Hello all,
Looking for recommendations of head torches, a present for my old boy.
Has to be rugged as hell and bright – he uses one during the winter for feeding his cattle in the north west Highlands. He has no end of bother with rechargeable AAA batteries, basically has to recharge 3 every day to put in to his existing petzl, think the cold weather plays havoc with the life of them, possibly the dampness too.
So, max spend £100
Pref Li-ion battery (though not holding my breath)
Bright 200 lumens+
2-3 hour burn time.

Looking at the LED Lenser H14R and the Fenix HP20 so far, any other suggestions?

Thanks guys.

Lensers are very very good torch’s

Try here……CandlePower

@Kbrembo: wow, those guys are NERDS!! 😛 Many thanks, lots of good info there…

I love Led Lenser stuff (I’ve just bought the H7 to replace an old Headfire) but I’m not sure it ticks the ‘rugged’ box.

The H14 looks to be made of sterner stuff and I’ve not seen it first hand, but the reason I’m replacing the old Headfire is because I snapped the hinge in half and the H7 hinge doesn’t look much more substantial.

It’s a shame cos it’s bright as all hell and the H14 is supposed to be brighter, but how long the batteries would last at full tilt I don’t know.

Perhaps what he needs is a bag of these and a matching charger. Not much of a present though.

Try auriscope

Petzl do some serious “Pro” headtorches, but you won’t get any change out of £200.

How about this:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/flood-to-throw-cree-q4-wc-3-mode-150-lumen-convex-lens-led-headlamp-with-charger-set-1-18650-55595
$12.90 and uses 18650 Li-ion batteries which are a lot more robust than AAA’s. Get half a dozen batteries at the same time, they’re very cheap, and last well. Heck, at that price you could buy him three headlamps and a bunch of batteries and not break the bank, then he’s got one indoors, one in the car…

There’s this one as well:
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/h6-rechargeable-focus-adjustable-and-dimming-cree-q5-white-led-headlamp-with-charger-set-80914
$36

Cree all the way, beats all the overpriced opposition. XML T6 is the latest and brightest. Waaaaaay cheaper and brighter too!

I’ve got the Fenix HP10 headtorch (I presume the HP20 is next generation), very good brightness wise, but HP10 has a fairly heavy battery pack to power that super brightness. Also, I found the buckles/straps didn’t work/hold very well and the instructions were those typical pigeon Chinese, ~I had to fathom the buttons out for myself, not a major issue. Mine was the very first generation HP10 (probably bought in 2008 ish), so poor strap/buckle issues might have been dealt with now. Overall, I’d say the brightness far outweighs the issues I had/have, if you want a super bright headtorch (there may be better options now, 3 years on).

+1 for Lenser

Fenix Hp20 user here – waterproof, very durable and long burn time.

Many thanks for all the replies! Most helpful. Wondering just how good rechargeable lithium batteries are, I know the non rechargeable versions are much better suited to heavy load applications such as digital cameras etc…?

I have one of these courtesy of the local mountain rescue team who chose them over some very gucci petzl ones. The brightness is fantastic, appears to be very solid and durable, battery life – hard to say, nothing special I don’t think.

Wondering just how good rechargeable lithium batteries are,

I’m wondering what’s stopping me from fitting them into every other torch I own… Hmm…

Cougar, your link These
they will not replace a normal rechargeables,
lithium ion batteries are 4.2v off the charger,
so add 3 in series and you end up with 12.6v,
versus around 4v for Ni-mh rechargeables

Ah yes, of course they are. Good spot.

Has no-one mentioned Zebralight yet?
Nicest head torches bar none in my opinion.

Quick review of a couple of models in the from the H51 range here:
[video]http://youtu.be/4gVCk4J20jA[/video]

OK, can’t seem to post the vid. Help!

Zebralight H51c H51Fc LED Headlamp Review

Mine was the very first generation HP10 (probably bought in 2008 ish), so poor strap/buckle issues might have been dealt with now.

No.
I had great fun watching two of my team mates at the the thunder run, open their freshly bought HP10s out of the packaging and struggle to work out how to arrange the straps so it stays on your head 😀

I have an LED lenser H7R and although pretty good I’m a bit disappointed with the battery life . On full power doen’t seem to last long without serious dimming.

alpkit gamma? and a carton full of duracells?

kaiser,

I have had a LL H7R for over a year and haven’t had any problems, regularly use it for 2.5hrs on full with no problems, have even had two night rides out of it when I have forgotten to charge it. Have you tried a new set of batteries?