18650, 14500 or AA for new backpacking headlamp? Best batteries for each?

Hi All, I'm in the market for a new backpacking headlamp after my old one that served for many years took a real beating. LED and battery tech has advanced quite a bit since I last bought a headlamp so really appreciate your thoughts on batteries (posting about headlamps separately in the headlamp section).

A little about my use case - I use a headlamp most of the time at about 1.5-2 lumen for near illumination in camp, sometimes at 60 lumen and 120ish or a bit more lumen for walking (60 for smooth familiar terrain and +120 for unfamiliar or rough), and then rarely the higher burst lumen for checking detail or a fork in a trail. Based on lights currently available, I'd prefer a headlamp and battery combo that can offer +8 hours at 60 and 120ish+ lumens. I prefer warm LEDs over cold blue which means I take a bit of a lumen hit. Manufacturers I've been looking at are Zebralight and Armytek. Up to now I've used rechargeable Eneloop batteries for short 3 season trips and Energizer Lithium in winter.

Do you recommend 18650 batteries or 14500 batteries or Rechargeable Eneloop AA? What are the advantages/disadvantages of each?

I see Armytek has magnetic chargers available for some 18650 models but I've heard these are very slow, up to 7 hours for a full charge, though not sure how accurate this is. How much does a lightweight external 18650 charger weigh?

ZebraLight is hard to beat in the HL game and they're efficient, if not a bit heavy, compared to say my Fenix 2AA HL30, but that's relative.

A 18650 li-ion will have about the same power as 3-4 AAs, so there's your answer there. They don't offer USB charging, but carrying a spare 18650 in a silicon caddy weighs about 50g., so not a huge weight penalty.

Chris

I use my Eneloop headlamp (Zebralight), and bring one spare cell--unless I take a multi-day trip when I think I'll need more runtime than that. Then, I jump up to 18650, which has the best watt-per-gram efficiency. If I think I'll need more runtime than one spare 18650 will give me, I jump up to carrying a solar charger.

ZL is famous for efficiency, especially at lower levels. They also tend to be the lightest for any given class of lights in which they compete. That's why I use them for bike-packing and backpacking, 4 seasons. I have no personal experience with Armytek, so I can't comment on them.

ChrisGarrett said:

ZebraLight is hard to beat in the HL game and they're efficient, if not a bit heavy, compared to say my Fenix 2AA HL30, but that's relative.

A 18650 li-ion will have about the same power as 3-4 AAs, so there's your answer there. They don't offer USB charging, but carrying a spare 18650 in a silicon caddy weighs about 50g., so not a huge weight penalty.

Chris

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Thanks Chris. Are there caddies that can also function as chargers? What's a good lightweight charger model? Curious how much they weigh. And how long does a good quality lightweight charger take to deliver a full charge?

How do 18650 batteries perform in cold weather? I've used Energizer Lithium up to now in winter.

On a long trip would a solar charger make sense?

Keitho said:

I use my Eneloop headlamp (Zebralight), and bring one spare cell--unless I take a multi-day trip when I think I'll need more runtime than that. Then, I jump up to 18650, which has the best watt-per-gram efficiency. If I think I'll need more runtime than one spare 18650 will give me, I jump up to carrying a solar charger.

ZL is famous for efficiency, especially at lower levels. They also tend to be the lightest for any given class of lights in which they compete. That's why I use them for bike-packing and backpacking, 4 seasons. I have no personal experience with Armytek, so I can't comment on them.

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Thanks Keitho, which Eneloop and 18650 Zebralight models do you use for hiking, backpacking and bikepacking (also planning to start bikepacking soon)? Which chargers do you use?

How do 18650 batteries perform in cold weather? I've used Energizer Lithium in cold weather up to now.

I got some Eneloop Pro's that I use every day on the back of my bike with the 502R on strobe as a taillight, and I also prefer that light for 1 or 2 day camping/backpacking--it is just SO small and lightweight. I like the red, because my favorite past-time in the backcountry is stargazing, even if only when I'm watering a nearby bush in the middle of the night. My wife doesn't like the red, so she uses the H502 L2. The low modes are great on the ZL's, and we don't normally do much real activity after dark in the backcountry (light camp chores and other stuff that requires very little power--hardly ever any hiking or biking). That, to me, is a gift of long trips away from civilization--letting my daily routine fall in line with the natural rhythm of sunrise/sunset, with limited artificial light or other noise.

My EDC light (really every day, including in the backcountry) is a ZL SC63. In the backcountry, I'll carry a spare cell in a Fenix ARE X1 charger, which will also act as a powerbank for topping off a cellphone or other device. Solar panels weigh as much as several cells, so I don't carry a solar charger unless the trip will be multi day, and I think I'll need more than 3 spare 18650's. My solar panel is small, less than 5W in full sun, but still weighs 160g (the same as 3x 18650 cells). For most of my trips, which are less than a week between finding a wall socket, I just carry fully-charged 18650's. There might be more weight-efficient solar panels, but I have had good luck with my Renogy brand 5W (Amazon USA B01K8NTKHM). On those multi-day trips, I bring a H600FwIII rather than the AA.

As far as cold weather, I've had really good performance out of Eneloop Pro's as my bike taillight during some really cold weeks commuting on the bike in Denver, CO. I haven't seen real performance hits to 18650's, either (admittedly, I don't spend a lot of time below -15C/5F). Most spec sheet's I've seen for Li-ion chemistries say that they work down to -20 degrees C, though they don't usually say how much capacity is lost. For a lot of people, the battery check function on their lights is a forgotten or underappreciated function. But, in the backcountry, especially if it is cold, I heavily use that function to tell me how much juice I have left in the tank, to help me meter my use.

mountainwalker said:

Thanks Chris. Are there caddies that can also function as chargers? What's a good lightweight charger model? Curious how much they weigh. And how long does a good quality lightweight charger take to deliver a full charge?

How do 18650 batteries perform in cold weather? I've used Energizer Lithium up to now in winter.

On a long trip would a solar charger make sense?

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Well, you have smaller USB chargers, like the Xtar MC1+ ANT, that is light in weight and could hold a spare cell, but you'd want to block the contacts. Then you'll need a power bank, or solar panel to charge up the cell.

You need to figure out how many hours you'll be using the light, at what level and then look at the manufacturer's published runtimes to get an idea of how many batteries/cells you'll need and then build in a buffer.

What do you mean by cold? All batteries suck in the cold, some just less than others. Energizer Lithium Advanced/Ultimates do pretty well in extreme cold, so they're going to be tough to be in that regard, but it might not matter depending on temperatures actually witnessed.

Chris

ChrisGarrett said:

Well, you have smaller USB chargers, like the Xtar MC1+ ANT, that is light in weight and could hold a spare cell, but you'd want to block the contacts. Then you'll need a power bank, or solar panel to charge up the cell.

You need to figure out how many hours you'll be using the light, at what level and then look at the manufacturer's published runtimes to get an idea of how many batteries/cells you'll need and then build in a buffer.

What do you mean by cold? All batteries suck in the cold, some just less than others. Energizer Lithium Advanced/Ultimates do pretty well in extreme cold, so they're going to be tough to be in that regard, but it might not matter depending on temperatures actually witnessed.

Chris

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For 18650's what about the Nightcore F1 charger as it's also a powerbank and allows pass-thru charging of devices?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...Core-F1-vs-Xtar-ANT-MC1-Plus-for-starter-gear

Can anyone recommend a good lightweight charger for Sanyo Eneloop AA?

When I mention Lithium for cold use, I'm referring to winter conditions when temps can go below freezing. How do 18650 batteries perform in those conditions? For winter it's nice to have a remote battery pack that goes inside your jacket to keep it warm, but headlamps with remote battery packs are much heavier, so I don't use those unless I'm planning on many hours of continuous cold use.

I'm into UL backpacking and appreciate small versatile multi-tasking stuff. A FourSevens Flexcharger or Olight UC Unviersal charger (same thing) are tiny and will charge both Li-ion and NiMh. A Klarus CH1 will do Li-ion, NiMh, and powerbank Li-ion (or 3NiMh in series with tiny magnets) to USB.

My camping/emergency lighting rigs are broad voltage (1-4.2v) Quarks running on Keeppower 16650 (~3/4 an 18650) paired with the CH1 for maximum versatility. I use 0.5 and 3lms 90% of the time (beats my ZL's efficiency despite manuf. spec claims), and it'll run on any chemistry 16340/14500/CR123/AA/AAA with DIY tinfoil/$bill spacers from my wallet. Also keep paperclip in the wallet to run larger cells (eg 18650, C, D) in lantern mode.

I don't even bother with bulky headbands anymore (just one less thing) preferring to clip a ball cap, shirt collar, neck cord, or wallet lantern diffuser.

mountainwalker said:

For 18650's what about the Nightcore F1 charger as it's also a powerbank and allows pass-thru charging of devices?

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...Core-F1-vs-Xtar-ANT-MC1-Plus-for-starter-gear

Can anyone recommend a good lightweight charger for Sanyo Eneloop AA?

When I mention Lithium for cold use, I'm referring to winter conditions when temps can go below freezing. How do 18650 batteries perform in those conditions? For winter it's nice to have a remote battery pack that goes inside your jacket to keep it warm, but headlamps with remote battery packs are much heavier, so I don't use those unless I'm planning on many hours of continuous cold use.

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WoodsWalker likes the F1 and it is a decent power bank to a degree, but it's similar to the Xtar MC1+ and MC1+ ANT, which have a 500mA and 1A charging rate, but no power bank function. The ANT has a little digital voltage display.

If you want a slightly bigger single bay charger that does everything and is a power bank, look to the Liitokala Lii 100, for a smallish USB charger with segmented voltage readout. They're like $5 shipped from GearBest.

There's 'below' freezing and then there's -20 below zero. I'm in Miami, so my freezer is the coldest I ever see, so I can't tell you from personal experience how well a quality 18650 will do at zero degrees Fahrenheit, but it's going to be less than at nominal temperatures. Lithium primaries--the Energizer Ultimates do well in those sub freezing temps, whereas NiMH have trouble keeping the electrolytes fluid in those same temps.

Chris

Given the long runtimes of 18650 based lights solar is mostly for ER prep though might entertain the idea of a 7W panel on the back of my pack for a potential future thru hike. Deep winter I run CR123 or AA lithium primaries though some headlamps with a battery pack behind the head like my Fenix HP12 are ok as keep the battery under my watchman style cap. The Olight UC has proven totally solar compatible in my testing. I do like AA for the AT as can get batteries off trail easily.

For night biking on dirt roads or running over really harsh ground I use 18650 as need 200 lumens plus on foot or 200-400 plus on bike to be safe. For normal hiking 30-60 is fine. Night kayaking the more the better as any mistakes could end in death rather fast aka caught up on partially submersed trees or hit by a motor boat. Around camp moonlight modes to 30 are good. For cooking 10-30 and edged tools 30 plus. Rock scampering and ledge work 100 to 200. Inside a tent or under a tarp at night when just hanging out sub 5. Road walking 10-30. All of that said my instincts in the woods is to conserve battery power whenever possible even if I have more than enough. Also I have a preference for lights which have a medium mode of 5-6 hours that is bright enough to hike with as rarely push more than 6 hours at night going to camp if running (sometimes literally) late. I always prefer hands free unless there is heavy mist/rain/snow. I mostly prefer reliability and durability over wiz bang features and modes. But a light doesn't have to be built like a rock to be reliable. Also these are my preferences and by no means applicable to everyone.

ChrisGarrett said:

WoodsWalker likes the F1 and it is a decent power bank to a degree, but it's similar to the Xtar MC1+ and MC1+ ANT, which have a 500mA and 1A charging rate, but no power bank function. The ANT has a little digital voltage display.

If you want a slightly bigger single bay charger that does everything and is a power bank, look to the Liitokala Lii 100, for a smallish USB charger with segmented voltage readout. They're like $5 shipped from GearBest.

There's 'below' freezing and then there's -20 below zero. I'm in Miami, so my freezer is the coldest I ever see, so I can't tell you from personal experience how well a quality 18650 will do at zero degrees Fahrenheit, but it's going to be less than at nominal temperatures. Lithium primaries--the Energizer Ultimates do well in those sub freezing temps, whereas NiMH have trouble keeping the electrolytes fluid in those same temps.

Chris

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The standard MC1 Plus and MC1 Ant Plus both preformed better in solar testing using backpacking panels than the F1 (which is overall good as well but defaulted to .5A more often). The really annoying thing is the standard not ANT version of the MC1 Plus did the best of all and Xtar in their wisdom :shrug: decided to discontinue it. Glad I got both.

Woods Walker said:

The standard MC1 Plus and MC1 Ant Plus both preformed better in solar testing using backpacking panels than the F1 (which is overall good as well but defaulted to .5A more often). The really annoying thing is the standard not ANT version of the MC1 Plus did the best of all and Xtar in their wisdom :shrug: decided to discontinue it. Glad I got both.

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Yeah, these smaller single bay USB chargers are all pretty cheap, so for $20-$25 you can get two, or three of them to fiddle with and stash away.

I got two Liitokala 100s and two 202s for $23 shipped.

Chris

Stopping by with another vote for Zebralights, and also the F1 (unless solar is a major issue, and being able to use as a power bank isn't an issue).

With the low lumens, you could do well with an AA-based light, but I'd still recommend an 18650 one be the default choice.

If you have the budget for it, both could perhaps be an option, the AA being backup and giving you choice in fuel. For me that makes sense, as I always carry spares for the GPS anyway.

ChrisGarrett said:

Yeah, these smaller single bay USB chargers are all pretty cheap, so for $20-$25 you can get two, or three of them to fiddle with and stash away.

I got two Liitokala 100s and two 202s for $23 shipped.

Chris

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Just ordered a 100 and 202. Unfortunately the Klarus K2 failed my solar testing and there is something wrong with the USB powerbank function as it tends to default to .5A. Only charges 1/2 the power of a 18650 to a device. I think it terminates too soon when charging the iPad or maybe there is something else going on. So still need a UL smaller two bay solar charger for solar. The 100 was so cheap why not toss one in the order as well. LOL! Will solar test the Liitokalas

Woods Walker said:

Just ordered a 100 and 202. Unfortunately the Klarus K2 failed my solar testing and there is something wrong with the USB powerbank function as it tends to default to .5A. Only charges 1/2 the power of a 18650 to a device. I think it terminates too soon when charging the iPad or maybe there is something else going on. So still need a UL smaller two bay solar charger for solar. The 100 was so cheap why not toss one in the order as well. LOL! Will solar test the Liitokalas

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My two 100s slightly overcharge to about 4.22v-4.23v and my two 202s slightly undercharge to about 4.18v-4.19, FWIW, but I can live with those values since they're not everyday chargers.

I love my Xtar XP1 Hummingbird for being right on the money, but it only does NiMH/li-ions of 14500 and shorter. I like the 250mA/500mA rates and it's my everyday charger for my 10440s, 16340s, 14500s and 18350s.

Chris

If you want 8+ hours at 60+ lumens without changing batteries, an 18650 light is probably the way to go.

If you were using a 3xAAA light before, however, a 1xAA is roughly equivalent in terms of capacity. The Zebralight H53 specs suggest it actually can do what you're asking for on high capacity NiMH batteries, and in fact, an H53 and a spare Eneloop is still slightly lighter than an 18650-powered headlamp with a single battery.

The silicone caddies mentioned above aren't chargers. Just a little bit of physical protection and more importantly electrical protection for carrying spare cells in your pocket or pack. I just received one yesterday to try out. It's nothing exciting, but it only cost me a dollar, and does exactly what it should with almost no added bulk. If you have an 18650-powered headlamp and a spare battery, you've really got a lot of runtime available.

The Thrunite C2 is a caddy, charger, and powerbank in one. The specs say it needs at least 350mA input, so it might not work well with smaller backpacking solar chargers or in cloudy weather.