Need a headlamp recommendation please.

[justin3]

My wife works at a large local hospital, and their disaster committee is looking in to purchasing headlamps for the staff, in case of emergency. These would be a part of a disaster kit that is kept in each unit, and would be handed out to every employee in case of an emergency/power outage. Whatever they decide on, they will purchase around 1000 of them, perhaps up to 1500, or as few as 700. Cost would ideally be less than $30, but I'd rather propose the best light for the job, rather than something that would not perform well but be under budget, so I would be willing to look into some slightly more expensive options

The headlamp would need to be reasonably bright, preferably 2-3 brightness settings, need to be a simple UI, as they will be going mostly to people who have never even used a headlamp before, be low maintenance, not too heavy or bulky, and preferably use aa batteries(lithium primaries most likely, as these things would probably be sitting untouched for long periods of time.)


I know there are the infinitely adjustable handheld lights now, with a twist bezel to adjust brightness. Something like that may also work.

I've considered something along the lines of the Fenix HL30, but with no red light, or an even simpler UI. I think if the HL30 UI used the left switch for on/off, and the right switch for simple brightness adjustment such as low>medium>high>red, and had an easier battery door, it may be almost perfect for the job. Perhaps a single button low>med>high>off setup would be even better.


Anyone have any recommendations?

 

[justin3]

Whoops, wrong forum. I've asked for it to be moved.

 

[Norm]

Moved - Norm

 

[carrot]

The biggest problem is that the large majority of headlamps have some amount of parasitic drain, as they use electronic switches which must be powered ever so slightly to recognize when they are being pressed. In some lights more than others this is a problem, so you must be careful when picking a headlamp. For instance, I often find my Princeton Tec EOS dead despite not using it nearly long enough.

That said, my thought is that the Petzl Tikka 2 is probably the best headlamp you can get at low cost. It is simple (2 levels), solid as a rock, and runs forever on a single set of batteries. Put some Energizer AAA Ultimate Lithiums in and you have a no-maintenance, long lasting light. Finally, parasitic drain seems to be negligible. I could barely register any drain at all on my multimeter, certainly under 0.1 µA.

If AA over AAA is a must, the Petzl Pixa 1 looks promising and is probably another excellent choice, however I have not been able to try one out myself so I cannot recommend it as easily as the Tikka 2, which I have put through a lot of use and abuse.

 

[justin3]

The biggest problem is that the large majority of headlamps have some amount of parasitic drain, as they use electronic switches which must be powered ever so slightly to recognize when they are being pressed. In some lights more than others this is a problem, so you must be careful when picking a headlamp. For instance, I often find my Princeton Tec EOS dead despite not using it nearly long enough.

That said, my thought is that the Petzl Tikka 2 is probably the best headlamp you can get at low cost. It is simple (2 levels), solid as a rock, and runs forever on a single set of batteries. Put some Energizer AAA Ultimate Lithiums in and you have a no-maintenance, long lasting light. Finally, parasitic drain seems to be negligible. I could barely register any drain at all on my multimeter, certainly under 0.1 µA.

If AA over AAA is a must, the Petzl Pixa 1 looks promising and is probably another excellent choice, however I have not been able to try one out myself so I cannot recommend it as easily as the Tikka 2, which I have put through a lot of use and abuse.

Those both look good. I would prefer an aa light for the application, but for something that fits all the other needs well, could be swayed to go for the aaa light. The only drawback of the tikka 2 is the strobe mode. The price and everything else are perfect though. For non-flashlight people in a potential emergency situation, the strobe is confusing. If there were no strobe in it, I would be ordering one right this moment.

The Pixa also is very close, but the single mode is too bright. If they added a 7-10 lumen low, it would also be almost exactly what I'm looking for. I need something with a low that is low enough to look patients in the face, and not cause them to squint.

 

[ltsba]

The Niteye HA30, you can look for it on ebay

 

[carrot]

Those both look good. I would prefer an aa light for the application, but for something that fits all the other needs well, could be swayed to go for the aaa light. The only drawback of the tikka 2 is the strobe mode. The price and everything else are perfect though. For non-flashlight people in a potential emergency situation, the strobe is confusing. If there were no strobe in it, I would be ordering one right this moment.

I don't think you will find the strobe to be an issue.

The Petzl Tikka 2 works as follows: press once for high (this is plenty bright, and runs plenty long for most people), press twice for economy mode, and press three times for strobe. In my experience, and without explaining the headlamp at all, 100% of novice lighting users are able to turn it on and turn it off without trouble.

From any of these modes, if you press the button again it will turn off. There are no secret click-click-hold morse code sequences in here, simply 3 output levels and a friendly silicone rubber button.

 

[justin3]

Allegation removed. PM to justin3.

And carrot, thanks for the recommendations. As the two petzl lamps were so close to what I wanted, I looked more into petzl and found the petzl tikkarinna 2, which is almost perfect, and I ordered one this morning. It met every need, and though I would like a little brighter high, it should work well for the need. Of course I will test it and let the wife try it out for a few days to see if it's worthy of submitting to the committee.

 

[papershredder]

For this sort of bulk order, you would go directly to the manufacturer to get a quote. So things that retail for say, $50, may be within your $30 price range.
Typically, you'd identify a few models from different vendors and get quotes from all of them.

If there is a power outage in a hospital, that's a SHTF/somebody screwed up scenario (e.g. putting generators in the basement.) Backup generators are supposed to be the fall-back, not headlamps...