Headlamps for alpine climbing 2019

I have a Fenix HM65r too - it's a great light.

Just a couple thoughts on lights.  I know it’s not always feasible, but if you haven’t tried it, just turn off the headlamp for most/all of the approach.  I know it’s almost reflexive to get out of the car in the wee hours and turn the light on, but you’d be amazed what you can do when you just leave it off (have a good one for emergencies, trouble spots, etc).  But for example, you can typically go from Lupine meadows to the saddle without one.  For sure if the big headlamp in the sky is out (moon).

@Stever:  have you tried taking it off your helmet and either wearing it loosely around your neck or strapping to a pack strap or your belt.  Try other locations.   Even though it’s a HEAD lamp, if you don’t tell anyone, you can wear it other places ;)

Look to cavers for the best light. My Zebra light has treated me very well. I've never seen anything as powerful or adjustable (6 brightness levels + a couple strobes) from BD or Petzl at all. Runs off rechargeables. Also hyper waterproof. Have heard good about Fenix, but they look a little bulky.

Where's Walden wrote:

Look to cavers for the best light. My Zebra light has treated me very well. I've never seen anything as powerful or adjustable (6 brightness levels + a couple strobes) from BD or Petzl at all. Runs off rechargeables. Also hyper waterproof. Have heard good about Fenix, but they look a little bulky.

Agree.  For cave diving or caving you want the best, brightest, most reliable light source.  

For alpinism, the standards are lower, and weight becomes key.   I’ve never felt headlamp limited in any climbing endeavor with any of the lightweight but “meh” options from Petzl or BD that take 2 lithium AAA’s.

Anyone have a climbing anecdote where something over 300 lumens would make or break the climb or vastly improve safety? 

Mark Pilate wrote:

Agree.  For cave diving or caving you want the best, brightest, most reliable light source.  

For alpinism, the standards are lower, and weight becomes key.   I’ve never felt headlamp limited in any climbing endeavor with any of the lightweight but “meh” options from Petzl or BD that take 2 lithium AAA’s.

Anyone have a climbing anecdote where something over 300 lumens would make or break the climb or vastly improve safety? 

Having something super duper bright could make or break you in a multipitch rappel scenario where you are trying to locate anchors from a distance while avoiding rope snagging obstacles, avoiding passing anchors, avoiding getting cliffed out etc. OP also seems concerned about glacier travel, of which I have limited knowledge but I know there are significant hazards involved.

Where's Walden wrote:

Having something super duper bright could make or break you in a multipitch rappel scenario where you are trying to locate anchors from a distance while avoiding rope snagging obstacles, avoiding passing anchors, avoiding getting cliffed out etc. OP also seems concerned about glacier travel, of which I have limited knowledge but I know there are significant hazards involved.

I really think it is easy to have it all those days, for example a Petzl Actik core is 450 lumens and weight almost nothing. 

Plenty light (pun intended) enough for glacier travel or even to climb with. 

Mark Pilate wrote:

Anyone have a climbing anecdote where something over 300 lumens would make or break the climb or vastly improve safety? 

was heading through the labyrinth section of orizaba in low viz in the middle of the night (generally easy terrain, but can get off track or cliffed out), and my party appreciated that i had a bright-ass light that could punch through the snow and fog, as their bd/petzl lamps could only light the immediate vicinity. or as Walden said, a rap / high consequence scenario I would for sure want the possibility of a strong light.

i'd never go back to anything other than an 18650 battery lamp.  long life, bright, easy to swap. i have no idea why the climbing brands haven't switched over. the simple ones arent heavy either, cant even feel mine on the helmet

Mitch L wrote:

i'd never go back to anything other than an 18650 battery lamp.  long life, bright, easy to swap. i have no idea why the climbing brands haven't switched over. the simple ones arent heavy either, cant even feel mine on the helmet

Petzl does but they wrap the battery in a proprietary shell and charge a huge mark up. 

> Anyone have a climbing anecdote where something over 300 lumens would make or break the climb or vastly improve safety?

Yeah, 300 lumens sucks. Doing the descent off Epinepherine at 6:00 PM in October when it isn't balls hot and the sun sets at 6:00? Can't see more than 100 feet in front of you with your overpriced petzl headlamp and you missed the cairns, followed some goat trail, ended up downclimbing some sketchy shit or rapelling in the wrong gully. I've heard the stories - and they were probably avoidable if folks didn't cling to the myth of their $60 black diamond headlamps being top of the line.

Hell - the second time I climbed it a helicopter was landing at the Black Velvet Canyon parking lot because some dude took his partner up the thing, made it halfway up Day 1, Day 2 they topped out but got lost on the descent and (rightfully) called in a rescue vs. bivvying in their puffies another night.

Even changing your batteries in the dark - 3 AAA's versus 1x18650. You ever lose track of which ones were charged and which batteries were dead because you have to juggle 6 batteries during the swap? Vs. you have 2 spare 18650s in your chalk bag, which will last for 4 hours each at 300 lumens while giving you the option to run them at 1000 lumens for an hour. You never get into the combinatorics of figuring out which one of the 3 batteries was the accidental dead one. This point is understated IMO but having one fat battery vs. a bunch of AAA's flopping around like pocket change is really nice when it's dark, cold, and you need to swap batteries.

Literally zero excuses for the mass market headlamps. If you're deep enough in the conversation that you're reading forum threads on lumens and headlamps just do yourself a favor and toss your AAA headlamps in the trash and buy a Zebralight. Petzl used to sell their rescue headlamps for like $500 with a giant battery pack on the back of your head. My zebralight nukes it from orbit at 1/4 the cost.

yeah I'm also using PETZL ACTIK core LED headlamp, and it's working perfect. 

Mostly easier while changing lighting mode with one hand!
https://bestflashlightsreviews.com/headlamp-reviews/

Some more content farm garbo content shilling affiliate link crap. You've gotta be susceptible to Bat Boy / Weekly World News to read this link farm dud and believe it's an honest appraisal of headlamps for climbers. 

FYI - They just came out with an updated version of the HM50r. 700 lumens now instead of 500, added a red light. I just upgraded. 

Will Haden wrote:

FYI - They just came out with an updated version of the HM50r. 700 lumens now instead of 500, added a red light. I just upgraded. 

looks like battery life took a bit of a hit though. For me i think lasting longer on high is more important than max lumens.

Holy moly...you weren't kidding. I would say run times took more than a bit of a hit on the v2. Not really sure what to do now. The couple hundred extra lumens seem negligible, but I was really stoked on the red light addition. Doesnt seem worth the trade off for only 3 hours of run time at 400 lumens. 

ceteris paribus, brightness is burn time

the capacity of a battery literally decreases if you pull energy out of it at a faster rate --- this is called Peukert's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peukert%27s_law 

A couple of years ago I looked into the zebra light and the other non climbing manufacturer company mentioned in this thread.  The user reviews were no better that the black diamond and petzl lights with quite a few failures.  I nursed my crushed spot for another year and bought the BD onsite.  I am satisfied with it.  It is bright enough (375 lumens} to find my way, the battery lasts a long time, the battery indicator is accurate with the rechargeable battery and useless with AAA batteries, the controls are easy enough to use once you figure them out.

I did have some problems with the 2010ish BD storm with the light getting turned on in my pack but that seems to have been fixed.  Neither of my last 2 BD lights have turned on in the pack and the burn turned is long enough that it probably no longer matters if I check the batteries before I leave on a trip.  And I have my cell phone as a backup light.

Headlamps have come a long ways since the 1980s.  Anyone remember the Easter seal headlamp, petzl cold weather headlamp with detached battery inside your jacket, the truly crappy original rei branded headlamp.  All the modern headlamps are comparatively miraculous. 

climber pat wrote:

A couple of years ago I looked into the zebra light and the other non climbing manufacturer company mentioned in this thread.  The user reviews were no better that the black diamond and petzl lights with quite a few failures.  I nursed my crushed spot for another year and bought the BD onsite.  I am satisfied with it.  It is bright enough (375 lumens} to find my way, the battery lasts a long time, the battery indicator is accurate with the rechargeable battery and useless with AAA batteries, the controls are easy enough to use once you figure them out.

I did have some problems with the 2010ish BD storm with the light getting turned on in my pack but that seems to have been fixed.  Neither of my last 2 BD lights have turned on in the pack and the burn turned is long enough that it probably no longer matters if I check the batteries before I leave on a trip.  And I have my cell phone as a backup light.

Headlamps have come a long ways since the 1980s.  Anyone remember the Easter seal headlamp, petzl cold weather headlamp with detached battery inside your jacket, the truly crappy original rei branded headlamp.  All the modern headlamps are comparatively miraculous. 

In the 80’s had a little AA REI headlamp I loved for how small it was after dealing with those big metal 4D monsters on other trips. What with 3 ft of wire tangled with pack straps, slings, and mitten cords.

When finishing that last pitch to the bivy ledge and the little REI lamp strapped to my helmet I would hang a penlight from my neck as a backup, shining at my feet and belay loop. More light where needed and when the headlamp died I had light to change batteries.

For what it is worth I just had a HM50r V2 that failed after a couple hours of use. Out of 5 Fenix headlamps between myself and GF, this is the only one I have had issues with. Lost one, one failed almost immediately, and the other 3 are going strong, including one which is 5 years old or so. I have also had 4 BD headlamps, a couple old Petzl halogens, and a couple Princeton Tecs. The BDs all stopped working within a year or less. The Princeton Tecs lasted several years. 

Jacob Straszynski wrote:

Yeah, 300 lumens sucks. Doing the descent off Epinepherine at 6:00 PM in October when it isn't balls hot and the sun sets at 6:00? Can't see more than 100 feet in front of you with your overpriced petzl headlamp

Even changing your batteries in the dark - 3 AAA's versus 1x18650. You ever lose track of which ones were charged and which batteries were dead because you have to juggle 6 batteries during the swap? 

I descended Epinephrine in the dark with a Petzl Micro. No problem. 

I tape three batteries together oriented for the headlamp. Essentially the same benefits as a single battery.

Ryan Pfleger wrote:

For what it is worth I just had a HM50r V2 that failed after a couple hours of use. Out of 5 Fenix headlamps between myself and GF, this is the only one I have had issues with. Lost one, one failed almost immediately, and the other 3 are going strong, including one which is 5 years old or so. I have also had 4 BD headlamps, a couple old Petzl halogens, and a couple Princeton Tecs. The BDs all stopped working within a year or less. The Princeton Tecs lasted several years. 

Keep us updated on how fenix handles it.

Used mine in the wild last weekend with no issues. Just cragging with the gf, but I really liked the updates. New headband, clip-on connection, red light. No issues with the runtime either (yet). 

Anyone try the new HM65R-T? Has both the flood and spot beam and combined 1500 lumens

https://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-hm65r-t-trail-running-led-headlamp/

I use my headlamp for running as well and this one seems like it could fit multiple purposes…

Will Haden wrote:

Keep us updated on how fenix handles it.

Just returned it to REI.