Tell Us What Do You Use Your HeadLamp For?

[Lynx_Arc]

I used mine today to help replace a board in a heating unit. It sure beats having to hold a flashlight in your hand and try to aim it and not move it while at an awkward position.

 

[KeyGrip]

Headlamps are indispensable for camping, especially when making dinner.

I also use my headlamp (Petzl Myo) extensively at work as a stage electrician. Theaters get dark, and even with full work lights there is no guarantee that the places we need to work (under or inside scenery, up in catwalks, etc) will have adequate lighting for the task.

 

[Jash]

I've got about 7-8 floating around different places. My favs are the HL21/30, the HL30 especially for camping. It's medium mode is perfect for lighting up the camp site while giving great runtimes, usually not needing to replace the batteries on a long weekend. Work often requires portable light and two hands free, so there's at least one, sometimes two headlamps in my EDC bag. And as always, lithium spares for each one.

I recently picked up some Coleman 3xAAA headlamps for $10 each and they're actually pretty good for that price. Seems like the three 5mm leds are neutral tint as there's only a tiny bit of blue in the very centre of the beam and a nice neutral glow for the rest of the beam. PWM isn't too bad on low unless you're working around a lot of shiny metal. Good stocking fillers for the kids this Christmas.

 

[RedLED]

Headlamps are indispensable for camping, especially when making dinner.

I also use my headlamp (Petzl Myo) extensively at work as a stage electrician. Theaters get dark, and even with full work lights there is no guarantee that the places we need to work (under or inside scenery, up in catwalks, etc) will have adequate lighting for the task.

Do you ever use red backstage? Are you an ME?

 

[rje58]

I use mine for the usual things like digging around in my car at night, especially in the trunk where the built-in light isn't very useful at times. Some people said they use theirs for reading in bed, but there are times when I've used mine on low-mode or red mode in bed for other night time activities... sometimes it helps to see exactly what you're doing, but without the bright overhead lights or lamps.

My favorite use is for night hiking! As much as I love to hike during the day, I love it even more at night. I'm very fortunate to have hiking groups here locally that do regular night time hikes year round - last night we did 6.1 miles on the MST with temps in the low 30s. It was perfect for hiking! The moon was out, the sky was clear and full of stars. Tonight we did 3.5 miles, much more tame this time though, on basically the equivalent of a greenway. Temps were in the 40s. Good exercise, but not nearly as much fun.

My primary headlamp is a Black Diamond Cosmo - it has two white modes: spot and flood, both with continuously variable dimming and a single red mode. It puts out 70 lumens max, doesn't have great throw but works extremely well for my purposes. I keep a handheld flashlight in a holster attached to my backpack strap for when I want more throw. It runs off three AAA's and I get great runtimes! Manufacturer claims 43 hours on high...

 

[tech25]

I use my headlamp for reading and around the house. I originally bought it for camping- especially for bbq- no more flashlight being held in my mouth !

 

[Whitecaps]

Long distance expedition style small boat racing. (Paddle or sailed.) Wow! What I have learned here about tints and lights in general has made these events so much nicer at night. Now to figure out how to make paragraphs.

 

[LGT]

I use my headlamps for many household tasks.
Going into the attic to get the winter clothes and store the summer wear, or vice versa.
Working on our cars.
grilling at night.
installing new lights in the basement.
And most importantly, working at night for the electric company I work for. Plenty of hands free light is a must while transferring seven thousand volts of live wire from a broken pole, due to a car hitting it, to the new pole.

 

[gswitter]

New use for me this past week... finding the lice in my daughter's hair. :sick2:

 

[markr6]

Raking leaves in the yard. Dark at 5PM sucks!

 

[jorn]

Raking leaves in the yard. Dark at 5PM sucks!

Dark when i drive to work. Dark before i get home from work. And it gets darker and darker every day until it`s no daylight left. A snowstorm just passed, so had to dig my car out every morning (in storm) this week. 30-40 cm fresh snow evey morning. Raking leaves must be nice.
Use my headlamp when i dig my car out, kind of hard to dig with a handheld.

Sent from my LG-P880 using Tapatalk

 

[markr6]

Dark when i drive to work. Dark before i get home from work. And it gets darker and darker every day until it`s no daylight left. A snowstorm just passed, so had to dig my car out every morning (in storm) this week. 30-40 cm fresh snow evey morning. Raking leaves must be nice.
Use my headlamp when i dig my car out, kind of hard to dig with a handheld.

30cm every morning?? We need to trade weather

 

[jorn]

Yes, 30-40 cm wet snow every day. I hate digging my car out of a pile in the morning. The storm makes it snow sideways.. roads are extremely slippery, and visibility is zero. Hate it..

No snow today. And im happy about that

 

[Esko]

In general: I use headlamps in everything except as an EDC (tiny 1*AAA lights in keychain/car keys, they are just a lot smaller) and when I need plenty of throw.

I use headlamps for

• Working in general, whether it is working inside house, outside house or working on something very small in front of my face (in an environment that is pretty well lit already)
• Sport and outdoor activities in general (running, trekking etc., my bikelight (helmetlight) is a headlamp, too)
• For reading, for fixing stuff
• Sometimes for photography purposes... Whether as an actual headlamp, put on a table, hung up somewhere from the headband or something else. Mostly the full flood headlamps but a powerful spotty headlamp could be used for ceiling bouncing, too
• As a home light and night light. Again, I can put it to head, neck, hung up somewhere or ceiling bounce for a dim and even illumination (without the light ever hitting my eyes directly), and keep my both hand free for other tasks

"Look, mother! No hands!" :thumbsup:

 

[CampfireTalk]

Running- Fenix HL21 Flood beams aren't as good so the throwing power of this light works well for me on medium.

Camping/Hiking- Zebralight H502d clean beam & lots of great options with the interface. In the tent, sorting through my pack or making some grub the flood beam on this one lights up everything around me.

By the way new to the forum, 1st post. Great source for info.

 

[HikingMano]

Unless I need to throw light, I pretty much use a headlamp. Right now, my favorite is the Zebralight H51w, and I'm looking forward to the H52w. Just to list a few past uses (not all necessarily as a headlamp, but the headlamp works just fine for those uses too):

• Reading when commuting to and from work on dark shuttles, reading in bed when the GF is asleep, reading in a tent
• Helping someone jump a car at night
• Lighting up decidedly unimpressed raccoons who come to raid campsites at night
• Night hiking. Especially handy when off trail.
• Starting a fire at night.
• Doing camp tasks after dark.
• Sand crab digging, sea-turtle visiting, white eel hunting and reef walking on the beach at night
• Highlighting features in a scene when doing a long photo exposure
• Running at night
• Riding a bike at night
• Looking for the cat. Who is black.
• Looking for ninjas
• Lighting up a darkroom when the normal light is out
• Casting well shadows in polyacrylamide gels to aid in sample loading
• Covering up my tomato plants on particularly cold nights
• Finding my clothes in the closet and dresser if I forget to take them out the night before and the GF is still sleeping.
• Investigating strange noises in the middle of the night, if the light won't give me away
• Reading a map if I'm a passenger navigator on a night drive
• Flashlight battling friends at work and at play ("All that light comes from that little thing!?"), sometimes a more-than-passing interest and consequent flashalolism is engendered.
• Treating a traumatic pneumothorax. Ok no, I jest. But a headlamp is handy when providing minor first aid.
• Turning a light off and on and cycling through modes, all the while crooning "my preciousssss".... er, wait, that was too far...

 

[BillSJCA]

BUrningman, basically camping for 2 weeks.with really disgsting portapottys agter the first weekmuch easier to use the privy not worring about dropping a flashlight. also serves as a marker so you don't get run over when you leave the red light on or in strobe mode even with lots of use the aaa batteries last almost the entire week.however upgraded to an energizer 3AA head lamp.it has a focusing lens so a very big spill area, perfect for a headlamp. at home I lost power when my roof was tore off and the power feed was pulled out of the box.it took two weeks to get power back.permits and inspection process is slow. head light was the only light I used.

 

[Kai Winters]

Hi all,
I'm new to this forum...heard about it listening to an "Everyday Commentary" podcast.
I have an inexpensive "Defiant" head lamp and use it for tasks requiring a good light and both hands free...for this it works great. It was a Christmas stocking stuffer last year.
It's a bit heavy but not bad.
I've used it recently for tidying my the wires, cables, etc. under my desk in the office at home, sewing and working on my computer.

 

[Patriot]

Running- Fenix HL21 Flood beams aren't as good so the throwing power of this light works well for me on medium.

Camping/Hiking- Zebralight H502d clean beam & lots of great options with the interface. In the tent, sorting through my pack or making some grub the flood beam on this one lights up everything around me.

By the way new to the forum, 1st post. Great source for info.

Great to see that you made it over here buddy! Best source of flashlight info on the net.

I used my H502d last night while I was out taking pictures. On my way home, I forgot it was on my head and went through the Taco Bell drive through looking like a dork.

 

[DaveG]

I use mine for night fishing among other things.Just so handy for so many jobs.