I See the Light! – Bosavi Headlamp Hands On

Yesterday my long awaited Bosavi headlamp arrived, and tonight I shall post about it! For those who didn’t catch it, I interviewed Dan Freschl some time back when he launched his Kickstarter campaign to fund his dream. Dan was great about keeping all of his backers updated as the project progressed, including the obstacles he ran against, how those challenges were addressed, and why he made the key decisions that he did. There really is a certain intangible aspect to funding a project and following it from an ‘insider’ perspective, especially when the finished goods are in hand. But neatness aside, it’s time to start evaluating the headlamp.

First Generation Bosavi Headlamp

Out With the Old…

When it comes to outdoor lighting solutions (that’s some fancy tech-talk, hoo boy!) I’ve been pretty crusty about upgrading from my cheapo Black Diamond Gizmo to something… well, something else. Despite the fact that its light output is abysmal, despite the fact that I’ve walked past trail junctions in the dark, despite the fact that it falls off the headband once in a while, I’ve kept the thing. It’s the dawn of a new era, out with the old, in with the new. That’s my point of reference, just so you know.

First Impressions

The fit and finish on the Bosavi are very nice. The orange color (I can’t recall but I think we chose this color) should be difficult to lose as it’s very bright. The headband is secure; I believe it comes apart somehow, but at this point I’m not trying to get it apart. The front half of the light tilts downward on a hinge (a critical area that Dan focused on making strong) while the back part stays fixed. The battery is not accessible. In front there are one each red and white LED’s which sit on opposite sides of a larger white LED in the center. On top there is a micro USB port for charging and one button. There’s also one mysterious button that is only accessible when the lamp is tilted forward.

Zero Tilt

Full Downward Tilt

Trying to turn it on yields a couple of blinks of the white and red LED’s. Ok, read the manual… actually the manual is a simple one page instruction set, with directions on the back to make an origami lamp from the box (fun for later). So, it turns out the lamp is locked in the off-position; the button in between the two halves of the lamp controls that feature. Pressing it down for a couple of seconds unlocks the power button. Cool, we have light!

The power button cycles the modes, which are:

• White Economy
• White Flashing
• Main Optimized Brightness
• Main High Brightness
• Red
• Red Flashing

Double clicking the power button activates the main LED boost which puts out a whopping 110 Lumen floodlight for up to 1 minute, then it returns to whatever mode it was running in. Holding the power button down turns the lamp off. When turned back on, the previous mode in use is restored – nice! I was also able to quickly disable the both flashing modes since I tend to not use them; now I can cycle through the other modes with less button pressing.

Charging

Since we purchased 2 lamps (one for me, one for Tenacious Sandra Dee) I decided to charge each in different ways. Holding the power button down for a couple of seconds while the lamp is off provides a battery level check. Both lamps indicated 1 flash, meaning around 20% charge. 4 flashes indicates between 80% and full charge. So I connected the first headlamp to the computer USB and it reached a full charge in about 1½ hours. I connected the other headlamp to my newly acquired Solio Bolt (will cover that gizmo in the near future) which took about 2 hours to charge and lowered the Bolt’s stored charge by about 25%.

From a quick chat with Dan Freschl, I learned that the battery charges from 0 to 80% in about an hour, it takes an additional hour to reach 100% charge. This is a smart feature designed into the circuitry of the lamp; it’s similar to Apple’s charging approach with their iPhone, etc… Incidentally the Solio Bolt has a dedicated Apple device charging mode, hmm….

The Bosavi instructions mention to not charge when the temperature is below 32º F. I asked Dan why this is, to which he responded that the internal resistance of the battery is increased around (under) freezing temps and may lead to issues if charged under those conditions.

Versus the Competition

Here’s a quick look at a couple of competitors. The Petzl Tikka XP2 CORE features a rechargeable battery while the Zebralight H51 uses a single AA battery and is a popular choice among lightweight backpackers. The weights listed below include the headband and battery.

Field Report

Will have to wait for now. I can say the main beam is immensely brighter than my ol’ BD Gizmo and the Bosavi offers so much more in terms of features and convenience. Below are a few quick snaps in the yard at night. All of these were shot on a tripod with the same exposure. After I shot these I thought I should have exposed them in such a way that a photo without a headlamp would look like what my eyes were seeing in the dark (not much, but I was able to see the table and chairs just barely). For now, assume a photo without the headlamp on would look pitch black (that’s how the camera saw it the way I photographed it). Confused? Don’t worry… just look at the pics :) The table and chairs are about 30 feet away (click to view them at full size).

BD Gizmo – High Setting

Bosavi – Economy Setting

Bosavi – High Setting

Yeah… I’m going to redo these photos asap.

Why a Rechargeable Headlamp?

I just deleted a couple of paragraphs which I wrote. This may be the most important point, and the answer is simple – you either find convenience in a rechargeable headlamp or you don’t! For those of us carrying one or more rechargeable devices already this becomes a more tempting proposition. For those sticking to AA or AAA powered devices, hopefully you’re at least using rechargeable batteries; there’s no logical reason to be throwing batteries away. Convenience aside, there’s some security in knowing you can charge up any time. On the other hand, once the proprietary battery has lived its life that’s the end of it, and you can’t run into town and get another one. These are a few of the things you’ll be weighing out when considering going in this direction.

Famous Last Words

Setting aside the rechargeable aspect, Bosavi is worthy of consideration on it’s merits as a fully featured headlamp. Whether you’re looking for a rechargeable lamp, and how you feel about supporting cottage companies will likely be major factors in your decision.