I don’t have many that I wear on my head, but I like my Sofirn D25L very much. It’s got a great tint at all powers, puts out a lot of light with good runtimes, and is built well. Being rechargeable is also a real help.
I have a Nitecore NU32 coming, for something a little lighter in weight. I’m sure I’ll like that one, too. It has a high-CRI light mode, and constant current driver. The battery in that headlamp, although sealed, is large enough to provide decent runtimes.
I enjoy the beam of my SP36 with LH351d emitters too. Did you go with 4000k or 5000k on your D25L?
Only the 5000k was available where I bought mine, but that is what I’m used to with many of my lights, so I am happy with it. The only negative mark I can give it is that mine showed up with a significant scratch in the anodizing. Not important to me, given the other positive qualities of the light and the price.
Outdoor, mountaineering, cross-country skis, long distance orienteering competitions - when you need the light source for 8-12 hours.
Also for animal rescue in basements - when you need to switch from close to long range in an instant.
There is a cat there :sunglasses:
In the rough order that I purchased them. Most were purchased because I thought they were going to be better in some way than what I already had or fill a certain niche. A few were purchased just to see what all the hullabaloo was about. (SP40 and Boruit’s)
Not going to count the various older 3x AAA Petzl, Black Diamond etc, because I don’t consider them serious headlights.
Wowtac A2S cw
Wowtac A2S nw
Olight H2R nw
Armytek Wizard Pro warm
Armytek Tiara C1 Pro warm 18350
Sofirn SP40 3000k
Boruit D10 yellow
Boruit D25 yellow
Armytek Wizard C2 Pro warm
Armytek Wizard C2 WR warm (White/Red).
The Wowtac’s have a good UI. They are not warm enough for me. A well-defined hotspot. The light mount digs into the forehead a little bit so it needs a pad/cushion. No clips and if there was a clip you can’t mount it with the clip in place.
The Olight (discontinued) has a good UI. With just barely enough modes. Pretty good wide beam pattern with just a little bit of a defined hotspot. It has the easiest to use mount that can be used with the clip in place and it is comfortable. Slight negative marks for proprietary battery.
The Sofirn has a very tight hotspot with very little usable spill. An okay UI. The mount cannot be used with the clip in place. No moonlight.
The Boruit’s, I have nothing good to say.
The last two Armytek’s are my favorites of all on the list. I like the very wide smooth beam patterns. The strong and long clips can be mounted in various positions for deep carry tail up and can be kept on when used in the mount. I did have to soften some of the mounts bottom corners with a hair dryer and bend them to prevent them from digging in to my forehead. Even with that I still use a folded up piece of paper towel weaved in along with the band as a pad. You can put the lights in and out of the mount while it’s on your head. They charge at 1.2 amps. The pro has nine different settings not counting the blinky stuff which is out of the way. A green blinking 4 second indicator that can be turned on or off. A usable battery indicator if you know what you’re doing with it. 4000k 82 cri and dead on the BBL. I got the WR recently to try the red when there are bugs and moisture in the air. The red does not seem to work better in fog or rain or snow. And it’s not really that great for walking on terrain where you need to identify what you’re walking on. I am pretty confident that it will work better at keeping bugs away but I haven’t had it during bug season yet. It has four red settings from extreme low moonlight to holy cow that’s bright red. The UI is pretty good. Only four modes in white and four in red. It has memory and you can switch between red and white from on or off with a double click. I carry the C2 pro clipped in a cargo pocket every day. I keep watching others but it’s very unlikely anything’s going to take its place.
Boruit D10 for me.
But then again, I don’t have any other “better” headlamps. I have some other cheapo Rayovac headlamps, but they don’t compare to an 18650 headlamp. I’ve always wanted a ZebraLight headlamp, but couldn’t justify the price due to the little amount of time that I actually use a headlamp. I just use a headlamp for working on projects around the house, or on a car, so maybe a couple times a month.
It’s fairly easy to replace the LED in the D10 and I also put a pebble lens in it: Boruit Headlamp Review D10 (aka. EHL0628) - King of the Budget Headlamps?. The original LED was pretty good and seemed just as bright though. For less than $15 for an 18650 headlamp with internal charging, it’s a bargain!
It feels very comfortable on my head since it’s not that heavy and the UI is good. Plenty bright and no issues with it since I got it years ago.
Ylp panda 4.0
Magicshine moh15
Acebeam H60
Zebralight H604D
Black diamond storm(latest version)
Has anyone tried the Sofirn HS20 headlamp? I have not seen much on here regarding it.
Mine is Thrunite TH30…Unbelievable bright.And works years without any problem.
Got it, also a great headlamp.Maybe an sft40 instead of xhp50 makes it more throwy because there isn’t much difference now between the beam of the two emitters
Thanks Overload
My current “favorite” is the YLP Gekko 1.0. It’s good for what it is, and I like it, but it’s a bit under battery-ed, and not quite punchy enough to be ideal for my uses. It’s inexpensive (with the initial discount code anyway <$40USD), puts out acceptably high output for up to 2 hours of running or skiing, high CRI, and lightweight. How I use it and why it comes up a bit short: I basically turn it on to max (~900 lumens) if I expect to be in the dark less than an hour. If I expect to be out for more than that, I set it to max and then ramp down a tiny bit to still have enough light to move if I’m out for 2 hours. My usage is winter (have basically midnight sun in summer), so the cold has a positive effect on LED cooling, so BLF complaints about poor construction/thermal execution behind the board hasn’t affected me, but the cold does reduce the affective battery life. To be truly comfortable, I really need a 2x18650 light or 21700 light because I’m running less brightness to have enough runtime, and while the near/medium optic provides the spread I like to not have tunnel vision, I’d like a bit more punch. Duo (or more) emitter lights with multiple optics/mule combinations are what I really need. Also, it has the typical silicone headstrap that is more for the BLF user who wants to use it in hand part of time. It’s not as comfortable as dedicated padded hard plastic holder with more surface area on the head that doesn’t have to be squishable into a pocket.
My headlamps go back to the ’90s. Princeton Tec Solo (halogen), PT Aurora, PT Quad, PT Eos (~2004? after doing a lots of mods to the Eos - emitter swap, optic-to-reflector swap, and external battery - it became my first headlamp that was truly usable for running fast), Magicshine MJ-808 (2009 my first high powered ~600 lumens budget headlamp), Gemini Lights Xera (2011, smaller than Magicshine), Gemini Lights Duo, Yinding (cheap Gemini Duo copy). I have also used my GF’s Petzl Reactik, Petzl Actik Core, and Petzl Nao. I’m probably forgetting some. Just about all the lights break, some sooner than others. My overall favorites that I have used are the Gemini Duo/Yinding (which I used on the Duo headstrap…) The Gemini’s button programming was more sophisticated, but the Yinding lasted me about 4 years vs about 2 years for the Duo. With either the Duo or Yinding, can do a wide and narrow optic combination, 2x18650 battery pack had enough capacity (went through 3 sets), and the headstrap system made it more comfortable and stable than the typical L-shape 18650 style silicone headstrap despite weighing 2x as much.
I always wear them on my head.
Allowed one, I’d pick something that I haven’t tried yet, assume no budget, and assume that I can do an emitter swap. I like the design of the LEDX Lights, and their smaller new Snok looks good. Or the similar Lucifer M6, since I haven’t had hands on either one. The LEDX looks more sophisticated in design with deeper cooling fins, and better looking headstrap. I only don’t like the 6000K emitter. Reason is that both companies were founded by an orienteers, so they understand running/skiing with light balance/stability and light distribution for those activities. On high at 2000 lumens, it doesn’t blow out the map you are reading, it’s evenly distributed on the ground in front of you, and has punch into the distance to where you are headed/looking.
Skilhunt H03.
Bought one, was very impressed and immediately bought two more. They’re so lightweight and compact that I can just carry two entire spare lights rather than spare batteries.
I don’t ‘baby’ them at all, and so far none have given me any problems.
A couple of things I’ve noticed about them, however - they accept (and even prefer) fairly long cells. Mine readily swallow protected Panasonic NCR18650B’s. With shorter cells, they will sometimes ‘flutter’ slightly at maximum power unless good contact is ensured by stretching the springs a bit and meticulously cleaning both springs and contacts on the cell with electrical contact cleaner or alcohol - although I’ve found those attributes are common to many lights.
As far as ‘easy on the eyes’ high quality light goes for close up work like reading or handling small parts at work bench distance, nothing in my experience beats the little Manker E02 / E03 lights. Those things are an absolute delight, especially with a lightweight lithium primary in them.
Like any tool or appliance, the headlight best for any user depends entirely on what’s it’s needed for.
Wuben H1. I also have Petzl Actic Core, Nitecore NU20 (non CRI) and Fenix HL50.
Now the Petzl is the worst, mainly because the bad PWM in lower settings and the construction that is thin plastic. Otherwise it would be quite good, lightweight and powerful. Gets use sometimes, but it´s annoying in the rain and snowfall and potentionally dangerous with tools that rotate due the PWM.
The Fenix HL50 has some serious miles in it, had the little thing for years and it´s still working. We have went through rain and snow and deep subzero temps and it taught me that one can wander with NiMh batteries in –30C (or –22F) if one keeps the light on all the time! Partly retired, Fenix is mainly my indoor nightlight nowadays.
Nitecore NU20, got this one for cheap from some sale and it´s a great little light, plenty of lumens and runtime in really light and apparently durable package.
The Wuben H1 is my go-to light, had it for couple of months now. I was considering Nitecore HC65, but Wuben is half the price with no serious flaws so i went for that. Quite interestingly i find myself using it´s high CRI-led most of the time. At least now in winter i don´t need that much lumens when everything is covered in snow. At fall when it´s really dark the lumens are essential.
The main Osram LED is not the most beautiful out there, but it gets the job done and it´s not hideous by all means. UI is not bad and i really like the high CRI and red LED on it.
If i was bying the first serious headlamp, i´d probably go for Skilhunt or YLP or Sofirn, something with 18650 and nice reviews.
I totally agree!I also had the actik core, but sold it immediatly.There’s a big gap between the light and the batterij cover (with all these lights) so there’s no waterproofness at all.Also the plastic feels very cheep.And this light cost me around 50€!It’s not worth even 10€… Never again petzl!
That’s good news for me. Cause it means it takes 2 x CR123A. I’ve always been looking for quality EDC lights that take 2 CR123As, just to burn off my leftover half-used MF camera batteries.
Thanks for the info. Might grab an H04F w/ LH351D.
Off-topic side note:
Just contacted Zebralight. Their CS claimed that H53 and H503 are going out of production.
Grab one now if you want them.
Tell me about it! I paid only about 30€, still a waste since that money buys much better lights!
Don’t do this. There was a guy a number of years back who did similar with a surefire which exploded while he had it in his mouth. Mismatched cells are dangerous. Running them individually is okay though, maybe get a single cell CR123 light?
My 65 headlamps so far 
Bold means my favorite atm:
Acebeam H17
Acebeam H30 —->the brightest(but unfortunately aslo the heaviest of all)
Acebeam H40
Acebeam H50
Acebeam H60 —->very floody, very nice color, great design
Armytek Wizard pro V3
Armytek Wizard WR —->Very powerfull and throwy red light
Astrolux HL02
Black diamond Storm 375lm
Black diamond Storm 400lm —->RGB, great runtime(4xAAA),touch sensitive housing,…
Boruit D10
Fenix HL40R
Fenix HL55
Fenix HL60R
Fenix HM60R —->Very nice looking, stride frequency sensor, 2 mode aux white(high cri)
Fenix HM65R
Imalent HR20
Imalent HR70
Jetbeam HR25
Jetbeam HR30
Klarus H1A titanium
Klarus HR1 plus
Led lenser H7R Core
Lumintop HL18
Lumintop HL3A
Magicshine MOH15 —->Light weight,comfortable strap,unique rotating head, very powerfull red beam
Manker E02 II
Manker E03
Manker E03 II
Nebo Transcent 1500
Nitecore HA23
Nitecore HC65
Nitecore HC65V2 —->Overal great headlamp and nice looking
Nitecore HU60
Nitecore NU20
Nitecore NU25
Nitecore NU35
Nitecore UT32
Olight H1
Petzl Tactikka
Princeton tec Sync
Silva MR350
Silva scout X
Skilhunt H03C RC
Skilhunt H04 RC
Skilhunt H04R RC mini
Sofirn D25S —->Great powerfull light for mtb(mounted at my bike helmet)
Sofirn HS05
Sofirn HS10 —->Nice color and beam,very comfortabel and light weigt, cheap
Sofirn HS20
Thrunite th20
Thrunite TH02 red outsider
Trustfire H5R
Trustfire MC12
Walther pro HL11
Wuben H1
Wuben H3
Wurkkos HD15
Wurkkos HD20
Xtar H3W Warboy
Ylp Panda 2M CRI
YLP Panda 4.0 —->My favorite of all atm, great UI,best looking of all, best beam and color of all
Zebralight H503W —->Everything is great on a zebra
Zebralight H604D —->Everything is great on a zebra