LHKNL Headlamps

What LHKNL makes for hunters and campers

On this site, LHKNL is one type of gear: headlamps. Every lamp in the grid lists a built-in rechargeable battery, and most are sold in packs. Here's how the lineup splits:

• TG-T069 and TG-T12601: the high-output lamps, listed at 1,100 or 1,200 lumens, sold single or in packs of two to eight, some packs mixing both models
• Motion-sensor headlamps: white and red light, sold single or as a 2-pack, with eight modes per the listing titles
• 230° wide-beam headlamp: a 2-pack with red light, motion sensing and a 400-ft beam distance per its listing

Pack size is the real story here. Most headlamp brands sell you one lamp and let you work out the rest. LHKNL's grid reads like a camp supply order.

The specs come from the Amazon listings, and the grid marks them. Where a listing doesn't give a value, I leave that spec out rather than borrow a number from a sibling listing.

LHKNL lineup notes

TG-T069 and TG-T12601: the multipack lamps

These two model codes run through most of the LHKNL grid. The listings give a built-in rechargeable battery and a top output of 1,100 lumens, with a couple of TG-T069 listings giving 1,200. Some listings give a maximum runtime of 10 hours. Some packs are all one model; others mix four of one and two of the other.

The listings don't explain what separates a TG-T069 from a TG-T12601 beyond the code. I won't guess. If you're buying a mixed pack for a crew, the practical difference to plan for is that you'll have two kinds of lamp on the charging shelf, and two kinds of button layout for people to learn at 4:30 a.m.

Motion-sensor headlamps with red light

The Rechargeable Motion Sensor Headlamp comes as a single lamp and in 2-pack listings. The grid lists a built-in rechargeable battery and red light for all of them, and one 2-pack listing gives a 10-hour maximum runtime. The listing titles add eight modes and a motion sensor, the wave-your-hand kind that switches the lamp without a button.

A motion sensor is a gloves-and-gutting feature. When your hands are cold, wet or worse, a wave beats fumbling for a button on your forehead. It also means the lamp can switch when you didn't mean it to, if your hand passes in front of it while you work. Learn how it toggles at the kitchen table, before you need it in the woods.

230° wide-beam headlamp

The 230° Wide Beam 2-Pack lists a rechargeable battery, red light and a 400-ft beam distance. Its title adds six modes, motion sensing and a mention of hard hat use. The 230° figure describes how wide the light spreads, a band of light that wraps around the front of your head rather than one bright circle.

As an electrician, I've spent a lot of hours under a hard hat in a crawlspace. A wide, even light is what you want for work right in front of your hands. A long narrow beam is what you want for seeing the far end of a field. Different tools.

How to read LHKNL's numbers

Headlamp numbers mean more once you know how they're measured. Most flashlight makers follow the ANSI FL1 standard, and Streamlight's explanation of it lays out the definitions:

• Light output (lumens): the total amount of light the lamp puts out
• Runtime: timed from 30 seconds after switching on until output drops to 10% of that starting level
• Beam distance: how far from the lamp the beam still measures 0.25 lux
• Impact and water resistance: separate drop and water tests

Streamlight also notes that following the standard is voluntary and each company runs its own tests. The LHKNL listings in the grid don't say whether their figures follow FL1, so read them as the listing's numbers.

Two things follow from those definitions. A runtime figure is almost always the lowest mode, not the brightest. And beam distance and lumens measure different things, so a lamp can have a big lumen number and still throw its light wide rather than far.

What the grid doesn't list

A few specs that matter on your head aren't in the LHKNL data: lamp weight, a water-resistance rating, the battery capacity and the charging port type. The grid shows those as blanks, and I'm not going to fill them from the photos. Weight decides whether you notice the lamp after an hour of tracking; a water rating decides whether a soaked November morning is a problem. If either one decides it for you, read the current listing and the manual in the box before you count on a figure. The rechargeable headlamp page explains how those specs work across brands, so you know which questions to ask the listing.

How to choose inside the LHKNL lineup

Pick the beam shape for the work you do most

Here's my one opinion for this page: for camp chores, a wide flood beam beats a long throw, so don't let the biggest lumen number pick your lamp.

The reasons are checkable. Princeton Tec's guide to beam types says a flood beam lights a large area evenly and suits setting up camp, while a spot beam reaches far but uses more power and drains the battery faster. Black Diamond's headlamp guide says 150 to 250 lumens should do for basics like reading or walking in the dark, and that close work like cooking or setting up camp needs only about 30 to 60 meters of throw. Most of a deer camp evening is close work: tying boots, finding the coffee, sorting a pack.

So inside LHKNL: the wide-beam 2-pack for chores and the walk to the outhouse, the 1,100-lumen lamps when you need to see across a field or down a logging road. The headlamps page explains beam types across brands.

Red light if you walk in before daylight

The National Park Service explains that your eyes take about 20 to 40 minutes to adjust fully to the dark, a few seconds of bright light resets that, and dim red light does far less damage. Princeton Tec's hunting article adds that red light helps you handle camp tasks without wrecking the night vision of the people around you.

That last part is the camp one. A crew getting dressed in one cabin at 4:30 a.m. is a crew pointing lamps at each other's faces. Red mode is how you stay friends until opening morning. In this lineup, red light is listed on the motion-sensor lamps and the wide-beam pack, not on the TG-T069 and TG-T12601 listings. The red light headlamp page compares red-light lamps across brands.

Count heads, then add spares

A multipack makes sense when one person buys for the crew, or when kids come along. A 2-pack covers you plus the guy who forgot his. A 6-pack covers a cabin. An 8-pack covers a cabin plus the truck, the blind bag and the lamp that wanders off in somebody's coat. (Jess says that's not a pack size, it's a lending library. She checked one out in September.)

Read the pack contents twice. The same model shows up in packs of two, four, six and eight, and a mixed pack is two models, not one.

Rechargeable is the only option here

Every LHKNL lamp in the grid lists a built-in rechargeable battery. Black Diamond's guide describes built-in lithium-ion lamps as charged over USB, and lamps that take standard batteries as the ones you can refuel in the field. With a built-in battery, there's no swapping cells at the stand. If you need that, the rechargeable headlamp page and the best headlamp list show other options, including lamps that take store-bought batteries.

Running a crew's worth of rechargeable lamps

Six lamps that all charge over USB are a small fleet, and a fleet needs a system.

• Label every lamp: a strip of tape on the strap with a name, so the one that's dead is somebody's, not nobody's
• One charging day: plug the whole set in the night before the trip, not the morning of
• One charging spot: a power strip in the cabin, never the truck in a freeze
• Count them back in: the last morning, before the truck is loaded

The charging spot matters for a reason beyond convenience. The U.S. Fire Administration says not to charge lithium-ion batteries below 32°F or above 105°F, to store them at room temperature, out of direct sun and hot cars, and to keep spare batteries away from anything that can burn. A cabin in November gets cold overnight once the stove dies down, so charge in the evening while the room is warm, on a shelf away from the drafty window.

Stop using any lamp whose battery smells, swells, leaks, runs hot or makes odd noises, per the USFA's warning signs. A worn-out lamp goes to a battery recycling location, not the trash.

Fit, care and storage

A headlamp that fits stays where you point it. Adjust the strap over a hat, not bare hair, if you hunt in a hat, because that's how you'll wear it at 5 a.m. Tilt the lamp down so the light lands where your hands are, not at the next person's eyes.

After a wet morning, wipe the lamp and let it dry before it goes into a charging pile. Clean the lens with a soft cloth; a smeared lens turns any beam into a fog.

For the off-season, charge the lamps, label them and store them indoors. A lamp that sat in a cold truck all summer is a lamp you meet again in October with no idea how much charge it holds.

Safety notes

Keep bright beams out of people's eyes. The NPS notes that a few seconds of bright light undoes dark-adapted vision, so a 1,100-lumen lamp in a buddy's face costs him more than a squint. Use red or low white in the cabin and around the fire.

Charge lamps where you can see them, and unplug them when they're full. Hunting hours and rules for lights in the woods vary by state, so check your state wildlife agency.

What an LHKNL order looks like at deer camp

The 1,100-lumen packs cover a crew that walks long logging roads. The motion-sensor lamps with red light cover the cabin crowd that dresses in the dark. The wide-beam pair covers chores, the grill and the walk to the outhouse. Buy the pack that matches the number of heads, label the straps, and the only argument left is whose turn it is on the power strip. It's always mine.