What are some widely recommended Headlights?

I’ve realised that I don’t have any, so now I want some.
What’s a good starting point?
And what are some top lights in this form factor?

Edit:
Suggestions to date:

  1. Skilhunt H03 x6
  2. BORUIT RJ02 x 4
  3. Nitecore HC50 x4
  4. Thrunite TH20 x3
  5. Nitecore HC60 x2
  6. Xtar H2 x2
  7. Fenix HL10
  8. Nitecore NU30
  9. Zebralight h600 mk2
  10. Zebralight H602w
  11. Petzl on ali
  12. Skillhunt H15
  13. Fenix HL50
  14. Armytek wizzard pro v3 XHP50
  15. Armytek Tiara (v1)
  16. Lumintrail LTH-20
  17. XTAR H3
  18. Nitecore NU20
  19. Skilhunt H02

Anyone?

budget vs quality leader? arguably the BORUIT RJ02

That seems like a very nice budget model thanks!
I’ve been poking around a bit today.
Seeing lots of Skilhunt and Zebralights out there, all way above this price point so good to see some nice intro stuff.

What are your requirements?
Output?
Throw or flood?
Runtime?
Red lights?
High-CRI?
Weight?
Use cases?

Personally I’m happy with my Fenix HL10, Thrunite TH20, and Nitecore NU30 but they all excel for different uses and requirements.

If i could choose only one of my lights it would be my zebralight h600 mk2 hands down.

I love my Zebralight H602w. Its always in my work bag, and gets the most use out of all my headlights. The H602w’s are on clearance at zebralight.com right now, because they are are the older model, but I think they are still great lights compared to the newer Zebralights. Skilhunt H03 is a great budget alternative to a Zebralight.

Skilhunt H03 or Nitecore HC30.
Two right angle light, 1000 lumens, e-switch, lightweight and 18650 powered.
They’re versatile because you can use them both as flashlight and headlight.
The HC30 is throwy, with a smooth reflector and the H03 is really floody with a TIR optic. The H03R is the reflector based variant of the Skilhunt.
The H03 has a red blinker in the switch and has customizable modes, which makes it really better IMHO.
About 30$ with a code IIRC

just for headlight lightweight search for petzl and on ali you can find similar budget versions of it

Seconded on the Boruit. I got like 6 of ’em, gave away a couple, hogging the rest Just In Case. Cheap enough to not cry myself to sleep in case something happens to one. Acts as a decent handheld light if you “palm” it.

Decent light right out of the box, ain’t modding it, keeping it as-is.

Nitecore has several cheaper options than zebralight :stuck_out_tongue:

Nitecore HC60

There are plenty to chose, many good ones listed.
I will let you know I have bad feeling about the ones you find in the outdoor stores.
Black diamond, or Petzl expensive for what you get, flimsy construction, AAA powered, and pain to replace batteries in the low light conditions .
I found single cell headlamps (for me) are more suited.
I have the Skillhunt H15, Fenix HL50 both use single AA’s.

One vote for the skilhunt h03 :slight_smile:
I got both the skilhunt and the Nitecore hc60, and the skilhunt seems to have an overall better construction. Beam pattern is floody but excellent,completely free from artifacts and the switch is easily accessible when the lamp’s mounted on the head. The nitecore has a mixed Aluminium and plastics casing which compromises waterproofness as experienced by myself. It’s got the advantage of being chargeable via USB und proper thermal control, but imho this doesn’t make up for the lack in well-thought construction and higher price.

Armytek wizzard pro v3 XHP50 with magnetic USB charging has EVERYTHING :slight_smile: 1800LM OTF

I have an xtar H2 (single CR123) and Armytek Tiara A1 pro (single AA), here are my pro’s and con’s about them:
Xtar H2 (discontinued)
Pros
Red LED in addition to primary XP-G2
Nicely made/high quality
Lightweight
Can be found for <$30

Cons
Short runtime
No moonlight/firefly mode
Too throwy (I like a headlight to be a smooth flood)

Armytek Tiara (v1)
Pros
Super low light modes (personally tested 20+ days in the second to lowest mode)
Puts out a lot of light on highest mode for AA (plus 14500 support)
High quality/tough body
Magnet in tailcap
Even flood of light, no hot spot
Widely available AA battery powered (personal preference for such a light)
Choice of tint (cool/warm)

Cons
Expensive (~$60-70)

So I guess it’s apparent I really like the Tiara, for me it’s the best headlamp. When the new models come out you can find current stock go on sale at Illumn.com or goinggear, so I only paid $35 for it, but I think I would still pay the full price for it.
I suggest you make a list of what you want in a headlamp and get one. Sometimes you don’t know what you want to change about it until you use it. The Thrunite TH20 also looks appealing to me, but you might have different preferences in a headlight.

I own the following, and use them in order from most to least:

  1. Nitecore HC50 - 30 or 40g heavier than the below “angle head” style lights, but I’ve swapped it to a 2700K high cri emitter and it has great runtime, I can’t stop using it. The UI is simple and intuitive, and the red LEDs have actually been handy to have available.
  2. Skilhunt H03 - the optic give it basically zero hotspot, 100% smooth flood, which I consider the best beam pattern for a headlamp. It is currently neutral white, about 5000K. If I get around to modding it with a warm white LED, it will displace the HC50 as my favorite headlamp.
  3. Lumintrail LTH-20 - bought at a promotion price on Amazon, surprisingly good quality (only a very small step behind the quality of the H03) and the LED and lumens output is genuinely good (confirmed with my integrating sphere). about 5500K, so cooler than I like in a headlamp for sure.
  4. XTAR H3 - cooler white and with a smooth, semi-deep reflector - gives a tight hotspot with good throw (if that’s your thing) but I find it not very useful for close-up work that a headlamp is best suited for IMO.

There is no headlamp with good led, so l recommend H03 , and change led. It is cheap, and have mod friendly construction.

I’ll describe my experience with a few headlamps. Recently as I’ve become more aware of different user interfaces from reading here on BLF, I’m putting more value in a good UI and this has affected my headlamp choice.

Nitecore HC50: 18650 or 2xCR123. I liked this light a lot. Good run-time with 18650 cell. Decent mode spacing. You can activate the dim red light from off, which is nice in a scenario when you want to keep your night vision/not disturb others. You can only go up in the mode brightness, so if you want a lower mode you have to cycle through all the brightest modes first. Most lights are like this, and I think it is not optimal.

Skilhunt H03: 18650. This light is significantly lighter weight than the HC50, which makes big difference especially if you are going to be active while wearing it. Good mode spacing options. You can enter the moonlight mode from off. Again you can only go up in brightness modes. I changed the driver and UI to something that suits me better.

Thrunite TH20: AA/14500 light. This light is the one to get if you need AA compatibility. It’s light and has a nearly ideal UI. You can start in moonlight from off, shortcut to turbo, and it is a “ramping” UI where you can select any brightness you want and ramp in both directions.

Boruit RJ02: 18650. This is not a bad light, but I find the UI to be too slow. It is a ramping UI, but you need to hold on the button for about 3 seconds to change the brightness.

In summary, I would recommend the Skilhunt H03 for 18650 size. You can usually get it somewhere for about $30. For AA size, I would recommend the Thrunite TH20.

Skilhunt H03,

Easy moddable to change LED
Driver can be replaced if you use heat and tool to hold the light tight