Recommended metal/robust headtorch

[RichardJackson]

Hello Hivemind,
I am definately a headtorch guy, since the old 4.5v flat battery Petzls.
I have Olight H1, Nitecore NU25UL and several broken iterations of Petzl Zipka, Tikka (new and old Core versions). All doing well enough for camping, travelling, holidays etc. No longer doing multiday winter mountaineering trips so don't need big bright things.
But I am on my second Petzl Taktika Core for daily driver at work. They are about right in trms of required brightness/flood/duration/levels/size and weight. But they keep breaking!!!
Paul Kirtley got fed up with Petzls and went for a Surefire Minimus, I think. I am not sure if these will fit my bill, be available in UK, or affordable. What are my options in floody/6hr/rechargeable/not too heavy/pocket friendly properly robust headtorches?. I could stand a hefty pricetag if it really was great and might last more than 2 years...
Thanks for any feedback!
Richard

 

[hughtrimble]

I have an Armytek Tiara C1, which always felt very robust given its aluminium body. I have no idea how, but the lens on mine is cracked. It's still functioning fine, going on five years now, but I do expect it to stop if any water gets on the lens. I wouldn't buy another because I find the interface a bit of a faff, the tint is quite jarring, and the LED status light in the button is really annoying when on your head and you've set the output to low - the green/red flashing can be really quite noticeable.

I also have a Nitecore NU32, which feels very much less substantial given its all plastic construction; can't comment on its real life robustness as it gets used so infrequently. I like the red flood but that has a strange darker circle in middle of it, main white beam is impressive. I wouldn't buy another though, given the aforementioned red light spot and the integrated battery.

 

[forrestdweller]

i have a fenix (exact name escapes me right now -- will check later!) which i have since late 2015, 8years of it in tropical conditions. runs on a single AA and the "3second switch" is simply brilliant

 

[Jared]

Skilhunt appear to have a sale on atm, Skilhunt H200 or H300 worth considering.

H Series – LED Headlamp │ Tactical Flashlight

www.skilhunt.com

Others would be ArmyTek Wizard C2, there are several variations of that.

Powerful Headlamps - Armytek Wizard | Armytek.com

Powerful Headlamps - Armytek Wizard. ARMYTEK official representative. ✔IP68. ✔TIR-optics. Powerful and reliable. The new models. No hassle warranty 10 years.

www.armytek.com

Also probably should mention Zebralight and their H600F (F=Floody) series, but they don't have on flashlight charging.

Headlamp

 

[Chris]

My Nitecore HC65 seems pretty bomb proof thus far. Not cheap, but does feel like you get what you pay for.

 

[Nice65]

Sofirn headlights are good and cheap, the 18650 ones should fit your criteria.

sofirn

sofirn

www.sofirnlight.com

 

[Jared]

Wurkkos announced an upcoming headlamp, the HD16. No idea when it's due but has potential to be the go to recommended headlamp light.

Spot, Flood & Red light, with a clicky dial for control.

 

[Dan00001]

Sofirn Hs20, the flood is brilliant.

Sofirn have an official Ali Express store, and the Hs20 is currently £19.97 which is a right bargain. I bought my Hs20 from their Ali Express store and it came within 5 days.

Sofirn HS20 USB C Rechargeable LED Headlamp 18650 Powerful 2700lm Light with Spotlight Floodlight Dual Switch Indicator - AliExpress 39

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

 

[Dan00001]

Wurkkos announced an upcoming headlamp, the HD16. No idea when it's due but has potential to be the go to recommended headlamp light.

Spot, Flood & Red light, with a clicky dial for control.

That does look nice, if they're a good price I will be buying one. Thanks.

 

[forrestdweller]

sorry for the late update to post #3 (=as our internet currently misbehaves again...) it's the HL23 model

 

[Laurentius]

No problem with Petzls for me, might not be as bright as the Johnny come lately's but I have a Tikka and a couple of E-lites that are still doing what they were designed to. In fact I found one of my E-lites in a muddy puddle and it works fine.

 

[matarius777]

I have the Nitecore HC65, it’s my main light and it’s great, like a previous poster said, bombproof. I got it off Ray Mears site, basically, there was so much choice, so many options, I was overloaded. I just thought that if that’s pretty much the only light Ray Mears offers then it must be pretty decent, I wasn’t disappointed- it does everything I need without frivolous nonsense. Later, having got sucked down the Sofirn rabbit hole, I got their HS20 which is also good, very well made, although it doesn’t have a red light, which I do like as it doesn’t seem to attract biting midges and what have you. I also got a couple of smaller Sofirn ones as back ups, which, as every Sofirn I’ve bought has been, are also good, although I can’t remember the model no.s off hand.

 

[Ozmundo]

I have couple of the small Sofirns. Very compact never had an issue with lack of charge. The older one the button is a bit unreliable for mode selection but it doesn’t affect use for me as I just have it on “medium”or off.

 

[Dan00001]

Wurkkos announced an upcoming headlamp, the HD16. No idea when it's due but has potential to be the go to recommended headlamp light.

Spot, Flood & Red light, with a clicky dial for control.

This has been released now!

 

[Jared]

Quicker than expected.

The LED choices could have been better, and the dial switches between Spot, Flood, Spot&Flood, think I and others were expecting brightness on the dial.

 

[Dan00001]

Quicker than expected.

The LED choices could have been better, and the dial switches between Spot, Flood, Spot&Flood, think I and others were expecting brightness on the dial.

I would imagine some proper reviews will be out soon

 

[Jared]

Here's one.

 

[TeeDee]

I would be interested in a good head torch that has a red or green - straight to red /green from off ( as don't want to cycle through white light functions to get to it )

 

[hughtrimble]

I would be interested in a good head torch that has a red or green - straight to red /green from off ( as don't want to cycle through white light functions to get to it )

The Nitecore NU32 I refer to earlier in this thread can go straight to red, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it (explained above) but it suggests other Nitecores can go straight to red too.

I had no idea there were green light options; does this similarly not disturb night vision?

 

[TeeDee]

The Nitecore NU32 I refer to earlier in this thread can go straight to red, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it (explained above) but it suggests other Nitecores can go straight to red too.

I had no idea there were green light options; does this similarly not disturb night vision?

Bit of an overly tacticooooool answer.

I quite like green light - I find red light can distorts my sense of distance too much.