First timer Headlamp

So now that I'm a part of the SES in Australia. (State Emergency Services, which is a volunteering group for rescue during natuarl disasters, etc...), we are provided with a flimsy headlamp that uses 3 AAA battery that doesnt last long and is only 60Lm of output. I want to have good quality gear that I can rely on. Dont want to be stuck on a roof or other situation during heavy rain with unreliable gear.

Im looking for something that can deliver a lot more Lumens and also last longer in runtimes. My main light will be a Niwalker Aurora C26 (1500lm ) that should be arriving soon. I do have many lights but never had a headlamp, so I'm falimilar with the batteries and have plenty spare and changers for them. My preferred battery would be a 18650 for its higher capacity for runtimes.

The light will be attached to a helmet, so weight wise isnt too much of an issue.
Price can be any, but prefer under $100, but can spend a little more if its a much better performer and quality.
I know zebra light makes some good headlamps, but dont know which models.


Please suggest your offerings and what you have experienced that worked well in rescue situations. Specially on helmets and not directly to head.

I mostly use a headlamp for close work or walking, so I prefer a flood beam. As you said, you already have the 1500 lum search light, so I would recommend the Zebra H600Fc III High CRI.

Hey Bruno.

Take a look at the nitecore hc30. That has caught my eye for a while now.

I get all my lights and batteries from lite shop in Australia (there is a thread on shops in Aus). Just be aware that they sometimes take a week to arrive due to lithium battery restrictions in the post. I have bought from overseas before but I buy inside Aus now due to cost being about the same now and you get a warranty.

Nitecore are also bringing out an intrinsically safe 18650 headlamp out but unless you work in coal or natural gas I would stick to the above mentioned. That type of incident would be handed over to the fire department as you know or a specialist team.

Hope the wild weather over the weekend didn't get you down.

I work in emergency services in the Pilbrara and always get annoyed when others want to "borrow" my torch for a minute. I just say no now and encourage them to complain to management about getting better torches. It's a low priority for them so understand why they get the cheap stuff.

Thanks campingnut and pblanch.

The weather has been bad. See how sydney has been hit. Worked sat and Sunday till mid night. We had 9000 calls that weekend. It's quite enjoyable to help out though. Even if knee deep in water and wet feet all night.
I'll have a loot at both suggested lights. Yeah won't want to borrow these lights, specially the niwalker. Haha

More options are welcome. Share your favorite and why. I want options to search around.

Just saw an armytek wizard pro v3....Has 2300lumens? That's crazy!

If it too bright, close up work is pretty painful. I have found 100-200 a nice compromise for a lot of light and good coverage around you. 7 hours duration is a lot of time and carrying a spare battery will cover you all night.

Having the option for a higher is good.

Armytek's 2,300 lumen claim is the LED light output not "out the front" output so that is a bit misleading. I think the actual out the front output is more like 1,600 lumen. Still that is a lot of output for a small headlamp. Also, I see Zebralight has marked down the price of their H600 MKII lights at their website, so I guess the MKIII is coming soon. The H600 MKII series headlamps are top notch though I have 2 of them which I use almost daily. I like the neutral white versions so the might be worth considering if you can get the discounted price.

Yeah I think 1000 is well over what I'll need. But good to have it available if needed.
I'm leaning towards the nitecore hc30 as its a good price. Almost half the armytek.
One thing I was thinking is thst the beam isn't coming out centered the forehead as the light sits sideways. Is that something noticeabld?

No the off center lamp head is not noticeable in use.

I'm still relatively new to the different brands of headlamps but I'm really liking Nitecore for it's quality to affordability ratio. I've got and reviewed both the HC30 and the HC50 and I would also suggest looking at the HC90 for it having high lummens but also floody beam; all IPX-8 waterproof btw the way. HC30 is great for walking but makes a great back-up hand carry light; HC50 is great for hands-on work and has a great battery indicator system so you get caught unexpectely with a dead battery; HC90 probably can do both walking and hands-on well, plus is USB rechargable so you don't have to keep taking out the battery at the end of the day to recharge or you can charge it in the field with a portable power bank. I'm also a volunteer responder but in the United States for CalOES and I am "second-responder" for building and infrastructure safety assessments. I've never been deployed but I also want to be prepared with the right equipment for that situation but while you're waiting for the call I'm sure you'll find way more day-to-day activities you'll want to use your new tools on Thanks for volunteering!

I've had a H600Fd III for a short while and here's what I love about it:

*small for an 18650 light
*excellent runtimes, brightness
*offset is not noticeable on the head
*super quality feel

Things not so great (but livable)
*weight (especially compered to a Tikka and other superlightweight/fragile lamps)
*heat (again not terrible but H1 does heat up noticeably)

I've been pretty satisfied with my Armytek Wizard Pro v1.5. I keep it in my Search and Rescue backpack. I got it for less than 50% of what v2 costs now. If you don't feel the need to go for the newest and brightest, you can save some penny.

Our SAR team wears a Petzl climbing helmet, where there is no brim, but our CERT team wears a helmet like a typical construction helmet, with a brim in the front.

Which type of helmet do you have?

I'm thinking that if it is the Petzl style, then any style head lamp may work, but if it has a brim, then you may need one that will extend out far enough so that the lens almost reaches the edge of the brim, so that the brim doesn't cause a shadow. I may be completely wrong, I just want to offer that as a consideration. I'd be interested in comments from those who do know.

In the mean time, I just ordered Crelant CH10 CREE XM-L2 in neutral white. from gearbest, for my brimmed CERT helmet. It should be here in two weeks or less.

Question. What's better to work with. Optics (TIR) or reflector? My understanding is that one is flood and the other is more throw and hot spot?

The headlamp I might get is the skilhunt H03 or the H03r. one is TIR the other is reflector.

I think there is a little less loss of light with a reflector, a little more efficient than TIR lenses. What really matters though is how the beam looks to you.

I like the Nitecore HC30 as an 18650 headlamp. Very bright about 1,000 lumens, good runtime, has a fairly narrow hotspot so good for distance not closeup work. It is not very good for working on the car for example. The UI is intuitive. It's very light for an 18650 headlamp. It's only slightly more expensive than the Skilhunt headlamps you're looking at.

I've a ZL H600w MKII, wore it on a helmet (similar to this) while working in a disused underground mine; I was lucky because the helmet had a bracket on the front that stopped the silicone ZL mount sliding around and also a loop on the back that stopped the headband riding up. Didn't have any issues with the peak causing shadows.

Even though the MKIII version has been released, the MKII is still a great light and I think for $69 (ZL website) is pretty good value.

PID temperature control on high levels is a fundamental requirement for me, if I'm working and need light, I want to be able to bump the light up to the maximum brightness and not have to baby it to make sure it doesn't over-heat.

For smooth helmets, you can get 'hooks' that attach to the rim of the helmet and stop the headlight strap sliding off, Petzl do some, they call them crochlamp? Alternatively, check out this thread for a magnetic mounting solution.

I would recommend the Skilhunt H03 which is a floody headlamp. I believe most headlamp use would be for general view than for throw, so a floody light is more useful in my opinion.

Also if you are keen to get this now, it is going at US$29.99. Check out the coupon codes here:
https://bestgearcoupons.com/led-lights-flashlights/skilhunt-h03-coupons.html