Shining its beam where you’re looking while keeping your hands free, the headlamp can be even more useful than the flashlight if you’re outdoors and active at night. That’s why it has in recent years become a firm favorite of hikers, runners, dog walkers and campers. Anyone in fact, who wants to throw light on what they’re doing unencumbered by holding a flashlight.
Headlamps are simply lights you wear around your head with an elasticated strap. One key attribute to look out for when buying yours is how bright the beam is (usually measured in lumens). Water-resistance is important as you can’t protect it from the rain as easily as something you hold. You also need to be aware of whether it takes batteries or is rechargeable and the pros and cons of each approach. Headlamps often have different lighting modes with varying brightness and use red LEDs for improved night vision. Here are the best headlamps that you’ll want to strap on when it gets dark.
Foxelli Headlamp Flashlight
Bright, lightweight, and comfortable to wear
This throws out a super-bright beam up to 165 yards from a waterproof but lightweight headlamp. You can direct it with a 45° tiltable body and cycle through multiple white and red light modes including SOS and strobe. The 3 AA batteries will provide up to 45 hours running time but you won’t mind wearing it for that long as the elastic headband is easily adjustable and ergonomically designed.
Energizer LED Headlamp
Easy to use headlamp which can take some abuse
Bright and covering all the basics you’d expect from a headlamp, this Energizer LED model has two modes - an 80-lumen high setting and a red LED one for night vision. It has a comfortable, fully adjustable headband that you can remove to wash and the non-pivoting light is durable enough to survive one meter high drops, making it a good choice for children. It comes with Energizer Max batteries that last up to nine hours and is useable out of the box.
Elmchee 6 LED Rechargeable headlamp
Super bright LED headlamp that’s rechargeable
This large rechargeable headlamp has a 1500mAH Li-polymer battery powering six super bright LEDs. There are eight working modes including strobe and red light. It’s water-resistant and has a 90° rotatable head plus a red safety taillight on the battery box which will make you easier to see from behind on the road at night.
Bottom line
You can trust Advnture Our expert reviewers spend days testing and comparing gear so you know how it will perform out in the real world. Find out more about how we test and compare products.
A good headlamp will quickly become one of your most essential pieces of kit particularly if you do any sort of regular nighttime activity. For anything where you need to keep your hands free, from holding the dog’s lead to beating your running personal best, they are invaluable. For a good entry-level model that does everything you’d expect at a fair price, we suggest you light your way with the Foxelli Headlamp Flashlight. It’s durable, has all the modes you could want and is good and bright.
