I am looking for a allround headlight which I can mainly use for late-night hiking.
Would be great if the light can be taken apart so I can use it as normal flashlight. My P12GT and TIP could use some companion. P12GT is too throwy sometimes, the TIP could use some more battery on longer hikes in the night. But this isn’t a hard requirement.
Hard requirements:
18650
all-round
I have come to the following list of alternatives:
Skillhunt H03
Nitecore HC-65
Army-tek Wizard PRO V3
Led Lenser H14.2R
What I like about:
the nitecore HC-65 are the auxillary and hiCri leds but are they useful enough? And like that fact my other two lights are also NiteCore.
Army-tek Wizard PRO v3 is the great reviews it has here but havent got the auxilary features the others have
Led Lenser of the great battery-pack and focusable beam makes it very versatile but expensive
Skillhunt H03 because it’s cheap
Each has it pro’s and cons but I have hard time deciding what will be of use for me. Can you guys give me some headstart. I am open to other suggestions too. I am not an hardcore user but see me as an allround user that likes to have a good light. Still love the fact that I amaze friends with the versatility of the TIP and the fact that it has an quality LED. Most here use some cheap-ass flashlights or have the big ol’ maglites
Hope you guys can help me choose
How often do you think you will use the AUX led’s on a headlamp? I have a nitecore nu30 with red and hicri I don’t use the red much, and the only reason I use the hicri is because it has flood beam. On many lights the AUX have lower run times per lumen than white.
If you want to stay with Nitecore maybe look at the H30 or H33, I think they are both on the spotty side. The HC-65 looks heavy,might be bouncy & spotty. I have a new Wizard and I am not to crazy about the mode spacing. Liked my older Wizard’s 15-70 lumen spacing, much more then the new versions 5.5-30 spacing. I have used the Skilhunt H03 in the past and now have another on order. It has a 20-70 lumen spacing which I find great for night hiking.
Buy one and if you don’t like it sell it and buy another. Repeat this until your happy with your choices. lol
I was never very impressed with led lenser stuff in general. I had an f1and my olight s10 would run circles around it at half the price. My suggestion would be one of the bigger olight baton series. They have the best UI, and they just work.
Can you explain why? I could buy an skillhunt and a HC65 for the money. But if it’s worth it, its worth it.
Wow that PL47 looks like a killer lamp. Not sure if that’s what I am after.
But for the price a bright hi CRI lamp could be handy as a general flashlight too. Sometimes I find the colors get a bit dull/washed out with my P12GT.
Wondering if it isn’t too have for an headlamp…
Could nicely complement my P12GT, really. Thats why the Army Tek is on my shortlist. The wizard v3 Seems like the most allround lamp…
Where can you get it that cheap? Thats a steal indeed. Only see them listed for 31 euros.
General use will be night hikes, so prefer an 18650 light because of the longer runtimes compared to AA.
I am quite satisfied with my P12GT but sometimes I wish I had both my hands free and/or dont have to hold the light in case of late night running.
This headlamp will also be laying in the car whenever I go out. You never know when you need it once…
So that’s why I prefer the light to be detachable so I could use it as a normal flashlight too. For that case it has to complement my p12GT thus be more floody and bit more pleasing colors for my eyes. But this isn’t an hard requirement.
Like I said it should be the most allround lamp so I could (mis)use it in every situation. I plan to buy only one light that can do all.
I went for the Skilhunt H03 (tir) because it’s cheap and they seem to be universally recommended. Has been great for camping, night hikes, and I’m also the weirdo often watering his plants and trees at night with a headlamp on lol. The magnetic tailcap is also a nice bonus that has come in handy a bunch of times. There may be nicer lamps with more features, etc, but the H03 has kept me happy.
I think the H03 would be the most versatile in the long run just because its one of the easiest to mod and a lot of mod and lego options out there. And if you’re gunning for the one light that does it all the H03 is closer to that in my opinion.
Personally, I carry a shorty 18350 H03 with a 219c emitter and Lexel’s TA narsil driver. If i need a headlamp I put it in a headband (I use armytek Tiara C1 headband but the stock headband also work). If I need more runtimes I put in the 18650 tube. If I want more throw or flood I swap in a reflector from my H03r or a 17mm Yajiamei optics. Or you can carry multiple heads with different emitters and optics if you so desire.
it’s a headlamp but you can also use it as a handheld, it have a magnetic base (stronger than H03), the battery is included, bult-in charger, waterproof, have a nice tint, 10 years waranty. Take a look at the armytek elf c2 too.
Ilove the HC65 I use it daily and I do mean daily, Am an outdoor activities instructor and member of SAR so am often out on the mountains at night or underground. This weekend ofr instance I spent 11hours underground running a scout caving trip followed by 7 further hours later on a search for two walkers. I used my HC65 and never changed my battery once. And thats just one example of the runtime that has impressed me. Beam wise, it has a good throw with a nice flood and doesn’t washout what you are looking at if itcloses to you too much(will if you are on 1000lm) The tint is a bit on the cold side but I would rather have throw than perfect colour rendering etc… We use the HC65 as a team and all my instructors have now moved to the HC65 too. On the hills etc it works great and has been by far the best I have used thats in my list. The Aux light is great love it when wondering round a camp site or working close up to something and my partner loves to use it as a Fill in light for photography.The red is excellent too and have often used it out on the hills instead of main or aux beam and same underground(has a spooky effect) overall has been the best have used in all invoroments. We all used the Fenix hl55 before and petzl’s headlamps before that. I wouldn’t go back……
HC65 is nice and I especially like the switch and the tint of the auxillary led. I just don’t like the cool white main emitter (no option otherwise and very difficult to replace) and that it has no direct access to Ultra Low Mode. I also don’t like that the auxillary high cri led has only one mode (26 lumens). I would not call it a thrower though. Even the very floody the wizard pro and H03 out throws it a little bit if you look at the specs. I also prefer beaded TIR optics for a headlamp compared to reflectors since they produce a nicer beam pattern with no distinct edges.
I have the Skilhunt H03F, think it’s great for the price, can’t imagine it not being good enough for night hiking. I guess the Nitecore must be good too. It is nice to have an independant red light for middle of the night use, but the low of the H03 is fairly undisturbing…
once I have an idea of use.