A headlamp is among the most vital 10 necessities for backpacking, mountaineering, fastpacking, path working, climbing, and every other type of outside journey sport. Using your smartphone as a flashlight doesn’t minimize it. But the times of carrying further AA and AAA battery-powered headlamps are historical past. USB rechargeable headlamps have turn out to be ubiquitous and are very handy as a result of they are often recharged utilizing the battery packs that almost all backpackers carry. Dual-power headlamps, ones that may be powered by a chargeable battery or AA/AAA batteries, are helpful if a “wall recharge” just isn’t accessible.
Here are our high 10 picks for the perfect rechargeable headlamps for backpacking and mountaineering. While there are some acquainted firm names listed beneath, the businesses that used to dominate the headlamp market have been eclipsed by smaller extra modern firms providing equal and higher-functioning merchandise. You merely don’t must pay an arm and a leg to get an important headlamp anymore. Be positive to take a look at our recommendation beneath about what to search for when shopping for a chargeable headlamp for backpacking, mountaineering, and path working or climbing.
1. Petzl Actik Core Rechargeable Headlamp
The Petzl Actik Core headlamp is a chargeable, multi-beam headlamp that gives 600 lumens of energy to gentle the way in which throughout dynamic outside actions like working, mountaineering, and backpacking. It comes with a 1250 mAh CORE rechargeable battery (included) and can be appropriate with 3 AAA alkaline, lithium, or Ni-MH rechargeable batteries with out the necessity for an adapter, which is a superb comfort. It has 2 beam patterns (flood or combined) and three white brightness ranges, together with a purple lighting mode and lock and a center-mounted pivot that permits you to orient the lamp within the desired route. A battery cost indicator reveals the battery degree every time you flip the headlamp on or off. The headlamp has a median run time on excessive (600 lumens) for two hours and on low (7 lumens) for 120 hours.
The Black Diamond SPOT-R is a USB rechargeable 400-lumen LED headlamp good for mountaineering, path working, and tenting. Its settings embrace full energy in proximity and distance modes, dimming, strobe, purple night time imaginative and prescient, and digital lock mode. The SPOT-R gives as much as 400 lumens on its max setting, 200 lumens on medium, and 6 lumens on low with a 1500 mAh battery that gives the sunshine with a median run time on excessive at 4 hours; medium: 8 hours, and low: 225 hours. It has an built-in battery meter and digital lockout to stop unintended energy drain. But what units the SPOT-R aside from different headlamps is its IPX8 waterproof ranking, making it absolutely submersible so you utilize it or rain or drop it in a creek. A dual-power mannequin (the SPOT) can be accessible that features three AAA batteries and is appropriate with a chargeable BD 1500 Li-ion battery and charger (bought individually) for optimum flexibility.
The Nitecore NU 33 is a really shiny 700-lumen rechargeable headlamp with a larger-than-average 3000 mAh lithium-ion battery (equal to 9 AAA batteries) for long-lasting energy. It has a major white LED with 3 outputs, SOS, a beacon with a excessive CRI auxiliary LED, and auxiliary purple LEDs with a tilt adjustment making it ultimate for night time mountaineering, path working, and tenting. The NU 33 has a built-in energy indicator and lock to stop unintended activation, it’s IP66 waterproof and features a USB-C cable for recharging. It can run for 9 hours on excessive and 147 hours on ultra-low.
The LEDLenser MH10 is a 600-lumen headlamp with an intuitive focus system that enables the sunshine to shortly go from a broad floodlight to a sharply targeted long-distance beam with a twist of the sunshine component. There aren’t any sophisticated button sequences to recollect. It additionally has a variable pivot mechanism that permits you to regulate the lamp up or right down to direct the sunshine the place you want it most. A purple backlight is included so that you could even be seen from behind. The MH10 comes with a kind 18650 rechargeable lithium-ion battery and is micro-USB appropriate. The gentle features a lock to stop unintended discharge and a battery meter.
Black Diamond just isn’t identified for making headlamps with trivial (easy-to-remember) controls, however the brand new rechargeable Astro 300-R breaks the mildew. This single-lens single-switch headlamp has a white lite and three brightness ranges: excessive, medium, and low with full energy, dimming, and strobe modes. It’s powered by a 1500 mAh Lithium-ion rechargeable battery that recharges with a micro-US cost port and has an IPX4 ranking stormproof to resist rain and sleet from any angle. This headlamp additionally has a digital lockout to stop unintended activation. The headlamp has a median run time on excessive (300 lumens) for six hours and on low (6 lumens) for 140 hours. A dual-power mannequin (the Astro) can be accessible that features three AAA batteries and is appropriate with a chargeable BD 1500 Li-ion battery and charger (bought individually) for optimum flexibility.
The Fenix HM50R V2.0 is a high-powered LED headlamp that places out 700 lumens of sunshine. It comes with a detachable 16340 lithium-ion battery with 700 mAh of energy and an onboard USB-C appropriate charger. If you need you may carry further 16340 pre-charged batteries (or CR123A) and also you even have the flexibility to recharge them within the area from a battery pack or photo voltaic panel. The tilt-capable headlamp may be faraway from the scarf and carried like a flashlight or used as a job gentle. The HM50R has 4 brightness modes: turbo, excessive, medium, and low, a battery indicator, and two beam sorts: spot and flood. The V2 model additionally has a brand new lock perform and a purple mode. The HM50R has a sturdy aluminum physique (not plastic) and is waterproof.
The Biolite Headlamp 800 Pro is a robust rechargeable headlamp able to throwing out a most of 800 lumens with a most 150-hour burn time, making it ultimate for long-range actions like mountaineering, winter backpacking, or night time mountaineering while you want hours of steady efficiency. It has an enormous 3000 mAh USB rechargeable battery, an digital lock, and purple gentle mode for long-lasting energy and most flexibility. Its slim-fit development sits flush in your brow or hooked up to a helmet with out bouncing or slipping. It may also be run straight from a USB battery (not included), even in excessive chilly (-20°C). That’s a uncommon however very helpful function for chilly climate use.
The Nitecore NU 25 UL is a 400-lumen ultra-lightweight headlamp with three beam sorts (highlight, floodlight, auxiliary purple) optimized for outside use. It has a built-in 650mAh rechargeable battery that may obtain a most runtime of 45 hours (6 lumens) with an built-in USB-C port that quick costs to full in just one and a half hours. An influence indicator tells you when it’s time to cost whereas lockout mode prevents unintended activation. The ultralight band is extremely reflective for enhanced visibility, together with glow-in-the-dark bands for visibility with out ambient gentle.
Ultralight however mighty, the Coast FL1R Micro Headlamp packs 300-lumen energy right into a super-compact and low-weight micro-USB rechargeable lighting answer. Weighing simply 1.7 oz, it has three gentle modes—excessive, low, and purple, with a battery meter and lock-out to stop unintended energy drainage when packed away. The built-in 630 mAh lithium polymer battery gives a median run time of 4 hrs. 45 min on the low, 160-lumen setting. We actually just like the clip function built-in into the headlamp that permits you to take away the strap and fasten the sunshine to a stationary object or hat invoice for job lightning. Coast headlamps are exceptionally top quality and include a lifetime guarantee.
When grams matter, the Petzl Bindi Ultralight Headlamp is the champ. Weighing simply 1.2 oz (35 g), this rechargeable 200 lumen gentle additionally has some distinctive choices value contemplating. The wire headband helps you to put on it in your head or round your neck so you may work in the dead of night. It may also be tilted upward, which is helpful when climbing or working in your basement ceiling. While small, it’s nonetheless tremendous useful with three lighting modes, a purple gentle (steady or strobe), and two lockout modes to stop unintended discharge. It additionally sports activities a 680 mAh micro-USB-rechargeable battery that makes it straightforward to maintain it powered on your day by day coaching runs, with a max burn time of fifty hours.
Here are a very powerful options and issues to guage when evaluating completely different rechargeable headlamps.
Battery Capacity
Check the capability of the headlamps you’re occupied with to see how a lot energy, measured in mAh, they will maintain. If you propose on utilizing a headlamp on a multi-day journey, it’s helpful to convey one with a big battery capability so that you don’t must recharge it from a conveyable energy pack. Smaller-capacity batteries are fantastic for brief runs, however additionally, you will must recharge them extra steadily, which generally is a trouble when you use them lots.
Dual Power Headlamps
Most rechargeable headlamps bundle in a cold-resistant lithium-ion battery, though there are additionally dual-power headlamps that may also be powered by old-school alkaline or lithium-ion batteries. If you already carry a USB-enabled energy pack to cost your different digital units, then the latter might be pointless, though it is perhaps helpful in case your energy pack runs out of juice and you may’t recharge it. This isn’t a precedence for me, however some individuals choose being able to change to common batteries as a contingency.
Headlamp Headbands
All of the headlamps listed above have battery packs which are built-in with their gentle sources, so a single headband strap is all that’s wanted to put on them. Multi-strap headlamp headbands are solely obligatory for very heavy headlamps or ones with distant battery packs which are carried individually from the sunshine supply and linked by an exterior wire.
Headlamp Tilt
If you propose to path run or hike at night time, it’s vital to get a headlamp that tilts in its strap bracket so you may direct the spot or floodlight onto the bottom and out entrance, forward of you.
Lumens/Light Output
The newest era of LED lights accessible in headlamps are very highly effective and the lumen outputs usually exceed what’s required for nighttime use in camp and even for nighttime working. Anything headlamp with 150 lumens or extra needs to be enough for general-purpose backpacking and mountaineering. When buying a headlamp, the utmost gentle output is way much less vital than the size of time the headlamp can burn on low energy, since that’s the setting you’ll use most frequently in camp or in your tent.
Red Light Mode
Headlamps with a purple gentle mode are good for preserving your night time imaginative and prescient if you wish to learn in your tent or star gaze. They additionally allow you to keep away from blinding your companions in camp or across the campfire. The purple gentle mode additionally makes use of far much less power than white gentle modes and is an efficient technique to preserve your battery energy between costs.
Headlamp Weight
While gear weight is vital, it’s usually much less vital than a headlamp’s options, effectivity, or battery life. For instance, if you have to carry a heavier energy pack to recharge a lighter weight headlamp extra steadily, you in all probability haven’t saved as a lot weight general as you may like. Focus in your wants, if you recognize them, and let that information your choice as to which headlamp you choose.
On-Off Lock
Headlamps with handbook or digital on-off locks are helpful to stop the unintended activation of a headlamp when it’s packed. I received’t purchase a headlamp with out one, however that’s simply my private desire.
Battery Indicator
Some kind of battery indicator is helpful on a chargeable headlamp so you recognize when to recharge the battery and when it’s completed recharging. Without it, you’re extra more likely to attempt to use a headlamp that’s out of energy while you want it.
Check Out All of SectionHiker’s Gear Guides!
SectionHiker is reader-supported. We independently analysis, take a look at, and charge the perfect merchandise. We solely generate income if you are going to buy a product by way of our affiliate hyperlinks. Help us proceed to check and write unsponsored and unbiased gear evaluations, newbie FAQs, and free mountaineering guides.
