Interesting new light company: Outbound Lighting

Karate Monkey said:
I actually did wind up buying not only a Focal light, but also a Hangover when the pre-order came available.

I've been through 3 (4?) self-contained lights in the last few years, and not one of them lasted more than an hour on high, let alone die on that actual level of brightness, if they had just one cell; my opinion here: people who were surprised or angry [read: internet outraged] about the light had some wild ideas about what kind of sorcery can happen with a battery. Most of the manufacturers seem locked into a battle of "let's make the light brighter, and use a larger battery to compensate for the lost run time". It isn't necessarily bad, but even an 800 lumen setting on a "flashlight" style beam is more than adequate, so focusing elsewhere would be a nice change from Niterider/Light & Motion (other than gimmicks like color displays...).

For my uses, even the first generation of the Hangover was a successful light. It had [has] adequate throw in all modes, didn't waste a ton of light making sure the bats could see, was light/low-profile, and supported quick charging/pass through. You could throw a $5 battery bank into your pocket, and hook it up using the included charging cable, easily extending the run time 1-2 hours more.

The current (second) generation of the light fixes the largest, and in my mind, only real issues with the light: the wailing noise that the step-down circuitry made during use, and the user interface. The second bears some further explanation; in the original light, even if you locked it into a mode (high, medium, low, etc), it would hold steady for a bit, and begin to drop until it reached the next lower mode [so, just like every other torch on the market]. At that point, regardless of how much charge the battery actually had left, you couldn't put the light back into high, for instance, unless you turned it off completely first. For my purposes, this wasn't a huge issue, but it was a bit irritating. The newer generation now lets you select whatever mode, regardless of how much charge the battery has (ie, with only 10% remaining, you could flip the light into high, even though it would deplete the battery in minutes).

The light really shines (no pun intended) when paired up with the larger Focal light--their wider/nearer field is complimented quite nicely by the punchier nature of the Hangover, and the tints match, naturally.
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Very well said! I have both the Focal series Trail and Road lights as well as the Hangover. I am very pleased with them. The Hangover is much more usable with the revised firmware/programming.
 
For the money, unless you are doing alot of rides over 4 hours. I dont see the advantages with this brand.
 
one piece crank said:
@Karate Monkey - what light/battery combos have you tested, and what actual run-time do you get? I'm kinda into not charging every day...
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I don't charge every day, even with those lights--I changed for the beam patterns.

At minimum illumination (so, low power, unless-I need-medium, medium-unless-I-need-high), I will get two to three 1-1.5 hour rides. Obviously, the external pack light lasts longer and is brighter, but it's not a deal killer for me.

Previous lights, including Asian brands (external batteries), as well as Light and Motion, Bontrager, and Nite Rider followed the same scheme... Most would last 1.5 to 2 of those rides, with careful management.

I wound up gaining an extra ride, which is nice and all, but the gain for me was really the even illumination.

As a one-and-only light, the Hangover is inadequate. As a supplement to a brighter/bigger bar light, it is good-to-great. I know a few people who bought two as self contained lights for bar/helmet and are satisfied, but again, I don't want to charge all the time, so I let the external battery light do the heavy lifting.
 
Karate Monkey said:
I don't charge every day, even with those lights--I changed for the beam patterns.
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Thanks for that info.

I run an original Magicshine on my bars, with a 7800mAh battery. This combo can handle all my M-F pre-dawn rides without re-charging (that's 5-7 hours) then I re-charge on weekends. I used to strap the battery to my top tube, but now it's in a frame bag. The frame bag let me ditch the camel back, so I'm looking at the hangover as an occasional helmet light. Still, for that use it's a lot of money...
 
stb222 said:
For the money, unless you are doing alot of rides over 4 hours. I dont see the advantages with this brand.
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Karate Monkey said:
...I changed for the beam patterns.
...
I wound up gaining an extra ride, which is nice and all, but the gain for me was really the even illumination.

As a one-and-only light, the Hangover is inadequate. As a supplement to a brighter/bigger bar light, it is good-to-great. I know a few people who bought two as self contained lights for bar/helmet and are satisfied, but again, I don't want to charge all the time, so I let the external battery light do the heavy lifting.
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The advantage to Outbound lights is the beam pattern of the lights. The beam patterns are superb. There is a lot of light where you need it and none where you don't.

As mentioned, the combo of a the external battery Focal Trail light on the bars and a Hangover on the helmet is really phenomenal.
 
Tim said:
The advantage to Outbound lights is the beam pattern of the lights. The beam patterns are superb. There is a lot of light where you need it and none where you don't.

As mentioned, the combo of a the external battery Focal Trail light on the bars and a Hangover on the helmet is really phenomenal.
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Of the ones I have tried, light and motion significantly better. However the last L&M urban 600 I bought was $30.
 
stb222 said:
Of the ones I have tried, light and motion significantly better. However the last L&M urban 600 I bought was $30.
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I think as far as bang for the buck you can't go wrong with Light and Motion. The Outbound lights are very well engineered, built, etc. but there are diminishing returns.
 
How have the Hangover lights been holding up? Still work? Battery still hold a charge?

Still trying to justify the cost over and Urban 500/600, but would really like a cordless helmet light...
 
one piece crank said:
How have the Hangover lights been holding up? Still work? Battery still hold a charge?

Still trying to justify the cost over and Urban 500/600, but would really like a cordless helmet light...
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I haven't been using it much lately but it's holding up just fine...
 
one piece crank said:
How have the Hangover lights been holding up? Still work? Battery still hold a charge?

Still trying to justify the cost over and Urban 500/600, but would really like a cordless helmet light...
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I can't recommend the hangover. I don't think it is bright enough and the battery life is not very good. you can hook it up to an external battery though. I used it on my handlebars and was not impressed with the performance. I have not touched it since the late spring so i can't speak for how it is holding a charge now. I bought one of the first pre-order models and sent it back for the revised version which helped battery life a little. You're better off with a niterider 1000 lumen light or similar
 
bergsnj said:
I can't recommend the hangover. I don't think it is bright enough and the battery life is not very good. you can hook it up to an external battery though. I used it on my handlebars and was not impressed with the performance. I have not touched it since the late spring so i can't speak for how it is holding a charge now. I bought one of the first pre-order models and sent it back for the revised version which helped battery life a little. You're better off with a niterider 1000 lumen light or similar
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I would agree that it's not bright enough for the bars. It was designed to be a helmet light, though, a use for which it is completely adequate.
 
Tim said:
I would agree that it's not bright enough for the bars. It was designed to be a helmet light, though, a use for which it is completely adequate.
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I have been using for a few months. It is holding up well, the battery life seems okay, And It has a taken a few OTB hits. my typical night ride is usually an hourish and has 2 out of 4 bars left when running “adaptive mode”. I am little disappointed in the brightness, it’s claim was a great beam pattern but I find it spottier than my cygolite or urban, my helmnt mount is slightly crooked, and I notice the off center beam, I don’t with others. I would have got another urban 1000, but I keep shearing off the mounting nubs on them.
 
bergsnj said:
I can't recommend the hangover. I don't think it is bright enough and the battery life is not very good. you can hook it up to an external battery though. I used it on my handlebars and was not impressed with the performance. I have not touched it since the late spring so i can't speak for how it is holding a charge now. I bought one of the first pre-order models and sent it back for the revised version which helped battery life a little. You're better off with a niterider 1000 lumen light or similar
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I have a NiteRider 650 and also a 700 (the bigger older models. they look exactly the same). I got them used off this forum and both of them are bright AF and hold up very well for road use. I did an early AM ride a few times and brought them both with me (just in case) and in full bright mode I used it for about an hour and then switched to flashing mode and it lasted 4-5 hours. I imagine for trail use the bright mode would be very good as well.

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