MS FORCE LED Headlamp HL-350 Headlamp

The MS FORCE LED Headlamp HL-350, was sent to me for review from DanForce a type of e marketing company for cheap outdoor gear.

This headlamp boasts 5000 LUX on the website of Danforce (a seeming faceless company). 5000 LUX is not written on any material anywhere to be found. Ok they have a web site but try and truly locate who they are.

Let's get right into it.

There are 3 LEDs in the headlamp. The main LED appears to be an SST 90 type LED (it's not of course). Now the genuine SST 90 LEDs are THE most powerful LEDS money can buy and most of us have only heard of CREE but let me tell you the genuine Luminus SST90s are death dealing LEDs. I used to work with LEDs professionally and have designed LED lamps of death dealing brightness that make most but not all of the commercial LED torches look pathetic and the SST 90 is the one you want. The drawback with using SST 90 LEDs in torches is that the SST 90 draws a huge current for a LED. That's because it is 9mm square and of it's special design. Now this cheap headlamp appears to sport an LED of similar size but not the same architecture of these LEDs as the main LED. Again, nothing is written in the literature as to what types of LEDs are being used, so my guess is that they are all "clones" of the popular types?

I turned it on via a rubberised push button switch and WOW! Just as bright as my 9mm square Luminus SST90 lamps! Now the SST 90 can be driven at various currents and voltages- Yes, that is correct. The batteries in this lamp are wired in parallel giving 3.6Amps or 3600mA. I know from my other work (the real daytime job) that these LEDs can easily be driven at 3 amps and low voltage.
The lens can form a focus of the actual chip surface, which also appears to similar in style to the surface of an SST90 chip. (It's NOT an SST 90 design at all!)

The output is hazardous! The focus is via click stops of a metal (Unknown but appears to be cast aluminium alloy-not described anywhere in the literature, neither were the LEDs for that matter) bezel, which felt firm and repeatable. There are two extra smaller LEDs, impossible for me to determine what type or make, other than that they were certainly not typical 5mm LEDs but rather some type of high power LEDs. They are also housed in plastic but no metal parts. I know the SST90 must have a heat sink according to the OEM otherwise this type of LED can be damaged from overheating. 


There is a "glow in the dark" (Phosphorescent) material (green) visible once these outer LEDs have been switched off and this makes the headlamp easily visible once it is turned off. The entire light module (the three LEDs) can be tilted/angled, the pivot is via a socket head bolt. The ratchet mechanism is simply some indents moulded in the plastic. It looks no less sturdy than many of the headlamp modules currently available from well known manufacturers but also tacky with silver painted parts made to look like metal which clearly aren't.



The MS FORCE LED Headlamp HL-350 Headlamp is a re-chargeable Lion battery headlamp sporting two large 18650 Lithium ion batteries 1800mAh in a parallel circuit within the plastic battery compartment. There is a flimsy looking rubber (Synthetic?) cover, which despite it's flimsiness does stay stuck to the compartment how it should. The batteries are generic Lithium ions with no branding other than the battery specifications. The batteries can be dislodged if the battery case is not sitting against your head (as in being transported in a pack). The charging unit had a US plug and was poorly made, mine, the exiting cable grommet was very loose allowing the cable to easily move about. I didn't like this and would think that this part (which is crucial but not essential- as you can buy separate chargers for these types of batteries from other manufacturers) would easily soon fail (if too thrown in a pack).

I quickly discovered there are numerous headlamps of exactly the same type of design but under different brand names of course, all originating in China. No surprise there.
This company Danforce, are saying their lights are not "Knockoffs" but it's impossible to tell who is knocking off who when it comes to products coming from faceless companies in China.
The construction of the headlamp itself seems to be ok, elasticised straps. Undefined plastic  and metal material for all other parts. 

Test results:



The enclosed literature said to charge the batteries for 5-6 hours (the red light turns green when ready) before using the light.  I've had them on for over 6 hours now and the red light is still red. The charging socket in the battery compartment is also a bit loose and this would also fail over time. If you remove the charging plug, the led in the charger turns green!


Let's look at the results: of the torch.

seen here on BushCampingTools


BCT