Fall 2009 Headlamp Roundup

A good headlamp is an essential part of any hiking trip. Even if I don’t plan on being out long enough to be in the dark, I always bring a headlamp just in case. With this in mind, we though that we would check out the latest headlamps from a bunch of the manufacturers and give them a try.

GoMotion

The claim to fame of the GoMotion is that the light doesn’t mount to your head. Instead, you use the provided straps to mount the light to any backpack. According to the company, this makes for a much easier light to hike or run with as you’re not chasing a ‘tunnel of light’. Additionally, the company fitted the GoMotion with a 3 watt LED. This means you have a very bright light to run with.

This amount of light does come at a cost. Instead of the standard AAA size batteries, the GoMotion uses 3 AA batteries. The GoMotion was by far the heaviest headlamp out of the bunch weighing roughly three times the weight of the second heaviest headlamp in the bunch. Additionally, battery life is a fraction of the other headlamps. A fresh set of AA batteries will last roughly 8 to 10 hours. Swapping the batteries for the lithium variety will buy you a total of 12 hours of light.

Mammut Lucido TXlite

Mammut have gone the opposite route with their headlamps. Instead of packing their headlamps with the brightest LEDs possible, Mammut tries to do as much possible with the light as possible. The company has invested significant amounts of time into the optics of their headlamps.

The output of the Lucido TXlite is surprisingly bright. The company says the useful distance of the light is 41 meters; not a small achievement for such a small light. Additionally, the batteries in the Lucido TXlite will last a whopping 130 hours. This should be enough time for any backpacking trip.

At 72 grams, the Ludido TXlite was the lightest weight full size headlamp in the bunch. If you’re looking to shave every possible gram from your pack, you might want to check this headlamp out. The Mammut Lucido TXlite sells for $49.95.

Princeton Tec Fuel

The Fuel is a fairly simple headlamp that uses 4 LEDs for a maximum of 43 lumens of light. The useful distance of the light is 35 meters at high power; slightly less than that of the Mammut. At 78 grams, it’s nearly a lightweight too. Operating the light is a simple matter of pressing the single button on the top of the unit and switching through the modes on the light.

The only thing I didn’t like about the fuel was the battery door. It wasn’t the easiest to get open to replace the batteries. However, since batteries will last up to 146 hours of use, you won’t have to be changing them often. Even at full power the batteries will last 50 hours. The Princeton Tec Fuel has an MSRP of $24.95.

Petzl Tikka Plus 2

The Tikka Plus has been redesigned this year for an updated model. This headlamp has the standard bright white LED and an addition of a red LED. As astronomers have known for years, red lights help you maintain your night vision. So if you use the red LED, you will be able to see a bit more of what isn’t illuminated by the headlamp. This can be quite handy when mountaineering or when you otherwise need to keep aware of your surroundings.

The Tikka Plus 2 is actually my favorite of the headlamps we tested for this article. It is a very simple headlamp to use that’s packed with some very nice features. Battery replacement is by far the easiest on the Tikka and can be done with a single hand. At $45 and weighing in at 85 grams, this isn’t the cheapest or lightest headlamp in the lineup, but it is a quality product. The headlamp will illuminate up to 35 meters and the batteries will last a maximum of 140 hours on the lowest setting.

Petzl e+Lite

The Petzl e+Lite is a headlamp that you will hopefully never have to use, and that’s actually a good thing. Petzl designed the e+Lite as an emergency light for use when you never thought you’d get stuck in the dark or as a backup to your main headlamp. Petzl has also included a 100dB whistle on the strap of the headlamp for emergency situations.

The entire headlamp packs into an included waterproof carrying case that’s roughly the size of an ipod shuffle. At 28 grams, it’s not going to add a lot of weight to your pack. If you’re concerned about weight and don’t think you’ll actually need a headlamp, consider getting the e+Lite. The e+Lite sells for $29.95, and in my mind that is very cheap insurance.

Primus PrimeLite CA

The PrimeLite CA is the swiss army knife of headlamps. This headlamp has every kind of light that you could want in the outdoors. With a total of 7 LEDs, you will not have any shortage of lighting options with the PrimeLite.

Much light the Tikka Plus 2, the PrimeLite CA has red LEDs. Instead of the single red LED on the Tikka, the PrimeLite has 2 red LEDs. This means that you will get significantly more light out of the red mode than with the Tikka.

As with the GoMotion light, there is a cost to this much power. On its brightest setting, you will go through a set of batteries in 12 hours. The upside to this is that the PrimeLite CA will also illuminate up to 75 meters ahead of you on the same brightest setting. If you want to conserve your batteries however, the lowest setting allows for up to 100 hours of usage on a single set of 3 AAA’s.

The only thing we didn’t like about the PrimeLite CA was that the batteries were a bit difficult to change. This is what moved the Tikka Plus 2 ahead of the PrimeLite CA as our favorite headlamp that we reviewed. That said, this is a fantastic headlamp for those that need to see for a long distance. The Primus PrimeLite CA sells for an MSRP of $60.