Buyers' Guide - Headtorches

The big plus of a headtorch over a more conventiontal hand-held torch is that it leaves your hands free to cook, climb or simply turn the pages of a book, plus when adjusted properly, the light will follow the direction of your gaze making them intuitive to use.

Which type and model you choose will depend a lot on your intended use. Some walkers and backpackers will simply need a low-powered, simple torch for cooking and camping plus, potentially, attracting attention in a benightment situation.

An alpine mountaineer however might need a torch capable of being used for route finding and climbing in sub-zero temperatures as well as for more mundane porridge-making duties.

There are torches out there which will manage both up to a point, but if you don't need a long distance, focussable beam on your torch, you can save money and weight by buying a more basic, but more suitable unit in the first place.

The new generation of LED-bulb torches like Petzl's Tikka or Black Diamond's Moonlight are ideal for general short range use, for camping and cooking for example. They're light, have prodigious battery life- think 100 hours plus - and give a spread of very white, even light. The more LEDs they use, the brighter the light will be, but the shorter the battery life. Some offer a choice of settings. The simpler versions also very affordable.

As a bonus, the bulbs themselves have an extermely long lifespan and because they're made from solid glass, are hard to break. We've thrown a Black Diamond Moonlight out of a second floor window onto stone slabs without causing any damage.

A simple stand-alone LED torch however, has its drawbacks. Range is generally around five metres with fresh batteries and fades as the batteries age meaning that they're not ideal for any sort of navigation or route finding.

The conventional torch has seemingly had its day. You can still buy them - the standard Petzl Myo for example, is essentially a Zoom for the 21st Century - but they're increasinly being overtaken by hybrid LED/halogen units and the new Super LEDs, both of which are more versatile.

A convenional torch will offer a decent, piercing beam particularly with a halogen bulb, but battery life will be significantly less than with an LED option particularly if you use a halogen or Xenon bulb instead of a standard. A Myo with halogen bulb will give an impressive 90mm beam, but only for four hours. With a standard bulb, beam reach is 35 metres and batterly life a claimed 10h 30.

That's fine for occasional use where you need a long reaching, bright beam, but expensive if you want to cook or even read a book in your tent. On the plus side, price is reasonable.

Hybrids seem to offer the best of both worlds giving a choice between a low level, power-efficient LED option and a halogen beam for more distant work. That means you can do your cooking and close-up climbing using the LED light source, then flick over to halogen beam for navigation purposes or to pick out an abseil station further down your route.

Obviously the halogen option will still be battery hungry, but for much of the time, you should be able to rely on the LEDs. Both Petzl and Black Diamodn make very effective hybrids and they're arguably the choice if you need an all round head torch that will cover you effectively from campsite to summit.

Obviously a hybrid will be slightly heavier than a solo option and more expensive, but you're getting two torches in one, so you need to factor that into the equation.

The first LED headtorches to appear on the market were low-powered affairs like Petzl's Tikka and while adding more and more bulbs increased the amount of light available, they still didn't produce a long-distance, focussed beam like a halogen bulb.

That's changing now thanks to a new generation of high-powered LEDs which can be used either in stand-alone torches like the new Myo XP or combined with lower-powered LEDs like Princeton's Yukon HL. The high-powered LEDs produce a white, long-distance beam similar to a halogen, but with much better battery life. Petzl says, for example, that the Myo XP can last from 70 to 170 hours depending on which beam setting is used. Black Diamond's SuperNova similarly has three power levels from a single high-powered LED.

The increased battery life means that high-powered LEDs are a better allround option than conventional bulbs, but will still perform well for long distance work. So what's the snag? Ah yes, the price which is significantly higher than either conventional LEDs or halogen options. But you guessed that already, right?

Most modern head torches are reasonably weather resistant, however if you want something you can use confidently in true deluge conditions, seek out one that is guaranteed waterproof to a specificed depth with sealed battery box and lens unit.

For extreme cold weather use, a head torch with a conventional headband mounted battery will suffer from the cold and reduce power and battery life. The best solution is a combination of a lithium battery, which is more resistant to cold conditions, and a remote battery pack which you can stow in your clothing where body heat will keep it warm.

Petzl's Myo range is available in Myobelt form and Black Diamond's Polar Star and SpaceShot 2 also have remote battery options. Ideal for alpine starts, high altitude or polar use.

Most headtorches now are powered by either AA or AAA-sized batteries, which are readily available, though the AA is more common and a better choice if you're travelling. It's also a common rechargeable size.

Head straps should be elasticated, comfortable and, if you're planning to use a helmet, have enough adjustment to find comfortably and snugly into it's mounting points. Lightweight torches may have just a simple band, but anything weightier should have a more secure top strap as well.

More and more cunning options are available like electronic gizmos to keep the light output constant over the life of the battery and variable light levels. The latest Myo XP even has a boost button to up the output for 20 seconds. Some are useful, some aren't.

Check useability - how easy is it to open the battery box to change batteries for example. How about bulbs if you're using a halogen light and is there space for a spare bulb in the housing. Is there any danger that the lamp will switch on while in your pack and waste precious battery life.

More Help and Advice

Hopefully this article will have given you some basic pointers. The good news is that there's a load more advice on OUTDOORSmagic:

• Ask on the gear forum about general issues or specific items.
  
• Check the member reviews section for user experiences of kit.
  
• See OM editorial reviews on the front of the site for our impressions.
  
• Ask Richard Gear if you have a specific question you need answering.

Discuss this story

Charlie Vereker

"A Myo with halogen bulb will give an impressive 90mm beam"?!!

You must be one of very few people who are impressed with 90mm;-)

Posted: 19/04/2005 at 09:37

Ptarmigan

What I want to know is how do they get the light waves (or particles) to stop after 90mm?

Out of the basement and back to work Charlie!

Posted: 19/04/2005 at 15:07

~Batman~

Starting another science chat here? Wave/particle duality is a little beyond the scope of my understanding.

Posted: 19/04/2005 at 20:33

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