What's a good headlamp?

M

Marc123

Joined
Feb 4, 2002
Messages
482
Back in 1999 we lost power for three days due to hurricane Floyd. I had plenty of batteries, flashlights, candles, etc. but the one thing I really needed was headlamp. I have no idea which ones are good, type of batteries, LED etc. What price range am I looking at. I would like to have at least one for the house and one for each car (changing a tire).
 
While I do not own a Princeton Tech Aurora headlamp, I have heard good things about it from a friend who use it for hunting. It is in the $25.00 price range. Here's a link to a better description: http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.tpl?cart=104189718619520&sku=PRIAUR3
The other brand I have heard my friend describe is Petzel. Here's a link to a better description: http://www.brightguy.com/detail_int.tpl?cart=104189718619520&sku=PETE43P
For general information on lights, check out http://www.candlepowerforums.com/

Jim
 
I don't know how much you want to spend, but if you want a really nice headlamp, call Wick Outdoor Works at 1-800-325-2112 and talk to them. They carry several different brands designed for coon hunting and you can buy a top notch light for under $200.

I use a Blazer 8 volt. It has rechargeable nicad batteries, is extremely bright, and has about 8 or 9 hours of burn time on the low side of the bulb.

Cajun Lights also makes a good headlamp.
 
I have 2 of the Princeton Tec Auroras and have used them both. They are great leds. I have used them for work and walking at night. They light up the area very well on the brightest setting. It is not going to spotlight something at a distance but it will light up a work area. Whenever I go out at night I carry my Aurora and a Surefire 6P, figure that pretty much fills any lighting needs I would have. I would have to say that the aurora illuminates about a 30'-40' area. Burn time is suppossed to be 50 hours at the brightest setting, but I have noticed it dimming some at the 5-7 hour mark. Overall, I am very happy with them, almost considering picking up a third.
 
I got an Energizer brand headlamp at target a couple weeks ago for 14 dollars. It has a sigle red LED and 2 white ones. You can choose to have either on at a time. It takes 3 AAA batts and does not seem waterproof. It has been great so far. I bought it becasue I had some work to do under the house and it has sure come in handy. It not as powerful as some I've seen out there, but when using the white led'S IT throws a pretty good beanm out about 25 feet. The Princetone Tec is similar to the one I have, yet more weather resistant. A buddy has that one and likes it. It's about 30 dollars.

The Energizer would be wonderful for a glove box or car kit as you are saying. With the band and everything it's a little bigger than a D-cell battery.
 
So far very pleased with the Petzl Zipka. Quite bright, excellent battery life, uses plain old AAAs, and it's really small.

Used an old Petzl Zoom for a long time. It was good too, but used more expensive special batteries, and is much larger/heavier.

I agree, pair the led headlamp with a Surefire, and you're pretty set.
 
I did a little research on this, specifically for blackouts. I ended up with a PT Aurora. It's 3 5mm LEDs driven by 3 AAAs. Don't expect it to light up the room like a Surefire. But for blackouts, it's a great light. On its brightest setting, I had no trouble standing at my gas stove and cooking, navigating, etc. It's got two lower-level settings also (and 2 strobe settings, which I don't use), so you can choose longer battery life when you don't need so much light.

I think the Aurora is a great blackout light. It puts out enough light for any task that requires two hands. When you need more light than the Aurora puts out, you'll typically won't need both hands free, so you can just click on your brighter handheld.

The other thing you need for blackouts is a fluorescent lamp.

Joe
 
IMHO the Petzl Duo is the headlamp to have if you're only going to have one. The Duo comes with a high intensity bulb for long distance and as less intense bulb for close up work and conserving battery power. But, the nice thing is Petzl makes an easy to install kit with either 5 or 8 LEDs(your choice) to replace the low intensity bulb. This combo makes a sweet setup as the LEDs use less power and will never burn out. The Duo uses AA batteries or a slide-in battery pack. Also, now it comes with the LED option already mounted(but you have to shop around for this version). It covers all bases very nicely. The price depending on which version you want starts at about $55.00 and goes up to around a hundred. Check out the Petzl website or places like REI.

Good Luck,
Mith.

P.S.
If you don't need long distance light, check out the Photon Fusion.
7 LEDs and the lamp comes off the headstrap for use as a flashlight or standup lamp on any flat surface.
 
I've got the Petzel and the Princeton Tec. My vote is with the PT. Great lamp and in fact I used it just an hour ago to retrieve some lost groceries in the trunk of the car.
 
Some thoughts: I'd looked at headlamps like the Petzl Duo and Streamlight Trident (high-power xenon bulb plus LEDs). They would be fantastic for some applications. Specifically for blackouts, I decided against them, because they're bigger and heavier than the Aurora, without giving me much in return. In a blackout, when you need two hands, it'll mostly be because you're doing something close-up like cooking or changing the baby, so you'll want a long-running LED floodlight almost all the time from your headlamp. No reason to go with a bigger heavier solution when you don't need the extra feature of the xenon bulb -- the PT Aurora is very very lightweight and provides the essential function you need at a cheap price. Now, if I wanted the headlamp to do double-duty as my camping headlamp, then no question I would go with the Duo or Trident.

The Streamlight Septor is also bigger than the Aurora, but by providing a higher-power LED mode (still a floodlight rather than the more focused light the xenon bulb on the Duo or Trident would have). I can't remember why I went with the Aurora rather than the Septor, maybe because again, I was looking for the cheapest smallest lightest package the provided the minimum requirements.

I think all those lights, Septor, Trident, Duo, Aurora, will all serve fine. I've been using my Aurora for other things like dinking around with my computer -- the kinds of things I'd previous stick an Arc LE or LS in my mouth for so I could use both hands.

Anyway, in my experience, having been through 3 blackouts in the past 2 months (!!!), what's required for blackouts in a headlamp is: lightweight and comfortable, able to change angle to point the light where you want it, long running, a few different power levels, floodlight. Anything else -- high-power xenon lamps, very high power LED modes, etc. -- is gravy.

Joe
 
I have the Princeton Tec LED (don't remember model) and Petzl Tikka. I use them on S/R operations.

Some of my Team mates have the Black Diamond LED headlamp. 4 LED's, low profile and angle adjustable.

While they are all good lights, I am going to purchase the Black Diamond and use that for field work and take the Tikka home for blackouts and reading in bed. The Tikka is great. Very small and light weight, but not angle adjustable or waterproof.

The PT one is nice, lasts a long time and is angle adjustable too, but it is bulkier and just a little bit dimmer than the Black Diamond.

We use LED headlamps exclusively. They have enough light to hump down trails and canyons, enough light to see what you are doing, but don't destroy your night vision. We carry high intensity flashlights too for when we need to light things up at a distance...but 90% of the time, the LED headlamps have enough light for our needs.

We also use Krill light sticks. They are electronic versions of cyalume sticks. Last 50 hours on 2 AA batteries. We use them on our helmets or person to help keep track of each other during night ops. They do have enough light to navigate slowly, but we use them for marking. May be good to have if your changing a spare tire in the dark.

I have a few for personal use too. We use them when we are walking the dogs at night so we don't get run over. They come in different colors, but the green is the brightest.

Hope this is helpful. :)
 
I will put in another vote for the Petzl Duo!:cool: I love mine. I have had it for about 5 years or so now. My brother and I have used them mountain biking at night. He used his in rewiring his whole house, up in the atic, looking down wall areas. The Duo has served us both well. Power outages have realy proven its usefullness. It gives me the light I need to get down stairs and bring up the deep cycle batteries w/power inverters and low draw lights.
 
I have rather basic requirements in a headlamp, and so far, my Petzel Tikka has given stellar performance.
 
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