As we enter the darkest part of the year a headlamp or torch becomes an even more important part of a walker’s equipment. ‘Even more’ because I think one is essential at any time, though in high summer a tiny one may suffice. But once there are more hours of dark than light then the chances of needing artificial light grow greatly. Walks may start or, more usually in my case, finish in the dark. On overnight trips I often make camp in the dark and then start the day in the dark, at least as far as coffee and breakfast goes.
Choosing a headlamp or torch from the myriad available can
be difficult. I think there are a couple of heavily promoted features that
don’t help. In fact they can be misleading. These are power, measured in
lumens, and battery life. More lumens, more light! This must be good, mustn’t
it? With many headlamps the answer is no. How many lumens do you actually need.
Is lighting up the whole mountainside necessary? I think 100 to 400 lumens is
ample for hillwalking.
Power and battery life are related. Look at the battery life
for the highest lumens and it’s usually short, sometimes very short. If you
want your light to last it’s best not to use that setting, except for the
occasional brief moment when you really need to see far ahead.
Conversely some headlamps are promoted as having very long
battery life. And they do, as long as you’re happy with light that barely
illuminates the inside of a tent.
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| The Petzl Iko Core |
With any headlamp it’s best to check the details and ignore the headline promotion. How long should the battery last at different power settings. How many lumens does the setting with the longest battery life actually provide. I think anything under 20 lumens is only suitable for close-up use such as in a tent. Under 10 lumens isn’t even adequate for that. The light might last 100 hours but that’s not helpful if you can’t see much. At the other end of the spectrum a light with 750 lumens of more is great for seeing everything but if the battery only lasts an hour at this setting you’d better not need it for long.
I think that the best setting is in the middle, which may be
boring for promotional purposes but makes sense for actual use. That’s around
100 to 300 lumens , which gives a battery life with the lights I review here of
3 to 19 hours. The difference is due to the battery capacity. Higher capacity batteries
last longer but mean heavier headlamps.
Whilst headlamps that only run on non-rechargeable batteries
are still available most now have rechargeable ones, including all those
reviewed. Some can also run on non-rechargeables, which can be useful.
Carrying a power bank to recharge headlamps makes sense on overnight and longer trips. I also carry two headlamps. It’s much easier to swap them over if a battery fails than change batteries or attach a charger. Also, when camping, one can be used to light the tent while you wander off to take photographs of the camp under the stars.
There are a myriad headlamps and torches available. Here I’m going to review two I’ve been testing recently and take a briefer look at five that have been my most used in recent years.
Notes: All weights are with batteries and from my digital
scales. Battery life is from the brands specifications. My usage suggests these
are roughly accurate.
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LEDLENSER P5R
This little torch has reminded me that handheld ones do have some advantages over headlamps. In particular it’s easy to point the light in any direction you want. Walking in the woods I’ve also rediscovered that a light held at waist level gives better depth of field than one on your head. The last is not that significant – I’ve walked with a headlamp in rough terrain many, many times, but it is there. And of course you can always hold a headlamp in your hand. It doesn’t have to be on your head.
The P5R is 125mm long and fits comfortably in my hand. It
weighs 100g, which is on the weighty side for a small torch. It does feel
sturdy however and is made from 75% recycled aluminium. It’s also dust and
water resistant.
It’s powered by a rechargeable battery that can be replaced
with an AA battery if necessary. The battery can be recharged in situ via a
concealed USB-C port.
The headline power output is 750 lumens. However this is a boost
mode intended for short bursts of light only. The highest other power setting
is 350 lumens and that only lasts an hour. Mid power of 100 lumens lasts 4
hours and low power of 25 lumens for 20 hours. Mid power is the one I’ve used
most.
There are just two controls, which makes it simple to use. Button
presses cycle through the power settings while a twist of the lamp housing
changes the beam from spot to flood and back. The latter is stepless so you can
have anything between the two.
I’ve enjoyed using the P5R for short local walks when I’m
not using trekking poles and I’m not going to be out in the dark for many
hours. I wouldn’t use it in place of a headlamp though or for long winter night
walks. It is quite expensive for a small torch, but it should last well.
SILVA SEEK 450 RECHARGE
Silva’s latest headlamp is small and light and has an unusual design. Rather than the lamp and battery pack tilting forward together, as on most headlamps, just the lamp tilts via hinges attached to the base of the battery pack. This has the advantage that it doesn’t pull the headband down. The lamp clicks onto the battery to form a complete unit. To separate them a thin bar on the lamp has to be pushed forward. This is easy enough in the light with warm hands but I found it awkward in the dark with cold hands and almost impossible with gloves on.
The Seek 450 has a rechargeable battery with s USB-C port. In the 450 lumen maximum power mode it lasts 3
hours, in the medium 200 lumen mode 6 hours, and in the super-low 10 lumen mode
90 hours. The last is just about usable for reading in a tent. The medium mode
is the most useful and fine for walking in the dark and pitching a tent.
The Seek has what Silva call Intelligent Light, which means
a combined spot and flood beam. Using it is simple. A series of presses cycles
through the three modes with a longer one switching it off. There’s a red light
too, turned on with a long press when the light is off.
The Seek is lightweight at 72g. It’s made from recycled
plastic. The stretch headband is wider and more comfortable than many. It has
strips of grippy material inside that help stop it slipping and is easily
adjustable with two low-profile buckles.
I think this is a good little headlamp for most purposes. I
just wish it was easier to tilt the lamp.
PETZL IKO CORE
My favourite headlamp for the last few years but not because of the actual light, which is okay but nothing special, but because of the headband, which is by far the most comfortable I’ve ever used. It’s thin and flexible, sits on the head without needing to be too tight, and adjusts to hoods and hats without any alteration. I think it’s brilliant! The Iko Core also balances well as the battery is at the back. The latter is Petzl’s rechargeable Core battery. Three AAA batteries can also be used.
The lamp unit is tiny. There are just three settings, low,
standard, and maximum. No flood or spot option, no red light, neither of which
I miss. The low mode isn’t much use as it’s just 6 lumens, though it does last
100 hours, so effectively there are just two modes. The standard one is 100
lumens, just adequate for most uses. It lasts 9 hours, which is good. The brightest
mode is 500 lumens. This lasts 2.5 hours. I wish there was a 200 lumens setting
between standard and high. Overall the battery life is okay. The Iko Core
weighs 81g.
BLACK DIAMOND STORM 500-R
This is the headlamp I use on trips where I expect to need a bright light for many hours. At 250 lumens it lasts 19 hours, at 500 lumens 7 hours. This is excellent, especially as the Storm only weighs 102g. It’s also quite compact. There are flood and spot options plus red, green, and blue lights. Two buttons cycle through the options, one of which is a little small for use with gloves, my only complaint about this headlamp.
The damage to my headlamp occurred when it touched a hot stove. Plastic melts. Keep it away from hot things! Luckily I pulled it away quickly and it still works fine.
PETZL SWIFT RL
Petzl’s reactive lighting adjusts the intensity and spread of the beam depending on where you look. This works really well with the Swift RL and means that battery life depends on how you use it. The maximum burn time gives 10-70 hours at 18-100 lumens, the standard setting gives 25 to 275 lumens and lasts 7 to 45 hours. I mostly use the first, switching to the second if I need a brighter light. The most powerful setting goes from 30 to an extremely bright 1100 lumens, with a run time of 2 to 35 hours. I’ve only used this to see what it was like!
I really like reactive lighting. It’s great not having to use
buttons. I think I should use this headlamp more! It weighs 104g and is compact
and comfortable to wear.
PETZL BINDI
This serves the opposite purpose to the Storm. It’s the headlamp I take when I don’t expect to need one or for short periods of time. It’s tiny and very light at 35g. It still has a maximum output of 200 lumens but this only lasts 2 hours. At 100 lumens the battery lasts 3 hours. This is fine for high summer when there aren’t many hours of darkness.
BLACK DIAMOND SPOT 400-R
A lighter version of the Storm, the 71g Spot has better than average battery life, lasting 8 hours at 200 lumens and 4 hours at the maximum 400 lumens. It has the same buttons as the Storm, and so the same difficulty with gloves on, plus the same spot and flood modes.
I’ve also made a video about these lights.
You can find more detailed reviews by myself and others of some of these lights plus others on the TGO website.
