The new 2024 ACEBEAM H30 A super bright 4000 Lumen headlamp with many great features! Check it out!

 ACEBEAM H30 A super bright headlamp with many great features! Check it out!

Recently I attended IWA 2024 in Germany and whilst there, one of my tasks was to look for innovation and cool products which I could bring to the channel in future reviews. There were many lighting manufacturer's present, among these, the big names etc but I was looking for something new, I mean really new and which could handle the pace of my activities.

I came across the manufacturer ACEBEAM. ACEBEAM is part of the Shenzhen Zenbon Technology Co. LTD.

The H30 headlamp revamped for 2024 , immediately caught my eye, lets have a quick look at it:

For those concerned about packing, plastic have been kept to an absolutely minimum. The main box is made from a sturdy cardboard which seems easily able to be used as a storage box and not some flimsy cardboard materials.

The next thing that my eyes fell upon was the "Number 5" in the top right hand corner. That's right, a FIVE YEAR warranty!

Ok so what does the "fine print actually say? (image below)

The warranty states that if a problem develops (it is defective) within the first 15 days of usage then the headlamp will be replaced. If a problem develops with 60 months after purchase the light will be repaired but there is a charge for replacement parts. Note there are two spare O-rings, they are both of the same dimensions. These 2 O-rings are for the battery seal and and charging port seal. The sealing ports appear to give a generous cover over these O-rings and this is important for the stated water proof rating of IP68 (ie 2m submersion-in this case they do not state a duration however, my experience this is usually around 30 minutes.)

What are the options? Yes, there are several options for this H30 model!

(refer to image below). As you can see, I requested for my "customised model", that the auxiliary LEDs would be RED and a 365nm* Nichia 276A UV LED.

(*more on this later-wait for my field review). The other requirement I was after was for a main LED which was NOT a super cool color temperature but one of around 5000K instead of 6500K because I want a light which is better suited for caving and provide less stress to my eyes and those of others during long trips underground. 

For example: if you have ever been caving (way back in the day but somewhat limited now) using a carbide light you will have noticed that the warm temperature of the acetylene flame is very easy on the eyes, the higher the color temperature the more harsh it is to look at for long duration. This is not a problem when using the light outside with a Kelvin rating of 6500K because there will always be some ambient light no matter how dark but in a cave you will only be looking at this high temperature LED. 

So, from this company and this particular model, one can "Customise" their headlamp within 2 choices for the main lamp (CREE XHP 70.2 5000K LED)  and 3 choices for the auxiliary LEDs (see image below).

The product selection is clearly marked upon the packaging.

Construction Materials

ACEBEAM state that they are machining these bodies from "Durable aerospace grade aluminium" . Ok so this could be anything in the range of the following "aerospace" grades:

2024; 2014; 5052; 6061; 7050; 7068 and 7075 possessing strength equivalent to steel. So you can take your pick here LOL but generally many manufacturers use 7075.

Now all of that being said, the lamp itself is rated for a 1m drop test.

How about the manuals, were they easy to read and understand?

Check my preview video and I'll explain all!

Some technical parameters (shown below)

What accessories are included?

A plastic battery adaptor in order to use a 18650 battery.

The 18650 adaptor is a great idea for maximising the versatility of this H30 headlamp.

An elastic headband with a shape conforming plastic and silicone headpiece/mount to enable the light to be moved through 180 degrees is included. The silicone inserts provide a "sticky" gripping surface for helmet mounting (eg Petzl or any modern climbing helmet etc.). 

There is a spare lamp mounting bracket (this is good). The headband also feature highly reflective 3M type (not saying it is 3m but it does the same thing) reflective material with the words ACEBEAM -ok nothing wrong with some advertising LOL!

Very tough silicone type rubber rings holding the actual headlamp to the strap.

Some Practical Aspects at a Glance

The fact that the light is rated at IP68 tells me (in fact I'm only interested in lights which have this minimum standard for adventure activities), that it should be good when used for caving as the run time at 120 lumens (which in reality is very bright for caving) is over 23 hours- this is a "LOW" setting. 

This is a continuous run time and in my experience on caving trips of up to 24 hours underground, one simply does not have their primary light sources on continuously for the whole trip duration (only beginner cavers tend to do this). So in actual fact one has a pretty damn good "burn time" with this lamp using the supplied 5000mAH battery.

The ACEBEAM H30 can also function as a power bank and that's a good idea in this world where we seem to be tied to electrical devices 24/7. A special dual function USB cable is supplied in order to allow for this but any USBC-USBC cable would also work. The supplied cable will allow standard Type A to USBC charging (see image below).

I'm not going to rehash all of the stuff on their web site as it's easier if you just go there and check it out. I merely wanted to give you some ideas of what I consider important for this headlamp. Another feature I like is that they make a big deal about using constant current rather than PWM (pulse width modulation) to control the brightness etc. PWM can in some instances make it a pain for videography when using such lights and or one can see flickering if under certain circumstances- better to be regulating the current IMHO.

They say that at 4000 lumens it will run for 2 hours however, this will be totally dependent upon the ambient temperature and how often the circuitry needs to adjust the brightness to prevent the H30 lamp from overheating. 

Speaking of heat management, I noted that the body has been very interestingly milled in a sort of asymmetric design where the region closest to the LEDs is thicker wall diameter. 

Speaking of temperature, the ACEBEAM H30 is rated from -20C to 65C! So whilst we could easily stand -20C (with the right mindset and clothes approaching the South Col on Everest- we would be hard pressed to get to 65C without dropping dead.

The front port of the main lamp is constructed from toughened glass, NOT plastic- can't beat that. 

Plus I like the "orange peel" type reflector.

Now what is the business end? In my case (remember I said this H30 from ACEBEAM is slight customisable)

If you're into aesthetics, then the H30 lamp housing has been hard anodized (Type III, they state in the manual) and the ACEBEAM H30 can be locked out to prevent accidental activation from within a pack (6s hold down for the orange switch). The "key stroke"/button pressing/holding time is 6 seconds to lock and 6 seconds to unlock. This duration in my opinion is good because shorter durations can be achieved accidentally from within a pack.

Some marketing on potential (see image below) user applications: I'll be investigating these in the forthcoming serious video (as apposed to the "preview video" coming soon.

What does 4000 Lumens mean in terms of practical human interpretation?

In total darkness such as a cave, and normal healthy eyesight, one can easily "see" at 10 lumens, their surroundings possibly as far away as 10m! 

At 30 lumens output, (in the same environment), it is possible to move freely within a cave, albeit, not with any rapidity.

At 100-120 lumens, it is easily possible to cave freely but not necessarily illuminate objects clearly at a distance of 50m and beyond.

200 Lumens and above is way more than enough for expedition caving activities. I use a cave as an example because one can not get any "darker' than zero light and thus one's iris will be exerting it's maximum effect upon the pupil in order for the maximal amount of light to enter the eye, hence the eye will be at it's most sensitive.

Anything above 200 lumens, especially if focused or the lighting system possesses the capacity to focus an output into a beam will be able to highlight distance features which can enable better logistics of travel underground to be obtained.

So now let's discuss 4000 lumens.

Outside of a cave, super bright lights could be disadvantageous because of unwanted reflections from surrounding vegetation or using such brightness levels during fog. So it really depends upon where one is trying to use 4000 lumens. Bear this in mind when considering purchasing a headlamp purely based upon light output. Run time is paramount IMHO along with IP68 rating as mandatory for any extreme sports or activities.

What don't I like?

Well I think if one wants to reduce the chance of damage to your O-rings on this unit then they should be removed BEFORE installing the headlamp holder.

AND, that the shore hardness could be harder. i doubt they are like 60-70 as they feel very soft. The softer they are the more prone to damage over time.

So if these features interest you, then you had better stick around to hear what I have to say about this H30 Headlamp from ACEBEAM, because the specs on it certainly interested me.

The lamp was supplied with a only partially charged Li ion battery (this is completely normal for shipping requirements)

Red light battery charging.

Charging time for their supplied ACEBEAM 5000mAH rated 21700 battery was of course over 1 hour using a 2A USB mains charger (completely normal for a 5000 mAh 21700 battery from basically flat status).

 Green light showing fully charged battery status.

STICK AROUND!

BCT

Preview!!!! Caving test**

Ok initial findings after caving with my new ACEBEAM H30

Did it pass or fail the 2m water test?

Yes and No.

Whilst this light performed flawlessly for all functions, at the end of the day when we removed the cap covering the charging port, there was a very small amount of water inside of the cap. The only way water could have got on the threads was to pass via the O-ring seal. 

We carefully examined both metal sealing surfaces and they were perfectly made. The next thing we examined was the O-ring itself and found that there could have been the tiniest defect within the moulding section. 

Seen here:

Why did I say NO?

Because there were zero signs of water having entered the light whilst it was submerged at 170cm precisely for just under 2 minutes and the light itself was functioning totally normally for ALL functions for the next 3.5 hours of caving and filming underground. In fact the light was functioning totally normally even when we returned home. It was not until I removed the cap the next day that I detected that a very small amount of water had entered the inside of the charging port.

ALL lights purporting to be IP68 rated to 2m have at their weakest point any seals whether these are: permanent seals or those meant to be changed by the user, such as battery cover O-rings or charging port O-rings. The cheapest of components within the design and structure of such lighting apparatus. The manufacture of such components are subject to faults and thus if "mission critical"  such as is the case for caving applications and or diving applications/mining applications, then the system will have a high probability of failure during adverse but not over excessive operating conditions.

We have now changed out this O-ring and will re-test the light down to 170cm for just under 2 minutes and see if this indeed the problem and report back.

Stay tuned.

** Here at @BushCampingTools we go to great extremes to thoroughly test out manufacturer's equipment and as such when a product is listed by a manufacturer as being IP68 (an international standard) we aim to really prove this. So in the interests of "fairness" I'm not yet prepared to "fail" this product as the installed O-ring may have been the problem (there could be another slight issue but i must conduct further tests).

Finally, I'd like to point out the ACEBEAM H30 performed flawlessly in an extremely harsh environment-you will no doubt see this footage of some extreme caving. So if it's just an O-ring then let's not be ridiculously harsh as O-rings are vital for diving lights as well and i ask; how many of you actually check the O-ring/s on your brand new dive light BEFORE diving with it for the first time?

How about caving photography? Q: How is the 4000 Lumen Turbo-Max setting for stills photography? Camera ISO setting 200.

A: Pretty damn good I'd say!

This image taken from a fairly large cavern. The 5000K light shows good rendition of natural colours. There has been zero photoshop filters or color corrections applied.

SRM 7228B-AB Mono-Chassis Folder 14C28N Steel.

 SRM 7228B-AB Mono-Chassis Folder 14C28N Steel.

New from SRM (Stay Ready for More) this 2024 and premiered at IWA 2024 is the Mono-Chassis designed SRM 7228B-AB and is part of the 7228B collection. This particular model is with Aluminium scales and a 14C28N Blade.

SRM 7228B-AB features a Sandvik 14C28N blade which has been PVD coated.

SRM's characteristic full Mono-Chassis/totally enclosed back, one piece liner.

Classic drop point blade hinged on a bearing. The axis/ambi lock has a good strong spring and when the knife is closed, the blade just snaps back into the handle.

Easy to access thumb studs 

A generally non-reflective black all over.

Generous sized lanyard hole through the frame in order to attach a decent thickness cord to.

First Impressions

What I liked:

Ok looks very well made and designed. Good comfortable feel, good locking mechanism. The Ambi clip is a great idea, sits deep in the pockets. Sandvik 14C28N blade steel. My other knives with this blade steel, I've found to be very good at edge retention along with good corrosion resistance.

What annoyed me:

(It has no bearing on the functioning of the knife, only slight cosmetic aesthetics).

My only gripe is that instead of anodising the aluminium scales they have been coated with an oxide treatment which is really a bit of a paint and does not add to the overall hardness of the aluminium.

Quick summary About the SRM 7228B-AB

The overall the functioning looks and feels pretty darn good. If it can handle the same treatment I dished out to the 258L-GB (another new model yet to be released) then it will pass my tests as a sturdy but lightweight folder and I don't see why it won't but let's just wait and see eh?

BCT

The shittier the weather the bigger/sturdier the knife- reason to cut off the wet wood (if you are going to light a fire).

 The shittier the weather the bigger/sturdier the knife you are going to need- Reason to cut off the wet wood (if you are going to light a fire).

This is what I would consider a big knife (Kizlyar Supreme's Bastardo)

Ok when hiking during periods of wet or snowy weather, 

The author was having "fun" building a snow cave during a solo winter hiking trip. This was easily constructed by dragging and piling snow against a high bank and then simply digging back into the bank of snow. no need to cut blocks or any such thing. in fact it was quite cosy inside as it was completely out of the wind. You should always take a quality snow shovel (such as this Ortovox Kodiak 3.1) when winter hiking in the snow. A snow shovel can save you life and that of others plus just make your time more comfortable during snowy trips.

you have to pay attention to how long it has been raining for, even if the weather is fine now when you set out, why? Because assuming you will camping and or lighting a fire- sounds pretty good doesn't it? The you will need to burn wood and if all of the available wood is wet on the outside (maybe from snow or rain), then you will need to remove either the wet bark and or outer layers of wet wood in order to get it to burn. 

You might be surprised at how much energy is required to get wet wood to start to burn. Water is such a good absorber of heat energy and it works against us in such a situation.

In the above image I can be seen holding a relatively large (but not gigantic) fixed blade. The reason i choose this as apposed to taking out a hatchet was I wanted to travel as light as possible and prepare food to cook during the trip. Yes, equally I could have taken a hatchet and a folder (I did have a folder) and used this combination. However, I did not do this because in order to maximise the use of the hatchet I need to be able to access solid ground somewhere under that snow, so when I place my timber upon it and give it a wack with the hatchet, it won't sink into the soil (if not frozen solid). Using instead a large fixed blade I can simply hold the wood and hack away without the need to place the wood onto something solid. Or place the timber perpendicular against a tree trunk (my ground/solid surface) and do the same.

Maybe the first job to do is to cut your logs with a hand saw to actually check out the depth of the moisture within the wood, then you will need either a hatchet or a large knife in order to either split that outer wet part/s off or in the better case scenario, simply hack off several mm's of wet material and thus expose the drier inner parts. 

This latter task will be best achieved with a relatively sturdy and largish fixed bladed knife as compared to using a folding knife (although possible, you may run the risk of damaging your folding knife by using it in such a manner - unless of seriously overbuilt construction). 

Still, the better bet is to use a sturdy fixed blade knife for such a task.

Obviously there comes a compromise to the final size of knife to take. If it is only a one night camp/hike and you are walking no  more than 10km one way then if you are fit you might be able to take a hatchet or a fairly big knife. 

The further you go the fitter you need to be in order to cart that gear. Of course if you only hike and camp during summer months and or good dry weather then what I have said above becomes of lesser importance- however, remember hiking in mountainous regions and or tropical regions, 

the weather can change very rapidly.

BCT

What I look for before purchasing a folding knife.

 What I look for in a folding knife BEFORE I buy it.

From Left to right (as seen above): Kubey Max Tkachuk Design (liner lock); SOG Terminus XR (axis/roller lock); SRM 258L-GB & -GN (axis/roller lock); FKMD Predator 1 FX-446 ODS & FX-446 GR (Liner locks/LAWKS system); Nieto Fighter (traditional lock back) and Extrema Ratio RAOC (roller/axis lock).

Let's grab a coffee and get started?

These are the following things I look for in folder before I purchase it.

The lock up

Perfect lock up regardless of the mechanism and what materials the knife has been made from (In other words don't be swayed if the whole construction is from Titanium etc.- it doesn't make the knife) although more important for liner locks and frame locking mechanisms.

A thorough lock up can be seen in the above example of a liner locking type folder

(knife shown is the Kubey Max Tkachuk Design in AUS10, G10 and Titanium)

 Above example shows a "roller" type "axis"  lock bar mechanism (SRM 258L-GN). Some say patented/pioneered by benchmade. Whether that is/was the case is not the subject of this blog. Numerous knife manufacturers (and not just Asian) as using such a design.

All frame locks must have a removable hardened steel insert at the end of the lock bar in order to be able to replace it after wearing.

(I own one frame locking knife and it's not with me right now- a very good one from RaidOps)

For liner locking knives, if the liner barely engages the back end of the blade then that is it for me, I'll put it back on the shop's shelf and call it a day or look at some other models. 

I don't care if it is made of printed titanium alloys and sports a 154CM blade cryo treated on Mars, it means nothing if the lock up is poor, simply because you may as well be purchasing a slip jointed knife. If you have to fiddle with the locking mechanism right after you purchase it ir even before hand then the locking mechanism was rubbish, end of story.

For example on certain FKMD folders, the back end of the blade which engages the locking liner has been treated in such a way (it appears to some sort of EDM but I'm not sure and it's probably a manufacturing "secrete") as to provide extra long lasting friction between it's surface and that of the end of the liner, 

(Above example from FKMD FX-446 ODS)

so that when under pressure the liner will not want to move back across the back end of the blade and thus disengage under heavy reverse loading (ie trying to close the blade whilst it is locked open). Small design features like this only add a an "extra" when I'm looking to purchase. I guess this is why I own 2 of such folders.

Also it is indeed possible to be "overbuilt" but still of small structure as can be seen here (see image below) in this FKMD folder which sports very thick liners (almost 2mm!) and even a very thick lanyard pin!).

(Above example from FKMD FX-446 GR)

What about the actual frame of the knife?

A partially closed back or fully closed back. Generally all classical lock back knife designs 

Above, classical lock back knife design. (Nieto "Fighter" in Sandvik 12C27)

have a fully closed back due to the way the locking mechanism is constructed, and despite the plethora of locking mechanisms out there, this type of lock design and or slight modifications of it has stood the test of time.

An example of a "partially closed back" (Extrema Ratio HF1T now currently discontinued)

Above image showing a range of folders from medium sized to large.

From Left to Right: Partial, Partial, Fully closed back (single one piece 'Mono Chassis" design new from SRM Outdoors), Fully closed back and Fully closed back; 

Personally, I'm not a super fan of the pillar type standoffs (Eg TB outdoor, a French company are still making knives like this it's a cheap way to make a folding knife (I thoroughly checked them out at IWA 2024 and personally didn't like them and don't believe they would go the distance as military knives (as many models are marketed as-yeah maybe if the soldier doesn't have to purchase it themselves and it's a freeby) as they provide the least amount of contact for the knife scales/body. besides this, it's an "Old fashioned way" now of folding knife construction IMHO.

Although this type of "pillar/standoff" construction) probably makes for the lightest possible construction although it could also be argued that there are more screws and or bolts involved. To be honest the only folders which have ever failed me were ones constructed in this manner when a small screw came loose and the frame scales started to move and this only caused other screws to loosen. With CNC bending machines folding knives can be constructed without

Medium to large, it doesn't matter your preference, as long as you don't buy a folder and have to continually fiddle with it to get it to work properly. Ok maybe you like pulling apart your folders and fiddling with them, personally I don't want to have to buy something and pull it apart all the time (ok, with few exceptions-maybe tuning a car?)

Small to ginormous range of folding knives Far right knife (Extrema Ratio RAOII "Expeditions model).

Note, that despite the the slight variation in handle sizes, the blades shown above are all pretty much similar in length and thickness.

I could be argued however that the pillar construction allows for easier cleaning of a folding knife.

The mechanism by which the blade is prevented from moving upwards when downward pressure applied. 

Generally, this is referred to as a stop pin; 

(see below) A super thick stop pin sandwiched between two almost 2mm thick liners.

where a horizontal circular cross section pin will be inserted between the two liners. (this is absent in the radically new designed "mono-chassis" from SRM-where the chassis forms also part of the "regular" stop pin.

How thick is this pin? How thick are the liners to which this pin is inserted? 

The stop pin or stop mechanism should be adequate for the knife design. Under a pressure of at least up to 30kg it should not fail. It should not be so thick as to stop a ten tonne truck. The knife world is full of over designs whereby any such attempts by the user to fulfil gigantic and ridiculously disproportionate loads upon a folding knife would result in severe injury to the user's arm/hands before any collapse of the folding knife's mechanisms-in reality.

A You Tuber/Blogger at IWA 2024 Post Impressions

 A You Tuber/Blogger at IWA 2024 Post Impressions

Recently I visited IWA 2024 for the first time. IWA is basically an abbreviation from German for what is supposed to be a largest  weapons exhibition and all connected to hunting and personal security on the planet.

Or as IWA states:

"IWA OutdoorClassics is the worlds leading exhibition for the hunting and target sports industry".

Mmm, ok let's leave it at that because I saw a whole lot more weaponry than just for hunting purposes and target practice LOL.

Mixed reactions.

Most small companies were all to glad to speak with me and tell me about their products and in some cases strike up some collaborations with me.

However, what was interesting for me, was that many large manufacturers were not particularly interested in any liaison with the likes of me. Actually to be fair it wasn't just the likes of me but just a "YouTuber" as most did not even ask anything about my channel. Let alone what my channel was called. As soon as I said "Influencer" or YouTuber, or social media, it was goodbye time for me. (and yes I wasn't asking for anything).

This of course was not the case for those large companies of whom I've had long standing associations and great collaborations with over the years. Those companies, I was welcomed with open arms etc. and this made me feel quite welcome there at such a ginormous exhibition.

Nor was it case for companies looking to publicise their products. These smaller companies (well they weren't really that small I guess) 

Most of the negativity was from quite old and established companies I found. 

For example: I was told by one particular company that since I had seen a video already about their products in Czech that there was clearly no need for any English based videos or need for any other collaborations with influencers. 

Ok I couldn't argue with that and although the "translator" function on Youtube is far better than it used to be for us "only English speaking " peasants, it's still not the same thing as watching a video in your own native tongue.

Although for these products, I'd wager not many, if any English speaking folks have even heard of them. Anyway no big deal. There was so much choice at this years IWA.

I was there to catch up with others, get a feel for the current industry and social media role these days, and see how I can improve my channel. Anything else would be a bonus. 

So were there any bonuses you ask?

Yes indeed and I hope to show some of these exciting new products as time goes by; in fact you may have already seen some of them on my channel or FV or Instagram posts just recently.

 

Dirk Wanger Brings Back the Linder Super Edge Series in ATS-34!

 Dirk Wanger Brings Back the Linder Super Edge 5 Series in ATS-34 (with a few slight changes)

lets have a look at this knife in detail.

I measured a 4.97-4.82mm blade thickness, ie 5mm thick spine.

The grip is still that of a TPE polymer however, this time around Dirk Wanger is offering it up in the "Easy Track" orange color, something which wasn't available before (ok it was for the hunting series). The eyelet/lanyard hole goes through the tang and the tang still sports (you can't see it unless you destroyed the knife handle) the keyways in order to "grip" the over molded handle and prevent it from ever coming away from the tang.

The blade is still being made from the fantastic Hitachi ATS-34 steel and with the special heat and tempering treatment they can achieve an optimal HRC for this blade (60-61 HRC)

I'm a big fan of the "Easy Track" color as even in low lighting, this is an easy knife to spot. let's face, you will at some point put this knife down and the last thing you want to do is to loose it in the fading light after a successful day out hunting-which will then add some expense to your trip and put a "bad taste" in your mouth!.

Nothing much has changed with the no nonsense scabbard. Easy to clean blood and guts and there is a leather version as an option.

Ok so what has changed?

The spine is more acute in order to strike a fire steel upon it (Wanger Messer- actually state this). The laser engraving on the blade has changed slightly, still sporting the Linder brand name, Solingen now appears and so is ATS 34 in smaller text. You can see the older original model below, where all the details are laser engraved upon the top part of the blade. Arguably many don't like to see the type of alloy being used in such large letter's personally I never had a problem with this and for me it is a mark from the manufacturer saying they are not trying to hide anything from the consumer. The text "ATS 34" in the below image was hardly "too large" IMHO.

This model I suggested to Stephan Rosenkaimer (at LINDER) at the time to produce it with the easy track color but alas it never came to pass but now we see it from Dirk Wanger's "new" version.
There is also now a more distinct choil present, which was not present on the original model. I believe the YouTuber "jackknife" had some input into the "revamping" of what i considered already to be a great outdoor knife. Also you will note, "Super Edge" no longer appears on the new models.

So there we have it! Some new color schemes available (Hot pink-limited edition- yes I bought one too for Mrs BushCampingTools- she loves it (A Super Edge 6), a sort of funny colored green??? TPE grip is also available. 

SO if you didn't get one before, and despaired when LINDER announced they were "closing up shop" and they were no longer available, yes you can get one now, albeit it won't have any serial numbered blade like my old one above however, the quality is still there in a product made in Solingen Germany.

If you didn't see my original review of Linder's Super Edge 5 then check this out

@BushCampingTools

PS, yes you will see this Orange Thing in future videos @BushCampingTools

BCT

PS here is a peak at the Super Edge 6 series (new from Dirk Wanger.