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Introduction
Diverse backcountry environments, weather conditions, and activity use cases highlight the need to carefully consider lighting for navigation and campsite ops at night. This report examines modern backcountry lighting solutions, including the technology, design, and specialized features available in today’s market.
Lighting technology has evolved rapidly to deliver more efficient, powerful, and versatile options. Battery advancements now support longer burn times, brighter beams, and more versatile recharging options. We also delve into housing and lens designs, which have become increasingly refined for durability, impact resistance, and more precision in beam shaping.
In this guide, you’ll find detailed insights on specific lighting models, including a breakdown of their most unique benefits, limitations, and ideal user profiles.
For the first version of this report, the focus will be on headlamps. Future updates will incorporate handheld flashlights.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LIGHTING DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY, AND USE CASES: See our Flashlights & Headlamps: Technology, Design, and Performance Masterclass.
Updates & Corrections Log
- 2025/05/14 11:00 AM MDT – Original Report Published.
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Table of Contents • Note: if this is a members-only article, some sections may only be available to Premium or Unlimited Members.
- Introduction
- Recommended Products
- Featured Products
- Acknowledgments
- Market Analysis
- Features and Specifications
- Weight
- Lighting Types
- Battery Types
- How Light is Measured: Lux, Lumens, and Candlepower
- What Criteria are Most Important in Choosing a Light?
- Maximum Brightness
- Battery Life at Maximum Power
- Maximum Burn Time
- Brightness at Maximum Burn Time
- Power Regulation Circuitry
- Temperature Regulation
- Spot vs. Flood Lighting
- Night Hiking and The Myth of Depth Perception
- Strobe Lighting
- Night Vision Modes
- Mode Memory
- Switch Lock
- Ingress Protection
- LightBench Testing
- Test Results
- Recommendations
- Related Content
Recommended Products
Two products are recognized for their exceptional performance-to-weight ratio and manufacturing quality based on LightBench testing, long-term field testing, and engineering and design analysis. Read the full report for more details, and how they fit into the overall market.
An extreme-conditions headlamp with some unique features, including a 2200 mAh battery that remains stable against the headband because the lamp housing is a separately-pivoting unit. Burst mode provides 1100 lumens for 10 seconds, then turns off automatically. More than 4 hours of light in high (600 lumens) mode. Waterproof and submersible (IP67).
One of the lightest rechargeable headlamps available. On its highest setting, it throws a 200 lumen beam up to 36 m for 2 hours. On its low setting, battery life extends to 50 hours with a 6 m, 6 lumen beam. Includes both white and red LED lighting.
Featured Products
The following products are featured in this report, with LightBench test results:
- Abusvex B0CX4F8HFS
- Biolite Dash 450
- Biolite Headlamp 325
- Biolite 800 Pro
- Black Diamond Deploy 325
- Black Diamond Distance LT 1100
- Black Diamond Sprint 225
- Black Diamond Storm 500-R
- Coast FL13R
- Coast FL1R
- Cosoos Mini
- Fenix HM50Rv2
- Flextail Tiny Helio 600Z
- LEDLenser NEO1R
- Montbell Compact ML
- Nitecore NU 20 Classic
- Nitecore NU 25 UL
- Petzl Bindi
- Petzl eLite
- Photon Freedom Micro
- Princeton Tec Byte
- Silva SMINI Fly
- Silva Terra Scout X
- Thrunite TH20 Pro CW
- Zebralight H54FcN
Acknowledgments
Isaac Simons contributed product research to this report.
Market Analysis
Backcountry Lighting Use Cases
Backpackers use lights for night hiking, task lighting, area lighting, and beacon lighting.
Lighting needs for night hiking on trails differ from those for off-trail navigation.
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