An alternative is a 2AA flashlight and a strap to use it as a headlamp. 2AA is not a common format for headlamps there are some out there but the main problem with many of them is the battery cover/hatch is usually made of plastic and can break over time. A bomb proof headlamp will have a metal (usually aluminum) tube for the battery that a metal cap screws on and this pretty much excludes the 2AA format. I spent years trying to find a 2AA LED headlamp that had ample runtime at decent output and no mechanical issues to wear out at a decent price and never found it. .
Funny, what you've described is exactly what I was looking for almost 10 years ago and I ended up buying the Spark SD52-NW headlamp (sadly, Spark is no longer around). It's aluminum, has a screw-in metal cap on the battery compartment and takes 2AA batteries. It has a straightforward UI, click, to turn on, click-hold to access the 4 light levels.
When I purchased it, I thought it would be bombproof and the spec's were pretty good as well (at that time):
Super: 280lm / 1.5 hrs
Max: 200lm / 1.9 hrs
Med 2: 70lm / 7 hrs
Med 1: 12lm / 43 hrs
Low: 0.5lm / 50 days
It also has ability to either use an optional screw-in reflector or clear optic (making it a mule).
To this day, I still use this only as a utility headlamp around the house as the aluminum cylinder is a bit heavy and my 18650 headlamps are much more versatile doing outdoors activities.
I think the specs on new AA lights are probably slightly better but I agree, I wonder about the durability of using plastic on a battery cover.