Head lamp recommendations

Just go to Amazon and spend 20 bucks on a 3 pack of generic LED headlamps. Throw a BD sticker on them and now you are all set. They will be plenty bright and you’ll have spares for your truck and house. 

On the zebralight site, it was functioning normally yesterday. Probably temporarily down.

Al Pinewrote:

I’ve had the opposite experience and own two actic core headlamps. Both a few years old. Rugged, versatile, and no issues with rechargeable battery life.

I have two major hang ups.

1.) no seal covering battery compartment - you’d think a company like petzl could’ve recognized that being able to see the batteries thru a crack in the housing was unacceptable, especially in a ~$100 product. Sure a simple piece of tape could fix it and make it 10x more waterproof, but they could’ve added a $.05 gasket or seal and probably called their product water resistant.

2.) The highest setting only works for like 10 mins unless you’re using the rechargeable pack from Petzl. Pretty disappointed when I found that any other battery wasn’t powerful enough to run the light on the highest setting for extended periods of time.

Basically between those two flaws I couldn’t count on the light in a serious situation so I don’t. I feel I would’ve had a better experience from the $25 Takina model. At least I would’ve had low expectations going into the purchase. 

Al Pinewrote:

I’ve had the opposite experience and own two actic core headlamps. Both a few years old. Rugged, versatile, and no issues with rechargeable battery life.

Agree. Petzl Actik Core is the best headlamp I’ve experienced. Reliable, lightweight, well built, USB rechargeable. Red light for night vision. Headlamp including rechargeable battery is $70.

With the Petzl battery, high beam lasts a couple hours. I’ve always managed to recharge the battery before medium or low beam has run out. (I’m careful about not wasting power).

Reading the complaint above, about AAAs not lasting long as spares, reminds me I should buy an extra rechargeable Petzl battery.

I would NEVER venture on to a serious climb with only one rechargeable battery and headlamp.  long career as a photographer and carpenter  has taught me that most rechargeable batteries can and will crap out at the worst moment. 

I recently switched from BD Storm to Petzl Actik Core and happy enough so far. The BD Storm eats through batteries way too fast, and doesn't seem to like rechargeable AAA. 

I have the fenix hm50r which is decent for most things considering it’s size. It doesn’t last very long in the brightest mode so I just got the Fenix hm65r-T for technical trail running and with the spot/flood lamps it makes me very excited to use it for alpine starts and route finding in the dark.

Also got the Sofirn D25S for cheap based on the comments here and the other headlamp thread and am excited to try it out too.

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/116526271/headlamps-for-alpine-climbing-2019

The Petzl system where the electronics are seperate from the battery compartment  and is sealed does have one advantage. In inclement weather you do not expose the insides when you change the battery, preventing water or snow from getting into the electronics.

With any of these metal tube headlamps, you risk moisture and dirt getting in there every battery change. Ideally you would never have to change the battery under such conditions, but Murphy's Law says that you may well need to swap it out in the middle of a thunderstorm on rappel !!!

Also, if you drop the cap on a battery change on a zebralight or D25 you are SOL.

I always suggest tube lamps with USB charging, which is why I no longer recommend zebralights (great headlamps otherwise). Not only is this more convenient to top off, you also minimize the chances of the above.

Also constantly removing the 18650 battery risks damaging the wrapper, which has led to some accidents. South Korea banned the sale of loose 18650 unprotected batteries a few years ago for this very reason.

One further advantage of the Petzl Actik is the ability to use primary (non-rechargeable) lithium cells. When temperatures get really cold standard lithium ion batteries are no longer reliable. If you are out below 0F, always bring a set of primary lithiums as a backup.

Some 18650 tube lamps such as Fenix may also have the capability to use 2 primary cr123a cells as well. In either case it is absolutely important to use matched sets of cells, preferably checked with a multimeter. Unmatched voltages between lithium cells in series have caused fireworks.

The Petzl Actik is probably the best headlamp made by a big box company for the above reasons. But in terms of output and runtime, it gets blown away by chinese made 18650 tube headlamps. Fenix, Zebralight, Nitecore, even Sofirn.

In terms of price, well lets just say the Actik Core battery costs more than a D25S including battery.

Had a bit of time off so I put together a overview/review/mods of the D25 series headlamps.

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/121795106/d25-series-headlamp-overview-review-and-mods

Lots of new stuff out there that I wasn’t aware of. My only addition is that I am not a fan of anything that doesn’t have a nice mechanical switch. I had a headlamp that had a soft touch button that combined with a capacitive touch spot could perform 87,000 functions. It was hard enough trying to make it do what I wanted, and then it started acting up. Now I have one that reassuringly clicks and it just has low/high/flash/off.

Candlepowerforums.com is for flashlight nerds. Most of them like pro quality expensive gear, but there are reviews of budget lights too.

Get a Fenix Headlamp. 

They are a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for.  I've never had a Headlamp so bright and reliable.  

Hm50r is what I have. 

I find that having a USB-rechargeable headlamp makes me more likely to use it instead of trying to conserve batteries and be all macho with my night vision.

The BD Revolt is a nice compromise of weight and brightness, and can take standard AAA's as well. You can also recharge it from a power bank or car cigarette lighter. I'm by no means an evangelist for BD products, but this one is pretty good.

In the spirit of year-end nostalgia -- Remember than kid last year who posted about how he always carries three headlamps on multipitch, then Frank asked if he was afraid of the dark, and he got all triggered? Funny stuff.

F r i t zwrote:

In the spirit of year-end nostalgia -- Remember than kid last year who posted about how he always carries three headlamps on multipitch, then Frank asked if he was afraid of the dark, and he got all triggered? Funny stuff.

Sam Cookwrote:

Get a Fenix Headlamp. 

They are a bit more expensive but you get what you pay for.  I've never had a Headlamp so bright and reliable.  

Hm50r is what I have. 

I have found that on the brightest setting it burns through the battery pretty quick so I always carry a spare when I use that one

Steverwrote:

I have found that on the brightest setting it burns through the battery pretty quick so I always carry a spare when I use that one

That's true or it gets hot and switches to a lower setting. But I don't find myself using the highest setting unless I'm routefinding at night, or bumming around camp cooking. 

I always keep 2-3 new batteries in the multi pitch bag just incase. 

Why do people think that an outdoor gear company like Petzl and BD  will make any decent headlamp, 

If you want something solid buy products from a flashlight manufacturer, like surefire, streamlight, and Princeton tech to name a few. 

If it's small, waterproof, impact resistant, and it's used by miners and firefighters it should be more than decent for climbers. 

Cost $12. Older model which has worked flawlessly for many years. Phone's flashlight as an emergency backup. Do have nicer headlamps (gifts). Will use when this one breaks.

• I washed my petzl today and it still turned on and had a charge, so it gets my vote

Francois Dumaswrote:

Why do people think that an outdoor gear company like Petzl and BD  will make any decent headlamp, 

If you want something solid buy products from a flashlight manufacturer

Petzl is solid when it comes to headlamps.  They were founded by a caver and for many years were the leader in headlamp design. Mow I think they have some real competition but they are definitely not an outdoor company dabbling in lights.

I couldn’t decide so I bought both the fenix hm50r v2 and the zebra h600