The UBEC is an awesome idea. I’m filin’ that one away for future use.
Yeah, the UBEC approach makes life much easier. They’re small and dirt cheap. The output can be noisy though, so I tend to use the UBEC to power the strips only and have a separate three pin regulator for the microcontroller and anything else.
The UBEC sounds very good, but I can imagine that the batteries and this regulator getting very hot under heavy load. @Jez_Weston how long did the batteries of your hat last? Did the electronics run hot?
I have been using various voltage regulators from http://pololu.com they are based out of Las Vegas, offer quick shipping options and are extremely reasonable with their prices. Plus when thinking wearables, their regulators are super small and easily hidden with the led controller / battery.
What’s the highest rated Pololu? DFrobot have a 25W model.
I’m not sure, they offer a bunch of different voltage outputs at a bunch of different amperages. You would have to check their site and compare.