Aloha supermark,

For a large blade, I am partial to a kukri. The Cold Steel LTC Kukri is pretty good. I have one of those and a military model kukri from the kuhkuri house.

My headlamp of choice is a Petzl Tikka XP. Has a bright spot with a diffuser to use as a flood and extremely long battery life. I like that the headlamp uses an LED so I don't have to worry about the bulb going out on me. I also have a bunch of Inova 24/7's that I like too. But they serve a different purpose.

My firend has a Princeton Tec headlamp and it uses an incandescent bulb so has a better throw. For me, the headlamp isn't for a long throw so the Tikka XP works. I carry a flashlight also for throw.