Options for a Headlamp

I wanted to see if anyone had recommendations for a headlamp? I am really getting tired of the flashlight in the mouth routine when I need both hands. I have played with a couple of different types and brands at the local outdoor store, but would like some real world advice.
Priorities are:
1) Battery Life (How long will it last)
2) Size (Can I make it an EDC item)
3) Brightness (Multiple settings?)
4) Price (Don't mind spending money on quality!)
Thanks
John

I am a member of an S&R team, and I really like the Petzl Tikka when on a night search. This headlamp was introduced back in 2001 (I bought mine around 2005) and it works great. You can buy it at REI or other retailers.

You can see a review here which answers your immediate questions:

http://www.backpacker.com/article/1968

Justin

I own a Petzl Tactikka (4 x 5 mm LEDs) as well as the Petzl Tikka XP (1-watt LED). They are both very good headlamps. The Tactikka comes with a red filter which can be useful when you need to use the light near people that are sleeping, for example. The Tikka XP has a nice flood/spot toggle that is versatile.

The MYO XP by Petzl comes with a 3-watt LED but you will need to carry a small battery pack behind your head. Still a great light.

(justin2006, however, I have to disagree with you that these Petzl headlamps are not adequate for night searches. You should use something more substancial, such as a 3-watt LED Maglite. I did a search a few weeks ago looking for a missing little girl and i'm really, really happy I had my 3-watt LED Maglite.)

Whenever I'm thinking about buying a new light, I go to Flashlight Reviews.

Here's a Direct Link to their section on headlamps.

On a related note, I hadn't visited Flashlight Reviews in some time, and I'm sorry to see that the site will no longer be updated. Bummer...

How about the Petzl e+lite?

- Batterylife of max. 45hrs.
- Very small, very EDC-able
- Multiple settings, max 16 lumen(I think)
- $20/$30

Mine is great!

Big John,

Some other considerations:

I want an LED bulb, or better yet, several for redundancy, either aa or aaa batteries, because that matches my other gear and waterproof, because I sometimes have to set up the tent in both rain and darkness.

TRO

Why not just get a Niteize Maglite Headband for now and wait until the manufactures of head torches start putting Cree XR-Es or Lumideds Luxeon Rebel LEDs into their designs.

The Princton Tec Apex is quite good a headlamp but again I would wait for the next incarnation of the design with the newer LEDs, which will no doubt be very soon.

I've used the Princeton Tec EOS headlamp for about a year & 1/2 and it is amazing. I highly highly recommend it. I camp quite a bit with my son's Scout troop (I'm an assistant Scoutmaster) and have only replaced the batteries twice since the original purchase - and that also included a weekend with my daughter's Girl Scout troop inside a cave (on a LOT) and 3 solid weeks of summer camp.

With fresh set of batteries and high setting it is a floodlight with a lot of side-spill. I've used it to light up skits from 50-60 feet away when we couldn't have a campfire (too dry). When walking at night I tend to use the medium or low settings. It is simple, has an easy-to-find rubbery switch, doesn't rely on just screw friction for setting its position, and uses an easy-to-use thumbscrew to open battery compartment.

Can't say enough great things about it. FlashlightReviews has all the specs you'll need.

For an EDC light, Petzl's e+Lite is my choice.

Light, small and versatile. All for under $30!

Standby for a detailed use report in ETS in the near future 

I am kindasorta cheap, so for everyday use, which means reading in bed at night, or working under a cabinet or something, I have some Energizer headlamps that I got at Wallyworld for about $15, including two AAA batteries. Two white and one red led's, they work fine for semi-close up work (as in as far as you can reach, or a tad farther), and reading in bed with the red one while my wife is trying to sleep. I would not want to take a walk in the woods at oh dark thirty with one tho...

I have the Petzl Tikka XP and think it is great. It is with me whenever I go hiking and camping but I also take a Surefire G2 as well for the longer throw.

Maybe the Princeton Tech Apex can combine the two. I just got mine in the mail today and will likely test it out on my next camping trip during Labor Day weekend. So far, from a size and weight standpoint (and comfort too), I like my normal combo better.

For EDC, I carry a Fenix L0P or P1D CE, depending on what I think I will be doing.

Good luck on your choice.

I guess that I should mention that I also have an old Petzl Duo, the one before LED's, with two bulbs, one for close up battery saving use, and long distance juice eater. Uses four AA's, and is a lot larger and heaver than most headlamps seen today (altho they still make an upgraded LED version). I have my eyes on the Petzl Adapt system, just haven't popped for one yet...

The Zipka+ uses AAA, has 4 LEDs, and is very pocketable.

i believe in overkill.

got caught w/o a bright light after dark. would have hiked out had i had light. now i do.

petzl's advertising used to say this headlamp "owns the night." my experience, it does.

5 leds - 3 levels of brightness.
1 xenon.

batts in belt holder.

newer models have "aa" batts.

mine is older model w/4 c(?) d (?) cell batts.

heavy, but as i said, i beliebe in overkill.

good luck.

I have one. Along with half a dozen other Petzl's. Their quality is the reason why Petzel is the benchmark standard. The E+ is too fragile for continuous use. It's a superb emergency head torch. Which is what I purchased it for.

One point: For most practical purposes forget about needing to see more than 10-20 meters away. Ease of use, reliability, run time and battery availability are the most important considerations.

I have one of Doug's recommended eQ lights (http://dougritter.com/dr_eq.htm) and I use it almost daily on my bike rides. I also have one in my BOB. The specs and battery life are decent. It wears well and its hard to beat the price of $14 and supporting this forum's foundation. ;^)

Good luck.

Cheers,
~Logan.

I would have to say that the Petzel Myo XP is an excellent headlamp, extremely bright, well designed, you hardly notice the batteries on the back of your head.

+1 on the Princton Tech EOS. Great light, small, powerful, good battery life.

Agree, plus another for me: multi-level brightness. Many tasks when backpacking/camping are close-up — cooking, reading, map-reading, fiddling with equipment — where softer light might be desirable (bringing with it the added advantage of extending battery life).

Dan

A headlamp is a great idea, I recently purchased the Petzl Tactikka (4 LED's plus red filter built-in) and have been impressed with it.

For 20 years I have carried a Mini-mag (LED converted for the past 3 years) and still do now. I use a Nite-ize headband for it but have not found it as good as a dedicated headlamp. The biggest difficulty I found with the Mini-Mag was the bulbs burning out at the worst times, if this happens in the black dark you need a second light to change the bulb.

I blew a bulb walking in to a deer hunting stand early one morning, I had to wait for near dawn to change the bulb as I did not have a second light. Therefore I missed the first (best) 1/2 hour of the hunt, since then I carry a mini-LED on my key ring.

I have many times held a Mini-mag in my mouth while doing a job requiring both hands, this is very hard on your teeth and you could choke on it. I have since put a Nite-ize neoprene sleeve on the Mini-mag to help with the problem (also makes it less cold in your hand) but a real headlamp is a much better solution.

Mike

"...you could choke on it..."

If that is the case, you are putting it waaayyyyy too far into your mouth

Here's my beef: I'm living in the 3rd world and can only buy batteries of the AA and AAA types. Also, these batteries come in pairs or in 4's. No fancy lithium (or was it chromium?) cells here.

Thus I'm totally against anything that doesn't use AA's or AAA's in pairs or in 4's. Sorry Petzl fans - I'm not in your club!!! I mean - 3 AAA's (as opposed to 2 or 4)? What do i do with the extra one? These are not exactly cheap out here.

My solution:
http://www.amazon.com/STREAMLIGHT-ENDURO...3454&sr=1-1

LONG LIVE THE AA (and AAA) CLUB!!!
(Were did that post go?)

Eh hem!!!
Now where did I put my blood pressure medication? Mumble grumble...

"I mean - 3 AAA's (as opposed to 2 or 4)? What do i do with the extra one?"

Uh... buy six and have a spare set?

I agree with you on standard sized batteries for the most part. AA, AAA and CR123s are the standards in my kits. I have made an effort to use mostly AA battery powered items in most of my kits, but some devices that use CR123s cannot be replaced with AA powered units without making sacrifices.

The e+Lite does use coin batteries, but the size of that light and a spare battery more then makes up for the lack of "common" cells in the EDC relm. As for it being fragile light... I strongly disagree. I has held up to my beatings day in day our at work and in my off duty EDC fanny pack.

You just died. Couldn't find your meds in the dark. Snigger.

Alternativly, you could buy your batteries in bulk packs of 12's. I do! pay for just TWO BATTERIES????!!!!
Which gives you 3 in the torch. 9 for 3 reloads.

They should make a head lamp that you could shake or crank to recharge. Of course you'd probably be better off removing it from your head first. Unless, you have plenty of aspirin.

Tim

Based upon your speficiations, I would take a look at the Princeton Tec Apex or the Petzl Myo XP. Both lights have great throw and low power modes, are water resisant, built like a tank, and use good 'ol standard AA batteries. I have both and love 'em.

Craig.

Depends on your end-use.

I have a couple of petzl e-lites and a black diamond duo tucked away for emergencies. They are led, have great battery life and are good enough to use at a campsite, to read by, or to illuminate your hands while doing detail work, or to use while walking (slowly and carefully) on a trail at night. These are very small and use watch/hearing aid batteries.

A step up powerwise is the tikka and tak tikka xp. The tikka has multiple leds and while the taktikka has only 1 high output LED (but with a focused lens which makes it brighter). These use AAA (or maybe AA, I forget) batteries so they are easy to replace. The taktikka has a power boost mode that is good for looking at things at a distance. If you go with a tikka, I would strongly recommend getting the newer version where the switch is a pushbutton sealed below rubber instead of the older sliding switch version. I got sand in a sliding switch mechanism and that louses it up.

The petzl myolite 3 has a xenon and 3 leds so it is a good all around light. Battery life on the leds is great and with the xenon it is bright enough to do some trail running or (in a pinch) use on a bike riding on a trail. If you only had one light, this would be my choice. But the battery pack is separate and it sits on the back of your head with a wire running around to the light and some people don't like this set up. It isn't very compact either.

At the "top" of the spectrum, I used to have a black diamond Solaris which also had xenon and leds and it was (at least a couple of years ago) just about the brightest thing out there. However it was still only powered by 4AAs or a rechargeable pack so there is an upper limit to how much light it can throw. And it is not a bright as a "normal sized" streamlight flashlight.

I got the Solaris to use going to and from duck blinds through marshes in the middle of the night and was disappointed with its brightness and went back to carrying a hand-held streamlight flashlight for pathfinding and also carry a small e-lite or the equivalent for use once I actually make it to the duckblind.

I have a MYO XP and absolutely LOVE it. Multi-brightness and has a VERY level usage curve with NiMh rechargeable batteries.

I've been waiting to get a tikka until they replace the LEDs with CREES or the new Nichas.

The MYO XP is worth every penny.

Ray-o-vac now has a nice headlamp that runs on one AA. There's a CPF thread about it:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=169690

There's also the coming Zebralight 1aa headlamp but it's not out yet.

If you want something absolutely tiny and cheap, there is this:

http://countycomm.com/ARES%20SOLED.htm

It's not a headlamp in its own right; it's a keychain coin cell light attached to a sturdy metal clip, so you can put it on your hat brim if you have a baseball cap.

I was drooling over one of these Petzl e+LITEs as a replacement for my Petzl Tikka Plus that's in my hiking daypack to save a little weight, but then I read the specs on REI.com and they scared the heck out of me.

Acceptable:

Weight (w/ batteries)
e+LITE: 1 ounce
Tikka Plus: 2.7 ounces

Half life brightness (70 deg)
e+LITE: High: 7.2 / low: 7.4 foot candles
Tikka Plus: High: 17.6 / low: 11.5 foot candles

Half life brightness (0 deg)
e+LITE: High: 7.4 / low: 5.2 foot candles
Tikka Plus: High: 9.2 / low: 6.3 foot candles

Battery life at 70 degrees
e+LITE: High: 5 hrs. 8 min. / low: 5 hrs. 15 min.
Tikka Plus:
High: 22 hr. 33 min. / low: 68 hr. 45 min.

Unacceptable:

Battery life at 0 degrees
e+LITE: High: 4 min. / low: 3 min.
Tikka Plus: High: 7 hr. 28 min. / low: 23 hr. 51 min.

I hope that's a typo, because the last thing I need when I find myself unexpectedly trying to hike back to the trailhead in the dark and cold is for my battery to die on me in three minutes. For now, I'll skip the e+LITE and stay with my Tikka Plus (which I love), or maybe switch to a Zipka Plus for the slight size/weight savings.

As a side note, lately I've been using lithium batteries in all of my outdoor electronics (GPS, etc.) for the weight savings. Petzl says you should only use alkaline batteries in their headlamps because lithium batteries can cause the headlamps to overheat and damage the LEDs. I emailed Garmin to see if there was a similar potential problem with my GPS, and they said lithium batteries were fine. Does anyone else know of instances where it isn't safe to use Li batteries?

I recently read that Garmin is warning that the higher voltage lithiums could damage some models of GPS's. That is why the latest update to the GPSMAP 60CSx actually has the lithium battery option (in the software) removed.

I found this at Garmin's Support site:

"Not all lithium ion AA batteries will work with our GPSMAP 60 and 76 "x-series" devices as they have too high of an output voltage. Typical AA batteries have a voltage of 1.5v each. Some lithium ion AA batteries put out 1.65v or higher. Our units will only accept power from batteries that output less than 1.65v.

If using Lithium-ion batteries and the gps will not power on or will shut down quickly after being powered on, the high voltage could be the issue. They will need to be drained a little to be in the operative range in the unit. Use a flashlight or other device that uses AA batteries to drain some power from the batteries."

The info that came with my wife's Streamlight Survivor LED and our Streamlight ProPolymer 4AA LED lights both say to "Use only alkaline batteries". I assume this is also a voltage issue.

My Princeton Tec lights specifically say lithiums can be used.

I should have mentioned that the model I questioned Garmin about was the eTrex Vista Cx. Here is Garmin's response:

I think REI pulled some of those numbers out of their butts on that specs page. For one, the Petzl e+LITE uses the Lithium coin-cell batteries which perform better in colder weather than standard alkaline, which the Tikka Plus is limited to. Secondly, the advertised specs on the e+LITE claim 45 hours [citation] as the burn time in economy (low?) mode. Whatever REI was smoking when they wrote that page, they need to pass it to the left, or maybe try writing the specs out when using fresh batteries.

Garmin support would sound a whole lot smarter and much more credible if they would stop saying Lithium-Ion. Lithium-Ion batteries are the rechargeable types that are manufacturer supplied, such as with laptops. Lithium (no “Ion”) batteries are the non-rechargeable primary batteries, such as the Energizer e² Lithium batteries, and are what people actually care about whether it works or not.

I've sent email to both Garmin and Petzl to verify that we're talking about the same type of battery, and whether or not REI's specs are correct, respectively. If I hear back from them, I'll pass along the info.

K.

+1 on the petzl tikka xp. It's a little bulky to carry on person so it goes in the kit bag. Much lighter and brighter than my old mini maglite and the bulb doesn't burn out at inconvenient times. Also, the diffusor makes the best widespread beam of any of the headlights i tried, it's very useful when being blinded by a bright spot is not what you need, like when working under a car dash or sink.

I have 4 of them, they are awesome and last FOREVER!

I keep one in each of my coats and in each backpack.

Awesome lights.

Gerber Ultra Infinity clipped to a ball cap is a great headlight too.

The Wallyworld Energizer headlight is too fragile around the hinge for any serious outdoor work. It is great around the house.

I also like the Fenix CREE AA lights in a headband.

+1 on waiting for a CREE headlight if you can. That is what I am trying to do.

Just got back from our camping trip where I compared my Tikka XP with a new Princeton Tech Apex.

The Apex is much brighter and has a longer throw.

The Tikka XP is much much easier to pack and carry as well as more comfortable wearing.

I will use the Apex car camping, but the Tikka Xp stays in my pack for everything else.

Battery life has not been an issue for either so far.

Were you by chance able to compare the Tikka XP with the Princeton Tec EOS? I think those are the more comparable models since they both carry three AAA batteries on the front of the head.

I am almost tempted to buy a Tikka XP just to compare it to the EOS that I like so much. Overall their flashlightreviews.com stats appear pretty similar. The big difference is that the Tikka XP is not regulated, which means its brightness decreases constantly through use. The regulated EOS' brightness will stay relatively constant for some time and then start decreasing.

Here are the stats from flashlightreviews.com

All numbers shown are as EOS/Tikka XP:

Throw Boost: 1042 - momentary, Tikka XP only
Throw High: 478/300
Throw Medium: 189/180
Throw Low: 50/72

Overall Output Boost: 2900 - momentary, Tikka XP only
Overall Output High: 1200/650
Overall Output Medium: 460/377
Overall Output Low: 120/146

Runtime (hrs) High: 2+4.5/(60)
Runtime (hrs) Medium: 9.5+3/(80)
Runtime (hrs) Low: 44+16/(120)
(time is regulated hours + unregulated hours)

I put the Tikka XP's runtimes in parentheses since these are published times that don't seem to match reality. Flashlightreviews.com didn't test actual Tikka XP runtimes at all levels.

Since the Tikka XP is not regulated, the high power light output drops to 75% in just 45 minutes and continues dropping to 50% in about 5 hours. The regulated EOS runs with a constant 80% output through the first 2 hours and then drops to 50% output in about 3.5 hours. The EOS is at 25% at 4.5 hours while the Tikka XP is also at 25% at 4.5 hours.

I really like the Tikka XP. I got the Princeton Tech Apex for the power. I wanted to see if it would allow me to leave my flashlight behind.

I actually prefer to have the Tikka XP plus flashlight combo better. More comfortable and versatile and actually smaller form factor for carrying.

Well, I have had the Tikka Xp for a couple of years now. And in spite of the manufacturer warning about lithium batteries, I have been using them. They went in automatically and I didn't even read the warning until I saw it in a forum. But it is still kicking and I haven't had to change batteries yet. And we camp about once a month plus I sometimes use it in the backyard and always have it in my backpack. I would estimate 25 to 40 nights a year of usage. That's good battery life.

After about a year of use, I saw the lithium warning. So I change it out to fresh alkalines. The old lithiums blew away the new alkalines so I switched them back.

Garmin wrote back and said that non-rechargeable Li batteries are safe to use in my eTrex Vista Cx.

Petzl wrote back saying that the REI numbers are very different than the numbers they got when testing the e+LITE at 70 degrees (they didn't mention whether or not they tested at 0 degrees) and they were looking in to it, and would email me back ASAP.

I have got a Petzl Tikka XP and a Zipka Plus, the former is nice and bright and the sliding difuser gives an even light. However it is slightly too big for my tastes to EDC due to the strap. The Zipka is not as powerful, but bright enough for everything I have needed to date and works pretty well to EDC in a coat pocket. As I understand it, while the outputs are not regulated, you can get a far more consistent output by using NiMHs.

My Tikka XP is actually an 'ATEX' version making it suitable for use in (most) potentially explosive environments, similar to the 'HazLoc' spec. Some may value this feature and I understand the e+Lite has this approval too with the advantage of lithium battery life. I was thinking of getting a couple of e+Lites for our cars but I am now keen to see the figures from Petzl for 0 degrees runtime first!

My ideal headtorch would be a Zipka version of the XP ATEX with a CREE or similar LED.

I received an email from Petzl with the following information regarding the discrepancy between REI's burn times and Petzl's:

Thanks Katie, and Petzl, for getting that discrepancy sorted out. I appreciate it.

Well, another thing learned today....

And now I understand why run times from manufacturers seem so exagerated....

For what it is worth, my e+Lite has given me significantly more burn-time then the REI site states. A new review of this light will be up on ETS in the near future.

Lumenence, or lumenousity, is a somewhat subjective standard I think. Before the advent of charge coupled devices and opto-electrical convertors, it was a lot moreso.

To get a true measurement of the total light output from a device, first you need a standard charge equivalent to compare to. Full moon brightness roughly equates to .25 lux, but it can vary. Establishing what .25 lux means is best down by converting some ambient light constant into an electrical charge that can then be precisely measured using available metering devices. Of course, any variation in color response of the sensors has to be considered, but generally this is easily done through prismatic isolation and measurement of specific wavelengths. So accounting for varying color dispersion, how does one equate flood lighting to spot lighting as a measurement of whole light output? There needs to be some means of ensuring a 100% coupling coefficient between the light source and the sensor, otherwise area dispersion variance would give a greatly unbalanced measurement of light generated.

What this means, then, is that for any given light source to be measured, either all of the light generated needs to be captured in order for the yield to be comparable between different sources, or some means of deriving an average value equivalent must be used. A light bulb's average luminousity per square meter at a given range will be less if the source transmits light in all three axes than if it is focused to some conical transmission plane. There are, of course, mathmatical solutions to compensate for such variances.

Then there is the question of which standard should be used, lux, lumens, or candlepower. I have yet to figure out how to convert one to another. I know this; when any of their values is zero, I can't see anything.

As a practical test, for spotlight sources, we have a stop sign that is about 600 yards out. If the light we are using throws enough downrange that we can see it's effect readily on the sign, then we figure it is bright, if we can't really tell any difference, then it is not so bright. If we hold the light in each others' face at night and we have to squint from the intensity, then we conclude it is bright close up, but not far away.

For flood lights, if we can read a book from the other side of the yard with it, then we say it is bright. If we have to get close enough that we can touch the light before we can read the book then it is not so bright, and if we can't read the book at all, then we say the light is broken.

As for how long the light stays bright, that is our cave test. We take a freshly charged flashlight and go as far in the cave as we can using that light till we can't see where we are going anymore. Then we know how long it will last us before we have to get out the handcrankers and find our way back out again. Another good test is to see if one of our buddies can field dress a hog at night without cutting himself. If he cuts himself, then we know the light ain't worth a dang.

LOL

I like your explanations at the end. They are written to where I can understand them