What’s a good headlamp for night hiking?

[Don Wilson]

I’m planning to do a lot of night hiking this winter in preparation for a 24-30 hour traverse of my local mountains (in Tucson, AZ) this March.

I have a several year old BD Gemini, but all my other lights are little bitty things.

Any suggestions for a good, high intensity headlamp? Not TOO heavy. I want something that really throws off a lot of light, because the trails are faint with lots of opportunity to make a wrong turn.

Suggestions?

[Mike Barney]

I would consider the Princeton Tec EOS and the Photon Freedom. The Freedom weighs as close to 0 as you can get, you can get 8 – 10 hours our of a set of batteries. I’ve seen a hiker with 2 of these on his hat and seemed to get a pretty wide and diverse beam, plus redundancy for safety.
The EOS is a headlamp that is excellent all around, with the only minor nit being a beam that could use a little spreading out. You can accomplish this with some frosted tape, or get a small diffuser.

Hope that helps,
MikeB

[Bill Fornshell]

Mike,
How do you change the battery in the Photon Freedom?

Do you need a small Phillips screws driver?

Thanks.

[Mike Barney]

A small phillips, plus good close up eyesight. You also need to make sure you notice how the LED lays in there with respect to + and – terminals.

[Vlad Putin]

Tikka XP headlamp. Its powerful, but small and lightweight. The batteries last a long time, but carry spares anyway. You cant go wrong, Backpacker magazine didnt make a mistake when they gave it an Editor’s Choice last Spring.

Vlad

[Bill Fornshell]

Mike,
Thanks,

I have a small Photon?? that needs a little almost impossible to find small Phillips screw driver. I had to buy a set just to get the small one I needed. They are also very hard to unscrew the first time and the screws are so small I could never do it with any type of glove liner on.

I was really happy when I found one of those 1 ounce Atom’s?? The battery in them is so easy to change. The lens un-screws by hand. I would never buy another of the Photon’s.

I know about the battery sequence.

[Eric Noble]

Bill,
The older Photons have the screws. The newer Photon Freedoms pop open easily enough. No screws or screwdriver required. Getting the batteries replaced is still a little awkward though.

[paul johnson]

Bill, Eric is right about the differences between the generations of Photons. The II’s had the four tiny phillips head screws. The III’s & Freedoms need something – a nail file, a thing AND narrow width piece of metal to pop the press fit back off of the III’s and Freedom. I’ve been unsuccessful using my fingernail or thumbnail. A short piece of a small size paper clip might work. I’m sure that you get the idea. The tiny tab is recessed flush which makes using one’s fingernail difficult, IME.

I’ve own many Photons. As far as the III’s and Freedoms go, IME, the *ALL* have the batteries inserted in the same direction/polarity. This makes sense to me as the circuitry (on a teensy PCB) that drives the LED would have a polarity to it, thus making it (i.e., the circuitry) non-functioning if the batteries were placed in upside-down. It appears, as would be required due to the PCB circuitry (unlike in the older II’s), that a standard manufacturing process is involved and in all units battery polarity would always be the same.

[paul johnson]

Don,

Mainstream choices (in my order of preference):

TikkaXP
Eos

[forget the BD Spot – very poor batt. life, IME – does NOT meet Mfr’s stated specs for batt life in my own testing.]

Couple either of the above with a Photon Freedom (as someone else has already suggested). This conserves batteries in the headlamp you’ll be using when on the move. Even on low both of the above are too bright, IMHO, for use as a task light, though the TikkaXP does have the diffuser for use as a task/proximity light. Save the Photon for use as a task/proximity light.

If you don’t need a lot of throw when on the move, the new (2006 model and newer) Petzl ZipkaPlus is 80% brighter (it really is bright) or the PT Quad might suffice. Neither does for me, since my comfort zone when on leaf covered, indistinct, unfamiliar trails is to be able to see 30′ ahead in order to spot low contrast, faded blazes so as not to wander off trail (i do a lot of night hiking – it’s a different world out there in the darkness of the forest, and until some people get used to it, the darkness of their imaginations).

Now, if there is snow on the ground, that is a different story. The 4x5mm LED array headlamps would probably do just fine.

There are some other non-mainstream/popular choices out there that might suffice, especially if you are NOT under tree cover and have a moon and clear skies, but even under tree cover you young’uns without age deteriorated low light vision would probably do just fine.

The Streamlight Enduro is a 6/14.5 lumen 0.5W Luxeon using only 2xAAA batts and a boost converter to up the voltage. Mfr. claimed “burn” times which i’ve more or less verified are 24hrs on low and 6hrs on high. Not sure if Li batts would cause damage, but, IIRC, the headlamp is also regulated, so Li would probably work. There are “no-name” clones of this headlamp. If it turns out that you need high output mode, then you don’t get much batt life (6hrs Mfr claimed). I can testify that on LOW output it will run for 19-20hrs; maybe even the Mfr. claimed 24hrs, as i rarely did use HIGH output, so this might account for my slightly less than claimed batt life. LOW output, at 6lumens, does NOT seem that bright to me. I couldn’t use LOW to navigate the trails in my neck of the woods. LOW output would be quite sufficient to walk a simple foot path however.

EGear (Essential Gear) makes several interesting headlamps. A 0.3w using a single AA batt (not AAA like the 2x5mm Gerber Tracer – don’t waste your money on it; batt life is not quite what it claims; light output is dim; construction is a bit on the cheap side) which lasts quite a long time, called the Mini-Titan. Claim is 33hrs of light, but i’ve gotten 25hrs of decent light output – not too shabby to say the least. This one has a convex lens (which is easily removable to obtain a nicer “flood” of light) to focus the light into a tiny, somewhat less-than-usable small “spot”. This one might be pushing it for on-trail navigation, but it would easily suffice for walking a simple foot path.

Another EGear headlamp is the Auro 0.5W headlamp, using 3xAAA batts. It’s brighter than the Streamlight Enduro 0.5W headlamp (Mfr claimed 20lumens vs. 14.5lumens, and in my side-by-side comparison), but it only has HIGH output (and a flashing mode) and so, only runs for a Mfr claimed 9.5hrs on a set of batts (i haven’t tested batt life yet on this one).

The Enduro weighs 2.75oz; the Mini-Titan weighs 2.75oz; the Auro weighs 2.8oz.

If it were me though, i’d stick with the TikkaXP+PhotonFreedom combo, or the PT Eos+PhotonFreedom combo.

I don’t bother with anything but white lights any longer. Unlike when i was in the military, I don’t see the need to preserve low light vision or not be easily seen by others. Rarely do i find that there is sufficient ambient light to make using RED LEDs beneficial by preserving my low light vision.

There are quite a few other choices that i didn’t mention, both AAA powered lights and larger AA powered lights which might be heavier than what you want to carry. I prefer the AA powered lights due to their much longer batt life, especially if run on lower output modes, which often suffice.

[Rick Dreher]

Hi Don,

I guess I’m supposed to have an opinion here :-)

There are a number of very competent headlamps. In the spirit of matching tool to the task, it’d be best to analyze your preferences, your night vision capabilities and the nighttime terrain before selecting.

A bright, narrow pencil beam will cover the most distance, but might not have enough “spill” to pick out blazes or ducks, or discern between the actual trail and a game trail or ephemeral stream bed. They’ll blow out your dark vision, too. A flood-type will illuminate more of your surroundings, but might not cover enough distance.

Beam quality and color are irrelevant to some folks and a big deal to others. An odd color or an uneven beam pattern might not be noticeable for ten minutes but become a real annoyance after two hours. It’s a very personal thing.

Then there’s battery life and output consistency. Some headlamps dim progressively from the time they’re first switched on, other regulated lamps will hold an output for a given time then drop, either to the next level of regulation or a steady decline to uselessness. For an allnight flog, a battery swap is inevitable with most.

(Note that no button cell light is up to longterm navigation. They all dim drastically from the moment they’re switched on. They’re nice backups, but that’s it.)

There’s also night hiking style. In alpine territory on a moonlit night, you might only need to switch the light on occasionally. In forest on an overcast night, you might need it on all the time.

Everybody’s night vision capability is unique, and what works for one might not work for the next.

No light has yet equaled the PT Eos in performance for weight. I’d start there, presuming you like its pencil beam. Check out the test graphs–lithium cells on medium will give you a long, steady output that will perhaps last through the night.

The PT Quad is a good option for a flood-only regulated light, although the regulation doesn’t really work on high, just medium and low. Quite bright for a light, flood-type light.

The Petzl XP cousins, Myo and Tikka have a pencil beam and the lens-created flood, a great combo. They’re not regulated, so won’t give absolutely steady performance, but are well made. The boost is darn bright and effective when the batteries are fresh.

I don’t know of a lightweight hybrid (lux+5mm) light that gives excellent battery life. The best-performing versions are heavy, while the lightest have short battery life. They’re undeniably versatile though.

Additional considerations include whether you prefer the batteries integrated or in back, whether you prefer a top strap, ease of battery change, and waterproofness. In fog or rain/snow, you might need to handhold the light low, to reduce glare and increase ground-level contrast. One-piece lights are easier.

[Don Wilson]

Thanks everyone. Good info.

This traverse will cross the Santa Catalina and Rincon Mountains that surround Tucson. Total distance will be 50 to 60 miles, depending on the route. There will be a lot of elevation change, with a minimum of 2600 feet and a maximum of 9100 feet. I expect I will be in grassland and some pine forest during the night time part of the hike. I hope to do it during a nearly full moon, but that’s just a hope. I also expect that I will get my butt kicked, but that’s part of the fun. I’ve been thinking about this traverse for a couple of years and figure I’ll train a little this winter, then go for it.

Two lights sounds like a good idea. I don’t mind if the battery pack is behind my head, as with the BD Gemini. A penetrating light is key, because these trails wind through long grass and in some parts are very rarely hiked.

I love night hiking, and am really looking forward to this one.

My all time favorite night hike is the Grand Canyon. Start at dusk. Hike to the bottom. Take a nap at the Colorado River at midnight. Hike to the rim by dawn to watch the sunrise. Awesome.

[Author]

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