Hands-free light that runs on cells you can buy anywhere.
The thing that kills a headlamp is almost never the light. It is the battery, and specifically a battery glued inside a sealed body, which turns a working lamp into waste the day it stops holding charge. Most of these run on ordinary AAA cells, and the rechargeable packs that come with them lift out and are sold as spares, so a flat battery at the trailhead is an inconvenience rather than the end of the object.
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At a glance: Headlamps picks compared, with buy links
Dual fuel is the point. It ships with a rechargeable pack that lifts out, and with that pack removed it runs on three AAA cells you can buy in any village shop, so neither a flat battery nor a discontinued pack ends its life. Petzl has sold the Actik in this form for years and still sells the replacement pack.
Three AAA cells, a brightness memory so it comes back on where you left it, and a red mode that does not blind the person in the next tent. Thirty dollars for a lamp whose battery you can replace forever is a better proposition than twice that for one you cannot.
The simplest lamp Black Diamond makes: one button, three AAA cells, 300 lumens, no red mode and no lock. For a car glovebox or a drawer by the fuse box, the absence of features is the feature, and it takes the same rechargeable pack as the rest of the range if you want one.
IPX8 waterproof rather than merely splash resistant, which is the difference between a lamp that survives a river crossing and one that does not. PowerTap puts full brightness under a finger without a menu.
The Storm is the Spot with a tougher housing and a dust rating to go with the water one, meant for people who put a headlamp through things. Three AAA cells, or the same lift-out rechargeable pack as the others.
The NU25 covers the headlamp use case: a genuinely ultralight (0.99 oz) build that thru-hikers and backpackers have kept recommending for years specifically because the simple triple-output design (white/red/high-CRI) hasn't needed yearly reinvention. It's USB rechargeable but still accepts a standard elastic headband and mount, so a worn strap or scratched lens doesn't retire the whole unit.
360 lumens, triple output: white / red / high-CRI
0.99 oz: one of the lightest rechargeable headlamps sold
USB rechargeable via built-in port
Aluminum alloy internal frame under a lightweight shell
Dual fuel is the point. It ships with a rechargeable pack that lifts out, and with that pack removed it runs on three AAA cells you can buy in any village shop, so neither a flat battery nor a discontinued pack ends its life. Petzl has sold the Actik in this form for years and still sells the replacement pack.
Three AAA cells, a brightness memory so it comes back on where you left it, and a red mode that does not blind the person in the next tent. Thirty dollars for a lamp whose battery you can replace forever is a better proposition than twice that for one you cannot.
The simplest lamp Black Diamond makes: one button, three AAA cells, 300 lumens, no red mode and no lock. For a car glovebox or a drawer by the fuse box, the absence of features is the feature, and it takes the same rechargeable pack as the rest of the range if you want one.
IPX8 waterproof rather than merely splash resistant, which is the difference between a lamp that survives a river crossing and one that does not. PowerTap puts full brightness under a finger without a menu.
The Storm is the Spot with a tougher housing and a dust rating to go with the water one, meant for people who put a headlamp through things. Three AAA cells, or the same lift-out rechargeable pack as the others.
The NU25 covers the headlamp use case: a genuinely ultralight (0.99 oz) build that thru-hikers and backpackers have kept recommending for years specifically because the simple triple-output design (white/red/high-CRI) hasn't needed yearly reinvention. It's USB rechargeable but still accepts a standard elastic headband and mount, so a worn strap or scratched lens doesn't retire the whole unit.
360 lumens, triple output: white / red / high-CRI
0.99 oz: one of the lightest rechargeable headlamps sold
USB rechargeable via built-in port
Aluminum alloy internal frame under a lightweight shell
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Product photograph, PetzlTop pick
Product photograph, Black Diamond
Product photograph, Black Diamond
Product photograph, Black Diamond
Product photograph, Black Diamond