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Kick-Azz Headlamp...

W

WB300

Cranky Yankee
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 15, 2011
840
297
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GA
Ok, I'm a flashight geek. I have them stashed everywhere and have no problem paying for quality lights. I am passing down my headlamp to my son for hunting. It uses AAA batteries and he can run off and play all he wants because triple-A's are cheap. But now i want a kick ass headlamp.

I would prefer using AA or AAA batteries. I do have a healthy supply of cr123's from my swat days, so it's not a deal breaker staying with them.

Brightness settings and red or green settings are a plus, but again, not a deal breaker.

I don't want to have to wear a helmet or counter weights... I'll be wearing a knit cap or backwards baseball hat.

I see where Streamlight has the Protach HL (headlamp) with 625 lumens that uses cr123's. I have some of their Protach handhelds, and they are pretty bright. But before i just jump, I'd like to hear what everyone is running or what you recommend.

What say the Hide...
 
I love my black diamond headlamp, bought it at REI.
 
I ran through a bunch of headlamps (Petzl, Black Diamond, Princeton) when I was in a local wilderness SAR unit. The one I was most impressed by was this one from TerraLUX
http://lightstarproducts.com/product/tlh-50-headlamp/
Available on Amazon and really well made and relatively inexpensive.
I also had good luck in the Oregon wet with the Surefire Maximus but it was far from cheap and not as easy to use as the Terra Lux.
The beam pattern on the TerraLUX TLH 50 was by far the best for 20+yds down to fingertips. Three intensity levels and a strobe.
 
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For the last 30 Year’s I have fixed airplanes, nothing smaller than a DC-9, working nights weekends and holidays I can say that a good headlamp is one of the tools that is a must have, when my Zebra 600 breaks I’ll be replacing it with one of these
https://www.amazon.com/Headlamp-Hea...1508814447&sr=8-1&keywords=atactical+headlamp
the 18650 battery has a built in micro USB port, it’s priced right, and those I work with have used n abused there’s and they simply work
 
Thanks for the recommendations. Some good lights in there.

Uses are walking, navigation at night, looking for downed critters, and skinning on the meat pole. No running with it.



 
I haven't used a lot of headlamps, but I recently purchased a Black Diamond Storm and have been impressed with it.
 
dmg... Fenix HL60R seems to be leading the pack right now. I'm not crazy about using rechargable batteries, but this one can use cr123's also when the rechargable dies. Good reviews too.
 
Petzl's pretty much been leading the way for headlamps in mountaineering and caving the last decade.....
 
I have a Icon Irix, a Zebralight H600w Mk II, and a Petzl NAO. Each has their own pros and cons. The Irix is great because it is lightweight, runs on a single AA, has a linear on switch/brightness adjustment,quickly detaches from the band, and throws a decent flood. It isn't good for a focused beam or high power, but for chaining on the side of the road in the middle of the night or not blinding you when your're inside the tailboom of a helicopter, it's great.
The Zebralight has a bunch of fancy settings, a rechargeable 18650 battery, can be left on for literally months on the lowest setting and has a highbeam that could cut steel. It has a single button to navigate all the settings which takes some getting used to, but is a very solid lamp. It takes a special charger and battery, but it isn't a huge handicap.
The Petzl NAO has a rearslung, counterweighted battery with a rechargeable that can be swapped out to use conventional batteries (AA's). It is bigger and bulkier, but also has software customization so you can fine tune everything. It also has a nice lockout feature to prevent accidental turn ons, and would attach to a helmet the best out of the three.
If I was going to buy just one to cover anything and everything, it would be the Zebra. It is a tad heavy, but does the best covering all the bases.
 
I purchases a Sure Fire Minimus 5 years ago. Super comfortable and with variable lumen output. Expensive but buy the good stuff and you only cry once.
 
Ratton... i have several weapon mounted Surefire lights. You're right, they are good lights but pricey. Surefire is proud of their stuff.

Thanks all for the suggestions.
 
PETZL, I have used them for the past 20 years running guided fishing trips, Never let us down. Get the TACTIKKA + runs on 3 AAA's or a rechargeable. Great in the boat and in camp. Gives plenty of light to see were you are walking.
 
For most everything I like the Petzl Tikka lights. 3 brightness settings, strobe, and red on my fav.
They are pretty cheap and run on AAA batteries.
I have had powerful lamps for FD work that included a lot of over the side work in the mtns and while good for that, way to much brightness for me for mtn stuff like hunting, camping, backpacking, sex in a tent, etc.
 
I’ve used a handful of headlamps for work and outdoors play. The two that are my favorite are Princeton Tec remix pro and the black diamond storm. The storm is more durable in my opinion but the remix pro is lighter. I prefer the light quality and variable control much better on the storm for work. I often use minimal light as possible so that is just as important to me as max brightness. For hunting in the mountains where weight is my primary concern I take the remix pro.
 
I’ve been using the Princeton Tec remix for the last 5 years, it’s simple to use, inexpensivee to buy and operate, and pretty damn sturdy ...mine survived a trip thru the wash machine ....
 
Zebralight are the best ive found.
 
i use a nitecore hc30 headlamp for work, it will take 2 cr123s, but mine came with a rechargeable li battery. super bright and has several settings. i have 2 batteries and a charger, one charge lasts me 3-5 days depending on setting and how much i need it each night. I've been using it for a year or so, no problems yet
 
Any of the PETZL USB rechargeable lamps are awesome. It's all we use and we use them A LOT around here. At least. Few times a day and a full charge will last weeks of intermittent use. Days of nearly full night usage. No batteries, no problems. In the field I carry a small lithium battery solar panel to charge it if I need to, Lithium battery charges it about twice and the whole affair fits In a pocket.
 
MTFalconer said:
Any of the PETZL USB rechargeable lamps are awesome. It's all we use and we use them A LOT around here. At least. Few times a day and a full charge will last weeks of intermittent use. Days of nearly full night usage. No batteries, no problems. In the field I carry a small lithium battery solar panel to charge it if I need to, Lithium battery charges it about twice and the whole affair fits In a pocket.
Click to expand...

I picked up one of the Petzl Reactik+ this spring with my dividend (REI) and a % off code. A little expensive. A few quirks. Light output is Bluetooth manageable via iPhone app. The sweetest headlamp I've ever owned.
 
We have two of the reactik lamps and they work flawlessly. I'm not so fond of the light sensors response in heavy snow fall. It seems to want to focus on the snow flakes and dim/brighten too much.I also have a PETZL Tikka for a backup in the truck, just in case and I gotta say the two rechargeable batteries I put in there months ago are still working well. I forget the run time on it but I have used it many times for hours and not replaced them yet. At this point I am wondering how long it will take to run them down. Just be careful with the USB lamps, don't charge them until they are run all the way down. I have a local friend that has one plugged into his truck all the time. Battery in it lasted about a year, my estimation is he cooked the battery leaving it on charge full time.
 
MTFalconer said:
We have two of the reactik lamps and they work flawlessly. I'm not so fond of the light sensors response in heavy snow fall. It seems to want to focus on the snow flakes and dim/brighten too much.I also have a PETZL Tikka for a backup in the truck, just in case and I gotta say the two rechargeable batteries I put in there months ago are still working well. I forget the run time on it but I have used it many times for hours and not replaced them yet. At this point I am wondering how long it will take to run them down. Just be careful with the USB lamps, don't charge them until they are run all the way down. I have a local friend that has one plugged into his truck all the time. Battery in it lasted about a year, my estimation is he cooked the battery leaving it on charge full time.
Click to expand...

I'd say light sensor(battery conservation for extended use) is one of the few negatives about the reactik+ headlamp. The other would be sometimes bluetooth is fussy. It also self locks up, sometimes flashing red(push side and top button, hod down for a couple second.)

Still an awesome headlamp.
 
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