Head Lamp for Camp – Some night hiking

You may get better battery life, lighter weight, and ease of use from a single AA headlamp.

–B.G.–

Ok… either AA or AAA works for me. I don't want anything non-standard though.

I've gone through multiple AAA headlamps and come to the conclusion that it sucks to carry an extra 3-4 AAAs because I don't know when the set in the headlamp is going to conk out. AAs provide much better performance than AAAs by weight and volume. Last year I picked up a Zebralight H52w, which takes a single AA battery. Although the cool white LED has a higher output, the neutral white is more pleasing to the eye. I've yet to exhaust a fresh AA in a long weekend trip.

AA are slightly, not more alot more efficient than AAA in terms or power per weight

However for disposable batteries they are ALOT cheaper

For the headlamp decide if you want

– a no questions asked exchange warranty through a store or if youre willing to ship the item to china should there be an issue

– want flood AND spot modes and a red light, or a more powerful single LED

– are using rechargeables where the cost of AAAs arent a big deal, of if you want to use disposables thus AAs

If you answered the former in the above get a petzl/BD/etc for mec/rei/llbean… If you answered the latter get a fenix/zebra or some other chinese brand

As to the brightness … Get something with a minimum of 120+ lumens … Even walmarts 15$ headlamp test that much under ANSI specifications

If you go petzl itll be the new tikka XP

;)

In the past I used headlamps with 3 AAAs. A year ago I’ve bought ZL H52 and can’t be happier. Lighter, waterproof (my wife accidentally set it through washing machine cycle of 1:30 TWICE!), All my electronics run on AAs (except camera).

Also you can buy those astonishingly light Energizer Lithium Ultras (weigh like AAA) which are advertised to have 9 times more charge (maybe subject to check, but anyway they are lighter and more dense).

This is the way I use ZL:
http://thehikingdad.wordpress.com/ultralight-backpacking-my-vision/ul-gear-electronics/
Skip to “Headlamp” and “Batteries” on bottom of the page.

You might want to check out the Fenix HL10. It not the brightest headlamp around, and it has some drawbacks for sure. But it runs off of a single AAA battery and from all I've read makes a pretty great camp headlamp. Add too that it's tiny and can easily be used as a flashlight outside of the head strap.

I considered a hl10 as a backup

The problem is that once you say the words "night hiking" i consider a minimum requirement being 5+ hours at a 50+ lumens level

Or at the very least have something around 10-20 lm for that long (equivalent to an elite for emergency use)

The hl10 doesnt last long enough on moderate power and its low is much too low for even moderate trail use

I feel that for a power source with only ~ 1 Wh that regulation is a bad thing in general for practical use … You simply dont have enough power to output at a decent level for long enough

;)

Eric,
I agree, for my purposes the HL10 would be a cool toy rather than a useful tool. From what I've read the high power is a bit misleading too as it will only stay on high for 5 min and then it bumps itself down to the med setting.

It is definitely an around camp type of lamp but could be used in a pinch for hiking if the terrain wasn't too bad (and you had a full moon, and there weren't too many trees).

I just threw it out there for the OP because it's a bit of a unique option in headlamps.

The Petzl RXP is intriguing. Any comments?

+1 for the Zebralight H52w

I use a similar requirement to what Eric mentioned when looking for a night hiking headlight. I want a light that will give me 8 hours at around 50 Lm. The H52w is close (M1 50 Lm – 7.5 hrs). I've tested the output and Zebralight's estimates are pretty accurate. I prefer the warm white color for night hiking. The H52W weighs 2.5 oz. with an AA lithium battery included.

I own and use the tikka RXP for night climbing and approaches

If you have any questions feel free to ask

The short story is that its basically 2 headlamps in one with a rechargeable usb pack

In some ways it compares to my fenix hl55 on the 300-400 lm setting

Ill post up more about it latter when i have time

;)

I've given up on small AA lights and counting grams, and I'm very happy with my Petzl XP2 lights with the core battery. Makes it easy to charge it off micro-usb, whether it's a USB charger block, a computer, inverter, whatever. I use them all the time around the house, car, on the bike, car camping, backpacking, etc. And I'm happy with the light (red/white options) and duration.

I'd want to know:

*Hours of usable battery for reasonable trail hiking.

*Hours of use in camp situations (reading in tent)

*DO you use the AAA option?

I use the Tikka RXP also. It is the best headlamp I've ever owned. This is also my second Petzl Reactive Lighting headlamp, having had the original NAO since its release.

Unfortunately I've never attempted to even estimate the number of hours I've used it for. It has always been sufficient, however, for the handful of multiday trips when I've *really* used it, and you can always juice it up with a USB battery if necessary. It is also plenty bright for any kind of trail use as a hiker (or climber).

Ill post up some pics when im back home next week

But the way to think about the tikka RXP is its both a flood AND spot lamp … Unlike normal floody headlamps that try to power through their lack of throw with more lumens, petzl dedicates a cree xpe2 emitter to each mode

What this means for practical purposes is that the tikka rxp will have as much throw as a floody headlamp with around 1.5-2 times the lumens while retaining a decent flood

This is something thats affects the runtime as mist if time you can keep it on a lower lument setting for practical use

There are 3 reactive modes which you can customize on you computer

Personally i set

– up to 27 lumens ~15-20 hours …. Dont let the "low lumens" fool you, this setting is as usable as my fenix ar 50+ lm due to the above … This is fine for moderate trails

– up to 100 lumens ~6 hours … I would put this up against any 150 lm headlamp … This works for technical terrain

– up to 215 lumens ~2 hours … Ive tested this against my fenix at 420 lumens and in some ways its still competive

There are also 3 constant modes that you can set … The 45 lm flood last 8-10 hours

For reading you can set the constant mode pretty low or simply keep it on low reactive …. When you look at a close object it drops down to 7 lumens then

Also the li-on pack gives 6.6 Wh … You would need 2 AA eneloop pros to match this

If you take a zebralight with rechargeables with 5+ Wh itll weight the same (im sure someone will say something about lithium disposables, i prefer not to throw away bats all the time personally)

Not to mention that you can USB recharge off a portable power pack that you can use with other devices

Theres no point with the AAA option, spend the money in another li-on bat and/or a small portable power bank instead

One thing to ask yourself is if its something youll constantly use … Or if itll only be used rarely … If the latter get a "normal" lamp and use lithiums

Li-on bats and nimh lsd self discharge around 2-3% per month

;)

I've done a fair amount of night hiking with my little light.

I find 20L to be enough on trails. All you need to be able to do is follow the trail. You don't need to create artificial daylight.

15 hrs @ 20L, 0.68 oz with energizer lithium AAA. 1.5 hrs on 80L if needed intermittently. Clips to hat bill.

Pretty much the only light I bring. I may bring a spare batt at 0.27 oz depending on how much night hiking I plan to do.

MB,
Those run times sound pretty nice for a simple little light, do you mind sharing what kind of light you have? I'd be mighty interested in something like that.

Love it. The reactive function is great but also has constant mode too. Petzl's OS let's you program it exactly how you want it. What's better then you picking how long you need it to run for a specific trip or activity. Yes its bright, yes its a floody, yes its a spot, and yes it has red light.

One thing that most folks dont realize is that for rechargeable uses … The high powered li-on headlamps tend to not only be brighter but last longer for the same weight

In short unless you REALLY meed the few extra grams weight saving get a high powered li-on torch

Lets take a simple example

The zebralight H52w weights 80g including headband and a rechargeable eneloop and last for
– 12h at 25 lm
– 7.5h at 50 lm
– 1.7h at 172 lm

The zebralight H600 mk 2 weight around 110 g with bats
– 66h at 30 lm
– 30h at 65 lm
– 11h at 150 lm

Thats 4+ times the length for 30g more … And with the option of up to 1000 lm

Even with an extra eneloop bat which brings the weight of the h52 to the same as the h600, the h600 will still last twice as long

Remember that it takes 4 AA eneloops to equal a single 18650 3400 mAh bat … And you see why for constant, especially heavy, using li-on bats saves weight despite being a "heavier" headlamp

If you are a frequent use who can afford that extra 30-50g … There aint no reason not to get a li-on lamp

;)

….until you realize you don't need it.

For many, blazing headlights are a comfort issue. Like camp shoes, or a double wall tent, or ….

There are those who do things at night that require lots of light. Setting up a tent, taking a pee, boiling water, and walking on well defined trails simply don't.

walking on well defined trails

Not every trail is "well defined" especially talus, scree, scrambles, etc …

Or simply taking a wrong turn off a not well marked trail

Not to mention the superior runtimes even at low level of 18650 li-on bats

Having a high powered headlamps doesnt mean yr always running it on high, but rather you only go to that level for a few minutes at critical route finding points

Not all trails are nice well defined, well marked, well signed and nice and flat

Theres quite a few that if you cant see the cliffs edge, youll achieved manned flight

;)

http://www.adn.com/article/20141013/lost-hiker-survives-2-chilly-nights-alaskas-chugach-state-park

More at link …

On Friday, Mann had become lost while hiking Crow Pass Trail from Eagle River Nature Center to Girdwood. He had planned to hike the trail in 14 hours, using his headlamp after dark.

By Saturday evening, his cellphone — which had been out of reception the entire journey — camera and headlamp were all dead. He had eaten all of the food he brought with him. He drank water from the river."

"Not all trails are nice well defined, well marked, well signed and nice and flat"

Of course not. But MB was giving examples of things you don't need a light for.

Don't need a headlight for daytime either.

Well if you are quite sure youll never need to do anything more thats fine

But the moment you say "night hiking" … And not all places are well defined moderate trails .. Youll want a pretty decent headlamp

As the story i posted shows, one wrong turn at night and you can be in a serious pickle

This is doubly true in more challenging terrain … And in winter where theres extra hours of darkness

In those cases youll want something thats both brighter and longer lasting

For high powered and/or long runtime applications Li-on headlamps are the way to go

;)