Looking for a simple LED head light

DGersic · Mar 16, 2017

I'm looking for something which seems like it should be simple, but the search space has been too badly polluted. I'm looking for a simple LED head lamp, the kind with the elastic band to put around your head, so the light shines where you're looking. Simple, right? There are only a few thousand out there.

The complicating factors:

I don't want eight different brightness levels. I want one. I have no use for dim, kinda dim, mostly dim, sorta bright, and flashing. I don't need red, or any other colors. Just plain old white, as bright as you can get it.

I want a simple switch that can be used while wearing gloves. Fancy buttons and focusing levers that are hard to work with gloves on make the thing hard to use when it most matters.

I want the battery pack somewhere other than on the back. A lot of my wrenching time in the garage is spent under something, and laying down on a battery pack on the back of my head isn't pleasant.

I'd like it to stick out as little as possible. There isn't a ton of clearance under a car on jackstands, so something that sticks out 6" isn't helpful. Having some kind of tilt mechanism is nice, since getting the light where the bifocals focus is otherwise difficult.

Using standard AAA or AA batteries is a plus, but not a requirement. I could live with weird batteries, or rechargables, if that's what it takes.

Recommendations?

buildyourown · Mar 16, 2017

I have the older version of the this Petzl
https://www.rei.com/product/892054/petzl-zipka-headlamp

Its fits all your requirements. I have to work on the vehicles in the driveway so it gets lots of use. The big upside is you can carry it around in your pocket with minimal bulk. You always have it on you.

Downside, if you have fine, long hair, it can get tangled in the retract mechanism.

FigureItOut · Mar 16, 2017

Aw hell, I wrote a whole bunch about this light I wanted to recommend to you and my browser crashed and I lost it. Anyway this meets all your requirements and is very light, compact and comfortable. It's very easy to turn on and off with even heavy gloves, by rotating the entire bezel.

The best thing about is the power system. It comes with a USB rechargeable NiMH battery of which you can buy extras, but it also accepts AAA's, so you can keep using it while you recharge the included battery.

Ign · Mar 17, 2017

LOL OP I feel your pain. I'm always annoyed having to toggle thru multiple brightness settings.

Olafur · Mar 17, 2017

Petzl is big name in head lights. They make plenty of expensive lights for the mountain climbers, cave dwellers and the hip and cool crowd etc..etc.

Search their website for "work light" and you will be surprised. They only offer few they consider to be suitable for close up work - like doing electrical work or car repairs.

Just as frustrated as you seem to be I bought one of their "work lights" 4 years ago and have used it for thousands of hours since. It has been dropped on concrete floor several times, rained on, snowed on, left out in the cold and so on. Still going strong..

Petzl Pixa 3.

Works fine with welding gloves. No nonsense turn button to turn on/off and select between 3 settings.

AA batteries, two decent NIMH last approx 20 hours on the lowest setting. And that one is the one I use all the time when working as mechanic.

If you don't like it (it`s a bit heavy and bulky) - take a look at Zebralight and make sure you get one with wide angle uniform beam for close up work.

Simply put - most headlamps intended for hiking, camping, jogging, whatever plain **** for close up work. To narrow beam, to bright or to dim, not uniform illumination causing your eyes to tire and so forth.

Infinia · Mar 17, 2017

Fenix HL50 many consider this the perfect floody headlamp. Neutral white light and perfect for close up work! I'm really happy I spent the bucks. Its worth it esp compared to the ubiquitous but fumbly 3 AAA jobs they say is 'mountain rugged'. err not when you step on plastic parts. haha
Checks all your boxes plus more. All metal, light weight, single battery. I really hate those over your head straps and external battery packs too. 3 lumen levels with memory so you can use it in single mode!

DGersic · Mar 18, 2017

Ign said:
LOL OP I feel your pain. I'm always annoyed having to toggle thru multiple brightness settings.

It makes me wonder if the designers of some of these products has ever actually used them. I keep waiting to see if they'll start adding similar "features" to the LED lightbulbs for houses. Just think, you'll be able to flip the light switch on, and randomly get bright, dim, or blinking. Or maybe it'll be white, red, green, or blue.

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DGersic · Mar 18, 2017

Thanks all. I had seen and discounted a couple of these for having modes. I'm re-reading their info. The Streamlight and Pixa sound like I might be able to live with them.

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M6erfan · Mar 18, 2017

Fenix HL50 is basically a rip off of the Zebra headlamps. I had the older model of the Fenix (HL23?) and the plastic broke in pretty short order. The Zebralight is simple and very rugged...

jayrush13 · Mar 19, 2017

The only thing about this one that is out of your criteria is it has 2 modes. But it is a great light and inexpensive to boot. I use one of these daily at work and have 2 at home.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004Y6DMG0/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I get mine at Home depot.

Infinia · Mar 19, 2017

M6erfan said:
Fenix HL50 is basically a rip off of the Zebra headlamps. I had the older model of the Fenix (HL23?) and the plastic broke

yeah I avoid plastic tools as much as possible. BTW Fenix has a 5 year warrantee did you call them?

How is it a rip off? Some might say it's an improvement.
all stainless steel holder vs flexible plastic holder
Dual power , uses Any AA battery also takes CR123 lithium which has many advantages over NiMH.
Memory so you don't have to remember weird toggle setting.

bbrins · Mar 19, 2017

I have been quite happy with my Fenix HL50's, I have three of them. It does have more than one mode, but the interface is pretty simple, no flashing modes, no multi-colored lights. It takes either cr123 or aa batteries, and it is fairly low profile off of your forehead. I prefer to have some lower modes for when I have to get up close to keep from being blinded.

I see Zebralight mentioned above. I have personally never had one of their lights that would last more than a couple of months, they don't seem to like getting knocked around. I have had several.

I bought my first HL50 to fill the void while I was waiting 6 weeks for my last Zebralight headlamp to be warrantied.

KM223 · Mar 19, 2017

I like Surefire.

Olafur · Mar 19, 2017

bbrins said:
I see Zebralight mentioned above. I have personally never had one of their lights that would last more than a couple of months, they don't seem to like getting knocked around. I have had several.

I mentioned Zebralight based on reviews I saw on another forum - almost bought one. I stand corrected. Thanks for the info.

FigureItOut · Mar 19, 2017

Weird, I've beat up my Zebralight for well over a year, no issues. I ran over it today, ordered another right away. The huge con to my Double Clutch though is that it will overcharge if you don't unplug it when the LED turns green. I've done it several times. I'm sure it's hurt the battery life, but not enough that I've really noticed.

Edit: I own and recommended a Streamlight, I got mixed up. It was late.

M6erfan · Mar 19, 2017

I have a Zebralight in the shop and 1 in each car. The oldest is going on 5 years and gets the most use by far. Not 1 single issue ever...

pescados666 · Mar 19, 2017

I have one of the cheap china cree headlamps that use 18650 batteries. The light itself is great, very bright and the focus adjustment actually works well. The construction of it is pretty bad though. They don't like to hold batteries very well. The switch on the back is pretty annoying too. I've had to resolder one of the wires already.
That said, I've used it for working on vehicles and other equipment, used it for multiple camping trips, used it for biking and more. For the $10 price it was great

Having dim and bright was more useful than I first imagined, but I've never needed strobe mode... (well, there was one camping trip where a raccoon wouldn't leave us alone and it was entertaining to strobe it lol)

For the battery pack to not be on the rear the battery life would have to be a lot shorter.
I had one that ran on AAs at first, but after going through a pack of AAs for one camping trip I just bought the model that uses 18650s. I stole my batteries from laptop battery packs instead of using the cheap china included ones. The 18650s last a really long time and are much cheaper than eneloops. Having the batteries on the rear seems to balance the headlamp better, but it does turn off a lot from hitting the button on the back... I've been meaning to change that somehow. Might just throw on a switch instead of a button, move the switch away from the back, and add some rubber to the battery pack so I can lay on it without it turning off. Would be nice to keep my hair off the ground when upside down and under a vehicle.

DGersic · Mar 31, 2017

Olafur said:
Petzl is big name in head lights. They make plenty of expensive lights for the mountain climbers, cave dwellers and the hip and cool crowd etc..etc.

Search their website for "work light" and you will be surprised. They only offer few they consider to be suitable for close up work - like doing electrical work or car repairs.

Just as frustrated as you seem to be I bought one of their "work lights" 4 years ago and have used it for thousands of hours since. It has been dropped on concrete floor several times, rained on, snowed on, left out in the cold and so on. Still going strong..

Petzl Pixa 3.

Works fine with welding gloves. No nonsense turn button to turn on/off and select between 3 settings.

AA batteries, two decent NIMH last approx 20 hours on the lowest setting. And that one is the one I use all the time when working as mechanic.

If you don't like it (it`s a bit heavy and bulky) - take a look at Zebralight and make sure you get one with wide angle uniform beam for close up work.

Simply put - most headlamps intended for hiking, camping, jogging, whatever plain **** for close up work. To narrow beam, to bright or to dim, not uniform illumination causing your eyes to tire and so forth.

Thanks Olafur. I went with the Pixa 3, got it about a week ago, and I'm pretty impressed with it. The headband is snug, the battery compartment is actually kinda hard to open, so no worries about it not staying closed. The light does have three modes, but they are actually pretty useful, and the selector knob switch is easy to use, even with gloves on. Both light beams seem well designed with good optics, not just an LED in a reflective shiny box. Heck, I even like that you can rotate the lamp around 180 degrees to protect the lens in storage.

A bit expensive, but I'd rather cry once at the price and enjoy using the tool for years to come, than to buy something cheap and hate it every time I go to use it.

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My Old Tools · Mar 31, 2017

2 pack from Costco. Works great.
https://www.costco.com/Coast-FL72-Headlamp,-2-pack.product.100333882.html

gerryw · Mar 31, 2017

I buy the ebay cheapies, got them hanging all over the place!
With free shipping buy in bulk.

Gerry

Looking for a simple LED head light

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