night hiking headlamp

I recently used my petzl tikka night hiking and found the illumination wasn't that great. I have been shopping around for a new headlamp that will give me good lighting and that's not to bulky, any suggestions?
thanks.
kmac

I Have had good luck with my Petzl forget the model # but has a krypton bulb and 4 leds, with a 4AA remote battery. Enough light with the 4 leds for most situations and the focusable krypton beam is there the odd time I have needed it. A single charge on the 4AAs with the LEDs lasts for many nights of skiing or snowshoeing, but I only gets about 4-5 hours with the high beam on.

The remote battery keeps the weight on the head down, and the battery pack a can be stuffed into an inside pocket when the temp heads south of zero.

Petzl Myop 3 or 5....

M

Black Diamond Zenix IQ. Very bright, good (essential, really) for skiing downhill on a trail that has blowdown. Rectangular discharge curve and blinking "find me" light that does double duty as a colour coded battery strength indicator light. (Battery pack goes behind your head so reading in bed isn't comfortable.)

Who could ask for more in their Christmas stocking?

I have the Black Diamond Vectra IQ head lamp. It has the option of using 4 led lights or the xenon (I think that's what they call it) bulb. The xenon bulb puts out a tremendous beam of light...there is a reflector plate so it really alluminates the area! There is the otpion of using it at 3 different light levels, high, medium or low. It takes 4 AA batteries. A couple of drawbacks...it's kind of bulky because of the battery pack and the batteries do not last very long when using the xenon light. Other than that I have been very pleased so far.

http://www.bdel.com/gear/vectra_iq.php

Happy Shopping!
-MEB

I really like my Petzl Myo XP. The boost function is really useful and battery life is good as well. I love the fact that there are no bulbs. One 1-Watt led with variable levels of brightness so no bulbs to burn out. Also a brilliant piercing white light as only LED's can give. The boost function really reaches out and touches things on those crappy rainy nights when most lamps really don't allow you to see much of anything.

Like I said, I really like this lamp.

Keith

Streamlight Trident is inexpensive, has either a 3 LED or 1 LED for walking the trails and general illumination and a Krypton spot to flood which is very bright. Uses 3-aaa batteries and is nice and light. I've been using it allot lately on these dark mornings.

If you hike in the winter alot, you may wish to consider getting a lamp with a separate battery pack on a cable so that you can keep the batteries warm by putting the pack in your jacket.

I am all for dual lights-- the ones with leds and a spot light. The leds are great for conserving batteries and the spot is useful for identifying a path for water crossings to the other side.

Some of the Black Diamond models can take different bulbs depending upon your preferences.

I am not sure what (non-marketing) purpose a flashing light serves...is it meant to signal an emergency?

IMO, LED technology has progressed to the point that regular bulbs have been superceded (for hiking headlamp purposes) for up to about 3W lights. (Orienteers and cyclists may use much brigher lights--up to 50W or so.)

A good source of reviews of headlamps is http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews_index/reviews_index_headlamps.htm.

My current favorite is the BD Zenix IQ. A good range of intensities with a good bright beam and a regulator circuit to keep the beam at constant intensity as the batteries weaken. Good enough for night backcountry trail skiing. Review at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/pt_apex.htm

I also carry a PrincetonTec Aurora for camping and as a backup. Bright enough for easy night hiking. Review: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/princetontec_aurora.htm

The PrincetonTec Apex is the brightest LED headlamp (3W continuous) that I am aware of. However, I don't like its light pattern. (The spilloff around the main beam has a dark ring. I like a smooth spilloff.) The regulator circuit is not as good as the one in the Zenix IQ. Review: http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/pt_apex.htm

Note that most hiking lights these days seem to use AA cells. As they get brighter, the battery lifetime gets shorter. IMO, long battery life (requires low intensity settings) is as or more important than a bright beam.

In winter, use Lithium (primary) AA cells. They should work to -40 or so.

BTW, this is a topic which seems to reoccur constantly--try searching. You should find many similar threads.

Doug

Remix said:

I am not sure what (non-marketing) purpose a flashing light serves...is it meant to signal an emergency?

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I believe it extends battery life and is easier to spot, if you're trying to be located. You could leave it on flash in camp or on the trail for either reason.

BD Zenix sans IQ

I have the Black Diamond Zenix. no IQ functions (just a spot light and a spread out light). I use the battery friendly spread light for most everything (and it does a GRET job). One complaint: there is only one button to turn the lamp on/off/switch between modes. meaning I am in mode A (high beam) and I turn the unit off, upon next start I am in mode B (low beam). It's a little cumbersome, but worth it considering I got it on clearance for $20......

Just bought
Petzl Myobelt 3
from REI outlet the other day.
It is brighter/nicer than my old princeton Tec Matrix. Hopefully, I will test it on field soon.

The Petzl Myo XP is a great light as SAR-EMT 40 states. I would also check out the Petzl Tikka XP as a lighter weight alternative. Lots of the same features.

DougPaul said:

IMO, LED technology has progressed to the point that regular bulbs have been superceded (for hiking headlamp purposes) for up to about 3W lights.

Click to expand...

Absolutely! The only personal light source that I use that isn't LED is my Surefire and that is because it has a 65 or a 120 lumen bulb. The only other one that is non LED is 3 million candlepower. But that is carried on the truck, not in my pocket.

Keith

keepin' on said:

I have the Black Diamond Zenix. no IQ functions (just a spot light and a spread out light).

Click to expand...

The Zenix (narrow beam) is similar to the Zenix IQ on its low or medium narrow beam. No regulator, 3 AAA batts.

IMO, not in the same league as the Zenix IQ.

Doug

jime said:

The Petzl Myo XP is a great light as SAR-EMT 40 states. I would also check out the Petzl Tikka XP as a lighter weight alternative. Lots of the same features.

Click to expand...

IMO, a decent light. The beam spreader is clever (and nice). The low setting is brigher than I prefer (insufficient battery life). No regulator. Boost button for a short-term brighter light. (The LED will overheat if run at the boost setting for too long.)

The PrincetonTec Apex runs continuously at about the same intensity as the Myo XP on boost.

Background info: When a new headlamp of interest comes out, I take my meters and some batteries (alkaline and NiMH) and go vist the local REI or EMS and compare and measure away. (They are used to me...)

The reviews at http://www.flashlightreviews.com are very good, too.

Doug

headlamp

thanks everyone!!! what a wealth of information!!! i look forward to navigating at night with my new headlamp : )
kmac

kmac said:

I recently used my petzl tikka night hiking and found the illumination wasn't that great.

Click to expand...

I've been night hiking with my Tikka plus (one more LED than the regular Tikka) for a couple of years now and haven't had a problem. If you find the light a little dim, you might want to try replacing the batteries or use lithium batteries in the Winter. Replacing the batteries did the trick for me. I find it's hard to tell when the LED's are fading compared to the non LED's where the dimness was quite obvious.

I've hiked with buddies who love the Black Diamond lamps.


-Shayne

spaddock said:

If you find the light a little dim, you might want to try replacing the batteries or use lithium batteries in the Winter. Replacing the batteries did the trick for me. I find it's hard to tell when the LED's are fading compared to the non LED's where the dimness was quite obvious.

Click to expand...

There are basically 2 kinds of LED headlamp: those with a boost regulator and those without. A boost regulator increases the voltage up to the ~4 volts required by a white LED and will keep the LED at full intensity until the batteries are dead (at which point, the light will rapidly go dim). An LED light without a boost regulator will slowly dim as the batteries are consumed.

The above applies to alkaline (1.5V) batteries. NiMH (1.25V) and lithium (1.5V) batteries tend to hold full voltage until they are depleted, so either kind of LED light will tend to stay at full brightness until the battery dies. Note the lower voltage on the NiMH batteries--a light with a boost regulator will be equally bright with all 3 battery types, a light without will be dimmer with the NiMH battery.

Any white LED light that uses one (1.5V) or two (3V) cells must use a boost circuit.

The LED lights are typically dimmed by a different mechanism--a chopper which turns the light on and off rapidly and varies the percentage of on time to control the brightness. (Wave the light around and you will see the flicker.) Some LED lights have both a boost regulator and a chopper (eg BD Zenix IQ), some have only one, and some have neither.

Unlike an incandescent bulb, the color of an LED does not change as it gets dimmer. We notice the color change faster than we notice the dimming.

Doug

These are the kind of replies, from people like Doug Paul, that make this board so valuable. Doug's answers on a variety of technical questions are a resource that I rely on often.
Thanks