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Anyone have a good headlamp they would recommend...?

drew_235

Sergeant of the Hide
Full Member
Minuteman
May 22, 2019
470
228
Minnesota
I was examining my headlamp last night and realized it's from ~2009 and was a mid-range Black Diamond brand that probably maxes out at 120 lumens on 3 AAA batteries. I know things have come a long ways in the last decade, so I checked reviews on REI's website and saw this Petzl Actik with 450 lumens and a rechargeable battery (I've got a bunch of REI dividend to use). Then I did a search on Amazon and found these, a 2 pack of 1000 lumen headlamps with rechargeable batteries for less than $25.
I know, I know, one of these is French and the other is China crap. However, I'm looking for a headlamp to take my kids hiking and snowshoeing in the woods behind our house. I have no concerns about this failing me just short of the summit on Everest.

Who has a headlamp that they would recommend? At this point, I think I'd like to stick with rechargeable batteries.
 
I Have a streamlight cheap that's ok. Been thinking about a better one myself.
 
I use headlamps almost daily. The rechargeable ones don't seem to last as long as the battery powered. I like Petzel and energizer Lithium batteries.
 
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Coast. Amazon sells a 2 pack of 400ish lumens for $40 bucks. I’ve had mine for years and they still work. They are made in China however.
 
I use a nitecore nu25. It's rechargeable. Small, bright, super light. I don't use it daily so can't really speak to longevity
ETA: Also has a red light with high and low function if you have a need for it
 
another longtime nitecore user, been very happy longtime....
 
I usually get the cheap ones that are in the checkout line at Lowes and such. I get 3 or 4 at a time. I used to get the really nice ones but they don't offer any features or last longer then cheap ones. Also, when I get like 4 at a time I can have them everywhere I may need one.
 
Petzl, ive had both of mine for 7+ years and they are great. My one petzl has a sliding Red lens as opposed to a red lens that has to be cycled by button combos. The sliding red lens cover is an AWESOME feature I wish more headlamps had.
 
I've used a black diamond one for about 3 years that runs off of 3x AAA batteries and I used the Eneloop rechargeables.
Very cost effective, but you get about 2-3 hours run time then need to swap batteries.

I just recently changed to this one because it had a max 500 lumen continuous and 750 lumen 30s burst mode.
It can also be attached to a USB battery pack to work indefinitely, so on a long night march, you could have a bigger battery pack in your backpack.
It works really well.
 
I usually get the cheap ones that are in the checkout line at Lowes and such. I get 3 or 4 at a time. I used to get the really nice ones but they don't offer any features or last longer then cheap ones. Also, when I get like 4 at a time I can have them everywhere I may need one.
+1
depot, lowes or walmart, something like $10-30 each and i have at least one in each vehicle, two in hunting pack plus spare AAA batteries.
 
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I have a Zebra Light, and have given a few as gifts and even after many years are still going strong - they are rock solid, energy efficient, and come in various flavors (AA, 18650, Cool White, Neutral White, etc.). Unlike Petzl or Black Diamonds there is almost nothing that can break on these. I have bought so many other headlamps over the years and the molded plastic always ends up breaking. The ultra low setting (0.01 lumen) is perfect for map reading, navigating a dark house without waking anyone. The 4hz strobe function is nice for bike riding, or marking a vehicle on the shoulder of the road, and the High modes (usually 280+ lumens for AA, 1500+ lumens for 18650) are great for lighting up big areas.

Zebra Light Headlamps

zebralight-h52w-featured-1-square.jpg
 
I have a bunch of the cheap ones but recently stepped up to a Fenix $$. I haven't used it much but it's fantastic.

I did not get the free flashlight they are offering now.




Hm65R-promo-notext.jpeg
 
I have a bunch of the cheap ones but recently stepped up to a Fenix $$. I haven't used it much but it's fantastic.

I did not get the free flashlight they are offering now.


I have had fenix lights in the past and they have been very nice for their price in terms of durability and brightness. I will add this one to the short list.
 
Petzl, ive had both of mine for 7+ years and they are great. My one petzl has a sliding Red lens as opposed to a red lens that has to be cycled by button combos. The sliding red lens cover is an AWESOME feature I wish more headlamps had.
The red lights in the headlamps are very underrated. I wish more headlamp companies would put a little more emphasis on them rather than making them a dim afterthought. They are great to have when using a climbing stand.
 
The hide never disappoints - there is so much knowledge and experience here. Thank you for all the feedback. I have decided to go with a couple of the cheapo's for now and hand them down to the kids when I get a fancier name brand unit.
 

I've had a Nitecore HC30 for years now. Being able to run 18650 batteries is important to me and not many headlights are set up this way. Much like the guy above who linked the Zebra light which is very similar, I like the simplicity. It's an aluminum body with a clicky switch. It's brighter than my truck headlights on high and the UI is really intuitive. I know people love Petzl but I've only owned two and neither lasted more than a few months. I don't care for the plastic crap lights that run on AA/AAA. Highly recommend the 90* lights like the various Nitecore or that Zebra is probably good too.

-Dan
 
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I am agreeing with others above in supporting Fenix headlamps and flashlights. I use them at work and love them. You can get rechargeable or purchase replaceable battery models.


Here is one example.

 
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I don't know what you're doing with it, and I haven't updated my headlamp game in years, but I've been a big fan of these for working on my cars or around the house when I need both hands:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y47LDG5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use them all the time. I just wanted affordable, replaceable (so I don't have to worry about abusing or losing them), light weight, easy to use head lamps. They're plenty bright for my purposes.
 
streamlight makes a clip on for your hat and also has a head strap thats light and rechargable. i use it for hunting
 
A lot of poor quality headlamps out there. I've used BD and Petzl mostly for years. I recently got new straps from Petzl for a 20 year old headlamp and its as good as new. LED is the way to go now though. I prefer one that has an option for regular batteries. Some can be used with a rechargeable battery or pop that out and use old skool batteries as needed. Always have a headlamp in my vehicle and a pack of extra lithium batteries.

Someday I'll buy a decent flashlight...
 
Petzl or Princeton Tec have worked well for me.
 
Petzl or BD for me.

I have done a metric crap ton of peak bagging year round, including a lot of ski mountaineering.
more lumens isnt always needed, especially in the snow. and high lumens ruin your NV.
i have a BD that has a red bulb for tent use to just see what you are doing. Nice so you dont make the lady you are hoping to get a little campin nooky from grumpy. 😁

Super expensive isnt way better.
batteries over rechargeable for serious woods use.
 
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Petzl or BD for me.

I have done a metric crap ton of peak bagging year round, including a lot of ski mountaineering.
more lumens isnt always needed, especially in the snow. and high lumens ruin your NV.
i have a BD that has a red bulb for tent use to just see what you are doing. Nice so you dont make the lady you are hoping to get a little campin nooky from grumpy. 😁

Super expensive isnt way better.
batteries over rechargeable for serious woods use.

With today's tech, how many lumens is enough?
 
Have used petzl , black diamond and Princeton tec a lot over the years for caving, climbing and hiking. Over the past 5 or so years, for more general use, including hiking I use nitecore almost exclusively. I have 2 of the now discontinued hc90’s with the sliding power switch, which are my favorites. The one I use at work has taken a lot of abuse including a 40’ drop onto a concrete floor with only cosmetic damage.
I also have a couple of hc60’s with push button activation. They all utilize 18650’s which I’ve come to realize is far and away king of the hill in regards to power, duration and long term costs.
I would actually recommend getting one of now discontinued hc90’s. I actually prefer the sliding switch interface. The only downside I’ve seen over the pushbutton models is it is a magnetic switch. If you use it in an environment with a lot of airborne magnetic particles (steel mill, fab shop, etc) you will have to clean out the switch track periodically.
 
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I was examining my headlamp last night and realized it's from ~2009 and was a mid-range Black Diamond brand that probably maxes out at 120 lumens on 3 AAA batteries. I know things have come a long ways in the last decade, so I checked reviews on REI's website and saw this Petzl Actik with 450 lumens and a rechargeable battery (I've got a bunch of REI dividend to use). Then I did a search on Amazon and found these, a 2 pack of 1000 lumen headlamps with rechargeable batteries for less than $25.
I know, I know, one of these is French and the other is China crap. However, I'm looking for a headlamp to take my kids hiking and snowshoeing in the woods behind our house. I have no concerns about this failing me just short of the summit on Everest.

Who has a headlamp that they would recommend? At this point, I think I'd like to stick with rechargeable batteries.
Check out the headlamp from NEBO. Rechargeable and goes to 500 lumens.
 
zebras are amazing, have one in each truck and house. Live in rural mountains of Colorado so get used a lot in the winter. Get rechargeable battery and charger. Plenty of light, long runtime and durable, dropped from ladder and driven over with truck, still work!
 
I have a Zebra Light, and have given a few as gifts and even after many years are still going strong - they are rock solid, energy efficient, and come in various flavors (AA, 18650, Cool White, Neutral White, etc.). Unlike Petzl or Black Diamonds there is almost nothing that can break on these. I have bought so many other headlamps over the years and the molded plastic always ends up breaking. The ultra low setting (0.01 lumen) is perfect for map reading, navigating a dark house without waking anyone. The 4hz strobe function is nice for bike riding, or marking a vehicle on the shoulder of the road, and the High modes (usually 280+ lumens for AA, 1500+ lumens for 18650) are great for lighting up big areas.

Zebra Light Headlamps

zebralight-h52w-featured-1-square.jpg
Which model do you think would work best for tracking blood trail?
 
I have a bunch of the cheap ones but recently stepped up to a Fenix $$. I haven't used it much but it's fantastic.

I did not get the free flashlight they are offering now.




View attachment 7461866
I use my HM65R daily. It is fantastic!
 
I really like the Nitecore NU17


It has good brightness. Don’t be fooled by the lack of a huge number of lumens. It is bright enough for the job and it puts those numbers out for a while without overheating or switching down.

 
I was examining my headlamp last night and realized it's from ~2009 and was a mid-range Black Diamond brand that probably maxes out at 120 lumens on 3 AAA batteries. I know things have come a long ways in the last decade, so I checked reviews on REI's website and saw this Petzl Actik with 450 lumens and a rechargeable battery (I've got a bunch of REI dividend to use). Then I did a search on Amazon and found these, a 2 pack of 1000 lumen headlamps with rechargeable batteries for less than $25.
I know, I know, one of these is French and the other is China crap. However, I'm looking for a headlamp to take my kids hiking and snowshoeing in the woods behind our house. I have no concerns about this failing me just short of the summit on Everest.

Who has a headlamp that they would recommend? At this point, I think I'd like to stick with rechargeable batteries.
I also have black diamond head lights . They are 300 lumen I believe . Under 50$ .
I like them , for my normal use I see no reason to spend more . I think they are actually cheaper now too, I saw some for 40$
 
I used to instruct quite a few night ranges. I'd almost always ride home on a 4wheeler. When I'd strap on the Fenix HL55(then) it would be brighter than the 4wh'r headlight. It's also great to shoot a pistol with. Allows you to see the sights and the target. If you're ever in that situation.

I have to assume if a person is on this site looking for a headlamp they're competent enough to find a PETZL tactikka or other "day 1", boyscout, "i just went into the woods for the first time last weekend" headlamp by themselves. I assume you're looking for a headlamp that matches your $7K AI. I assume a $40 headlamp purchase doesn't require a recommendation.
More along the lines of "are AAA batteries really still the way to go in 2020" (and the answer on that seems to be mixed) and "my current headlamp is 10+ years old, what is everyone using these days that they love?" The answer to that second question seems to be split between "the cheapest people could find at Lowe's and Home Depot's clearance bin" and Fenix/Petzl/Black Diamond. I'm not really looking for something super Gucci, and as I mentioned in my original post, I have no concerns about being able to make it through the Khumbu Ice Falls at midnight on my way to the top of Everest.

To boil it down to the simplest terms, I was looking to see if there was a headlamp equivalent of "Get a Tikka CTR in 6.5 Creedmoor."
 
And there is one on the way at the moment.

I think you will be happy. We work in caves, and in remote places all the time. The entire team is equiped with headlamps and flashliights. Fenix has done well. YMMV. But I think it is a good choice.
 
I will chime in agreement recommending the Zebralight headlamps. They have numerous battery and LED color choices, so you can get what you want. I use my zebra headlamp every day at work...I take it out of the headband and use it as a right angle flashlight.

I like the black diamond/petzl/tikka stuff as well, but its hard to beat the 18650 battery lamps for power and extended run times.

Zebra lights are popular for caving. If their lamps crap out or break from a hit deep in a cave, they are in deep sh_t.
 
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Couldn't tell you which one is best for blood trails...

A Zebralight isn't super gucci. $60ish? Buy once cry once. I am a big fan of 18650's and 21700 lights, but I went with the AA model so I can pick up spare batteries at any gas station. I think the model I'm using is the H53w. I did a long hike this summer and the last few hours were after dark on steep rocky trails thru bear country and over streams, etc. I was able to keep my light on High with no noticeable dimming of the light - and I had a few spares in my pack just in case. Couldn't have been more pleased. Whenever I travel or go hunting/hiking that light goes with me.
 
I would recommend a Black Diamond ReVolt. Water proof to some degree. Super bright! Many light options. Battery or recharge. About $65.
 
I have wonderful luck with Petzel. Mine has lasted through some crazy abuse in the service and has not failed me yet (knocks on wood). I honestly can’t remember if it’s water proof or not but I’ve worn it in rain many times with no issues.
 
The big thing these days is to make sure the headlamp has regulated output and the beamshape you want. That sounds easy, but there's so many games companies play now to pad their lumen/runtime numbers. Back in the day before regulated output, lights were super bright at the start but quickly got dimmer, old Surefires used to start getting dim less than 3min into their runtimes. Then regulation came along which controlled the output to keep the light the same brightness through most of the battery life. A lot of the lower lights are not regulated so you only get their rated brightness for a few minutes. Regulation was amazing because consumers knew they'd have X brightness for 90% of the runtime for consistent output. Then the lumen/runtime marketing war started and companies used regulation to pad their specs instead of providing constant light outputs.

Unfortunately then companies started playing the marketing lumens game with regulation, so you really have to do your homework. You'll see the ANSI FL1 Standard quoted frequently for brightness/runtimes, unfortunately it's very misleading. What the FL1 standard says is you can quote a runtime for a brightness level until the light is 10% of the initial brightness 30 seconds after you turn it on. So for example if a light with new batteries on high is 100 lumens 30 seconds after you turn it on, "runtime" is the time until that light dims to 10 lumens. So what companies do to pad their runtime at high brightness is start at a very high brightness and quickly step it down. So it might start at 100 lumens for 1 minute then step down to 20 lumens for 4 hours. This lets them say their "runtime" at 100 lumen high setting is 4 hours, even though you only get 20% of that output for 99% of the runtime. Other companies started playing this game as well because it's the only way their light specs could stay competitive.

Usually they do this with the turbo/high setting to pad their brightness numbers, medium and low settings will be much lower brightness but will maintain it for most of the runtime. The downside is if the manufacturer doesn't give you that information, and most won't, it's very hard to tell what's going to happen. The other "game" they play is many times at the highest setting the light will have to "step down" to avoid overheating, this might be 5 minutes, it might be 30 seconds, but you'll see them list runtime for that highest setting including the "step down" brightness which is much lower than what they are quoting. So you might see a 3000 lumen flashlight that says it has 1 hour of runtime on high/turbo. However what that really means is you get 3000 lumens for 1 minute, and then it steps down due to heat and you get 500 lumens for 59 minutes. The bad part is most companies won't tell you if the light steps down, and the few that do, usually won't tell you how long until it steps down. If you see a lumen/runtime combo that's too good to be true, they are playing games.

Here's a good example, the new Fenix HM61R headlamp, with 1200 lumen turbo rating, if you look at their spec sheet you'll see it says 2 hours runtime at 1200 lumens with an asterix, if you read the fine print it says the runtime includes after it steps down for temp or performance reasons. So it might be 1200 lumens for 1 minute and 400 lumens for 119 minutes etc. The high setting lists 400 lumens for 4 hours, and medium is 150 lumens for 12 hours those are the numbers I'd trust because they should be that brightness through most of their runtime.


Fenix lights are pretty good and they are up front about their high/turbo runtime-output games more than most, Zebra is great. For budget Home Depot has a coast 435 lumen light that has adjustable focus from spot to flood for $20 around black friday ($40 normally) and they are one of my favorite lights for toss it in the toolbox/truck etc.


It's actually kind of sad, we started with no regulation and lights sucked because you only got full brightness at the start of the battery life, then for awhile we had regulation that gave full brightness for 90% of battery life which was great as a user, but now we are back to using regulation to give very bright lights that are once again only bright for a few minutes of their runtime so companies can pad their specs.
 
I'm using the zebralight H52w (AA batteries). A while later I bought a H600w Mk III (18650 batteries). These two do pretty much everything I need
 
I am currently using a Black Diamond with the dual controll buttons on top. Has great illumination which most do these day. The most annoying thing about the previous head lamps is the single button you have to push in a sequence to change the setting. My current Black Diamond is very easy to change from red to white light. Very bright whit light if I need it. Compact. Battery life is excellent.
 
I was examining my headlamp last night and realized it's from ~2009 and was a mid-range Black Diamond brand that probably maxes out at 120 lumens on 3 AAA batteries. I know things have come a long ways in the last decade, so I checked reviews on REI's website and saw this Petzl Actik with 450 lumens and a rechargeable battery (I've got a bunch of REI dividend to use). Then I did a search on Amazon and found these, a 2 pack of 1000 lumen headlamps with rechargeable batteries for less than $25.
I know, I know, one of these is French and the other is China crap. However, I'm looking for a headlamp to take my kids hiking and snowshoeing in the woods behind our house. I have no concerns about this failing me just short of the summit on Everest.

Who has a headlamp that they would recommend? At this point, I think I'd like to stick with rechargeable batteries.
I use a headlamp a lot for hiking at night. The best one I've used over the years is without a doubt the Zebralight. Perfect amount of the throw and flood, you can choose which light hue you want (I prefer warm), and it takes 18650 batteries.
 
I'm in the market as well and have narrowed it down to Zebralight, ArmyTek, or Skilhunt. If you don't want to become an expert on flashlights by sifting through the mounds of material available online, here's a summary of good options for different usages and price points: reddit popular flashlights post
 
OLIGHT, simply the best.
I had Petzal, broke, took it apart, you would not believe how cheaply made they are.
OLIGHT is bullet proof on my Black Diamond climbing helmet.