Thread: Best Budget Headlamps?

To all the lighting guru's on the board, which of the Chinese budget headlamps are a good buy?

I got a coast one from H&F a while ago $30 i think it was. Its got 5 LEDs and still going strong. I got the wife one with 3 LEDs in their winter sale a few weeks ago for $20. Cant go wrong for that money.

Umm, not sure if I count as a guru but I have been using headlights for many a moon...I only use petzl and black diamond, others I have tried have not been keepers, if they aren't comfortable and reliable then I don't want them, and I suggest you don't either, I would add Surefire and Lupine to the good ones out there, but it depends on your needs, is it for reading at night, crawling Iin a ceiling or under a car, or outdoors as a means of getting back to your base, there are many options, and without knowing your needs then it is hard to make a re commendation except for you don't want a cheap Chinese model...

Basically just following trails in the dark. I have an older LED lenser, but I feel it is a really poor design. I see lots of good things said about inexpensive Chinese torches, so I figured there must be some decent head lamps on Aliexpress etc

lenser h7, have come down in price a lot. and if it fucks out, take it back and get a new one. free

Originally Posted by scoped

lenser h7, have come down in price a lot. and if it fucks out, take it back and get a new one. free

Trouble is the time and effort of taking it back would cost you more than the price of a new Chinese headlamp delivered to your door.

I got half a dozen of these. Great as is and even better de-domed. Cant argue with the price and good for 300m+ on full noise.

High Power 10W 1800 2000 Lumens CREE XML T6 LED Headlamp Headlight 3 Modes LED Head Light Lamp for Bicycle Cycling + Charger-in Headlamps from Lights & Lighting on Aliexpress.com

The lumen claims are rubbish, more like 700-800.

For trails in the dark you do not need too much light, unless you trial run at night, and I do, then you do not need to see too far, as all you will do is blow your batteries, even if you are running you are really looking at what's on the ground a few meters ahead, not looking at the tops of tress, for shooting possums, on the other hand, then looking into trees is good.
I currently have two headlights, a black diamond ion, which is very small, light and weak but is good for reading at night, or going for a quick call of nature without blinding everyone else, destroying my night vision and a Petzl Nao, which is a reactiv light, basically it measure light bouncing back and adjust the intensity based on that, look up at a big tree not much light bounces back so it increases power, loom at a map and lots of light bounces back so it reduces power ( you can turn this feature off if you want constant power).

You may need an adapter for the Chinese recharger...
Buy two at that price though!

Reach is good for tracks.
Not all tracks are like a footpath you could walk blindfolded.

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I've only ever used Led Lenser or cheap and nasty Katmandu products.

I have no issues at all with Led Lenser and they really stand behind their products - warranty wise.

The H5 is the best budget headlamp going I reckon

I have had quite a few h5 and h7s(lose a lot)
both good but prefer the h7 with its dimmer.

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this may help http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...er-copy-13233/

i also bought the one gadget man posted and its good but its bloody huge and i never use it the h7 size lamps are perfect, if you need more light than that you need a flashlight but everyone's different !