The Perfect UL Headlamp? - UCO Air 150 Review + MOD!

Description

** Stuff/Gear I Mention in this Video **

UCO Air 150 - http://amzn.to/2ChZ8yG

R2R2R Winter Gear List - https://darwinonthetrail.com/2017/12/11/darwins-2017-rim2rim2rim-winter-gear-list/

R2R2R Winter Hike Video - https://youtu.be/y1HUOWZZUPU

DISCLOSURE:

UCO provided me with a sample of the Air 150 Headlamp. I have no contractual agreement with this company and only give reviews on gear I myself would use or feel would benefit my viewers to know more about. I am self employed and do not receive further compensation from UCO for this gear review.

*** WAYS TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL ***

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darwinonthetrail

(Help Support my 2018 PCT Thru with a pledge as low as a $1/month)

Visit our Etsy Shop! - https://www.etsy.com/shop/TravelandTrail

*** Gear Used to Shoot this Video! ***

- Camera -

Canon EOS 77D - http://amzn.to/2zf5OQ9

- Lense -

Canon EF 24mm IS USM - http://amzn.to/2zeJuWU

- Sound -

TakStar Shotgun Mic - http://amzn.to/2kMsAnM

- TriPod -

Targus 360 Trigger Tripod - http://amzn.to/2kMsU5Y

------Intro & Animation By: BlackStrap Media------

https://blackstrapmedia.com

------- Music By: Mike Boren --------

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Contact information:

Website: www.darwinonthetrail.com

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Tags: UCO Air 150,Headlamp,UL Hiking Gear,UL Backpacking Gear,UL Gear,UL Hiking,Hiking,Backpacking,Hiker Trash,PCT,PCT Thru Hike,Gear Review,Adventure,Camping,Long Distance Hiking,Gear Mods

Video Transcription

hey guys it's Darwin here with a for review of the you co air 150 headlamp all right so I know what you're thinking not too long ago I made a video saying that I was pretty much done with headlamps and I was gonna start using a mini flashlight from here on out on the trail

back in August of 2017 I went to PCT daze and Cascade Locks Oregon and I saw the Yuko booth now if you're not familiar with the company Yuko for years they've been making backpacking gear and they're notorious for that old school candle lantern that people have been using and backpacking for decades now at their booth they had a few prototypes and some gear that was coming out in the future and I saw something that kind of perked my interest and that was the Yuko air which is a super lightweight rechargeable headlamp now I told them there at PCT days whenever they did end up for releasing it I would love to get my hands on one test it give a review and just tell them my thoughts so about two months ago Yuko reached out to me and asked me if I wanted to play with one so you guys know me I'm a gear geek and absolutely I took him up on that offer now for the past two months I've been using this headlamp pretty much everywhere whether it's at camp whenever I do night trail runs short night hikes and I also used it on my Grand Canyon hike last month so getting quite a handful of miles on it I feel like it's finally time for me to give you guys my thoughts on this little headland now before I dive too much into what I really like about it and what I don't like about it so much let's go ahead and go over the specs so the Yuko air is a 150 lumen headlamp and it is rechargeable with a lithium ion battery inside now like most headlamps it has a little adjustable hinge that allows you to angle it where you want to on the trail but unlike a lot of other headlamps it has a very particular on-and-off switch instead of putting a button on the air they decided to put a little dial that whenever you turn it one way it turns on the red light and when you turn it the other way it actually turns on the light and it allows you to adjust it with a dial which is pretty cool the Yuko will kind of blend up and down and let you use as many lumens as you want on high the air puts out 150 lumens right in the middle it's right at 60 lumens and on its lowest setting it puts out

10 lumens of light and then one thing that I really like about it since I've kind of gone away from headlamps is it does have a red light whenever you click it the other way now it has what they call their precision fit strap which is velcro instead of being a stretchy strap so you do have to adjust it to your head wherever you want to and it is made of a very breathable mesh with some nice big holes in it that allow airflow to come in and out so if you're just wearing it on your head you're not gonna sweat to that now like I said it is a rechargeable headlamp and does not use any type of triple A's or double-a batteries and the runtime at low is said to be five hours now at high you don't even get an hour it's like 0.8 but since it's rechargeable as long as you're carrying an extra battery pack with you you can always recharge it right out on the trail now one of the craziest things about the you co air and why it is called the air is it only weighs 1.6 ounces and you can usually find them retail for thirty four and ninety nine so thirty five bucks for a headlamp that's 150 looms that's under two ounces pretty good you know obviously you guys know that I like it because it's light weight because it puts out a lot of lumens and because it's rechargeable but what are some of the things that I don't like about it well for starters it's pretty much one thing and that is this big chunky goofy headband I do not understand why you Co didn't just put the typical stretchy headband that pretty much every other headlamp has now one good thing about the air that you can kind of change is it does come off of the headband so you can completely separate this and kind of throw it to the side if you want and do something different which is what I did now I modified mine by taking a piece of bungee cord and a little blind lock I drilled two holes in the side of the headlamp on the little pivot piece and then attached it now it's a really nice simplified and stretchy and adjustable headlamp that doesn't take up much room in my pack now like I said the air is super lightweight only weighing 1.6 ounces so why would you take off the strap well

again I just don't like the way it fits every time you put it on you have to unbell crow it you kind of have to adjust it to your head then you have to rebuild crow it it's just kind of clunky and overbuilt and just not my style the strap by itself weighs point seven ounces and the light weighs point nine so the strap weighs almost as much as the entire light itself now if you decide to take this guy and throw it to the side and do the little modification that I did with a bungee cord this entire headlamp with the strap 150 looms with the red light and rechargeable only weighs one ounce as far as I know for a hundred and fifty looms and a rechargeable battery this might be the lightest headlamp on the market the only problem that I've really had with it is whenever I was doing that rim to rim to rim height of the Grand Canyon over on the North Rim it got down to about nine degrees and in the morning when I woke up my charge was completely dead so it is one thing to consider because it is a rechargeable battery it's probably a good idea to sleep with it in the foot box of your quilt or sleeping bag maybe put it in your pocket of your shirt but keep it warm at night because the cold will drain that lithium-ion battery so overall I have been pretty damn happy with this headlamp and again really my only complaint is the strap that obviously I got rid of and the whole fact that it only runs for five hours on low so you definitely have to keep an extra battery charger in your pack but if you're carrying a cell phone or a camera or anything like that chances are you're gonna have that anyways and it's nice that it's micro USB so I can charge it with the same cable that I charge my camera with now I'll probably do a reira view in the future of this guy once I really beat the crap out of it and put a ton of miles on it but for now it might be coming with me on the PCT if you guys want to check out one of these you co-heirs i'll leave a link in the description box below if you haven't had a chance yet go over and check me out on Instagram I've been posting a lot of new photos lately of some of the things that snuggles and I have going on throughout the week plus some pictures of some past hikes if you found any value in this video go ahead and hit that like button subscribe to my channel if you haven't already and as always guys thanks for watching

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