To wear a headlamp or not to wear a headlamp . . . that is the question!

So, I recently purchased the very inexpensive Princeton Tec Byte. This is my first headlamp. My intention was to use it on an upcoming camping trip. My wife asked me (with a very sacastic tone I might add), "why'd you waste money on that?! You're not going to use it!"

Boy it was she wrong! I used it every night. And, had I not brought it and used it, I would have been the guy out of 6 that didn't have one. I love it. I've used it since the camping trip too. I know that I basically dipped my pinky toe into the pool, but I must say, the water seems nice!

Good on you.

In this forum, it can get expensive and out off hand if not watching ones self.
Best thing is, if you have identified a need to fill, great then the world is your tea cup.
Otherwise, keep asking, do I need that and ask others too.

Enjoy your fleecing, err I mean stay here at CPF(Can't purchase food)
I am kidding, mostly. ☺🔦


Have a great one.

Yes, continue to enjoy your headlamp! That is one of the most useful purchases I've made and has transformed how I work on many things around the house. No more plugging in a work light and angling it around constantly for me!

It has been very useful so far. Since I went camping I've used it while working after the sun went down. It's great to have that beam of light directed at exactly what I'm looking at and need illuminated!

Headlamp = awesome. It becomes more awesome if nobody else in the group had one. It is way more comfortable than biting a metal body flashlight out of desperation.

My teeth hurt thinking about

more_vampires said:

biting a metal body flashlight out of desperation.

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<3 my Fenix HL50. It even comes in handy during the day.

SA Condor said:

So, I recently purchased the very inexpensive Princeton Tec Byte. This is my first headlamp. My intention was to use it on an upcoming camping trip. My wife asked me (with a very sacastic tone I might add), "why'd you waste money on that?! You're not going to use it!"

Boy it was she wrong! I used it every night. And, had I not brought it and used it, I would have been the guy out of 6 that didn't have one. I love it. I've used it since the camping trip too. I know that I basically dipped my pinky toe into the pool, but I must say, the water seems nice!

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Has she ever been camping before??? There are so many tasks to do at night where you need free hands, and since there's usually little to no light- a headlamp makes the most sense. My wife will take a headlamp camping, but leave a flashlight behind. Good thing is, now she'll want one. So you can give her yours and justifying buying another one!

mhanlen said:

Has she ever been camping before??? There are so many tasks to do at night where you need free hands, and since there's usually little to no light- a headlamp makes the most sense. My wife will take a headlamp camping, but leave a flashlight behind. Good thing is, now she'll want one. So you can give her yours and justifying buying another one!

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Yes, she's been camping before. Not much, but she has been. I on the other hand grew up doing tons of backpacking and camping but only just got the headlamp. I like your logic I'll have to get another one

Maybe you need a area light like a Fenix CL25?

She might like that?

There are no downsides to using a headlamp over a handheld light unless you're looking for a distance light. Even then, many of 18650 headlamps have very good throw (for what they are). I use a headlamp pretty much every single day. Either working on the car/bike, walking the dog, cleaning firearms or doing anything that requires direct lighting.

WarRaven said:

Maybe you need a area light like a Fenix CL25?

She might like that?

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I'll have to check that light out, thanks for the heads up.

ahtoxa11 said:

There are no downsides to using a headlamp over a handheld light unless you're looking for a distance light. Even then, many of 18650 headlamps have very good throw (for what they are). I use a headlamp pretty much every single day. Either working on the car/bike, walking the dog, cleaning firearms or doing anything that requires direct lighting.

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I agree. It puts the light right where you need it.

Few things are handier than a good headlamp ,I always keep mine close at hand.

I'll echo what everyone else in this thread is saying, and add:

If I could have ONLY ONE flashlight, it would be without hesitation my Zebralight H600Fw headlamp. It's that indispensably useful!

Amelia said:

I'll echo what everyone else in this thread is saying, and add:

If I could have ONLY ONE flashlight, it would be without hesitation my Zebralight H600Fw headlamp. It's that indispensably useful!

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Well don't tell anybody, but I just ordered that exact headlamp last night!!!

I'm pretty excited about it.

So, the motivation for my recent Zebralight H600fw purchase was the unbelievably horrible donut my Princeton Tech Byte cast on my wall! My wife asked me to paint our girls school room. The lighting isn't the greatest, so I strapped on my P-Tech Byte and it had a horrible donut shape cast on the wall. That same night I ordered my Zebralight

I don't want to knock the P-Tech because it was my official intro into the Headlamp world! It led to much greater things! I guess my wife just inherited a headlamp

I always swore I would never need a headlamp. I had so many flashlight that I would stick in my mouth, hold on my shoulder like a telephone etc. Always a way to manipulate a flashlight without having to use a headlamp.....until the night I tried to replace the taillight on my 2002 Ford Expedition... flashlight got so dinged up from being dropped so many times and my jaws hurt from trying to hold it in my mouth not to mention when I leaned a little too close and just about knocked out a tooth with the light!
Headlamp collection now includes a Nitecore HC50, Jetbeam HC20, Armytek Tiara A1 & C1, SPark SG5 and a SF Minimus.
And for the times I don't wear them with the headband I use them with the mount.

http://goinggear.com/flashlights/accessories/klraus-double-clamp-adjustable-flashlight-mount.html

I feel like my headlamp is a life-or-death scenario every time I'm backpacking. Sometimes I feel like I do more tasks at night than during the day. So many things require two hands, sometimes I wish I had three! A flashlight would do very little for me. I take one on occasion but that's just for some throwing fun; I don't NEED it.

I never use a headlamp when camping. You blind your friends. There's usually nothing that can't wait until sunrise, or use a regular flashlight.

greenlight said:

I never use a headlamp when camping. You blind your friends. There's usually nothing that can't wait until sunrise, or use a regular flashlight.

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Oh, well I always backpack solo so that was never an issue. As far as waiting for morning...that's tough especially when setting up camp at 10PM in the middle of winter. It's dark for close to 14 hours per day!! I have to cook, heat water, take out my contacts, organize camp, hang bear bag, etc all in the dark.

It depends on what you are doing