There is no "best" too subjective of a term.
Most people carry waaayyy more light ability than is needed. Its a fear they have. 99% dont even night hike.
It looks like I'm in good company with my BD Spot, but I have yet to use it. I go to bed when it gets dark and get up when the first bird sings. But I guess it's one of the items you really have to have if you need it.
Took a look at the Zebralight. The battery life at usable lumens is actually pretty bad 1-4 hr's. The 200 hr's. is at .01 lumens. The Spot by comparison blows it away. I need a new one anyway, this is helpful.
The best light for a person provides acceptable light lumens and battery life and weight for what someone will actually use it for. The OP asked for the best, there is no best. Some people dont mind carrying around 3oz of useless light and another oz of spare batteries, and some do.
I use a small 0.64 oz light that will give 1.5 hrs at 80L, and 15 hrs on 20L on a single AAA. It lasts me weeks with limited night hiking. With more night hiking I bring a spare 0.27 oz battery and for under 1oz I have 30 hrs of night hiking ability. 20L is plenty to hike by, I climbed Mt. Whitney in the icy dark with it on the JMT. No problem. But many insist on 100L or 200 or even more. They are SCARED they will need the light.
Last edited by Farr Away; 08-30-2014 at 20:27. Reason: took out response to a TOS #2
Scared?
I'm scared that I won't be able to light up an owl that comes my way.
Apart from hoots, If I hear rustling in the middle of the night, it's go time for that too.
If the critter hears me coming, a good light (I have a rather powerful Felix hand held) at least gives me a chance of seeing its tail end. As for a head lamp, well that just helps me find the Fenix. :-)
Thru hikers can turnover and get their beauty rest, but they are missing the fun.
I'm interested in downsizing my light. What is this light you describe?Originally Posted by MuddyWaters
The Petzel E-lite is waterproof, light, compact, very long battery life. Has red light. Everything I needed on my thru-hike.
Best headlamp
And, it only weighs 1 ounce.
I see a lot of folks recommending the Black Diamond Spot, which I have. I like the light, but the battery life is not as advertised. I actually contacted Black Diamond after this old thread and they sent me a new one, so I now have two...they both have the same problem. I’m not sure the battery life is abnormal so much as their marketing department is pushing things. The red light is also so dim as to be near worthless (I can’t even see my feet with it on).
I used the Mammut S-lite last year on the AT and it performed marvelously for those modest needs, only 25 lumens, but uses a single AA, which is rare for a headlamp, and I find 25 lumens plenty for trail hiking at night. Funny, it's battery life using the lighter lithium battery was poor, but great with a standard alkaline. This is still my regular light for most summer backpacking, 1.6 ounces with a regular AA battery.
My go-to light when I need something brighter, like alpine-start climbing on technical routes is the Princeton Tec Remix; 70 lumens, but seems brighter than my wife's 90 Lumen spot, must be how it focuses the light a bit tighter. I replaced it's heavy headband with a lighter one from an old headlamp, and with Lithium batteries, it weighs 2.1 ounces, and has great battery life for that many nicely-focused lumens.
I use the Petzel E-lite, and it is more than sufficient for my needs. Not sure that it would be good for night hiking though.
My order of preference for a headlamp is:
Bright enough to nite hike (don't need a million lumens)
Takes batteries that are easy to find anywhere.
Decent battery life.
Switch can't be easily turned on by stuffing it in a pack.
Battery compartment door is secure enough to stay on during a fall but doesn't need a screwdriver to open.
I like the red nite light feature but some others don't.
A strap that isn't worn out half way through the hike (or is easily replaceable).
So, who makes a light with most/all of the above features.
Love my Spot... I've been tempted to get a lighter headlamp but just can't bring myself to do it.
Most days I'm hiking an hour / hour and a half before dawn and I can get 9-10 days out of a set of lithiums. I turn it on, then dim it as low as I can and still be able to hike. If I get to a place I need to light up I just brighten it up.
If you leave it on the brightest settings you'll burn through a set of batteries in no time but that's true for any high-lumen headlamp.
I too like the e+lite. But I don't hike at night.
The Black Diamond Spot meets all of the features you list except for "decent battery life". On the Colorado Trail, I had three very early starts requiring the headlamp for about 2 hours before I could hike with natural light. On two occasions, I had to replace the batteries the following night. Other than those morning hikes, I never really used the headlamp for more than maybe an hour or so in the evenings, at reduced brightness, in or around my tent.
But if you need a lamp that lets you night hike, the Spot is great. Just carry extra batteries.
HST/JMT August 2016
TMB/Alps Sept 2015
PCT Mile 0-857 - Apr/May 2015
Foothills Trail Feb 2015
Colorado Trail Aug 2014
AT: Rockfish Gap to Boiling Springs 2014
John Muir Trail Aug/Sept 2013
Best headlamp
See my post above - I easily get over a week out of a set of lithiums with my spot, using it for at least an our of night hiking each day.
Do you leave it on the brightest setting? I dim mine considerably and only turn it up when I need to really-really light up the trail.
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Usually it is on the brightest setting if I'm hiking. In retrospect, I might have been able to dim it considerably on one of the mornings since there was nearly a full moon.
Nope. You're off by an order of magnitude. That 0.01 lumens is for three months. Over 2000 hours in that period.
Now the Spot does claim to have greater battery life at 4 lumens in triple LED mode, but they don't say what their testing methodology is or what battery they're using. Zebralight does. Here someone tested the Spot and found that BD's times were barely 10% of their claims when the ANSI standard that better light manufacturers use. When Selfbuilt did a comprehensive test of the flashlight version of the H52 using ANSI standard methods, his results were very close to Zebralight's claims.
The Spot or the Zebralight are more than adequate. Just pick one and go hiking.
This choice isn't going to make or ruin your trip....
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The same could be said about any of your gear recommendations, but the name of this thread of "best headlamp", not "adequate headlamp".
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