# Headlamp reliability



## carnage (May 4, 2015)

Which headlamp is the most reliable, well built and have good customer service to back it up if a problem should arise?


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## Stefano (May 4, 2015)

For my personal experience Fenix and Zebralight have great customer service


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## reppans (May 4, 2015)

I'd vote for THESE


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## cland72 (May 4, 2015)

If you're in the USA, Surefire, Malkoff, or Streamlight would be the three I'd recommend. Great warranties with all three companies.


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## carnage (May 5, 2015)

Thanks for the replies guys! There a lot of talk about Armytek, Zebralight but also customer service just not that great. For repairs turn around time is not that great. So I trying to avoid all those problems.


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## Str8stroke (May 5, 2015)

I guess we are assuming you are in the USA? If so, I concur with the statement cland72 made.


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## carnage (May 6, 2015)

Str8stroke said:


> I guess we are assuming you are in the USA? If so, I concur with the statement cland72 made.


 Thanks for the reply. Just added location to make it easier.


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## marinemaster (May 6, 2015)

Petzl


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## Gaffle (May 16, 2015)

The 2 most reliable flashlight brands that I have purchased are Maglite and HDS Clicky. I have had no issues with these lights. I have had a plethora of headlamps kick the bucket while in my possession. Many of my Petzl headlamps died due to internal issues. Broken doors on my Princeton Tec lights. I still have a PT Remix that I have given to my son thats in working order (I came to dislike the 3AAA batteries needed in the Petzl and PT products). My wife and daughter do have some Black Diamond headlamps that are working just fine. 

I went with Armytek just recently. A Tiara A1 Pro now resides next to my bed. Reliability? Thats a good question. The build quality of my Armytek is fantastic. I have no issues over the light getting broken from a fall or what not. The most unreliable part of these lights are circuit boards. Quite a few threads of flashlights doing wonky things because of drivers/programming. Will my Armytek be most reliable? We shall see.


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## SubLGT (May 16, 2015)

Gaffle said:


> ……………..The build quality of my Armytek is fantastic……………. The most unreliable part of these lights are circuit boards. Quite a few threads of flashlights doing wonky things because of drivers/programming. Will my Armytek be most reliable? We shall see.



The previous generation of Armytek Pro headlamps also had issues with malfunctioning circuitry. I think I will wait another 6 months before buying one.


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## Iagent (May 26, 2015)

30 years ago, I took a job on the midnight shift maintaining aircraft for UAL. A headlight was important. To make a long story short, I have an awesome light now, but i'm on dayshift, so it's used rarely. I can't believe how comfortable the Streamlight Protac is, compared to the Justrite 4Dcell battery pack was.I have a couple of the Justrites still new in the box as backups because they were so important. I'm still there, and I have the Protac with a few spare batteries just in case I need to work in darkness, as a B777-300 ER has some dark areas lol.


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## marinemaster (May 29, 2015)

Agent, interesting stuff. Cool picture, thanks for sharing.


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## Amelia (Jun 9, 2015)

I have (and have used regularly) 10 Zebralight AA and 18650 headlamps. I had an 11th, but it died from Alkaleak before I knew any better. Every one of my Zebralights has been rock solid reliable. I've abused some of them too (drops, scrapes, dirt, water, etc.) while camping, hiking, and generally living the dirtbag existence that I do.


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## FlashlightR (Jun 12, 2015)

I had a lot of driver problems with my Armytek wizards v1.5 pro, v2 and v2 pro. Now I have a Zebralight H600W and it works very well. I hope I will have the same experiences of rock solid reliability like Amelia!


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## preetlove (Jul 18, 2015)

I must say super bright led headlamp is the best option if you need a unique thing to wear.


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## andrew2 (Jul 22, 2015)

Petzl,BD headlamps are good quality.


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## SubLGT (Jul 26, 2015)

Amelia said:


> ……..camping, hiking, and generally living the dirtbag existence that I do.



Do you live in the wilderness?


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## TOWFLYER (Jul 27, 2015)

I have had a petzl tactikka for over a decade it has been through a lot and it has never failed me.


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## WarRaven (Jul 27, 2015)

The BD Storm in my avatar can tell you, it can take a direct hit and vibration doesn't seem to be a problem either. 
Though it's only taken maybe two direct hits, it took them at a good speed.


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## Amelia (Jul 28, 2015)

SubLGT said:


> Do you live in the wilderness?



No, but I spend a lot of time there.


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## Jash (Aug 4, 2015)

I've had a Fenix HL21 in my work bag since they came out. It's been used on an almost daily basis since I bought it and it works as good as when new. Recently bought an HL50 that has replaced it as the beam is better and it's more compact.

I own 26 Fenix products and they have never failed me.


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