powerful, even light. There are four modes of brightness. I won't list the lumens here because you can get it off of their site:
http://www.fenixgear.com/flashlight/Fenix_HeadLamp_HP10.html#catalog/img/8000-x10H0.jpg. I also just noticed that they're going for $59.95!

As it has been noted elsewhere, the throw on the shaft of light is exemplary. I was easily able to light up the top of the Great Hall of Mysteries with no problem. When we climbed up King's Shower to get to Topless Dome I was able to see a very decent portion of the dome wall going up maybe half way. (If you've been there you'll know that's pretty substantial!)

Such great throw comes at the expense of having poor spillage. I have a secondary light attached to my Ecrin Roc helmet cable tied through the holes angled downward so I can see where I'm stepping more effectively. On a side note, I've found someone on ebay selling the Fujifilm canisters that make a nice work around for this problem. There's a thread about using these canisters as diffusers somewhere on this page. The only problem is the ebay merchant sells them in batches of 50, and I've only got one headlamp. If you're interested I could order the 50 and then distribute them around... with a little renumeration. :big grin:

The buttons are very small, though once you get used to them they are quite easy to use, even with gloves on. It may take some practice though. In all reality, you'll only use the top button which changes lighting brightness modes and serves as the on/of switch. The side button switches it to a flashing mode, which either pulses light slowly or transmits an SOS signal. (I hope I never have to use the SOS signal... I hate flashing lights :laughing: )

Battery life is pretty decent, and I believe the times listed on the site are pretty accurate, depending on the battery you use (another discussion). I was using ray-o-vacs I bought from Wally World (hard to pass up 30 for $10!) and I noticed the lamp starting to dim after about 6.5 hours. I was using the lamp mostly on the third setting at 120 lumens, though there were plenty of times I had to use Turbo Mode to light up big passage for picture taking. All-in-all, I feel battery life is excellent and well managed. I also like using AA's, a battery that is widely available worldwide. This is of special consideration to me for when we live in Slovakia... AAA's are pretty hard to find! :shrug:

I guess that's it for now. Overall I think it's a great light. The price is right, it doesn't weigh much, good battery usage, excellent brightness, completely waterproof up to 2 meters, and they don't look half bad to boot.

Thanks!
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby Marduke » May 1, 2011 3:37 pm

botkin02 wrote:I was using ray-o-vacs I bought from Wally World (hard to pass up 30 for $10!)


Just a thought, but that's over 100x more expensive than rechargeables, where $10 get the equivalent of over 4000 cells.
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby fuzzy-hair-man » May 1, 2011 4:51 pm

My HP10 works by the top switch turning the light on and off, the side switch changes levels through a sequence from low to turbo (an order that makes sense to me :banana_yay: )
If you double click the top button mine starts with the various flashing modes (a useless function IMO :sad: but thankfully it's hidden away where it won't be a nuisance :kewl: :clap: ) once in flashing mode the side button changes which flashing mode your using, to turn flashing mode off (hopefully quickly) use the top button to turn it off, then again to start up in normal mode.
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby pub » May 1, 2011 10:00 pm

botkin02 wrote:I've found someone on ebay selling the Fujifilm canisters that make a nice work around for this problem. There's a thread about using these canisters as diffusers somewhere on this page. The only problem is the ebay merchant sells them in batches of 50, and I've only got one headlamp.
Try asking at the local photo centers for their extras. I heard Costo develops Fujifilm, maybe Walmart develops Fujifilm too. Here’s the work around: Fenix HP10 diffuser work around

botkin02 wrote:The battery pack is also not fixed on the elastic strap, you could theoretically slide it to the left side of your helmet if you felt so inclined.
This is good for those who’d wants to put two HP10s on one strap. The battery packs can be side-mounted to bring the weight forward and a mounting plate can be made to point both heads forward. It’d be a jerry-rig for sure.

Marduke wrote:
botkin02 wrote:I was using ray-o-vacs I bought from Wally World (hard to pass up 30 for $10!)
Just a thought, but that's over 100x more expensive than rechargeables, where $10 get the equivalent of over 4000 cells.
Yep, lets do some cipherin’… for $60 you can buy 180 ROVs or a Maha C9000 charger ($50) and a 4-pack of Eneloops ($10), which can be charged over 1000 times; that’s 45 loads with the ROVs and over 1000 loads with the Eneloops …and the HP10 will stay brighter longer!
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby botkin02 » May 1, 2011 11:03 pm

Yeah I guess on the rechargeable front I've just purchased too many crappy rechargeables that weren't any good. Plus I'm pretty certain if I did buy some good ones my girls would just end up using it in their Wii remotes and I wouldnt' be able to find them when I'm ready to go caving! :doh:

Thanks for the heads up on both fronts, too. I'm a costco member, next time I'm in there, I'll ask for a few fujifilm canisters. (If I get a bunch I'll let you all know and I can mail them to you)
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby pub » May 2, 2011 3:10 am

Heck, with the money you will save you can get a set for each of your girls and a couple of sets for caving, just be sure to hide your sets from them! :woohoo:
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby Marduke » May 2, 2011 3:22 am

Costco has an Eneloops pack, 4x for her, 4x for you, and it's only like $25.

Comes with pairs charger, which will work with HP10 and Wii remotes.
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby self-deleted_user » May 2, 2011 8:25 am

I got 8 eneloops from amazon.com for $20 as well, free shipping.
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby ronsdavis » May 2, 2011 11:39 am

The Fenix HP10 has been discontinued. Looks like we need to start a letter writing campaign to get it back. :)
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby Marduke » May 2, 2011 4:07 pm

ronsdavis wrote:The Fenix HP10 has been discontinued. Looks like we need to start a letter writing campaign to get it back. :)


What makes you think that?
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby ronsdavis » May 2, 2011 4:50 pm

fenix-store.com only lists it as out of stock, and not back-orderable. Their sister site, 4sevens.com lists it as discontinued.
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby pub » May 2, 2011 5:42 pm

ronsdavis wrote:fenix-store.com only lists it as out of stock, and not back-orderable. Their sister site, 4sevens.com lists it as discontinued.

I bought my HP10 from fenix-store.com back in 2009 but now the website seems dormant considering the last update was 30 Nov 2009. Just because 4sevens.com discontinued it doesn’t mean the manufacturer stopped making them. They are still available, try google shopping...
Balincaguin comes from the Zambal phrase, "Bali lan caguing" meaning "house of bats."
This was the former name of the Municipality of Mabini, Pangasinan, when it was part of the Province of Zambales (of Mt. Pinatubo Volcano fame).
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby Marduke » May 2, 2011 5:52 pm

ronsdavis wrote:fenix-store.com only lists it as out of stock, and not back-orderable. Their sister site, 4sevens.com lists it as discontinued.


That is a distrubutor site, not the manufacturer. It's still available elsewhere, not that the spot beam is that great for general purpose caving anyhow...
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby botkin02 » May 3, 2011 1:45 pm

The link I provided in my original post still shows them as available if you want to check it out.
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Re: Thoughts on the Fenix Hp-10

Postby Cody JW » May 3, 2011 6:23 pm

I just use the HP-10 on pit yo -yos only. I feel to me the lack of spillage is not much of a factor if I am not doing much horizontal traversing through the cave. For the money it is a great light. Not a good choice if you are in a large horizontal cave with big breakdown to traverse as it does not light up around your feet well unless you look down at them. It is MUCH more efficient than the apex and also more resistant to water than an apex.Not as bright as a Sten but for 300 bucks less it is worth it. I like to keep two Ecrins with a light hard mounted to each one, I use one for pits ( fennix) and the other for horizontal ( Duo with new insert). It is like anything else, it depends on what you are willing to spend and what type of caving you do.
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