Whats the lightest, brightest headlamp out there?

Livesilly

New Member
Feb 22, 2011
40
0
Currently Alaska
Lets get to brass tacks and nail down the lightest, brightest, longest lasting headlamp out there. Lets keep the list down to AAA or smaller batteries, must have a red bulb or led, must have low and high output. I currently have a great headlamp but it is very heavy and needs to be replaced.
 

jhpam3117

New Member
Mar 8, 2011
31
0
In transition
I have always been pleased with my Petzl Tikka XP. It uses 3 AAA batteries and if you go lithium it is even lighter. It has High, Low, and Strobe. It also has filter slides that cover the light to change to Green or what ever color you choose.
 

Archer32

New Member
Feb 22, 2011
25
0
SoDak
I have always been pleased with my Petzl Tikka XP. It uses 3 AAA batteries and if you go lithium it is even lighter. It has High, Low, and Strobe. It also has filter slides that cover the light to change to Green or what ever color you choose.
I've had a few and this one is my favorite. Plenty bright, lengthy use out of it before needing new batteries. I use the red filter alot at night to keep my night vision intact. I also like the boost mode where you can hold the button down and get a bright shot (brighter then high) for as long as you hold it.
 

Livesilly

New Member
Feb 22, 2011
40
0
Currently Alaska
Well today I picked up a Black Diamond Spot. Weighed in at 3.25 ounces with the three AAAs. Has one long distance white LED, two close uses LEDs and two red night vision LEDs. You can strobe both the two white or two red LEDs. In both the long didtance or close modes you can dim the brightness to your liking....kind of like a dimmer switch in your home. The package lists run times of 50 hours on the max lumens of 75 and 250 hours on the lowest setting of 4 lumens. For $40 how could I loose.....
 

elktracker

Member
Feb 24, 2011
80
0
Jackson, WY
I would have to say the brightest compact headlamp out there would have to be the SureFire St. Minimus. I went on a cross country ski trip with a guy who had one and that thing seriously looks like a car with the brights on. It is not cheap by any means at $139. It is adjustable from 1-100 lumens and has a long life at the lower output settings.

Eastmans recently did a review on this headlamp, check it out here.
http://www.eastmans.com/content/13/surefire-st-minimus-led-headlamp.html

I know from using their flashlights in Iraq that they make high quality lights that are pretty much indestructible.
 

mcseal2

Veteran member
Mar 1, 2011
1,172
195
midwest
I like the Mammut S-lite that uses 1 AA battery and gives 10hrs on high, 30hrs on medium, 60hrs on low. It does not have the red or green led though. I like it because it weighs 1.7oz with a lithium battery. At this weight I carry 2 of them so I have a backup, plus my camera and GPS all use AA batteries so I can switch them around if necessary.
 

macker

New Member
Apr 14, 2011
11
0
55
Ely, MN
i have the st minimus and it is awesome....love the simplicity of the dial. easy to use with gloves.....hated my petzl with the button. it is so much easier to use the dial on the surefire. as stated before, it is wicked bright on high.
 

plentycoupe

New Member
May 27, 2011
21
0
50
North Pole AK
lightest and brightest is by far the surefire st minimus. Only issue is whether or not you want to shell out that kind of cash for a headlamp! I will have one for my next backcountry hunt. Sounds like a lot of money but the only issue is loosing it. If that doesn't happen it will be around forever.
Other than that I use petzel
 

Graylight

Active Member
Apr 27, 2011
222
0
Southern California
Certainly not the lightest but the brightest, longest lasting light I have ever used! The Brunton L3 in Camo... Runs $150 so it's not cheap but gag factor is cool! I took the extra battery pack off of it to lighten it up and I still get 100 hours out of it! very cool light... It does not have color filters though... So if you want red, pick another light...

I do like it though and it has three dimmer settings... Works great! Best of all, you can see VERY well with it...
 

brudno

Member
Feb 21, 2011
50
0
Wisconsin
I'm going to have to agree on the saint minimus bright as hell or really dim, nearly indestructidim, great battery life and truly a life long investment asking as u don't loose it or borrow it. You'll need a red filter or something though for it if that's something your sold on.

Big plus for me is I carry surefire G2 led as well so I only have to worry about grabbing a few C123a batteries, if you buy them bulk online there a really good value considering runtime weight and that they're lithiums.
 

JNDEER

Active Member
Mar 11, 2011
337
0
I just use the Walmart Energizer 50 lumen 4-light variation (3 white LED and one Red) AAA battery headlamp. Runs in at $16 and has worked great for me for the past 4 years.