Need Advice on Which Headlamp?

[Lawton G]

I´m looking to buy an LED headlamp that is bright enough to night hike with, uses 2 or 3 AAA´s, batteries don´t die too quickly and is lightweight.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks, Disco

[Boozer]

Not too light, but meets all your other requirements – Princeton Tec Eos

105g (3.7oz) w/ alkaline batteries
4 settings
3 AAA
Power miser

Love mine if I'm night hiking otherwise I use the Petzl e+lite.

[Vick Hines]

It's easy to glue an aligator clip to the 9 volt Packlight. What you end up with is a minus 2 ounce light that will last 80 hours between battery changes on high and 1200 hours on low. (They also hold a headband, but the aligator clip works better – clipped to a simple elastic headband or your cap visor.

http://www.9voltlight.com/

[Lawton G]

I should add that part of the reason I am looking for a headlamp that uses AAA´s is because I have a bunch of rechargeable AAA´s and a recharger and am done with using headlamps with coin cell batteries that I end up throwing away. Gotta be a bit greener. I´ve tried the Photon ReX and didn´t like it . . . battery life is a joke. 9V batteries won´t recharge in the charger I have so that´s a no go.

The Petzl Zipka Plus seems to be the closest thing I´ve come across that meets my criteria and is light (2.3 ozs). However the housing doesn´t tilt and I´d love to be able to adjust the direction of the beam.

Anything out their that is lighter than the Zipka Plus and uses AAA´s and has a long burn time?

[Mike W]

…

[Rod Lawlor]

BD Spot for me.

89g (3.14oz) on my scale with three AAA Alkalines.

One 1W LED and three smaller ones. Non-regulated.

Be aware though that BD are/have rolled out new LEDs. Make sure you get one with the new LEDs which will give either brighter light or longer run time.

[Robert Carver]

Another vote for the BD Spot. Great lamp. I bearly even notice that I have it on my head. The one watt is plenty bright enough for night hiking.

[John Haley]

Lawton… I switched from the Photon for the same reason. Great around camp and for short emergencies otherwise, but battery life was way too short. Although not a true headlamp, I now have a clip on Fenix LD01 Q5 (0.5oz) which is powerful enough to use on the trail, has good battery life, and uses AAA's. No tilt while clipped to my hat/cap, but I could use a piece of duct tape to attach it to my tilting Photon clip if I wanted to do that.

[Walter Piekarz]

I also have this lamp (BD Spot) and have nothing but good things to say about it. Hiked down off of Glastenbury mountain last fall in the rain and fog at night, 9 miles and I never missed a white blaze.

[Michael Davis]

Another vote for Princeton Tec EOS at 3.3 oz for night hiking.

I also have the Petzel Tikka XP (also 3.3 oz) which is more veratile for camp chores and hiking as it has a diffusser lens that slides over the light. It's not as bright as the EOS but IMO is stil bright enough. However, the XP does not take lithium batteries, so not recommended for cld winter hiking.

[Lawton G]

Thanks so much so far for the great feedback.

I guess I'm being a bit picky here . . . I want the perfect lightweight headlamp that runs off AAA's, has long battery life and is lightweight.

Both the BD Spot and PT EOS are over 3 oz. and battery life does not even come close to the 2.3 oz. Zipka Plus. I'm under the impression that the 35 Lumen output for the Zipka Plus is decent enough for night hiking.

I'd be using this "perfect headlamp" on everything from short overnighters, weekend trips all the way to a 6 week thru of the AZT. Hence the need for long battery life. And I plan on using rechargeable AAA's or AA's so no coin cell batteries.

Anything out there that can beat the Zipka Plus in weight, battery life and brightness?

[Ray Dunham]

I also use the Eos and love it. Great headlamp but not the lightest.

[Joseph Morrison]

I also like the Princeton Tec EOS. Ive had mine for a couple years now. It is plenty bright enough for night hiking (50 lumens) and it won't eat batteries like most lights that bright. It is only 3.7 oz., thats not exactly heavy IMO?

[Dave T]

.

[non yep]

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews?forum_thread_id=17576&cat=Lights%20-%20Flashlights%20%26%20Headlamps&cid=59

e+ doesn't cut it for me on most of my trips so i've recently been investigating the specs on this. never used a cree though. it may work for you.
any cree users care to comment on how the battery life on this compares while illumating for nitehiking?
could strap around hip/pack strap?

[chuck menz]

Anyone care to comment on Primus Lighting They seem to have a nice selection

[John Haley]

Christopher… The Fenix lights all use the Cree. Most of the latest versions are the Q5 which is not only brighter but also uses less energy. I have both the LD01 with the Q5 (AAA) and also the LD10 with the Q5 (AA). Amazing longevity and brightness from such tiny packages.

[Jeremy Greene]

I guess it has been replaced with the "fuel." Both are inexpensive and 3 x AAA.

[Kenneth Kortge]

Keep in mind that to a great extent, battery life is a function of light output. So, for example, though Brand A might have 8 hours of battery life at high, and Brand B has only 2 hours of battery life at high, given they are similar technologies, it is most likely because the light outputs are VERY different.

Actually, most likely the medium level of Brand B has similar light output and life as Brand A's high level. If you get the idea.

That is one reason I like my EOS. It has the powerful high setting, which I don't use much, but its nice to know its there if I want it. Its medium level is still plenty bright for most of my needs.

As someone else mentioned, do take note that several brands do not allow use of lithium batteries and some are not waterproof – only water resistant. My headlamps have been known to get soaked when its raining at night.

BTW, if you go the EOS route, make sure you get the newer Rebel version. It has a much nicer output.

[Nate Meinzer]

Consider this one?

2.75 ounces, runs on three (lithium compatible) AAA's for a very long time. multiple brightness settings and ability to swivel.

I think it might be the lightest of the full-featured headlamps available.

The Scout and Princeton Tec are lighter, but much less bright and don't last as long.

[John G]

I've been using the Petzl Tikka plus (plus = 4 Led) for about 2 years. It is barely bright enough to find blazes for night hiking, but plenty bright enough to see your footing and about 10-15 feet forward along the ground at night and the wide beam is perfect around camp. It's also been waterproof enough to stand up to 4-5 hour rainstorms without damage. And the battery life is excellent. Even after several months it's still a useable amount of light (although hi is now like medium). It works fine with alkalines around freezing or 5-10 degrees less (minimum temps reached in Maryland).

However, the tilt bracket does not let the light go upward though, so when the trail is climbing a hill, you need to slide the light higher up on your forehead to get the light to shine on the trail. Petzl fixed this bracket problem on the XP, and also gave the XP a spot beam. That's what I'll probably buy next.

[Mark Verber]

A couple of thoughts:

The Zipka is nice, compact package and works fine for trail hiking. You can deal with the lack of swivel by carrying it in your hand or mounting it on your wrist. Why do this? Because light coming from an angle which isn't the same as your eyes makes it much easily assess the terrain.

That said, I found it's throw completely inadequate when I was not on well traveled trails… I just couldn't see far enough to find my way. For way finding I would recommend the EOS II which using the new Rebel bulb (also as efficent as the cree). The downside of the EOS is that it's beam is a bit concentrated (Jim Wood has a project to make that better) and the "low" setting isn't low enough for my taste.

In the last year or two I switched back to a hand light. I have been very happy using one of the Fenix L1D-CE flashlights. They make an equiv one that using AAA rather than AA.

–Mark

[Jolly Green Giant]

e+LITE if you're just looking for a lightweight and completely functional headlamp with decent battery life around camp. It is fine for me on the AT but likely wouldn't have enough power for those in more difficult conditions if they choose to use it to hike at night.

[Mike W]

…

[Joshua Billings]

The spot is great. You have many setting options and also have a choice of the bright spot light, which can shine a bright beam about 75 ft easily, or if you don't need that much light and you want to save batteries you can switch to the other three lower leds and conserve. Not sure how it compares with other lights but I do know it can really put out a good beam when you need it and is versatile enough to read with also.

[Author]

Posts