What is one of the better budget headlamps out there now?

Hello all,
Been away from flashlights for a while and im curious what are some of the better budget headlamps available now. Id like to preferably stay under $40 as I'll only be using it for looking for critters at night while out walking and nighttime BBQ'ing. As far as batteries go I am open to all options and have Panasonic 18650's if needed so I wont need to purchase new ones if it takes them. Thanks so much for any recommendations!

I have a small pile of headlamps and an inexpensive one that surprised me was the Princeton Tec "Fuel." I think the Black Diamond "Spot" is another good one for the $40 budget you mentioned.

But if you want something really neat, double your budget and pick up a Zebralight H600w MkII.

Take it easy,
Bob

desmobob said:

I have a small pile of headlamps and an inexpensive one that surprised me was the Princeton Tec "Fuel." I think the Black Diamond "Spot" is another good one for the $40 budget you mentioned.

But if you want something really neat, double your budget and pick up a Zebralight H600w MkII.

Take it easy,
Bob

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Thanks for the reply, going to check those lights out. and I suppose if there is something a bit higher than $40 thats just way better than the stuff in that category I wouldn't mind looking at them.

Check out the Nitecore HC50. Not too far over budget, especially with discounts and/or sales, and it is much more solid than the mostly plastic models you can get for under $40.

illumination supply has a special on the ArmyTek Tiara Pro for like $35, if they have any left at that price it is a killer deal.

Str8stroke said:

illumination supply has a special on the ArmyTek Tiara Pro for like $35, if they have any left at that price it is a killer deal.

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Bummer looks like I missed out, I like armyteks stuff, I have an older predator that has served me well. Looking into the nitecore it doesnt look too bad and not far out of budget.

thedoc007 said:

Check out the Nitecore HC50. Not too far over budget, especially with discounts and/or sales, and it is much more solid than the mostly plastic models you can get for under $40.

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Do you know which site has the best price on the hc50? I can get it prime on amazon for $45 right now which seems pretty decent.

celbii said:

Bummer looks like I missed out, I like armyteks stuff, I have an older predator that has served me well. Looking into the nitecore it doesnt look too bad and not far out of budget.

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no you didn't. PM sent

cland72 said:

no you didn't. PM sent

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Thanks I just ordered one I have a bunch of cr123a's laying around from a few years ago so hopefully they are still good I guess I was looking at the other tiara they had and saw that one was out of stock and didnt realize there were two. I'm still tempted to buy that hc50 so I have something to toss my extra 18650's in and tell my GF its for her as an excuse of buying two lol.

desmobob said:

I have a small pile of headlamps and an inexpensive one that surprised me was the Princeton Tec "Fuel." I think the Black Diamond "Spot" is another good one for the $40 budget you mentioned.

But if you want something really neat, double your budget and pick up a Zebralight H600w MkII.

Take it easy,
Bob

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While I don't own a BD Spot, it's gotten top reviews from many sites talking about headlamps. It's reportedly very good, especially for the money.

That said, I bought a Zebralight h52w instead of it when I was shopping around. Personal preference.

My personal experience with Princeton Tec hasn't been stellar, however. My old and beloved EOS failed after 40 minutes in the rain and my Quad cracked its housing and lens w/o evidence of drops or hits in the area of the crack.

If you are okay using cr123/rcr123 then that Armytek Tiarra is an awesome deal. I prefer 18650 or AA personally.

I second the Zebralight H52

I use a Fenix HL10 when taking the dogs out, it uses 1 AAA, removable aluminum body with a plastic holder and has a pretty even flood. I also like the Ozark from Walmart for a cheap plastic headlamp

Hey everyone,
Thanks for all the help, since i have a small stock of cr123a's from a few years ago and I have rechargeable Panasonic 18650's, and my girlfriend as an excuse to get a second (LOL) I got the tiara on sale and the nitecore Hc50 for $45

I've been knee deep in the headlamp research lately..

For under $40 and 18650 powered the Jetbeam HC20 strikes me as a potentially nice option.

mdocod said:

I've been knee deep in the headlamp research lately..

For under $40 and 18650 powered the Jetbeam HC20 strikes me as a potentially nice option.

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Hey Mdocod,
I ended up with the nitecore hc50 and the armytek tiara c1 pro. I got the tiara yesterday and was quite unimpressed with it vs the hc50. Of course the hc50 is a larger uinit and is 2 cr123as or a 18650 instead of just 1 cr123a like the tiara. That said I really would have been dissapointed if I bought it at full price of $70, but I got it on sale for 50% off so for that price its not too shabby. I am going to sell it though because I was looking into just buying another hc50 but found a nitecore hc90 onsale for $61 shipped after a 20% coupon code. So a bit out of my original budget and going to end up with two lights in the end, but they seem worth it.

You can grab the hc50 for $45 on amazon, im not sure how it compares to the jetbeam though.

Hey celbii,

I'd be very interested in some elaboration on what you didn't like about the tiera. We're looking at getting a couple Wizard Pro V2's soon for backpacking... Wondering if something you didn't like on the tiera would carry over, that we should know about.

mdocod said:

Hey celbii,

I'd be very interested in some elaboration on what you didn't like about the tiera. We're looking at getting a couple Wizard Pro V2's soon for backpacking... Wondering if something you didn't like on the tiera would carry over, that we should know about.

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All in all its a decent little light, I guess I was just expect it to pack more of a punch light wise. Of course though its only 1 cr123a vs 2 or an 18650 in the hc50. I also was not a fan of switching light modes in it, having to hold down the power button to cycle through, I like the half click in the nitecore hc50 alot more to change brightness levels. For the sale price of around $40 I got on the tiara its not bad and the quality is great but I would have been dissapointed if I paid full price for it. One other thing i dislike which can easily be changed or fixed is the strap on the tiara, I like the ones that have the strap that goes over the head also and not just the sides, I felt worried if i didnt have it too tight it would slide down, and having it too tight made it uncomfortable.

Thanks for elaborating celbii.

I wonder if the lack of perceived punch here has more to do with the beam pattern than the actual lumens. Thoughts?

mdocod said:

Thanks for elaborating celbii.

I wonder if the lack of perceived punch here has more to do with the beam pattern than the actual lumens. Thoughts?

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Hey Mdocod, Yeah not that you mention it it does probably have something to do with the beam pattern, the Nitecores have clear lens and it looks like the tiara has some sort of diffused lense. I got my hc90 in and its nice like the hc50, but it falls into the same catagory as the tiara for me in the sense that if I paid full price for it, it would not be worth it vs the hc50. I feel that at the price point of $45 with no sale on the hc50 it outperforms both the tiara and the hc90 which are both more pricely at their normal price.

Hi celbii,

I spent a lot of time recently trying to figure out what headlamps are going to be part of our new illumination system for back-packing. Ultimately decided on Wizard Pro V2 Warm's. The HC50, and many others from popular manufactures were all on my list to compare and contrast (jetbeam, fenix, nitecore, armytek, spark, and zebralight being the main contenders). The HC50 struck me as a very neat headlamp.

Unfortunately, there were 5 issues that prevented the HC50 from making my short-list.

1. Off-set battery compartment and rotating pin-lock mechanism for tail-cap-spring alignment looks like a source of potential problems.
2. Physical rather than electrical reverse polarity protection appears to prevent compatibility with flat top cells. (Intend to use "raw" NCR18650B's)
3. Cool white rather than Neutral white emitter. (intended use is almost entirely outdoors)
4. Lack of truly regulated output on an 18650 in all modes (not a major issue but something that I nitpick about).
5. Weighs about 50g more than competing 1 X 18650 powered Zebra/Spark/Armytek lights. (a concern for backpacking).

Granted, every light has tradeoffs... The Wizards lighter weight means less thermal mass, the switch on the wizard is also going to be less forgiving, especially with gloves... Compromises.... I can certainly see the appeal of the HC50. I'd say as a more general use headlamp (not specific to back-packing and out-door use), it's probably one of the best in class if you're careful with the tailcap and have button top cells.

The Skilhunt H02 looks nice for $49. That 5lm low mode would NEVER work for me, but it depends on your type of use.