Headlamps

What a headlamp is, and what the box is promising

A headlamp is a light you wear: a lamp body, a strap, and a battery either inside the body or in a pack on the back of the strap. People search for it as a head flashlight, a headlamp flashlight or an LED headlamp. It's the same tool. Almost every one sold now runs on LEDs, so the useful questions are about light, battery and weather, not bulbs.

Here's what makes the spec sheets readable. Most makers test to a voluntary standard called ANSI/PLATO FL 1. Streamlight explains that it was written with the American National Standards Institute, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, the Portable Lights trade group and 14 lighting companies. Each maker runs its own tests or hires a lab. If one claim on a package uses the standard, every claim on that package has to follow it.

Real talk: that's the closest thing to a fair fight you'll get on a shelf. It doesn't make anyone's numbers checked by a third party, but it does make two boxes speak the same language.

The table on this page lists headlamps sold on Amazon US, brightest stated output first. It shows output, beam distance, runtime, power source, red and green modes, water rating, beam type, tilt and weight. Weight is the maker's alone; the other columns use the maker's numbers first and the Amazon listing's where the maker is silent, marked as listing values. A dash means neither states it, and I'd rather show a dash than guess.

How to read a headlamp spec sheet

These are the columns in the table, in the order I'd look at them after a long day of being wrong about one of them.

Max output: lumens are a total, not a distance

Lumens measure all the light coming out of the lamp in every direction. Under FL 1 it's measured in an integrating sphere, a hollow ball that catches every bit of the beam. It says nothing about where that light goes.

One maker's guide puts basic jobs (reading, cooking, walking in the dark) at 150 to 250 lumens. The same maker says over 400 lumens is for route-finding and rough terrain. In camp, the high mode is mostly for finding the one tent stake Walt kicked into the leaves.

The catch is that "max" is the top mode only. The Black Diamond blog points out that a brighter light run on a medium setting lasts longer. So read max output as headroom, not as the light you'll live in.

Beam distance: the moonlight line

Beam distance is how far out the beam still delivers 0.25 lux. Streamlight's FL 1 presentation compares 0.25 lux to a full moon "on a clear night in an open field". Past that point you have light, just not much of it.

Makers don't walk a tape measure out into a field. They measure peak beam intensity in candela (the brightness of the hottest part of the beam), then use the inverse square law to work out the distance. The square root in that formula has a practical meaning. To double the beam distance, a lamp needs four times the candela.

Makers report beam distance in meters. Our table converts it to feet. For close work, the same maker's guide says 30 to 60 meters is plenty, which is roughly 100 to 200 feet. A long throw matters when you're scanning a field edge or a far trail marker. It matters a lot less when you're looking for the coffee.

Max runtime: measured to 10%, not to dark

This is the column people misread most, and I include myself. FL 1 runtime starts 30 seconds after you switch on with fresh batteries. It stops when output falls to 10% of that starting level. The lamp may keep glowing well past that point, but it's no longer the light on the box.

Our table lists the longest runtime the maker or the listing states, which is nearly always the lowest mode. One maker's spec sheet shows how wide that gap gets. Its lamp makes 400 lumens on high for 2.5 hours on AAA cells, and 6 lumens on low for 200 hours. Same lamp, same batteries. The highest number in each column comes from opposite ends of the switch.

Here's my one opinion for this page: read the middle of the runtime table, not the ends. The reason is in the 10% rule. The low mode is too dim for walking, and the high mode is a sprint. The setting you'll use most is somewhere between, so check the maker's mode-by-mode chart before you trust a headline number.

Power: which battery you're signing up for

The power column says how the lamp is fed:

• Rechargeable built-in: a sealed lithium-ion battery, charged by USB
• Rechargeable removable cell: a pack or cell you can pull out and swap
• AAA or AA: disposable or rechargeable cells you buy anywhere
• Hybrid: a rechargeable pack or standard AAA cells in the same lamp

FL 1 tests use fresh batteries of the type sold with the product. Petzl adds that the battery brand you buy can change how a lamp performs against the rated numbers. The whole charging, storage and cold-weather story lives on the rechargeable headlamp page.

Red light and green light: modes for keeping your eyes

The red light column marks lamps with a red mode, as the maker or the listing states it. The National Park Service explains why that matters. Night vision depends on a chemical in your eyes that builds up over 20 to 40 minutes, and a few seconds of bright light breaks it down again. Deep red light doesn't trigger that breakdown.

Green shows up less often in the table. Princeton Tec says green gives more contrast and suits spotting animals at a distance and reading fine map detail. If red is the main reason you're shopping, the red light headlamp page covers the modes, the controls and what deer actually see.

Water rating: splash, dunk or swim

FL 1 borrows its water ratings from the IEC 60529 standard. Streamlight's presentation lays them out:

• IPX4: water splashed from any direction has no harmful effect
• IPX7: survives temporary immersion, tested in a reservoir about 1 meter deep
• IPX8: survives continuous immersion under conditions the maker states, tougher than IPX7

Every test sample has to work normally right after the test and again 30 minutes later. For IPX4, some water inside is allowed as long as the lamp keeps working. IPX4 covers November rain. IPX7 or IPX8 covers the creek crossing where your foot finds the one wet rock. (Ask me how I know.)

Beam: spot, flood or both

The beam column says which patterns the lamp throws. Princeton Tec describes them this way. A flood is a wide, even beam for close tasks that lets your side vision work. A spot is a narrow beam for distance, and it suggests hunters may want a spot for scanning distant areas.

Spots usually use more power and run shorter, per the same article. A dual beam does both at once and also tends to run shorter. A lamp with both modes on separate settings gives you the choice. For camp chores, flood is the mode you'll leave on.

Tilting head: aim without bending your neck

A tilting head means the lamp body pivots on its mount, so you can point the beam at your boots or straight ahead without craning. It sounds small. It's not small after an hour of tying a tarp at a funny angle.

Weight and pack count

Weight is listed in ounces from the maker when the maker gives it. A lamp with its battery in a rear pack spreads the weight around your head, and a lamp with everything up front puts it all on your forehead. The pack column matters too, because multi-pack listings are common in this type. Two lights in a box is a backup light, not a brighter one.

Kinds of headlamps and who each one fits

The sub-types split mostly by battery and by mode:

• Rechargeable: suits frequent use when you can charge between trips, per Black Diamond. Black Diamond describes its rechargeables as typically more powerful than its battery models.
• AAA or AA: suits long trips away from outlets, since spare cells weigh little and go in a pocket. For AA lamps, one maker rates its lithium AA cells from -40°F to 140°F.
• Hybrid: Petzl says its rechargeable pack suits frequent, heavy use and standard batteries suit occasional use, with a very long burn time.
• Red or RGB modes: for walking in before light and for camp at night, where white light would blind your crew.

For the walk to a stand or blind, I'd want a red mode, a spot for the field edge and a lockout. For camp, a wide flood and a long runtime on medium matter more than throw. Tracking at night is a separate job with its own lights, and those are on the blood tracking light page. Lighting a whole table is a lantern's job, and lanterns are on the camping lantern page.

Setup and care

A few habits do more for a headlamp than any upgrade.

Set the strap before the first trip

Adjust the strap at home with the hat you'll actually wear in November. A strap set over bare hair in August will slide over a fleece cap. Then put it on and walk around the yard. If the lamp bounces, tighten it now, not on the walk in.

Use the lockout in a pack

A headlamp that switches on in your pack spends the battery you needed at 5 a.m. One maker describes its digital lockout as protecting against accidental use when the lamp is stored in a pack or pocket. Learn the lock sequence at the kitchen table. Nobody learns it well in the dark.

Keep it warm when it's cold

Petzl says both standard and rechargeable batteries are sensitive below 32°F. Between 32°F and -4°F, burn time can drop by up to 50%. Its advice is to keep the lamp warm when it's not in use, for example in a pocket. An inside chest pocket beats the outside of the pack.

Dry it out and store it empty

One maker's IPX8 lamp notes that water may get into the battery compartment and the light will still work. It should then be dried out completely. For long storage, Petzl says to take the batteries out and keep them somewhere cool and dry, below 77°F. Leaving cells in a drawer lamp until spring is how you meet battery corrosion.

Who should skip this page

If you only need light at a picnic table, a lantern lights everyone at once and nobody has to look at anybody. If your whole night is walking a paved campground loop, a small handheld flashlight is fine. A headlamp earns its place when you need both hands, a light that follows your eyes, and a light that stays put while you work.

Walt held out for years. His position was that a flashlight works fine, and he's right, for anybody with three hands. Try carrying a seat cushion and two thermoses that way. These days he wears a headlamp to the stand and talks about it like it was his idea. I let him have that one. I've got plenty more.

Check your state wildlife agency for rules on carrying or using lights while hunting, because they vary.

The short version: pick the mode you'll use most, then the battery, then the beam. Max lumens can come last. It's the number most people check first, and in camp it's the one that matters least.