Headlamp Choices

Please bear with another, "help me choose a headlamp thread." Anyway, I've zero experience with headlamps, but recently came to the conclusion that I need one. In fact, I wonder why I haven't come to this conclusion long, long ago? :thinking:
Last week I was deer hunting and shot a nice buck just before sunset. Needless to say, by the time I picked up my grandpa from his stand, and got around to field dressing the deer, it was dark. (not the first time this has happened) So there I was, with hands busy, thinking I need more light than my grandpa's flashlight was providing.
I've narrowed it down to three, I think, headlamps: SL Trident, PT Corona, and PT EOS. The main use would be for tasks such as the one above. I'm thinking lots of flood. Also, I'd like to use it to read from time to time, so it needs to be dimmable or variable output. Lastly, some throw would be good for tasks such as navigating a trail, etc... The Trident's price is right, but I'm not sure it has enough flood. The EOS gets rave reviews, but I'm not sure it has enough flood either. The Corona seems to be what I might be looking for, but I'm not sure. I've read all the reviews, but would like to hear from some of y'all with some real world experiences with these lights. Appreciate the help.

Just a quick one here. Have you tried looking at the Tikka XP? It's got variable light settings with strobe feature plus a built in slide-away diffuser. It's also got a temporary light "booster" for that momentary throw to see farther.

This little light weight is pretty bright from what I can tell. I haven't read any reviews on this particular light, just saw it and compared it with the others that you mentioned. So for me it was a toss-up between the Princeton Tec EOS and this Tikka XP. But I'm thinking I'll go back for the Princeton Tec EOS too.

Hope you find what you're looking for and Enjoy!

I have a PT Corona and a PT Aurora.

I would ask what you plan to do with them. If you need brightness, go with the Corona or their new PT EOS 3w. I bought the Corona off Ebay because it was half what I had seen it other places. I have never used it, although I did play with it a bit. I did not like the battery pack on the back of my head. I would rather have something on my belt and have the light be more comfortable to wear, since I primarily use my headlamp while hiking.

If you want bright and battery life, The PT Aurora is a decent fairly low-cost headlamp with excellent battery life, seems 'rain-proof' and is plenty bright for my night hikes. Best of all the batteries go in the light assembly itself. I have had mine for 3 years and still have not replaced the batteries. It sees several weeks of use per year, and is plenty bright for night hiking on the AT or for cooking in the dark at camp.

River Rock makes a 0.5W single LED headlamp that is sold at Target, and it looks to be a nice little headlamp for the price. Not sure how it compares to my Aurora. Go to www.campmor.com - they usually have deals on headlamps. My Aurora came with a free PT keychain pinchlight.

grrickar said:

River Rock makes a 0.5W single LED headlamp that is sold at Target, and it looks to be a nice little headlamp for the price.

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If there is a Target near you, do yourself a favor and get this headlamp! At $15 (or less if you've got the 10% off sale), this is the best headlamp for the money IMHO, period. The EOS is better quality overall, but it has a few disadvantages (mostly throw/hotspot with little spill, 3 AAA batteries, heavier, about twice the price). The River Rock has a nice combination of throw and spill. It comes on on low (a nice rarity in headlamps) and the 2 settings look well spaced- low is good for reading and closup work, and high is needed for walking trails etc. Runtime is good on either level- 6 or 7 hours on high and over 20 on low; all on just 2 AAA batteries- its nice not needing that third one. Its also very small and light, so you can take off the top strap and it stows away easily.

A couple things to note: the tint tends to be pretty blue, but you get used to it. Also, while having better output and throw than most 5mm based headlamps, it won't beat a true Luxeon based one like the EOS on high- the high on the RR is about the EOS medium level. Still for $15 bucks, it totally covers the job of a decent headlamp. You can use the money saved to buy more cool flashlights !

I recommend that you do not get the Trident. I have one and I don't like it because the incandescent beam has a lot of artifacts.

I have a Corona too and I really like it. It does not have throw, but it does have a nice flood beam and vairable output.

You might like the Yukon HL. It has both throw from the Luxeon and flood when the three LEDs are on.

cazador said:

The main use would be for tasks such as the one above. I'm thinking lots of flood. Also, I'd like to use it to read from time to time, so it needs to be dimmable or variable output. Lastly, some throw would be good for tasks such as navigating a trail, etc...

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It seems to me like you have 2 uses in mind: flood and throw. You won't get both with just one set of LED's, or a single incan. Not to worry, though! That's what "hybrid" headlamps are for!

My current favorites are the BlackDiamond ones. If you want a 5mmLED + Luxeon combo, the Zenix IQ would be good and small. If you want 5mm LED + incan, then the Vectra IQ would be good. You can add a brighter incan bulb to the Vectra, for a bit of added throw. BTW, the "IQ" series are regulated and also "remember" your last setting.

Hello Cazador,

Welcom to CPF.

I have the Trident and the EOS, so I will limit my comments to those lights.

Low and medium on the Trident are dimmer than low on the EOS. The incandescent beam has a lot of artifacts, but is still useful. However, it is dimmer than the EOS on high.

The EOS has become my favorite. I have made some "adjustments" to it, and it is even better now.

The big problem with the EOS is that the beam is very tight. This is good for throw, but makes reading difficult. You end up moving your head back and forth even with a paperback. Also, the stock EOS is too bright on low for comfortable reading in total darkness.

My original solution was to take a baby's sock and slip it over the EOS. This gave me a wider diffused light and made the low level just right. I ended up cutting the heel, foot, and toe sections off and just using the part that goes around the ankle. You need to try a variety of sock materials to see what gives you the best beam.

With the diffuser in place, low on the EOS is about equal to the Trident on medium.

The EOS is a "smaller" and lighter package than the Trident. My Trident comes in at around 140 grams, and the EOS stock is 105 grams. My "adjusted" EOS is around 80 grams. I believe the smaller package of the EOS also makes it more durable.

The hot spot of the beam of the Trident on LED's is about 18" in diameter, if you are about 18" away. The incandescent lamp beam is about 10" in diameter. The stock EOS is about 4" in diameter, and my "adjusted" EOS is about 9" in diameter.

The adjustments I made on my EOS involved finding a different optic and changing the battery system from 3 alkaline cells in series to a choice of 1, 2, or 3 Li-Ion cells in parallel. The optic (fraen I think) widened the hot spot to give me a wider beam. This results in a loss of throw. At work, I would use the stock EOS mostly on low. Now I am finding that I am using medium a lot more. Since I am using a rechargeable power source, this is no big deal. The loss in throw is also not an issue. I have flashlights to fill that gap.

Tom

MY personal understanding is, that any lamp using AAAs is just junk.
This battery size sux for anyone who wants regular use. Someone using the light just a few times a year might still like them.

So the perfect headlamp is one with 3-5 AAs in a back battery compartment and a useful output (5 hours minimum on high).
If PT Apex and Silva L1 wouldnt suck their batteries down this quick, they were perfect headlamps. (imagine being somewhere remote and not noticeing that the light is set on full output).

So the perfect headlamp for cazador is a Petzl Myo Xp. Throw and spill, dimmable, flood cover integrated.

It there were an EOS model with Apex battery pack, this would be the perfect headlamp (as I already typed several times. the Apex still sucks in appearance)

I'm in a similar situation as yours, knowing nothing about headlamps until starting to do some research here. I've narrowed my choice down to the Pelican 2630 (good thread in the Reviews section here) and the Princeton Tec Corona. I wanted LED only and AA batts. Unfortunately, I can't find any place near me to do a hands on comparison of either.

Hello Yellow,

It is a good thing that you have the opportunity to enhance "your understanding..."

yellow said:

MY personal understanding is, that any lamp using AAAs is just junk.
This battery size sux for anyone who wants regular use. Someone using the light just a few times a year might still like them.

So the perfect headlamp is one with 3-5 AAs in a back battery compartment and a useful output (5 hours minimum on high).

Click to expand...

A back battery compartment does allow you to use larger batteries, but at the cost of weight and comfort.

Have you ever crawled into a tent and propped yourself up on your pack and enjoyed a few chapters in a good book? A back battery compartment light is uncomfortable in this situation. How about crawling under your car to check things out? Once again you keep banging the battery compartment against your head.

If you are in a situation where weight is not an issue, and are remaining upright, I would tend to agree that a larger battery would be very useful, however, not all of us have the luxury of vertical use.

I find that the 3+ hours of use on high with my "adjusted" EOS is good for about two weeks of actual use. The reason is that I am usually on medium or low. I also find that the light weight and compact nature of this light makes it very comfortable to use on a daily basis.

Of course, as with all opinions, Your Mileage May Vary...

Tom

I got to give it to Tom a.k.a. SilverFox for his respectful demeanor in his writings and professional courteousness.

SilverFox ---> :thumbsup:

+1 on the bang for the buck on the 0.5w River Rock headlamp. I just bought one last week and glad I did. This puts the Energizer 3 LED headlamp I had to shame.

yellow said:

MY personal understanding is, that any lamp using AAAs is just junk.
This battery size sux for anyone who wants regular use. Someone using the light just a few times a year might still like them.

So the perfect headlamp is one with 3-5 AAs in a back battery compartment and a useful output (5 hours minimum on high).
If PT Apex and Silva L1 wouldnt suck their batteries down this quick, they were perfect headlamps. (imagine being somewhere remote and not noticeing that the light is set on full output).

So the perfect headlamp for cazador is a Petzl Myo Xp. Throw and spill, dimmable, flood cover integrated.

It there were an EOS model with Apex battery pack, this would be the perfect headlamp (as I already typed several times. the Apex still sucks in appearance)

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Most people look like geeks when wearing a headlamp so appearance dosn't matter much to me.
The Apex will run 3.5h on high with NiMh and 12h on low, which is still brighter than most other luxeon headlamps....
The L1 can use a c-cell pack as well and runtime would than be a lot longer on high...

AAAs are great for small back up lights, especially when using lithiums...

Just my 0.02..

Sverre

Thanks for all the responses. I considered 'em all and decided to go with the BlackDiamond Zenix IQ as greenled suggested. I was unfamiliar with this brand, but when I got to lokking at 'em, the Zenix IQ seemed like it would fit my needs well. I like the luxeon/5mm combo, variable output, and that it runs on AA's. Got one on the way now and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Thanks again!

You are more than welcome!

That's one of the headlamps on my "I want" list. Enjoy it for me, will you?

Oh, yeah, and 1+ for SilverFox :twothumbs

SilverFox said:

A back battery compartment does allow you to use larger batteries, but at the cost of weight and comfort.

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I guess that the rear battery pack would might be another "con" to add to my list for the LED Lenser 7450 Double Barrel headlamp that I checked out at Gander Mountain last night. Here's a link to the light: http://www.quality-items-flashlight...ble-Barrel-Luxeon----Nichia-LED-Headlamp.html

It does look cool, though. And separate switches for the two barrels is nice as well. I didn't buy it because I didn't like the beam patterns and the $52 price.

For what it is worth, I hate having all the weight on the front of my head. I find rear battery compartments much more balanced and comfortable. I have given away most of my front heavy headlamps.

But, hey, that's just me.

The AAA battery form gives you fewer watts per ounce and costs the came as AA. If weight is much of an issue, I prefer to carry a really light headlamp that runs on lithium coin cells.

A rear battery compartment is more balanced, but I disagree with the comfortable part. If the headlamp is "light" enough, the weight imbalance is a non-issue. I find this to be the case with the EOS - it's light enough that having all the weight in the front isn't even an issue. For instance, I was using the EOS in my basement when I walked over to the TV and sat down. About a half hour later, I saw some light on the wall by the TV and I realized that I was still wearing it and it was turned on low! For everyday use, a rear battery compartment makes certain tasks more of a chore than they need to be. If you want to lie down and read, work under the car or crawl under the sink and rest your head on something, it becomes a real pain in the back of your head.

I like PT EOS. I change lens to more side spill and put third strap over head for more comfortable work. It's regulated and very good head light for me.