I need a head torch for a 2 week cycling tour. I’ll be travelling as light as possible, so low weight and small size are my key requirements (as well as good value, seen as this is BLF )
Output doesn’t matter too much - it’ll be used round campsites for late night setting up and nature calls and if I need to work on the bike for any reason.
Ideally, it should either: last 2 weeks gentle use on one charge, or take AA’s or AAA’s so I can replenish en route. I will be carrying a power bank to recharge my phone and GPS, but would like to reserve as much juice for them as possible.
I’ve been trawling eBay and other typical retailers - GB and BG etc, but the really is so so much choice…. I don’t know where to start. Has anyone got something that fits these criteria that they’d recommend?
infinitely adjustable between 1 and 230 lumens, takes 1 AA battery. Would guess that 2AA would last you two weeks easy. It is not the lightest, but it is small, and 75g empty won’t really slow you down too much.
The Olight recommend looks good also, likely a tad lighter also.
There are numerous 18650 headlamps that will last two weeks if used in the medium modes. The Skilhunt H02 that I have will do it. I never take 18650 lights afield though because I want to be able to replace the cells if I need to. Murphy’s law. If you somehow bump it and it drains the battery, you are screwed or if a dozen other things happen. I’ve learned carrying something you can buy batteries for at any gas station is the difference between having a light or not.
If you can charge via USB from mains power go for the Nitecore NU series (reviews in my signature). Otherwise look at some 18650 headlamps with low and medium modes for long runtime. I like the Thrunite TH20 but ramping increases risk of unknown output and runtime remaining - OK if you have spare AAs.
Skilhunt H15 might be a consideration. One AA or 14500….good floody light that comes with clip, headband and magnetic tailcap. Red blinking LED (that you can disable) in switch to locate it in case you drop it or want to easily be able to find it in a tent etc. It’s my go to headlamp at present.
As an additional consideration for AAA, I recently got one of these: OxyLED headlamp
It uses 3 AAA. Comes with 3 AAA rechargeables that can be recharged in the light with micro USB or of course, use your own AAA’s. It has 3 lighting modes: Spot, close area flood and Red LED for night vision preservation. Pretty comfortable headband. Not sure it’s available in your country though.
Thrunite TH-20 and Energizer E2 lithium primary cells… Awesome light weight setup, very happy with mine. I am a backpacker, not a cyclist… but there are a lot of similarities in terms of weight and volume space management. The TH20 works very well with 14500 and eneloop cells too, if you want to go the field recharge-route. The drawback to eneloop is weight, and brightness at the highest setting.
Some things to consider:
>You might want to specify a budget.
>I personally don’t like 3-AAA designs because cell reloads in the field can be difficult in the dark… IMHO of course
>Regardless of all else, you should get a light that has a power lock-out feature. You do not want the light accidentally turning on when its packed down and buried deep with other gear. The TH-20 you unscrew the tail cap a 1/4 turn.
>I prefer a headlamp with a broad hot spot. Not too floody and not too spot-throwy. I was using a zebralight for 6-7 years, and its a pure flood beam. Problem with pure flood-type optical designs is they can more easily blind other people. While a somewhat concentrated beam, you can direct it down or away from other peoples faces.
Head torch? I once accidentally lit up my brother’s head with an aerosol torch when we were kids. I wouldn’t recommend trying that. Burning hair… eww :disappointed:
cosmo’s post is gone now, but halolily17 appears to be a cosmo spam sock puppet account. 18 posts, of which 13 have already been removed, and the other 5 are all masked links to cosmo lights.
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There are several nice small headlamps to choose from, fortunately. I’ve been pretty happy with my Zebralight ones (H5 or H3 series), but some of Olight’s recent models look interesting too. AA Eneloops or 16340 cells are a nice size for this sort of thing, and would likely last a couple weeks.
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