Originally Posted By: hikermor
A lot of the time when hiking at night, SAR situation or not, I prefer to hold the light in my hand...I will shift the light to my head or helmet when I need to use my hands...

Ah, gotcha. Handheld is how you mostly use your light, not the headlamp. Now your commment makes sense.

I agree that headlamps can be a bit difficult when on the move. Things flatten out and it's easy to miss changes in terrain without shadows to highlight them. Many headlamps have a small, intense hotspot which tends to promote tunnel vision. It's like playing "follow the bouncing ball."