Headlamp for on & off-trail

For night orienteering, off trail hiking and trail running I’ve been using a zebra light 18650 with the flood angle lens. It’s overkill for just regular trail hiking but If it’s mostly for off trail, I think you’ll like the  wide angle beam of the H2R.

Thanks Nathan. I’ll check that out.

Hi Paul. As you do a lot of off-trail like me, you might want to add into your parameters the ability to get you safely down a slow, ugly, off-trail descent that goes on for a few hours longer than you ever expected. While the NU 25 is superb for its range, lightness and USB charging, I need more for some off-trail scenarios. I experiment all the time but still think that the Zebralight H32W is the best combination of weight and functions. Looks like Zebralight is not making the CR123 battery versions any longer, but any AA version is basically the same, and of course smaller and lighter than a 18650. And as has been often noted here, you can’t beat single-use Lithiums for their power-to-weight ratio.

I hear you.

I’m willing to accept a little bit of extra weight when it comes to hardcore off-trail and climbing.

I’ve tried the high-end offerings from Fenix, Zebralight, and Nitecore, all of these are fine for casual / occasional use and would recommend any of the above if your off-trail was intermittent and occasional.

But when I need survival light, I go with the Petzl Nao.

How I use it:

• I don’t use the app in the wild, but I’ve used it at home, and could see how the geek might like it.
• The FLOOD pattern blows everything else away – it’s WIDE and BRIGHT.
• I *love* the REACTIVITY of the light, it works very well when it comes to auto-sensing the need for task vs. nav lighting. That’s my favorite feature.
• I can carry an extra rechargeable battery for it (and I do).
• I can store the battery in a pocket if I need to, to improve longevity in winter cold.

Take a peek at this one, the technology is pretty incredible for winter climbers.

Bluetooth on a headlamp even?
I don’t even have a mobile phone! I’m lost!

We find the bottom end of the (Chinese) market works very well for us. I suspect most of them have actually come to us via Banggood rather than ebay. AA lithium batteries are our choice.

Cheers

Cameron, Exactly! Or find the right chute on the approach after leaving at O’dark thirty. Adding to my list.

Ryan, I was hoping for something more compact/lightweight, but it may well be that I need to accept the extra weight.

Wait Roger, no mobile phone! How do you even keep up with the interweb? ;-) Bluetooth is a terrible battery drain, hopefully, you can turn that off.

Thanks all!

This thread isn’t too old….

https://backpackinglight.com/forums/topic/current-favorite-headlamps/

Paul, I’m interested in your experiences with the NU25.  I have an older generation BD Spot- the one that tends to turn on in my pack and drain the battery (poor lock out design).  I’ve done a bit of off trail stuff with it and thought it provided a pretty decent amount of light, at least at high power.  It looks like the current version of the Spot provides 300 lumens/max 80m distance while the NU25 is 360lumens/81m.  At least on paper, they seem close to equivalent, although the Nitecore is a bit brighter and an ounce lighter.  How do you find the lock out feature on the Nitecore?  Is it fairly reliable?

In comparing headlamps, remember that the often-cited minimum detectable difference in brightness for humans is quoted as being 2:1. I suspect one can detect smaller differences, but they won’t be very significant.

Translation: you may have difficulty seeing the difference between 300 lumens and 360 lumens in the field.

Explanation: your pupil size can be varied over a fair range by your brain.

Cheers

Thanks NoCo.

Kevin – before I got the NU25 I had a BD Spot and had the exact problem you describe. I have not had the accidental turn on and drain problem w/ the NU25. I haven’t had any reliability issues w/ it, but I do only have about 30 trail days (and nights) of use w/ it so far.

Roger – that’s a good thing to remember. Perhaps 1/d^2 at play. It implies I should be looking at something like 600-700+ lumens if I want something “Brighter” for route finding.

We prefer to work with low light levels and let our eyes adjust. Works just as well for us, and saves on batteries.

Cheers

“We prefer to work with low light levels”

Yeah, last time I was going up out of the Grand Canyon at night, I had my $9, 10-gram, rechargeable NiteCore Tube on its 1-lumen setting (it also has a 45-lumen setting) and 1 lumen was plenty to see 10-15 feet ahead (on a very well-built trail) while preserving my night vision and letting me experience more of the canyon’s setting instead of everything but my illuminated path being black to me.

And at 10-grams, but rated for 48 hours at 1-lumen (I checked at home and it ran for 51 hours), as a second light for easy trails and finding stuff in your tent and looking inside your pack at night, it will preserve the batteries of your larger light for when you need to do some route finding or look around for the bear.  And be a back-up, since 45 lumens is plenty for rough trails (although not looking 100-200m away).

IMO, headlamps are for use during camp chores when it’s useful to have light wherever you look.  For the trail, I prefer a light in my hand at waist level to better see the dips and bumps on the trail.

Oh, just googled it to confirm specs and the new version is better (so I just spent another $10 on Amazon Prime):

• Simple single button interface, tap for instant low, double tap for instant max, and tap and hold for everything in between.
• USB RECHARGEABLE – Accepts a micro USB and charges 25% faster than the original, last up to 58 hours on a full charge, and has a whole year of standby current.

I really like my lights to NOT have those stupid flashy SOS modes.  Also, one click should be low and subsequent clicks give more light – otherwise I get blinded by highest output while trying to turn it on low.  The Tube gets both of those right.

I’m with you Roger/David on letting your eyes adjust, and I found particularly on nights with full (or nearly) moon that the headlamp is almost a luxury just walking on-trail. However, it is the route finding (off-trail, mountainside) that is hard for me. My NU25 is perfect in all regards except that one use case. Well, longer burn time for fall & winter would be bonus…. but I’d like something that I could use to spotlight upward or downward for route finding.

I have a Fenix HL60R. I absolutely love it. It is by no means UL.  I use the mid range on alpine starts for climbing. I use the low setting for night hiking on good trails. The battery lasts on long long time. It’s water resistant.   If you don’t mind a little extra weight, it’s a great light.

I’ve never brought it backpacking, but for around town, performance/price, I really like Dorcy’s 190-lumen 3-AA LED flashlight.  $18 or so.  Crazy range on it – 1000+ feet which I like when walking the dog on the frontage road – it lets me check for moose ahead for a second or two every few minutes and then power down.  Takes lithium AAs if you want it as light as possible (or for low-temp use).  I’ve distributed them into each of the cars and gifted to relatives in CA (powers shutoffs).

I would second… or is that third a zebralight using whichever battery you favor, color you prefer, provided it has a spot+spill reflector.

As to the discussion of brightness, I would note that the throw is more important for wayfinding than brightness at the source.  A narrow beam or a good hotspot on a less “bright” light, is much more useful than a brighter but more floody light.  The NU25 is brighter than my trusty H51, but the H51 is more useful for wayfinding.

I have been using a NU25 for trail and street running since my Bindi got lost, but for all trail / wayfinding I will choice one of our family zebralights (H51 for light, or h600 if I expect we need a LOT of light and longer run times for the extra weight).  The H3x looks like a good option except that I have nothing else that using CR123 batteries.

I just looked up that nitcore.  Would be wonderful if it had the clip and swivel like the thumb version, but was small and light.  I know it’s possible, I have a 1oz Bright Medic headlamp that is rechargeable, light, and swivels.  But, like everything else with this hobby (way of life?), I want to check out different things.

Anyway, I’ve contributed to this thread drift already.  I’ll be watching this thread.

Chris

Explanation: your pupil size can be varied over a fair range by your brain.

Well, not exactly.

As we age the ability of our pupils to dilate changes. Most pupils in an over 55+ year old won’t dilate much beyond 5mm in low light, whereas the younger version of the same person might have had their pupils dilate to as much as 8mm in low light.

Said that to say, as we age we typically can use more artificial light than when we were younger and our pupils were more flexible. So the brain has less to do with it than one might think… there is a mechanical disadvantage in the eyes as we age.

“As we age the ability of our pupils to dilate changes. Most pupils in an over 55+ year old won’t dilate much beyond 5mm in low light, whereas the younger version of the same person might have had their pupils dilate to as much as 8mm in low light.”

Add that to the list of “things that don’t get as big as we age”. :(

I have the same problem with the BD Spot turning on in my backpack and draining its battery before use. This is problematic as I regularly hike south mountain at night.  I ended up hiking up a wash with a barely working BD Spot a couple of weeks ago.  So I was looking for alternatives when I saw this thread.  My older BD Spots didn’t have this issue

Based on this thread and pmags blog, I’m going to give the NU25 a test run next week with my BD Spot as back up. I like to test new gear on day hikes and car camping trips before I use it in the backcountry.

But I have some question from users.

How long does it keep its charge?  How long does it take to charge? How’s it with handling drops?

I ask the last question as I’ve dropped and broken BD Spots in the past.

Finally, I’m surprised that no one mentioned moonlight as an offset to headlamp use.  When we have a full moon here, I don’t need as bright a headlamp.

I really like my lights to NOT have those stupid flashy SOS modes. Also, one click should be low and subsequent clicks give more light – otherwise I get blinded by highest output while trying to turn it on low.
With you DT definitely on both subjects. Both SOS mode and High on 1st are stupid.

As we age the ability of our pupils to dilate changes.
And our accommodation (range of focus) also falls. Sigh.

Cheers