UL headlamp sub 1.5 oz?

[Yoyo]

I remember reading a thread a couple months back about a new one by Petzl that is around 1.5 oz.  I’m looking for something that is reasonably bright and under 1.5 oz including batteries.  Ability to recharge via USB would be a plus, but not necessary.

[Yoyo]

I remember now…it was the BINDI, available in March 2018.  35g and USB rechargeable.

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/New/BINDI

Anything else I should be looking at?

[Brad Rogers]

Interesting, I hadn’t seen that one.  The Petzl E-Light is 0.9oz but not a great light.  I had one that the switch siezed on me on a trip even though it wasn’t very old.   The last time I was looking for a headlamp, I was looking for the lightest headlamp that used a “regular” style battery, and ended up with a Mammut that was 1.7oz with strap and a AA alkaline battery.  It has served me well for about 8 years.

[Cameron M]

The Ion with 100 lumens is 1.5g with lithium batteries, and I liked it, but I now use the Iota 150 lumens at 1.9g as it has more available light power and easily recharges off a small solar cell.

 

[Jerry Adams]

Black Diamond Iota is 1.9 ounces, USB rechargeable, runs for 31 hours on low, 8 hours on high which is pretty bright 150 lumens

[Matthew / BPL]

I posted about the UCO Air at 1.6 ounces a day or two ago. I’m kind of intrigued by this headlamp although my usual setup is a single cell AAA flashlight with a reversible clip so that I can put it on the bill of my hat if necessary.

[Alex Willows]

Sounds like the Nitecore NU20 could be an option for you, especially if you get the Litesmith version with shock cord headband. My partner and I both have one, and whilst we haven’t used them extensively, they’ve been great so far.

 

https://www.litesmith.com/nitecore-nu20-usb-rechargeable-headlamp/

[J R]

I switched to a mini flashlight that clips to the brim of the hat I’m bringing anyway, in my case the Olight i3S, weighs 0.67 oz w/clip and 1x lithium AAA battery.

[David Thomas]

Around camp, I like a headlamp – it illuminates what I turn my head to look at, like inside the cook pot or down inside my pack.

But on the trail, I greatly prefer a light I can easily wear on my waist so the dips and bumps in the trail are easier to see (due to the shadows).  So I use a right-angle Zebralight.  A current offering would be the H502 for $69.  Single AA battery, for which you could use a rechargeable, a disposable lithium (for a weight of flashlight plus AA with belt clip of 1.5 ounces), or (around town) a disposable alkaline).  Gets pretty bright.  Or lasts a lone time.  From their website:

• Weight
  • 1oz (29 gram)
  • 2oz (55 gram) with an Eneloop AA
  • 2.8 oz (78 gram) with an Eneloop AA and headband
    • High:         H1 278 Lm (0.9 hrs)
    • Medium:    M1 53 Lm (7.5 hrs)
    • Low:         L1   2.9 Lm (4 days)
    • using Sanyo 2000mAh Eneloop AA batteries.

[Link .]

. thrunite Ti3 flashlight for ultralight backpacking . One of many similar options

[DGoggins]

I for one don’t see the benefit of wearing a “headlamp” only light, when you can have a normal light that can double as a headlamp.

The Zebralight H502 is a great example, though too heavy for me since I don’t do night hiking.

So I wanted a AAA light. And….it needs to be the right angle form factor like the zebralight.

If I primarily wore my hiking hat in camp at night, I would keep using my lumintop tool (standard forward facing light) and clip it to the bill. But, out here in the West where I camp, as soon as its dark, the temperature plummets so I put on my fleece beanie.

Right angle gives you a ton of benefits. You can wear it like a headlamp, angle it down for like…playing cards or other chores right at your hands. You can clip it to your shirt and have it shine forward. You can tail stand it and illuminate the table. Etc.

Basically right now there are only 2 options….->

Maratac AAA TPF ->

And the Fenix HL10 ->

Both have their pros/cons. A big con for the maratac is cost, though I was able to get one on the swap.

I’m waiting for the HL10 to come through the mail so I can compare them side by side, but pretty sure one is going to be much better for me than the lumintop tool.

With me sewing a tiny pocket to my zpacks fleece beanie, the headlamp only weighs ->

Maratac TPF: light itself weighs .409 oz, .454 with clip.

Battery: AAA lithium weighs .268, alkaline .417, eneloop .415

total: .869oz (I’ll take the clip and an eneloop)

If you really wanted a headlamp, just make one with foam and elastic cord like this, which is comfortable (since the light itself is so light), and only weighs .08oz!!!

PLUS…you get to just carry the light around like a normal light.

[Nick D]

I searched far and wide for a rechargeable, lightweight, multi-position headlamp. The closest I could find was the Olight H1R Nova. 1.8oz.

I’m really liking it so far. Insanely bright, easy to use, built like a tank and the quality is phenomenal. Not a huge fan of the rubber housing so far though…  it doesn’t seem to be as comfortable as that standard Black Diamond housing/head strap.

Specifications:
LED: CREE XM-L2 LED (Cool White OR Neutral White)
Power Source: 1 x 16340 (Only included 16340 can be recharged internally)
IPX Rating: IPX-8 (Waterproof and submersible up to 2 meters underwater)
Impact Resistance: 1.5 meters
Brightness Outputs:
Turbo – 600 Lumens → 180 Lumens – 3 Minutes → 1 Hour 20 Min.
High – 180 Lumens – 1 Hour 40 Min.
Medium – 60 Lumens – 5 Hours
Low – 15 Lumens – 20 Hours
Ultralow – 2 Lumens – 144 Hours (6 Days)
Peak Beam Distance: 72 meters (236.2 ft.)
Peak Beam Intensity: 1280 cd
Dimensions:
Length – 2.4″ (65.5 mm)
Diameter – 0.8″ (21 mm)
Weight: 1.82 oz. (51.5 g)

[DGoggins]

Oh, correction….I previously said there were only 2 options for a 1xAAA angled light…but that was probably true back in 2016…there are a few more options now:

Lumintop HL AAA:

.5oz (same as maratac/fenix hl10), magnetic tail stand, comes with clip (hl10 doesn’t). Cheap

Manker E02:

This one…is 32g without battery (1.13oz), so weighs over double the other ones…mainly because its beefier/bigger. Does have a few more options like strobe/turbo/etc, but…I don’t see it being enough better to overcome the weight penalty.

MecArmy FM11:

USB rechargeable is the main draw on this one.. @stumperjumper might be interested? It is expensive at $60.  It is lighter at 1.16oz than the H1r Nova (1.82oz). Though…in comparison..its basically comparing a AAA to a AA light on runtimes.

I’ll probably buy the lumintop hl AAA and compare all 3 lights (maratac tpf, fenix hl10, lumintop hl aaa)

[Cameron M]

Wow, there are a lot of new interesting options. Recently I have been exploring rechargeables, but this Zebralight has worked out well. The H32 uses a CR123 battery, which by my calculations gives about 30% more light for its weight than the similar AA battery version. I made a DIY headband that can also be used as a waistband, particularly for nights when I have a mosquito net hanging over my face.

Weights: Light 1.1oz; clip: .1oz; DIY band: .6oz; Lithium CR123 battery: .6oz. Total weight: 2.2oz.Clip (not visible) slides into sewn pocketBand snapped in head attachment position. The band is contorted like a mobius strip so that it lies flat when snapped shut.Detail of band unsnapped for use around the waist.

[DGoggins]

Oops, I made a mistake. The MECarmy FM11 is 1.16 excluding the battery. Which….I don’t know how much it weighs. I’m going to say its probably around .4oz but I’m waiting for word from the manufacturer.

Comparing to the Olight h1r which is ->

Weight: light only 24 g, 29 g with clip, 52 g with headband, add 17 g for 16340 or 15 g for CR123A.

So…1.56oz for the FM11 vs 1.62oz for the h1r (light, clip, battery)…the h1r blows the fm11 out of the water on lumens/runtime.

 

 

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