Best headlamp under $50?

reboot wrote:Just got the Fenix HL-60R in the mail & I have to say it's pretty freaking awesome. It came to 151g on the scale including the 18650 battery but w/o the middle strap (for reference, my Princeton TEC EOS is 110g w/ alkaline, 98g w/ lithium). I paid $65 (easy to knock off $10 from list), which is more than the OP asked for, but consider it includes a big battery you can keep recharging, the cost over time is probably lower than $50 w/o batteries. I can notice the heavier weight on the head, but it's not uncomfortable. One nice thing is it's hinged around the entire diameter of the battery housing, so it's stable wherever (180 degree adjustability) you decide to aim the light, unlike most headlamps that tend to drop down over time. You can also set it on any flattish surface & aim the light. It's weird to have the lumen of a low beam auto headlight in the hand; I'm psyched to see how well it'll work for night bouldering & whether to take it up for NIAD. Couple of pet peeves: 1) the battery housing end cap is easy to loss, but given the in-headlamp recharging function & battery capacity, you shouldn't need to change it in the field. 2) the USB charging circuit can only draw 500ma, which would take 4hrs to completely recharge the included battery.

The HL60R is basically my older HL55 with roughly the same output and run times ... But it has the red light and usb charger built in

The latter is HUGE as it allows you to charge off a powerbank, anywhere theres a plug and even off solar

It also saves you from buying a charger

My petzl rxp has usb charging .... Folks dont realize that once you have it, youll use yr light WAY more around the house and for short trips outside ... Just the mere act of being able to easily recharge by a simple plug makes a huge mental difference

As to the output ... It blows aways any petzls, BDs, princeton tec, etc of equivalent weight

It effectively makes lamps like the BD icon and petzl myo XP obsolete because of the battery weight

The only one that comes close is the petzl nao (and tikka rxp which is a bit lighter) as they have the benefit of automatically variable lighting

One trick is to put a piece of scotch tape over the front which acts as a diffuser for more flood and protects the lens (if you wear a helmet and do vertical nightclimbs you often bash the headlamp against the rock)

One very important thing with 18650 is to know the safe handling and charging practices, to buy quality bats, and use protected bats

Theres plenty of literature online about all the above

Another nice thing is that you can lockout the light with a half twist on the cap preventing accidental activation and parasitic drain

Its a good idea to lube up the anodized part of the threads to preserve them, i use superlube thats ~5 dollahs a tube at home depot

The bat that comes with the HL60R is a 2600 mAH 18650

For best runtime la get a protected 18650 3400/3500 mAH panasonic bat ... Not some cheap unknown brand

All good 18650 bats are basically panasonics, lg, samsung, sony and a few others under the wrapper ... You can find tests and reviews with actual measurements on da intrawebz

Theyre like 10 dollahz each

mtnelectronics.com is a quality retailer run personally by its owner ... He wont sell you any fake bats

;)

My Tikka XP has a LI battery and USB charging port. Petzl offered several versions of the XP as well as upgrades.

Ray Pinpillage wrote:My Tikka XP has a LI battery and USB charging port. Petzl offered several versions of the XP as well as upgrades.

petzl no longer offers "upgrades" to normal headlamps

Their only usb rechargeable headlamps dedicated ones such as the nao and tikka rxp which are designed from ground up as Li-on lamps ...

The issue with petzls approach is that they put the charging circuit in a bat pack itself making it fairly weigh inefficient compared to a 18650 bat for the energy Wh provided

Yr 900 mAh core bat provided a fairly small overall energy improvement against the black AAA eneloop rechargeables and in fact limited reduced the lm of the lamp when using the core

The core system was useful years ago when it first came out as an early generation li-on setup for petzl ... I owned and used one .... But the time has passed it by and the old xp for serious use

These days even a 15$ walmart headlamp has more output

Not to mention the fact that theres decent degredation of li-on bats after so many cycles ... If you used your core bat enough you would notice it no longer holds a charge as well as before

With non-proprietary bats you can always get a new bat ... Can you buy a new core bat today?

Theres a reason petzl no longer sells the core ... And moved towards dedicated lion lamps

Hows that night climbing going ... Got any pics?

;)

bearbreeder wrote: petzl no longer offers "upgrades" to normal headlamps Their only usb rechargeable headlamps dedicated ones such as the nao and tikka rxp which are designed from ground up as Li-on lamps ... The issue with petzls approach is that they put the charging circuit in a bat pack itself making it fairly weigh inefficient compared to a 18650 bat for the energy Wh provided Yr 900 mAh core bat provided a fairly small overall energy improvement against the black AAA eneloop rechargeables and in fact limited reduced the lm of the lamp when using the core The core system was useful years ago when it first came out as an early generation li-on setup for petzl ... I owned and used one .... But the time has passed it by and the old xp for serious use These days even a 15$ walmart headlamp has more output Not to mention the fact that theres decent degredation of li-on bats after so many cycles ... If you used your core bat enough you would notice it no longer holds a charge as well as before With non-proprietary bats you can always get a new bat ... Can you buy a new core bat today? Theres a reason petzl no longer sells the core ... And moved towards dedicated lion lamps Hows that night climbing going ... Got any pics? ;)

I enjoy that you wrote 700 word essays all while completely missing the point. I'm not trying to sell a discontinued product or ignore development in LED or battery technology. Quit trying to sound smart, all the crap you just regurgitated can be found over at Candlepower forum where the flashlight dorks hangout.

Ray Pinpillage wrote: I enjoy that you wrote 700 word essays all while completely missing the point. I'm not trying to sell a discontinued product or ignore development in LED or battery technology. Quit trying to sound smart, all the crap you just regurgitated can be found over at Candlepower forum where the flashlight dorks hangout.

Blah blah blah .... Dude my old petzl xp with core is all anyone will ever need !!!!

hows those night climbing pics coming ... You had a few weeks to dig em up

Or go climb at night u know

;)

18650 headlamp illuminating pebbalz No flash used in photos

As with all of your posts, you really seem to struggle understanding people and communication in general. You make absolute statements but completely fail to realize your use or need is different than everyone else's. Technology changes, we get it. You like bright flashlights, we get that too. 400 lumen lights give me a headache and I have yet to ever need one in the mountains (all climbing doesn't take place at Squammish walk-ups) .

Quit being that insufferable know it all. Go outside, endeavor to communicate with people on a human level. The internet isn't real life; being an internet expert shouldn't define you.

I'm sure you'll continue to blather on about wanting a picture because being right and knowing everything is what you're about.

Ray Pinpillage wrote:As with all of your posts, you really seem to struggle understanding people and communication in general. You make absolute statements but completely fail to realize your use or need is different than everyone else's. Technology changes, we get it. You like bright flashlights, we get that too. 400 lumen lights give me a headache and I have yet to ever need one in the mountains (all climbing doesn't take place at Squammish walk-ups) . Quit being that insufferable know it all. Go outside, endeavor to communicate with people on a human level. The internet isn't real life; being an internet expert shouldn't define you. I'm sure you'll continue to blather on about wanting a picture because being right and knowing everything is what you're about.

awww ... pooor babii ray

arent you the one who started whining that 18650 headlamps are useless for climbing?

its not like you climb at night anyways ... not a SINGLE pic there in all your years doing da GNAR?

its hilarious that yr whining about "internet experts" when you cant even show any evidence that you even have any experience climbing at night there

i notice you havent contributed one whit to this thread other than "my years old tikka xp is all anyone needs despite the fact i dont climb at night, 18650 BAAAAD, lets go be all snarky cause someone says otherwise"

;)

A bit of steepah trad at night

We get it bearbreeder, you're a headlamp hero who's better than the rest of us. Can we move on?

Patrick Shyvers wrote:We get it bearbreeder, you're a headlamp hero who's better than the rest of us. Can we move on?

only if you shine the way with 50 lms

;)

Petzl it's a great brand!

I would save up more money and buy something expensive! You can't go wrong with an expensive headlamp. You have to take into consideration the most important thing: will you be using a lot this lamp or not? If not, it's not worth it to buy something that's top-quality since it will be a waste of money. For example, I've recently got into the hobby of biking and I've decided to buy some accessories. I love to ride my bike during nighttime, so I had to buy a light in order to be able to see. I've spoken with a couple of friends and they have told me to buy this https://www.amazon.com/Vont-Rechargeable-Illumination-Resistant-Accessories/dp/B078TB9TMK. I cannot wait to test it out!

This headlamp is by far my favorite for climbing.  It is currently $12.10 including shipping and rechargeable lithium-ion 18650 battery.  If you want extra extra batteries these are excellent.  The light recharges from USB and includes charging cord.  Shipping time is generally about 2 weeks from China, can be longer.  It has 5 different light levels, will run all night on medium which is very bright.  You loosen the tailcap slightly to lock it out while in your pack.  I'm not sure if the included battery is decent, I have always ordered them without the battery and sourced them otherwise(such as the second link).     

     I have ordered a lot of these for friends, less than one in ten came with a defect initially.(AliExpress has always refunded any problems I've had).  The rest have been completely reliable even with long rough use.

     Take this from someone who has had just about everything(headlamp freak!).  I have built many of my own, I also have BD Spot, Petzl Nao, Skilhunt, Armytek, and many other BDs, Petzls, and PrincetonTecs.

Jordan Day wrote:

This headlamp is by far my favorite for climbing.  It is currently $12.10 including shipping and rechargeable lithium-ion 18650 battery.  If you want extra extra batteries these are excellent.  The light recharges from USB and includes charging cord.  Shipping time is generally about 2 weeks from China, can be longer.  It has 5 different light levels, will run all night on medium which is very bright.  You loosen the tailcap slightly to lock it out while in your pack.  I'm not sure if the included battery is decent, I have always ordered them without the battery and sourced them otherwise(such as the second link). I have ordered a lot of these for friends, less than one in ten came with a defect initially.(AliExpress has always refunded any problems I've had).  The rest have been completely reliable even with long rough use.

    Take this from someone who has had just about everything(headlamp freak!).  I have built many of my own, I also have BD Spot, Petzl Nao, Skilhunt, Armytek, and many other BDs, Petzls, and PrincetonTecs.

You've ordered like 10-20 of these and that was enough to get defective product? Just the fact you included that line in your review makes me write off the product. 

If that headlamp works, it would be excellent to just have in the bottom of the pack. I have to dbl-check ,but I think 18650 batteries (lithiums) keep their charge a whole while.

J C wrote:

You've ordered like 10-20 of these and that was enough to get defective product? Just the fact you included that line in your review makes me write off the product. 

Your point is excellent of course.  They seem to be skimping on testing because of how cheap the price is.  Other than the few with initial flaws they have been bulletproof.  With a little better quality control this light is comparable to my really good $45 headlamp, with some added advantages for climbing(like distance lighting and usb charging).  You just have to be willing to put in for a refund if you get one of the few lemons.  AliExpress has never made me return a defective item to get a refund.

My vote goes to the Nitecore NU25.  I’ve been using one for a few years now, and I love the almost everything about it.  Light output, lightweight, proximity light, red light, lock out, usb charge.  Yeah it’s battery life is not as good as 18250 battery lights (I have a zebralight which I mostly use for biking), but if you mostly only use your head lamp when hiking in the dark, for a few hours, that’s really not an issue.  If on longer trip could bring powerbank. 

The HL7 is hard for me to beat for a budget torch. The beam focus and dimmer is great. It's pretty powerful so bring extra batteries. As a beater torch, I've been using the HOKOILN LED Headlamp. I use a headlamp every night, got these last year and haven't had a problem yet. I got a four-pack for $10, batteries included. One in every vehicle, a couple for the wife, a couple backpacking for when your buddy forgets theirs. The COB setting is good for broadcast lighting while working or hiking. We're talking budget, right?

Jordan Day wrote:

AliExpress has never made me return a defective item to get a refund.

Wow ok that's pretty cool. 

I'm sure that headlamp is fine; I actually used a similar super cheap one for several years. When I read your first post though, I fully expected your account to have been created yesterday to advertise your own brand of knockoff headlamps in necrothreads. Guessing you didn't join in 2010 just to pitch headlamps ten years later lol.

For rock climbing in the dark ou alpine start I go with a Petzl Actik Core + extra batteries. Highly recommended

I have 3 of these... https://coastportland.com/collections/headlamps/products/hl7   Cheap durable adjustable beam and power, very bright. 3rd strap is nice.  Goes on helmet well.   Use for night climbing and night Mtn biking, 3 aaa batteries last weeks of my 1-4 hour outings.  feels better supporting an American company than Amazon crap.  Have 2-4 petzyl lights including Tikka 2, the coast always goes in the pack first.