Lighthound AA U2 / Balder HD-1 EDC light

I just picked this light up for a steal over at lighthound.com as a new EDC (Every Day Carry) light to rotate with my Streamlight Microstream that we will be somewhat comparing it to.

This is a great looking light! It has a unique look about it that matches its unique metal-piston tail switch. (Sorry for the bad picture)

The Lighthound AA U2 / Balder HD-1 (known from now on as just the HD-1) Comes with an instructional card and two sets of O-rings for the light should they need to be replaced.

The HD-1 comes equipped with a CREE industries XM-L U2 LED emitter That is great for very long life and TONS of light output! This light is a real pocket rocket when coupled with a lithium ion battery (and with a caveat of run times cut in half, more on that later). The LED itself is about 4 times the size of the C4 LED found in the Streamlight.

The HD-1 has a slightly OP (orange peeled) reflector that keeps imperfections out of the beam and makes the light more floody than throwy. The Microstream has a deeper, smooth reflector that makes the light very good at throwing over the HD-1 despite having only 28 lumens on an alkaline where the HD-1 has 156!

This just goes to show that lumens don't tell the whole story when it comes to light output. This is simmilar to how horsepower doesn't tell the whole story about fast cars, as torque is the unsung hero in that realm! Just like torque is for cars, the unsung hero for light output is candela which is a measurement of overall light beam intensity, the higher the candella the brighter the beam is. This is a result of luminous output coupled with reflector type and size.

On regular easily found/harvested alkalines this light preforms well, all of the functions work flawlessly and the light output is more than adequate for mundane tasks. Upon putting a Lithium primary AA in, the output rose noticeably without any decrease in functionality. What I like about this light over the Streamlight is that it has 3 modes of operation (High/100%, Med/45%, Low/5%) compared to the single mode of the Microstream.

This is a small light 19mm in diameter and 84mm in overall length. The Microstream checks in at a tad longer at 90mm and about 25% narrower at 15mm. Weight is where the biggest difference is between these two, the HD-1 clocks a rather portly for its size 40grams without a battery where the Streamlight featherweight is a scant 29.7 grams... WITH a battery in it! The extra weight of the HD-1 bothers me not as it makes the light feel very solid and well made while in the hands, and in the pocket I know it is there where with the Streamlight I find myself doing a pocket-pat every so often to make sure I haven't lost it. Speaking of pockets, the clip on the HD-1 is much sturdier than that of the Microstream but the streamlight has a double clip that allows for clipping onto the brim of a hat to use as a headlight (very cool!)

HD-1

Streamlight Microstream

Here is a good overall size comparison for you,

From Left to Right- UF 10440, Alkaline AA, 18650 LI-Ion, Microstream, HD-1, Digilight 1000XB, AF P60 host.

For you technical folk I'll go over the three modes here with lumens and current draw from different batteries (Following stats from budgetlightforum.com);

AA batteries :
Rayovac4 = High = 175Lm – 1.95A … Medium – 93Lm – 1.00A … Low – 9Lm – 0.13A
Recyko = High = 170Lm – 1.91A … Medium – 92Lm – 0.93A … Low – 9Lm – 0.12A
Eneloop = High = 176Lm – 2.04A … Medium – 92Lm – 1.00A … Low – 8Lm – 0.12A
BTone = High = 190Lm – 1.93A … Medium – 96Lm – 0.90A … Low – 9Lm – 0.12A

14500 Li-Ion@ 4.16v :
14500 = High – 600+Lm – 1.5A …. Medium – 320Lm – 0.76A …. Low – 32Lm – 0.08A

Runtimes are as follows from the manufacturer;
Single AA:Maximum output of 156 lumens for 1 hours Medium output of 80 lumens for 2 hours
Minimum output of 10 lumens for 20 hours
Single 14500 (@ 3.7v):Maximum output of 448 lumens for 30 minutes Medium output of 235 lumens for 50 minutes
Minimum output of 15 lumens for 10 hours

Streamlight Microstream
AAA Alkaline 28 lumens for 2 hours and 15 minutes
 
The user interface is simple but with a complex twist. To turn the light on, you must hold down the button for two seconds and then release. I found that by loosening the head and tightening it back down would turn the light on way faster for use in emergency situations where you need the light on ASAP. Once on, just pressing the button changes modes from high to medium to low. This sequence repeats for as long as you keep pressing the button. Turning the light off requires another two second press of the button and upon release, the light is now off.

I am still waiting for my 14500s to come in but I stuck that 10440 in there (only charged to 3.7v) and the light virtually transformed! Tons of light pouring out despite how small it is! No clicking/mode switching issues with the Li-Ion but then again the 10440 is 6mm shorter than a 14500 (of the same non-protected variety).