Finding The Right Headlamp

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By Mike Boisvert.

Sure, headlamps make you look like some sort of cyclopean beam brain. But it's a small price to pay for the convenience of hands free lighting, whether in camp, on the trail, or in the depths of your closet! The possibilities can be blinding so here are some tips.

In general, you only need a low-intensity wide beam for camping and hiking on well marked trails. The low intensity LED lights work quite well for this and many come with 2 or 3 intensities. A narrow bright beam is occasionally useful for such things as trail finding, but results in a short battery life if used too often.

Also, LEDs have basically replaced incandescent bulbs in hiking headlamps-they are more efficient and will outlast you.

Standard batteries (eg AA or AAA) are also cheaper and more readily available than the special batteries used by some headlamps. They are also available in alkaline, lithium, or NiMH (rechargeable) technologies.

Black Diamond

For lighter weight some guys are partial to the Black Diamond Spot - one 1-watt LED, 3 regular LEDs - 4 modes for each, so 8 options of light/brightness. The only problem is that AAA batteries don't have the capacity to keep the 1 watt LED going for very long, which is fine if you use it sparingly.

For a burlier one some guys are partial to the Black Diamond Icon - one 3-watt LED (bright!), 4 regular LEDs and you can buy a rechargeable pack to go with it. You really can't go wrong with this headlamp. A super-bright light makes all the difference in the world (more so in the summer when there is no snow to reflect the light) when you are tired at the end of a long day. And battery life is impressive even using the 3 watt. But the 3 watt LED only runs at ~1.7 watts. It appears that Black Diamond is doing a bit of deceptive advertising here. Incidentally, the Icon won Rock and Ice's "Best In Gear" Award. One odd thing - Black Diamond doesn't mention using lithium AA's with the Icon, but guys have been using them almost exclusively without any problems, getting a good strong beam for about 8 hours, almost twice what you would get with alkaline AAs. In cold weather, the difference is even more dramatic.

An inexpensive headlamp is the Black Diamond Ion. It weighs less than an ounce and provides more than enough light for around camp or on typical woods hikes.

Petzl

Another favorite headlamp is the Tikka XP. It only weighs about 3 oz and has several settings and a "diffuser" as well as a "boost" button to provide a burst of extra light. It's good for hiking in wider, more open areas but is a little costly.

Some guys like the brighter and lighter MYO XP . At 6.17 onces including batteries, Boost, 3 levels of intensity, wide and narrow beam capability, and basic AA batteries it is a great package. Most of the guys on Mountain Rescue use this lamp. Guys have used this one a lot for night hiking and always found it reliable and bright. Great winter light!

Another handy tool to use for three season use is This handy little Tool. At .95 onces don't leave home without it!

Princeton

If you want a true 3 watt headlamp, get the Princeton Tec Apex. Some guys say it may actually be 4 watts. It also includes a boost regulator, so as your batteries get weaker (or you use NiMH cells), you still get full output. The Apex uses 4AA cells and the Apex Pro uses 2 CR123A cells (lighter, but more expensive and harder to get). There is detailed review at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/pt_apex.htm.

A key difference between the Black Diamond Icon (above) and the Apex is that the Apex has far better heatsinks than does the Icon. This heatsink is required to run the LED at full power. If you overheat the LEDs, you will destroy them. The higher power LED control circuits have temperature sensors and turn the power down if the LED begins to overheat.

The Apex is pretty heavy at almost 10 oz. - definitely an issue if you use it for night running or just don't like that much weight on your head or in your pack. Three AA batteries are the limit for some guys. Also, there have been reports of the Apex cracking, perhaps from heat. Then there is the issue of the shorter battery life, which means carrying yet more weight if you are doing an all-nighter.

The Apex is also a bit pricey when compared to the cheaper Black Diamond Icon.

Headlamp Review Website

There are detailed reviews of many headlamps at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/re...x_headlamps.htm.