Reliable flood headlamp for campground employees use

GrampiansParadise

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jun 8, 2018
Messages
1
Hi CPF, I'm new here so apologies if I am missing anything or do not have the correct formatting or anything else on this post.
I'm here to look for some headlamp suggestions for employees at a quiet camping ground and it was suggested that here would be the place to ask.
Requirements :
250+ Lumens
Side and top straps
Decent battery life (Above 4 Hours)
Floodlight style rather than beam style
All of these are needed

Preferable extras
Rear mounted battery pack
AA battery type
Dimmable
Durable
Things that would be nice but are not deal breakers

Looking forward to your suggestions
 

parametrek

Enlightened
Joined
Apr 3, 2013
Messages
578
Welcome to the forums.

A budget requirement would help a lot. The least expensive headlamp that hits all of your main requirements is the Wowtac A2S. It is $30 on amazon and comes with a rechargeable battery.

The AA and rear pack requirements put a crimp on things. The Nitecore HA40 and Fenix HP15 UE are $60-$70 and hit everything. There are also a few less expensive Coast headlamps but they are kind of junk. At the $60 price point there are so many good headlamps that don't require messing around with 4xAA cells.
 

TheShadowGuy

Enlightened
Joined
Jun 10, 2015
Messages
365
Budget would help quite a bit here. Here are a few that come to mind for me though (Neutral or Warm White preferred unless otherwise stated):

- Thrunite TH20: This is one of the cheapest options that would roughly get you what you want. It isn't the brightest or longest running, but runs on a single AA battery. Similar option: Manker E03H.

- Armytek Tiara A1: Bright and very durable AA headlamp.

- Wowtac A2s, as Parametrek mentioned. It's a pretty commonly recommended budget headlamp.

- Skilhunt H03R: Slightly more money, brighter, rechargeable option. Another common budget headlamp.

- Armytek Elf C2: Sturdy, bright, and rechargeable.

- Armytek Wizard Pro: Similar to the Elf but with a brighter LED and other features. Comes with a battery and USB magnetic charger. An excellent headlamp.

- Zebralight Hxxx: Zebralight offers a range of headlamps depending on the beam profile, LED, and battery type you want. These are generally high quality with a nice adjustable UI. I'd look toward the H600Fc or Fd for slightly warm or neutral high CRI light, floody beam profile, and single 18650 battery type. Bonus: these are surprisingly small.

While there are a handful of headlamps with rear mounted battery packs, these have been largely forsaken in favor of single 18650 (lithium ion) lights. Small size makes them acceptable for front mounting, and a single 18650 has more energy than multiple AA batteries. You can easily set up a charging station for 18650s for employees to charge their batteries after a shift. There are a handful of lights as well with a pack intended for belt carry, but I don't think they fit this use case as well as the single 18650 lights. You would sacrifice simplicity and some durability for not much benefit.
Examples of battery pack lights include the Olight Wave series and Fenix HP30r.
 
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