Sure, your backpack, boots, tent, sleeping bag, air mattress, and other backpacking gear matter a lot, and you should put serious thought into your choices when buying any of them. But little things matter, too. Various necessary accessories, convenience items, and small comforts accompany me on backcountry trips. Nearly three decades of field-testing gear—including the 10 years I spent as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine and even longer running this blog—has refined my sense of what I like on certain types of trips and what I will not do without anytime.

Here’s my freshly updated list of essential backpacking accessories, ranging from basics like the best stuff sacks, bladders and water bottles, camp kitchen gear, water filters, tent stakes, and bear canister, to my go-to trekking poles, great values in a headlamp, camp stove, sport sunglasses, and knife, and what I sit on and slip my feet into in camp and lay my head down on every night I sleep on the ground.

I’ve tested this gear extensively on numerous backpacking trips from the Teton Crest Trail and Wonderland Trail, Yosemite, and the Wind River Range to Idaho’s Sawtooths, the Grand Canyon, Glacier, and countless other places.

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I don’t carry everything on this list on every trip, of course. Some, like a bear canister, solar panel and power bank, I bring only when needed; others, like a utensil, mug, and inflatable pillow, I always have with me. But what follows represent the best I’ve found of each type of accessory. You’ll find links below to good prices on many of them right now and you can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by making purchases through the affiliate links in this review. Thanks for doing that.

I think you may find some things in this list that you can’t go without. See also my picks for the best backpacking gear of the year.

I’d appreciate any of your observations about the gear reviewed here, or suggestions on favorite accessories of yours that I’ve overlooked; share them in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.

Inflatable Pillow

Call me soft (or smart), but an inflatable pillow goes into my pack on all backcountry trips, because these lightweight and compact models help me sleep better at an inconsequential cost in weight and bulk. Why wouldn’t you take one? These are the best I’ve found.

After using it on multiple backpacking trips, including a nine-day hike of about 130 miles through the High Sierra, mostly on the John Muir Trail, trips in the Wind River Range (including the Wind River High Route), in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, and on the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier, I have a new favorite. The Nemo Fillo Elite Pillow ($60, 2.8 oz./79.4g) weighs under three ounces but doesn’t compromise comfort: Inflated, it measures 15x11x3 inches. Made of 100 percent post-consumer recycled PrimaLoft synthetic insulation, it inflates with two strong puffs and the soft, jersey blend cover fabric is machine washable. An integrated stuff sack (read: you won’t lose it) packs the Fillo Elite to the size of a tennis ball (4×3 inches).

Another longtime go-to head rest on countless backpacking trips, including in Glacier National Park, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and many more, has been the Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight Pillow ($50, 2.5 oz./70.9g, large 13x17x5.5 ins.) because of its ample size and cushion and soft fabric, and it stuffs down to the size of my fist.

Yet another I like a lot is the Therm-a-Rest Air Head Lite Pillow ($55, 2-2.8 oz./56.7g-79.4g), which comes in two sizes that inflate to 18×12.5×4 inches or 15.5x11x4 inches, while packing down smaller than a tennis ball, and the stretch-knit polyester fabric feels soft against your cheek.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Nemo Fillo Elite Pillow at backcountry.com or rei.com, a Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight Pillow at backcountry.com, seatosummit.com, or rei.com, or a Therm-a-Rest Air Head Lite Pillow at backcountry.com.

Two favorite products pull double duty as a pillow and stuff sack—and both weigh less than all but the very lightest inflatable backpacking pillows.

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow ($63, 1.7 oz./48.2g, 12×17 ins.) consists of highly durable, waterproof (although the zipper is not waterproof) DCF8 shell fabric—which will keep contents dry if heavy rain penetrates a backpack or the sack is exposed for a short time to rain—with a soft, Polartec 100 fleece lining. A perfect size for storing extra clothing and small camp items while on the trail, it can be turned inside-out to function as a pillow at night.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Stuff Sack Pillow at hyperlitemountaingear.com.

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Stuff Sacks and Packing Pods

Stuff sacks protect clothing and gear from any water that penetrates a backpack, and make organizing and loading a pack easier and faster by compartmentalizing clothing and smaller gear items, giving you fewer things to transfer in and out of a pack. They also provide a more effective way of keeping stuff dry inside your pack than a rain cover, which doesn’t fully cover a pack, can blow off, and will wet through in a sustained downpour. I always use stuff sacks, and these are the best I’ve found.

The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Dyneema Composite Fabrics Roll-Top Stuff Sacks ($53-$83, 3.7L to 43L, 1-2 oz./28.4g-56.7g) are incredibly light, waterproof, and tough enough to withstand virtually any kind of abuse. Using the 43-liter Hyperlite Mountain Gear Roll-Top stuff sack ($79, 2 oz./56.7g) as a partial pack liner has kept my pack contents completely dry through steady, wind-driven rain on the Tour du Mont Blanc, Iceland’s Laugavegur Trail, and elsewhere. While they’re not intended to be used as dry bags (they’re not submersible), they keep clothing and gear dry through wet conditions short of full immersion in water. HMG’s Drawstring stuff sacks ($31-$58, multiple sizes) are made with the same waterproof fabric but have drawstring closures that are not watertight; still, they’re adequate for the needs of most backpackers and offer a lighter, more compact alternative to the roll-top sacks.

But the coolest are the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Pods ($60-$70, 1.2-1.4 oz./34g-39.7g, 6.8L to 12.3L), which I’ve used many times, including on a five-day hike in the Wind River Range, a nine-day hike of over 120 miles through the High Sierra, mostly on the John Muir Trail, and a seven-day hike in Glacier National Park. Stackable, flexible, super light, zippered units also made of waterproof Dyneema Composite Fabric with a water-resistant zipper, pods are shaped and sized to slip inside a pack wall to wall, leaving no gaps. Convenient for organization with their clamshell design and spacious enough to fit a surprising amount of stuff, they come in small and large sizes for two capacities—2400/3400 for 40-55L packs and 4400 for 70L packs—and fit inside HMG’s packs perfectly but other pack models as well.

I’ve also become a fan of a few other HMG accessories. The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Versa ($85, 0.2 lbs./90.7g, 2.25x6x9 inches) will attach to your pack at the sternum, hipbelt, daisy chains, or on top of the pack secured by compression Y-straps, or you can wear around your waist in front using its low-profile belt. Incredibly light and compact, made from waterproof, very tough Dyneema Composite Fabrics DCH50, it’s hardly noticeable when I’m hiking but highly convenient when I want to quickly pull out my Nikon Z50, a map, or another small item from its water-resistant main compartment or second, zippered pocket.

The regular Hyperlite Mountain Gear Camera Pod ($125, 2.7 oz./76.5g, 7×5.5×3.75 inches), made with Dyneema Composite Fabrics and easy to attach to a pack’s shoulder straps, holds my Nikon Z50 body with a small zoom lens mounted on it (dimensions 5×3.7×3.7 ins.), but get the large ($145, 3.7 oz./104.9g, 9.5×6.5×4.25 ins.) for extra capacity.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase Hyperlite Mountain Gear Roll-Top or Drawstring Stuff Sacks and Pods at hyperlitemountaingear.com, the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Versa at hyperlitemountaingear.com, or the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Camera Pod at hyperlitemountaingear.com..

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On a four-day August backpacking trip in the Wind River Range, Sea to Summit’s 3L Ultra-Sil Dry Bag ($23-$40, 3L/183 c.i. to 35L/2,136 c.i., 1.1-2.6 oz.) kept my puffy jacket dry, and the brand’s Evac Compression Dry Bag UL (see below) kept my sleeping bag dry through an afternoon thunderstorm and a torrential downpour that soaked through my backpack in the Winds—even leaving a small puddle of water in the bottom of the pack. Those two sacks saved me from a cold, wet, miserable night then and easily fended off a more-typical morning rain on a seven-day hike in Glacier National Park in September.

I also used both dry bag models while backpacking the three-day, 22-mile Boulder Mail Trail-Death Hollow Loop in southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which includes a descent of several miles in water in Death Hollow, with pools that came to mid-thigh.

For their low weight, durability, water resistance, and price, it’s hard to beat the Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Bags. These bags also kept my down jacket dry inside my pack throughout four February days of backcountry skiing in the Sierra mountains around Lake Tahoe, much of the time in heavily falling snow; and most impressively, kept my clothing dry while paddling an inflatable kayak on Idaho’s class III Payette River, even though the boat filled with water numerous times. Ideal for backpackers, the 30-denier, high-tenacity Ultra Sil Cordura nylon, siliconized for durability and packability, has a hypalon roll-top closure that doesn’t wick moisture, plus fully taped seams and reinforced stitching.

The more affordable Six Moon Designs Pack Liner ($20, 50L, 3 oz./85g) has also kept my gear and clothes dry when rain pounded my pack; and I used it to ensure everything inside stayed dry in case I slipped and fell in any deep pool in the canyon Death Hollow while backpacking the three-day, 22-mile Boulder Mail Trail-Death Hollow Loop in southern Utah’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. A roll-top, 50-liter sack that’s treated to repel water, it’s made of 40-denier ripstop nylon with taped seams.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Bags at rei.com or seatosummit.com, or the Six Moon Designs Pack Liner at sixmoondesigns.com.

Planning your next big adventure?
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Compression Sack

As I mentioned above, on a recent backpacking trip in the Wind River Range, the Sea to Summit Evac Compression Dry Bag UL ($40-$60, 2-3.9 oz., 5L to 20L) kept my sleeping bag dry through an afternoon thunderstorm and a torrential downpour that soaked through my backpack. The dry bag sat in water pooled at the bottom of the pack for an hour before I unloaded the pack in camp—and my sleeping bag was perfectly dry.

The compression straps make it as compact as possible and this dry bag kept my sleeping bag dry on the wettest backpacking trips—including a nine-day, 130-mile hike through the High Sierra, mostly on the John Muir Trail, when an hour-long rainstorm one afternoon soaked through my pack (I didn’t use a pack cover—see tip no. 1 in this story); and trekking hut-to-hut for six days on Iceland’s 33-mile Laugavegur Trail and 15.5-mile Fimmvörðuháls Trail, when we hiked through precipitation on most days. The Ultra-Sil 30-denier Cordura nylon and waterproof-breathable eVent fabric will pass air, so you can squeeze the sack down smaller even after closing the roll-top opening (which you can’t do with traditional dry bags). But like the above stuff sacks, these are not designed for full immersion because water will eventually penetrate the roll-top closure.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase Sea to Summit Evac Compression Dry Sacks at rei.com or seatosummitusa.com.

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Trekking Poles

The folding, 100 percent carbon fiber Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ ($240, 12.7 oz./360g, pair 95-140cm, three sizes) hit a sweet spot for versatility, falling on the cusp between the most ultralight and packable poles and models that are heavier and less packable.

Quickly deployed thanks to an internal Kevlar cord, and adjusted using BD’s reliable FlickLock levers, they have extended EVA foam grips and partly mesh nylon wrist straps. I’ve frequently grabbed them from a large quiver of poles I own for outings ranging from hikes and runs on local trails to backpacking trips of 77 miles on the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier and 47 miles in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park.

For lightweight and ultralight backpackers, hikers, and runners, and adventure athletes looking for the lightest and most packable adjustable poles, you need look no further.

Read my complete review of the Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ poles and my picks for “The Best Trekking Poles.”

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to buy the Black Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ poles at blackdiamondequipment.com, backcountry.com, or rei.com.

Gear up right for your trips with the best backpacking gear of the year.

Headlamp

Hold the rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R ($80, 2.6 oz./73.7g) up against any ultralight headlamp and try to convince yourself to buy something else. It has all the power most users need at 400 lumens with a range of 100 meters; that’s bright enough to hike off-trail, search for your route in the dark, or identify the large animal going for your cached food. And a full charge lasts four hours at max power.

Then consider the arguably unbeatable feature set, starting with three white and red modes with dimming capability, plus intuitive two-button operation, BD’s cool PowerTap technology, lockout mode, and it’s waterproof up to a little over a meter underwater for 30 minutes. But most of all, at just 15 bucks more than BD’s Spot 400, the rechargeable Spot 400-R soon pays for itself through the money saved not buying (and throwing away) batteries. Besides, why wouldn’t you buy a rechargeable headlamp today?

Read my complete review of the Black Diamond Spot 400-R and see my picks for “The Best Headlamps.”

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com, a battery-operated Black Diamond Spot 400 at backcountry.com or blackdiamondequipment.com, or the Storm 500-R or any BD headlamp at backcountry.com or blackdiamondequipment.com.

Serious adventures demand serious gear. See “The 12 Best Down Jackets”
and “The Best Rain Jackets For Hiking and Backpacking”.”

Solar Charger and Power Bank

Let’s face it, portable power has become an essential backpacking accessory for countless wilderness foot travelers. I carried the BioLite SolarPanel 5+ ($100, 13 oz./368.5g) on a nine-day, 130-mile hike through the High Sierra, mostly on the John Muir Trail, with some off-trail segments, to keep my smartphone charged so I could regularly check my mapping app. With direct exposure to peak sunlight, the five-watt SolarPanel 5+ fully charges its on-board 3200 mAh battery in three hours and can recharge a smartphone in as little as two hours, a BioLite Headlamp 200 in 2.5 hours, or the BioLite Charge 20 PD battery in 5.5 hours.

Hiking with it on my backpack and plugged into a device, with its sun exposure constantly changing and sometimes in forest, I found it would often recharge my depleted Android phone to around 50 percent and boost my iPad charge by about 20 percent during the day. The 360-degree kickstand enables positioning it at any angle, while the integrated sun dial allows you to aim the panel optimally for maximum sun exposure—useful when it’s stationary in camp or during breaks. It features a micro-USB input port and USB A output and comes with a USB A to USB C cable. At 13 ounces/368.5 grams and measuring 10.2×8.2×0.9 inches/25.9×20.8×2.3cm, this slim unit is packable and light enough for extended backpacking trips. The IPX4 weatherproof rating means it’s resistant to water splashes from any direction—fine in a light rain but put it away in significant precipitation (when it’s useless, anyway).

I use the BioLite Charge 40 PD power bank ($70, 9.4 oz./266.5g) to augment a solar panel in the backcountry—or instead of the panel when I don’t need more power in reserve than the Charge 40 PD holds. It was all I needed to keep a couple of my family’s phones powered up on a six-day, hut-to-hut trek on Iceland’s Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails, where we rarely saw the sun. And it’s ideal for long travel days.

Rated to recharge 2.5 smartphones—though that performance will vary between phone models—it would, when fully charged, bring my Samsung smartphone (2550mAh battery) from around 20 percent to 100 percent three to four times. The 10,000 mAh battery can be recharged plugging into a wall outlet for 2.5 hours using the USB A-to-USB C cable that comes with the unit. It has a USB-C PD port (up to 18W) and two USB-A quick charge out ports. BioLite advises using and recharging it at least once every four months.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase BioLite SolarPanel 5+ at rei.com or bioliteenergy.com, or a BioLite Charge 40 PD power bank at bioliteenergy.com.

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Sunglasses

Everyone needs eye protection from bright sunshine and UV light. But high-performance, well-fitting, and stylish sunglasses for outdoor sports are not often well-priced. Tifosi has broken that rule. The Tifosi Crit wrap-around sport sunglasses ($50, 1 oz./28.4g), ideal for everything from hiking to running, cycling, and more, have photochromic Clarion red lenses that adjust to shifting ambient light from nearly clear to a red mirror with a smoke tint—wearable in conditions from cloudy to the brightest, shadeless, sunny days of mid-summer. The Crit features an aerodynamic, ventilating design, shatterproof lenses, a light and durable Grilamid TR-90 nylon frame, hydrophilic rubber to grip well even when sweaty, adjustable arm and nose pieces for customizing the fit, and UVA and UVB protection. I wore them every day on adventures as wide-ranging as trekking hut to hut on Iceland’s Laugavegur Trail in July, backpacking nine days through the High Sierra, mostly on a section of the John Muir Trail in August, and on a five-day hike in the Wind River Range the week before Labor Day.

Want to save even more? The Svago ($30), made with shatterproof and scratch-resistant, polycarbonate smoke-tinted lenses, also have hydrophilic rubber, a Grilamid TR-90 nylon frame, and UVA and UVB protection.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase the Tifosi Crit, Svago, or any other sunglasses at tifosioptics.com.

Time for a better backpack?
See “The 10 Best Backpacking Packs” and the best ultralight backpacks.

All-Purpose Knife and Multi-Tools

The Swiss Army Climber Knife ($45, 2.9 oz./82.2g) provides a basic set of tools that will meet the needs of most backpackers in a light, compact unit just 3.6 inches/9.1 centimeters long, including large and small blades, scissors, bottle and can openers, screwdrivers, wire stripper, reamer and punch, toothpick and tweezers, corkscrew, and a multipurpose hook. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better value in a small, folding knife.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a Swiss Army Climber Knife at backcountry.com.

If you need the ultimate multi-tool, I like the Leatherman Wave+ ($130, 8.5 oz./241g). Just four inches long when closed, this updated version of Leatherman’s long-popular Wave boasts a robust set of 18 tools that all lock quickly into position, many of which get frequent use in the backcountry: two knives (straight and serrated), a saw, spring-action scissors, can and bottle openers, a medium screwdriver, regular and needle-nose pliers, and wire cutters.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a Leatherman Wave+ at backcountry.com.

Hydration Bladder

It may sound silly to get excited about a bladder, but while Gregory’s original 3D Hydro was exceptional, they’ve improved on it with the Gregory 3D Hydro Trek 3L hydration bladder ($63, 3L/100 oz./2.83kg, 10 oz./283.5g). Wider and shorter, it fits most backpacks and daypacks (some have a bladder sleeve that’s too narrow for it) and is easier to fill completely and screw the cap on without spilling, thanks to the molded handle-spine. A strap enables hanging from a branch as a base camp bladder to dispense water through the valve, which is capped by a dust cap when in a pack.

With a hose that disconnects, a soft, three-dimensional body, and removable mouthpiece, it dries out fully after use as readily as a hard-sided bottle—helping to prevent the buildup of mildew that degrades a bladder. The magnetic bite valve, which locks to prevent dripping, sticks to a magnet on the sternum strap of Gregory packs; and the bladder’s crescent-shaped plastic top handle clips securely onto the mating piece in the bladder sleeve in the brand’s packs. That’s a bladder worth getting excited about.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Gregory 3D Hydro Trek 3L hydration bladder at backcountry.com or any 2L or 3L Gregory 3D Hydro bladder at backcountry.com.

Keep your hands warm on your adventures.
See “The Best Gloves for Winter,” including lightweight gloves for three-season use.

The new Camelbak Fusion 3L Reservoir with Tru Zip Waterproof Zipper ($66, 5.5 oz./155.9g) represents a technological step up. Using the Fusion 3L on spring backpacking trips in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon and along a section of the Arizona Trail, I noticed right away that, besides the typically durable Camelbak construction, I was most impressed with how the integrated handle and pinch grip allows for much easier, one-handed filling compared to some bladders. Hydroguard inhibits bacterial growth in the reservoir and tube, which are also easy to dry and air out to prevent that, anyway. The valve delivers water quickly and has an on-off switch to prevent leaks. The waterproof zipper is predictably a little sticky but absolutely reliable.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these links to purchase a 2L or 3L CamelBak Fusion 3L Reservoir with Tru Zip Waterproof Zipper at backcountry.com.

Want a more affordable bladder? From a four-day, 25-mile backpacking trip on the Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop off the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, to a three-day, 40-mile hike in the Wind River Range and numerous other backpacking trips and dayhikes, I’ve found the CamelBak Crux 3L Reservoir ($42, 3L/100 oz., 8 oz./227g) as tough and utilitarian as they come.

The self-sealing mouthpiece valve delivers water quickly and never leaked or dripped when I left it unlocked, and the cap reliably screwed on tightly and leak-free every time. The valve locking mechanism shifts easily using one hand. It has a baffle to minimize sloshing, a push-button release of the hose for cleaning, and Hydroguard antimicrobial treatment in the reservoir and tube to inhibit bacterial growth. Plus, you’d have to make a concerted effort to puncture or damage this polyurethane bladder.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these links to purchase a 2L or 3L CamelBak Crux Reservoir at rei.com.

Packable and Collapsible Water Bottles

I prefer water bottles in various common situations, like sitting around in camp or hiking in freezing temps, but hard-sided, heavy bottles are soooo 2015. The HydraPak Flux Bottle (1.5L/50 oz., $60, 4.3 oz./122g, and 1L/32 oz., $29, 2.7 oz./76.5g) has taken the packability and low weight of a soft bottle and married it to the convenience of a hard bottle’s rigidity for standing up and refilling.

Developed with mutual goals of creating an alternative to single-use plastic and reducing the bulk and weight of hard bottles, the Flux is constructed with a dual-layer TPU film laminate that lends it the rigidity to stand on its flat base—full or empty. The spill-proof twist cap’s valve lets you squirt water into your mouth one-handed (like a bike bottle), doesn’t leak when closed, and the wide opening is compatible with all 42mm threaded filters (like the Katadyn BeFree). Embossed RF-welded soft walls are easy to grip.

Best of all, it’s half the weight of a hard-sided plastic bottle—and when empty, the Flux flattens, rolls and stows into its bail handle, compressing to one-quarter of its full size (smaller than a fist) to slip easily into any pack’s side, lid, or other external pocket.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a HydraPak Flux Bottle at rei.com.

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Water Filter and Water Filter Bottle

It’s hard to beat the speed, convenience, and packability of the collapsible Katadyn BeFree Microfilter soft bottles, available in a 0.6L bottle ($45, 2.5 oz./70.9g), 1L bottle ($50, 2.5 oz./70.9g), and 3L bottle ($65, 3.5 oz./99.2g).

The 0.6L bottle measures just 9x3x3 inches and weighs under three ounces and filters up to two liters per minute just by squeezing the collapsible, BPA-free flask, delivering a strong stream of water. It will even pour through the mouthpiece—albeit more slowly than squeezing, of course—by just tilting it upside-down, even when the bottle is nearly empty.

The Katadyn BeFree Gravity Filter (10L $145, 10 oz./283.5g, 6L, $120, 9.3 oz./263.7g, and 3L, $80, 6.8 oz./192.8g) spares you the work of squeezing the bottle, filtering two liters per minute into another bottle or a bladder.

The .01-micron BeFree microfilter protects against harmful organisms like bacteria and cysts and has a projected life of 1,000 liters. Replacing the filter is easy—it pops out and a new one pops in. No backflushing or tools needed. Clean it occasionally by swishing the EZ-Clean Membrane around in water. For long-term storage, clean the filter by squeezing a flask full of clean (tap) water containing either one Micropur tablet or four drops of bleach through the filter.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase any of the Katadyn BeFree bottles or gravity filter at backcountry.com or rei.com.

The convenience factor of the LifeStraw Go bottle (22-oz./623.7g, $45, 7.8 oz./221.1g, or 1L, $50, 8.6 oz./243.8g) has lightened my pack weight by letting me carry less water—and it’s not because I drink any less. The ease and quickness of dipping, filling, and immediately drinking from the 22-ounce Go bottle—and not having to take time to treat water with a traditional filter—means that, wherever there are fairly frequent water sources along a hike, I can chug some water at the creek, top off the bottle or even leave it half-full if the next water isn’t far, and resume hiking. Consequently, I don’t treat more water than I’ll need and my pack’s lighter.

On my most-recent trip on the Teton Crest Trail, I rarely carried water in my pack’s bladder. The LifeStraw Go’s two-stage, hollow-fiber, 0.2-micron filter membrane with activated carbon removes virtually all bacteria, protozoa like giardia and cryptosporidium, and organic chemicals like pesticides and herbicides.

See my complete review of the LifeStraw Go bottle With 2-Stage Filtration.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a 22-oz. or 1L LifeStraw Go water bottle at rei.com or backcountry.com.

Got an all-time favorite campsite?
See “Tent Flap With a View: 25 Favorite Backcountry Campsites.”

Of course, there are times when you need a pump water filter in the backcountry, such as when dealing with silted water, or when you have to treat a large amount of water (for a group of three or more people or when water sources are far apart). The MSR Hyperflow Microfilter ($160, 9 oz./255.1g) stands out for its speed and compact size. Measuring just 7×3.5 ins., and lighter than many competitors, this hollow-fiber filter pumps three liters per minute, removing protozoa, bacteria, and particulate matter (though not viruses or chemicals), and leaves no taste. It comes with a Quick-Connect Bottle Adapter for pumping directly into a variety of containers, including all MSR hydration bladders and Nalgene bottles.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to buy an MSR Hyperflow Microfilter at backcountry.com or cascadedesigns.com.

On a 40-mile, mid-September backpacking trip in Wyoming’s Wind River Range, I pulled out the pocket-size MSR TrailShot Microfilter ($70, 5 oz./141.7g) frequently to sate my thirst within seconds, enabling me to carry less water on my back. Small enough to stuff inside a side pocket on a daypack, it cranks out a liter in a minute. It’s ideal for one or two people on a fast-paced outing where time efficiency and minimizing weight are top priorities, like an ultra-dayhike, an ultralight backpacking trip where water sources are frequent, or a long trail run or adventure race. You have to get down low to the ground to place the input end of the hose in a stream or other water source and drink directly from the filter’s spout, or use the TrailShot to pump water into a bottle or bladder. It removes bacteria like E. coli and protozoa like Cryptosporidium. MSR projects its life at up to 2,000 liters.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to buy an MSR TrailShot Microfilter at backcountry.com or cascadedesigns.com.

Camp Stove

Simplicity often reigns supreme in the backcountry, and that’s typically how I feel about a cooking stove: keep it simple, efficient, and above all, light.

The Jetboil Flash ($145, 13.1 oz./371g) has become my go-to stove for trips with a small group when we just want to boil water fast, most recently including in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon, southern Utah’s Escalante region, the Wind River Range, and Glacier National Park. Cranking 9,000 BTUs, itboils a liter of water in under three-and-a-half minutes in a controlled environment, according to Jetboil. With the insulated FluxRing cooking pot’s fill line limiting each boil to just two cups/0.47 liter—basically just enough to cook for one person at a time—it was fast enough to satisfy for our group of five people on windy mornings in Aravaipa Canyon.

The high fuel efficiency translates to less fuel weight in your pack: Planning our fuel based on Jetboil’s estimate that the Flash will boil 10 liters per 100g JetPower fuel canister, we hiked out of Aravaipa with a little unused fuel. The coolest feature? Jetboil’s thermochromatic color-change heat indicator on one side of the pot shows you how close the water is to boiling. A reliable push-button igniter fires up the stove every time.

See my complete review of the Jetboil Flash.

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The MSR Pocketrocket 2 ($60, 4 oz./113.4g with plastic case, included) boils water fast, has precise flame control for simmering, holds pots of two liters or larger stably, always fires up, and packs small. That’s why it ends up in my pack on many trips. It’s only shortcoming is that the unprotected burner isn’t nearly as fuel-efficient as stoves with a protected burner.

See my complete review of the MSR Pocketrocket 2.

BUY IT NOW You can support this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to buy an MSR Pocketrocket 2 stove at rei.com or cascadedesigns.com.

Get the right tent for you. See “The 10 Best Backpacking Tents”
and “5 Expert Tips For Buying a Backpacking Tent.”

But when it’s time to cook for four or more people—especially in a windy campsite—nothing beats the MSR WindBurner Group Stove System ($260, 1 lb. 5 oz./595.3g). Pressure-regulated to produce consistent heat output, with an enclosed burner, the WindBurner Group System loses virtually no fuel efficiency—it basically performs in wind as if there was no wind. Cooking at elevations up to 11,000 feet, with wind at times and mornings down to around 40° F, I used less than two full, 16-oz. MSR IsoPro fuel canisters in six days cooking five breakfasts and dinners for four people—and barely more than one 16-oz. canister for basically the same number of meals for three people (all just boiling water). Plus, good flame control goes from boiling fast to a low simmer for backpackers who want to do more than just boil water. And the pot has a folding handle and strainer lid with a locking latch.

See my complete review of the MSR WindBurner Group Stove System.

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Camp Kitchen

On backpacking trips where I want to carry the lightest stove and pot combo plus have the versatility of a pot that I can cook a meal in and eat out of, I’ll pair MSR’s Pocketrocket 2 stove (above) with the MSR Titan Kettle 1400ml ($75, 5.4 oz./153g). The incredibly light but durable, one-liter pot with silicone-coasted folding handles and a secure lid with a silicone gripper on top for lifting off without burning your fingers, it’s big enough to cook for two, light enough for solo trips—and doubles as a bowl and (giant) mug. Internal graduated markings in 0.2-liter and eight-ounce increments take the guesswork out of measuring water. I like the silicone hanger under the lid to keep it out of the dirt.

You can fit a tiny canister stove and an eight-ounce fuel canister or nest other MSR Titan collection products inside, including the Titan Kettle 900ml ($65, 4.4 oz./126g), a good alternative for serious ultralighters; and the nicely sized Titan Double Wall Mug 375ml ($55, 4.1 oz./116g), which has a very secure sipping lid, with a tab for easy removal, and keeps 12 ounces of liquid hot in cool campsites, as it did for me on cool mornings in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase an MSR Titan Kettle 1400ml and/or Titan Kettle 900ml at rei.com, a Titan Double Wall Mug 375ml at backcountry.com, or those and other MSR Titan products at rei.com or cascadedesigns.com.

When cooking convenience and packability take priority over going absolutely minimalist—as it has on many family backpacking trips—I grab the Sea to Summit Frontier Ultralight Collapsible One-Pot Cook Set ($140, 19 oz./527g, for two to four people). The 2.2-liter/74-ounce pot (10.5 oz./297g by itself) is made with collapsible, food-grade silicone walls and a hardened alloy aluminum base, and the pot’s lid fits securely enough to avoid spills when pouring hot water. The stainless-steel Click Safe Handle attaches to the pot with an audible click and carries any food or liquid weight without loosening; reversing the handle secures the nested and packed set. 

The medium bowls and 400ml cups are small enough to remain packable but most hungry backpackers will refill them at mealtime. I’ve boiled water, cooked pasta, rice, mac ‘n’ cheese and other messy dinners and found the pieces all easy to wipe clean. The walls of every piece lock into place when in use—nothing collapses with hot food or liquid inside—and stack neatly together when collapsed, packing down to 7.8×2 ins./19.7×5.1cm. The set is also PFOA-, PTFE- and BPA-free and the various pieces are also sold individually.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to buy the Sea to Summit Frontier Ultralight Collapsible One-Pot Cook Set at seatosummit.com or rei.com, other Sea to Summit Frontier cook sets (including non-collapsible, which are less expensive), or a Frontier pot, bowl, mug, individually at backcountry.com, seatosummit.com, or rei.com.

A good two-way radio makes your adventures safer.
See my review of the Rocky Talkie Mountain Radio.

Utensil

You gotta eat, and I extend my preference for carrying the bare necessities in gear right down to my utensils. Here are. my top picks.

With hot breakfasts and dinners in the backcountry, I’m virtually always using just a spoon to eat from a bowl or dig into a dehydrated meal packet, so I prefer a long handle like you get with the ultralight, titanium MSR Titan Long Spoon ($18, 0.7 oz./19g), which measures 8.4 inches/21.2 centimeters long and clips onto a mini-biner.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase an MSR Titan Long Spoon at backcountry.com, rei.com, or cascadedesigns.com.

And the very packable Jetboil TrailWare Utensil Set ($17, 1.5 oz./46.7g for all three pieces), which includes a collapsible spoon, fork, and knife.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a Jetboil TrailWare Utensil Set at rei.com.

Water Bag

No one likes carrying a large amount of water very far in the backcountry, but when I have to do it, I turn to a reliable standby—as I’ve done many times backpacking in the Grand Canyon, including on my most recent trip on the Utah Flats Route and Clear Creek Trail. The MSR Dromlite Bag ($45-$50, three sizes 2L-6L, 4.6-5.7 oz./130.4g-161.6g), the brand’s lighter (and cheaper) but still tough version of its Dromedary, collapses to its cap size. Made with abrasion-resistant Cordura, these tough bags have a temperature threshold from freezing to boiling, a secure cap that ensures effortless filling and pouring, and a sturdy, low-profile handle that enables easy refilling and hanging it in camp.

The classic MSR Dromedary ($52, three sizes 4L-10L, 7-10 oz./198.4g-283.5g), although heavier, offers one larger size (10 liters). These stout sacks have never sprung a leak inside my backpack, thanks to BPA-free, 1,000-denier fabric and a tight seal on the screw cap. Strong perimeter webbing makes it easy to carry or hang in camp, and when empty, they roll up fairly compactly for storage in your pack.

Every backpacker should own one or two of these bags—and two bags give you both a large capacity and the option of carrying less weight when large capacity isn’t needed. There will come a day that you’ll need it—whether you like it or not.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to buy an MSR DromLite at cascadedesigns.com, or an MSR Dromedary at backcountry.com or cascadedesigns.com.

Bear Canister

A bear canister is required in an increasing number of public lands, among them California’s High Sierra (including the John Muir Trail, Yosemite, and Sequoia-Kings Canyon national parks) and in some campsites in Olympic and Grand Teton national parks.

A canister also provides convenient, infallible food storage anywhere.

Made from an impregnable, transparent polycarbonate, the Bear Vault BV500 Journey ($100, 3 gallons/700 c.i./11.5 L, 2 lbs. 9 oz./1.16 kg) stores up to a week’s worth of food for one person (with judicious packing). It has clear walls for finding items, is built to make it hard for a bear to grasp and damage with its jaws or claws, and has two tabs in the screw-top lid to provide redundant protection against a bear getting into it.

It has also earned the approval of both the Sierra Interagency Black Bear Group and the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a Bear Vault BV500 Journey bear canister at rei.com.

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Ultralight Camera Carrier

As a photographer who likes to shoot people in motion outdoors and perfect light situations—circumstances that are often fleeting—I’ve long sought a way to carry my camera where I can instantly grab it and shoot. Well, I’ve found it. The Peak Design Capture ($80, 3 oz./84g) offers a method of carrying your camera where it’s secure, stable, and always within easy reach on a pack shoulder strap during activities like hiking. Unlike camera packs, with their zippers, when using the Capture, I simply depress a button to pull it off my pack’s shoulder strap, point, and shoot.

The Capture consists of a metal clip that attaches to any pack strap, belt, or bag via two screws you can turn with your fingers (no tool required), and an Arca tripod-compatible plate that screws into your camera’s base. At just three ounces/84 grams and measuring just 3.3×1.6×0.8 inches/8.3x4x2 centimeters, it’s virtually unnoticeable on a pack strap, yet can hold far more weight than you’ll ever attempt to attach to any pack (over 200 pounds/90 kilos, according to Peak Design).

I found it comfortable enough with my Nikon Z50 mirrorless DSLR and a 50-250mm zoom on it, but certainly less obtrusive with the smaller and lighter 16-50mm lens on the camera. Caveats: I found the Capture will twist slightly when not positioned well on a shoulder strap, causing one end of the metal back plate to dig into my shoulder. Also, the screws can loosen over multiple days of use; check it regularly to ensure those are tight (and your camera won’t suddenly drop to the ground—and mine did not).

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase the Peak Design Capture at backcountry.com, peakdesign.com, or rei.com.

Tent Stakes

Bent stakes suck. Stakes should be extremely light and strong and never fail. Adhering to those simple truths, the Nemo Airpin Ultralight Stakes ($20, 1.4 oz./39.7g, set of four, or $10, 0.7 oz./19.8g, set of two) demonstrated their mettle (or metal, if you will) on various trips, including a six-day traverse of over 90 miles in Glacier National Park. Made of aircraft-grade 7075 aluminum, they have three notches in the head, two facing downward and one facing upward. Run the tent’s stake cord under the first downward notch (labeled “O”), then over the second, upward notch (“OO”), and finally under the other downward notch (“OOO”), creating friction on the cord as you drive the stake into the ground—which is easier thanks to the stake’s tapered shape. No more bent tent pegs or stake cord popping off stakes.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase a set of four or two Nemo Airpin Ultralight Stakes at backcountry.com or nemoequipment.com.

Lightweight First-Aid Kit

A first-aid kit can seem like something that just adds bulk and weight to a pack without getting used—but when you really need one, you don’t want to be without it. The compact but well-designed Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight Watertight .9 Medical Kit ($64, 12 oz./340.2g) resolves questions of utility versus weight. Contained in two layers of waterproof packaging in this kit are various wraps and bandages, a trauma pad and wide elastic wraps, blister treatment, an irrigation syringe and wound closure strips, medications for diarrhea, stomach issues, pain, and inflammation, and, of course, a mini roll of duct tape. I suggest adding a small tube of antibiotic ointment, but otherwise, this is a complete first-aid kit that doesn’t occupy excessive pack space.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this link to purchase an Adventure Medical Kits Ultralight Watertight .9 Medical Kit at rei.com.

Low Gaiters

For three-season backpacking—as well as dayhiking and trail running—low or mid-height gaiters (not high ones, like you’d use in winter) are indispensable for keeping stones, debris, rain, and splashed water from puddles and wet trailside vegetation out of your footwear.

The DWR-coated, very breathable, stretch-woven nylon and polyurethane Kahtoola Renagaiter Low ($54, 2.5 oz./70.9g) and Renagaiter Mid ($64, 3.3 oz./93.6g, both in two sizes), both available in two sizes, have become the low gaiters I grab for most outings. They easily zip over hiking shoes and boots, fitting snugly to protect against dirt, stones, debris, and water getting inside your shoes. Excellent breathability means they don’t make your feet sweat on hot days—as I’ve found on local trail runs and on a nine-day hike of about 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail and on mornings with wet vegetation overhanging trails on a weeklong September hike in Glacier National Park. The adjustable and tough DuraLink instep strap tucks into any shoe or boot lugs and its rounded shape prevents it snagging on rocks or roots; it also won’t get chewed up by rocks like some lighter nylon straps. While the Renagaiter Low is best for low-cut, lightweight shoes and the Mid for mid-cut boots, both adjust to fit a range of footwear, making them ideal for all backpacking, dayhiking, and trail-running uses.

I wore the Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hybrid Gaiters ($39, 2.5 oz./70.9g, two sizes) while trekking hut-to-hut for six days on Iceland’s Laugavegur and Fimmvörðuháls trails, when it rained for parts of almost every day and we hiked at times over muddy trail; while backpacking and dayhiking from a base camp for three days in the first week of April in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon, frequently walking in the shallow river and using the gaiters to keep stones and sand out of my boots; as well as hiking through wet trailside vegetation while backpacking in the Wind River Range and on local trail runs and hikes when wet snow covered the trails. Stretchy, breathable, wind- and water-resistant Ferrosi fabric kept my feet dry and is rated UPF 50+ for maximum UV protection. A tough, hypalon instep strap, hook-and-loop attachment for the shoe’s heel, and a drawcord cinch at the top hold the gaiters in place.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase the Kahtoola Renagaiter Mid or Renagaiter Low at rei.com, or the Outdoor Research Ferrosi Hybrid Gaiters at backcountry.com or outdoorresearch.com.

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Camp Chair

Light and small enough to carry into the backcountry, the Helinox Chair Zero ($140, 1 lb. 1 oz./481.9g, not including 1-oz. stuff sack) will force you to ask yourself why you’d ever tolerate squatting on a rock or log in camp again. The chair consists of a fabric seat that slips over a shock-corded pole structure that forms the chair’s back and legs; and it assembles quickly, like a hubbed tent pole system.

The result is a comfortable seat that’s 20 inches wide, 19 inches deep, 25 inches tall, and whose bottom rises 11 inches above terra firma—unlike chair kits that, while less bulky, are often no lighter, and place your butt at ground level. It also, impressively, has a carrying capacity of 265 pounds/120.2 kilograms, although 200-pounders might find the chair a little tippy, and packs down to 14x4x4 inches, roughly the dimensions of a lightweight backpacking air mattress. Unless you’re ultralight backpacking or thru-hiking, having a comfortable chair in camp may seem well worth the effort of carrying 17 ounces/481.9 grams.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Helinox Chair Zero at backcountry.com, or various Helinox chairs and other products at backcountry.com.

Want an even more comfortable camping chair? While too bulky and heavy for backpacking, the Helinox Sunset Chair ($170, 3 lbs. 8 oz.) will be the envy of your friends when car camping.

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Camp Shoes

I generally consider camp shoes superfluous weight: I often hike in low-cut shoe and just wear them like slippers in camp, with the laces quite loose and the tongue flipped up. But when I need or want footwear for backpacking campsites, water fords, and paddling trips, two different types of footwear have become my go-to picks, depending on the trip.

For cooler backcountry trips, especially when hiking in midweight boots in wet climates, where I want warm, dry footwear in camp, I like the Allbirds Men’s Wool Runners ($110, 17 oz./481.9g, pair US men’s 10). For backpacking in the Wind River Range and elsewhere, on hut and yurt trips, and for river fords, these lightweight, packable, comfortable, warm shoes were perfect. The uppers and insoles are made from super fine Merino wool—keeping feet warm even if wet—and instead of the EVA foam traditionally used in footwear, Allbirds uses SweetFoam, made from sugarcane, and calls it “the world’s first carbon-negative green EVA.” Sizing runs small; buy up one full size in men’s and women’s models. Allbirds.com.

Rhamani sandals ($80, 14 oz./396.9g, pair US men’s 9) come in one style with multiple configurations, thanks to the removable heel and forefoot straps and retractable toe loop—and the strap system is secure enough that I took hikes from campsites, walking faint use trails and splashing through creeks, on a six-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. The contoured footbed feels plush and the outsole grips well on a variety of ground surfaces—packed-dirt trails, pebbly riverbanks, scrambling on rocks. Best of all: They weigh about half of many sports sandals. Sizing is standard whole sizes. rhamani.com.

Sun Hat

On hot days from the Grand Canyon in spring and fall to the intense alpine sun in mountains like the High Sierra, I always wear a wide-brim hat to keep my squash from baking—which makes a big difference in how I feel over the course of hours hiking in such heat. But sun protection isn’t the only performance feature that matters.

In unusually strong winds that blew for three straight days in the Wind River Range, the Patagonia Quandary Brimmer wide-brim hat ($65, 4 oz./113g) stayed put on my head, keeping the alpine sun off it. The semi-rigid, wide brim completely shades your face and neck and resists getting flattened against the side of your head by strong gusts while also having enough flexibility to fold up for stuffing into a pack or exterior pocket. The toggle adjustment in the back enables a snug fit that, along with the adjustable chin strap, prevents the hat from taking flight in wind. The light, 96 percent recycled nylon fabric, breathable crown, and soft, wicking headband keep it comfortable in the heat.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a Patagonia Quandary Brimmer hat at backcountry.com.

Windproof, Waterproof Emergency Matches

The UCO Titan Matches ($13, 3 oz./85g). will fire up in any downpour, no matter how wet. Each thick, four-inch-long match provides 25 seconds of wind and waterproof burning; they even relight after being submerged in water. The kit includes 12 matches, three replaceable strikers, a waterproof case that floats, and a cord that attaches to a lanyard.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this link to purchase UCO Titan Matches at rei.com.

See also my recommended backpacking gear checklist and menus of all of my reviews of backpacks, backpacking boots, hiking shoes, tents, and sleeping bags. And don’t miss my picks for “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all gear reviews and expert buying tips.

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A headlamp is unquestionably essential gear for hiking, backpacking, climbing, trail running, ultra-running and ultra-hiking, ski touring, and other backcountry activities that sometimes push into darkness (whether intentionally or not). But with so many to pick from, how do you choose which one to buy? Price? Brightness? Weight? Design and range of lighting modes? Go with a brand you know and trust? This review cuts through the information overload to help you pick the right headlamp for your adventures.

I selected the headlamps covered in this review based on extensive testing on backpacking, camping, long dayhikes, climbing, backcountry skiing, and other backcountry trips, and I’ve field-tested dozens of headlamps over more than a quarter-century of testing and reviewing gear, formerly as the lead gear reviewer for Backpacker magazine for 10 years and even longer running this blog.

The freshly updated picks below represent the best models for backcountry users.

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For dayhiking, backpacking, and similar pursuits, I favor models that meet five simple criteria:

•    Lightweight—no dayhiker, backpacker, runner, or climber needs a bulky light that weighs more than three to four ounces.
•    Versatile and bright enough for everything from reading in the tent and managing camp chores to hiking rugged trail in complete darkness—and if needed, for route-finding off-trail.
•    Intuitive and easy to use, so I don’t have to consult instructions more than once, take off my gloves to operate it, or use a tool to change batteries.
•    Projects a beam that’s focused and even, not blotchy and uneven.
•    Preferably rechargeable so I’m not repeatedly buying and throwing away batteries.

I apply those standards when choosing which headlamps I’ll review at The Big Outside, with the exception of being rechargeable, because some rechargeable headlamps cost more up front (although not over time), and this review covers a variety of headlamps at a range of price points.

The headlamps below are listed in order of weight. Please share your experiences with any of these models, or another you like, in the comments section at the bottom of this story. I try to respond to all comments.

The Best Headlamps

BioLite Headlamp 325
$50, 1.8 oz./51g
backcountry.com

Look for an ultralight headlamp under two ounces and $40 or less and you’ll find very few choices—with the BioLite Headlamp 325, which I’ve used backpacking in the Wind River Range and elsewhere, arguably the best. It sports four all-you-need lighting modes—white spot and red flood LEDs, both with dimming capability, plus white and red strobe—and cranks out enough brightness (325 lumens) and lasts long enough on a full charge (three hours on high, 40 hours on low) for backpackers, dayhikers, trail runners, and others.

With its nearly weightless front housing integrated into the slender, easily adjustable, no-bounce head strap, the 325 goes almost unnoticed on your head—making it certainly among the most comfortable ultralight headlamps. Intuitive, single-button operation, lockout mode, four-position housing tilt, and an IPX4 waterproof rating complete a high-value package at a very good price.

Read my complete review of the BioLite Headlamp 325.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a BioLite Headlamp 325 at backcountry.com.

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Knog Bandicoot 250
$50, 2.1 oz./59.5g
knog.com

I thought this headlamp’s predecessor, the Bandicoot, had the potential to upend this entire category. After using the more powerful and comfortable Knog Bandicoot 250 on a nine-day hike of nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra, mostly on the John Muir Trail, I still think this technology is a game changer.

The Bandicoot 250 is powerful, rechargeable, lighter than most competitors, and cheaper than many. Its unique, very light and durable silicone housing seamlessly merges the strap, body, and LEDs and adjusts to fit a huge circumference range of 30-70cm; you may forget you’re wearing it. Four LEDs—high beam, elliptical beams for broad ambient light, a red light for preserving your night vision, and downward-angled lights for reading—cover the needs of many users, including trail running and biking streets at night. It also has a lockout mode.

Read my complete review of the Knog Bandicoot 250.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking this affiliate link to purchase a Knog Bandicoot 250 at knog.com.

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Black Diamond Spot 400
$55, 2.5 oz./70.9g
blackdiamondequipment.com

In any direct comparison, the Spot 400 offers an impressive feature set, power, and versatility at a competitive price. That includes the three modes a backcountry headlamp should have—white beam, white peripheral, and red—and the latest update of the Spot jacks the max brightness up to a powerful 400 lumens. It’ll project a beam 100 meters and has dimming capability in all modes.

It features BD’s neat PowerTap technology that allows you to tap the right side of the casing to cycle between max brightness and the dimmed level you’ve already set—which is not only convenient, but so easy that you’ll power down more often, thus prolonging battery life. The lockout mode prevents accidental turning on in a pack. Plus, it’s waterproof up to a little over a meter underwater for 30 minutes.

Read my complete review of the Black Diamond Spot 400.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Black Diamond Spot 400 at backcountry.com, rei.com, or blackdiamondequipment.com.

Want a reliable, basic, easy-to-operate headlamp at a good price? See my review of the Black Diamond Astro 300 and rechargeable Astro 300-R.

Planning your next big adventure? See “America’s Top 10 Best Backpacking Trips”
and “Tent Flap With a View: 25 Favorite Backcountry Campsites.”

Black Diamond Spot 400-R
$70, 2.6 oz./73.7g
blackdiamondequipment.com

Virtually identical to BD’s Spot 400, the Spot 400-R adds a feature that keeps on delivering value: it’s rechargeable. Powered by a 1500 mAh Li-ion battery with micro-USB charging port, the Spot 400-R throws a beam 100 meters at its maximum brightness of 400 lumens; that’s bright enough to hike off-trail, search for your route in the dark, or identify the large animal going for your cached food. And a full charge lasts for four hours at max power.

Plus, it sports all the versatility of the Spot 400: three white and red modes with dimming capability, intuitive two-button operation, PowerTap technology, lockout mode, and it’s waterproof up to a little over a meter underwater for 30 minutes. But most impressively, at just 15 bucks more than the Spot 400, the rechargeable Spot 400-R soon pays for itself through the money saved not buying (and throwing away) batteries.

Read my complete review of the Black Diamond Spot 400-R.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R at backcountry.com, rei.com or blackdiamondequipment.com.

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Petzl IKO Core
$105, 2.8 oz./79.4g
backcountry.com

When you compare max brightness, weight, and other features, few ultralight headlamps match the rechargeable IKO Core’s appeal to backpackers, dayhikers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers. From ski touring to a backcountry yurt on a dark, snowy winter night to backpacking in the Wind River Range and the Grand Canyon, its max brightness of 500 lumens—exceptional for a headlamp weighing under three ounces—illuminated objects 100 meters distant.

The IPX-4 rating means the headlamp is resistant to splashed water but not waterproof—not as good as the water resistance of other ultralight headlamps. But three brightness levels, a combined spot beam and proximity light in two of them, simple operation, the versatility to substitute AAA batteries in a pinch, a lockout mode, and the bendable, adjustable, hydrophobic headband’s comfortable and secure fit—all in a light weighing under three ounces—make the IKO Core one of today’s most unique headlamps.

Read my complete review of the Petzl IKO Core.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a Petzl IKO Core at backcountry.com.

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Petzl Actik Core
$88, 3 oz./85g
backcountry.com

If you’re willing to spend more up front for a rechargeable headlamp—which eventually pays for itself—the Actik Core ranks among the very best. Equipped with white and red modes and spot and proximity beams, it stands out among rechargeables for two attributes: putting out an impressive maximum brightness of 350 lumens even when using the rechargeable battery and maintaining constant brightness over the duration of a charge—both of which you’ll appreciate on a long slog after dark.

On a September night in the Wind River Range, at max brightness, the Actik Core illuminated trees 300 feet away across a meadow. It’s easy and intuitive to use with one power button to click between modes and the dimming function. It also runs on three standard alkaline, lithium, or Ni-MH AAA batteries and the battery compartment is accessed by lifting a tab—no tool needed. A charge lasts up to 160 hours, long enough for most multi-day hikes.

Read my complete review of the Petzl Actik Core.

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BioLite Headlamp 800 Pro
$120, 5.3 oz./150g
backcountry.com

From an 18-mile, 13-hour, four-summit hike in Utah’s Wasatch Range to many evenings biking city streets after dark, I’ve found that BioLite’s rechargeable Headlamp 800 Pro stands out for a rare combination of ultra-bright power, a wide range of modes, and a modest weight for a backcountry headlamp that packs this much power and versatility.

For starters, its multiple lighting modes include dimmable white spot and white flood plus the two combined; white strobe; dimmable red flood, and on the battery pack, rear-facing red solid and red strobe visibility beams, for biking streets after dark (plus a lockout function). The max brightness of 800 lumens in 30-second burst mode exceeds that of virtually any ultralight headlamp—very useful for hikers, climbers, backcountry skiers, and others moving off-trail. For its complexity, operation is very intuitive.

Perhaps most uniquely, it offers a constant mode, an option for setting the headlamp to maintain its brightness level rather than dimming as the charge or batteries drain, which is called regulated power and common in most headlamps for the backcountry.

Read my complete review of the BioLite Headlamp 800 Pro.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a BioLite Headlamp 800 Pro at backcountry.com, rei.com or bioliteenergy.com.

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Black Diamond Distance 1500
$220, 7.5 oz./213g
blackdiamondequipment.com

Comparing any hiking-oriented headlamps to the rechargeable Black Diamond Distance 1500 headlamp feels rather like comparing a Honda Civic to a Bradley armored fighting vehicle. At 7.5 ounces/213 grams and putting out a supernova-like 1,500 lumens at max power, the Distance 1500 is at least twice the price, weight, and brightness of most of today’s best backcountry headlamps. Testing this beast hiking, climbing, mountain and road biking, and backcountry skiing demonstrated that, while it’s certainly overkill for many activities, it’s invaluable for both route-finding and high-speed sports after dark.

The headlamp achieves 1,500 lumens only for bursts of 15 seconds using BD’s Power Tap Technology, activated by double-tapping the side of the headlamp. Its maximum sustained power is 800 lumens—still very bright and useful in certain backcountry scenarios (in other words, when you really need a bright light). The Comfort Cradle, with the light on the forehead and a battery pack in the rear, is quite comfortable and works great with any headlamp-compatible helmet. Caveat: Expect to invest some time into learning its many modes and functions.

Read my complete review of the Black Diamond Distance 1500.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Black Diamond Distance 1500 Headlamp at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com, or the Black Diamond Distance Headlamp Battery at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com.

See all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside. And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

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Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can purchase the e-book versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Comparing any hiking-oriented headlamps I’ve used to the Black Diamond Distance 1500 headlamp feels rather like comparing a Honda Civic to a Bradley armored fighting vehicle. At 7.5 ounces/213 grams, and putting out a supernova-like 1500 lumens at max power, the Distance 1500 is at least twice the price of all of today’s best headlamps for the backcountry and more than doubles most of them in weight and power. Over six months of testing this beast hiking, climbing, mountain and road biking, and backcountry skiing, I’ve concluded that, while it’s certainly overkill for many activities, it’s invaluable for both route finding and high-speed sports after dark.

First, full disclosure about its max power: the Distance 1500 can’t actually sustain 1500 lumens of power. According to BD, the maximum sustained power is 800 lumens—still very bright. The 1500-lumen Power Tap Technology is activated by double-tapping the side of the headlamp and it turns off automatically in about 15 seconds to prevent overheating; the cooldown period depends on the outside temperature.

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The Distance 1500 headlamp operates exclusively on BD’s rechargeable lithium-ion Distance Headlamp Battery ($65), which recharges via USB-C. BD claims a full charge will last for one hour 42 minutes at 800 lumens and for six hours at 300 lumens—the latter still more than bright enough for most activities, including hiking a trail in complete darkness. The headlamp has three modes: area, spotlight (in which max brightness also activates the area-mode LEDs), and color mode with three colors.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: The Distance 1500 is not for most users. It weighs too much, costs too much, and puts out an unnecessary amount of light for both camping and hiking on well-marked trails after dark. If you’re not doing any serious route-finding (ie losing a trail for more than 100 feet), a 300- to 400-lumen headlamp is plenty.

The Distance 1500 proved itself useful in faint or off-trail situations where I needed to see more than 100 feet/30 meters to determine where to go. The Power Tap mode seems designed for exactly this situation: when unsure of how to proceed, having a portable spotlight on my head allowed me to see distant trail indicators and even the general contours of the terrain around me, helping me figure out where I was. While climbing, even 800 lumens proved too bright for most use; it’s way brighter than a climber on the wall needs to see holds within reach. However, it can illuminate an entire 100-foot wall from the ground, which is useful in some situations.

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This headlamp isn’t a replacement for the sun: the range is severely limited in trees and foliage, of course, and it can’t illuminate the peaks and large-scale features that I use to orient myself in the mountains. I generally try to avoid off-trail navigation after dark, and I rarely find myself in situations where I need a headlamp this bright. But if I’m planning on being off-trail into the night, I’ll definitely throw the Distance 1500 in my pack.

While useful for navigation after dark, I obtained the Distance 1500 primarily for biking and skiing, activities where this headlamp really shines: 800 lumens of sustained output proved sufficient for both of these sports. While I’m not the fastest or steepest mountain biker, I found the Distance 1500 to be more than bright enough for all of the trails I ride, and the multifaceted optical lens seemed to do a pretty good job of preventing a confusing shadow: obstacles on the trail only had small dark outlines. I wouldn’t expect to be able to ride gnarly downhill trails at high speeds without more light, but the Distance 1500 provides more than enough illumination for cross-country mountain biking on blue- to black-difficulty trails. 

I’m way faster on skis than wheels and I found myself slowing down a bit when skiing at 800 lumens. Above roughly 20 mph, the beam would reveal smaller obstacles and fine snow details less than a second before I hit them, giving me little time to react. However, I think the average backcountry skier (who makes more turns than me) wouldn’t find themselves slowing down much, and the maximum comfortable speed at 800 lumens is more than enough for general backcountry skiing in the dark. I found the PowerTap mode very useful for scoping out small terrain features. While choosing the direction to skin uphill, it let me put in a safe up track with the accuracy that I do during the day. But the 15-second Power Tap boost doesn’t last long enough to ski anything at 1500 lumens.

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As long as I turned down the brightness for slower uphill segments, I only consumed 50 to 70 percent of a battery charge for one to two hours of after-dark skiing and biking. I purchased a spare battery for days where I planned on being out for longer, to avoid having to carry a spare headlamp. I’ve found it very fast and easy to switch batteries and have had no usability or durability issues with the battery attachment mechanism.

The Distance 1500 uses a Comfort Cradle and diagonal position on the head (with the light on the forehead, like normal, while the rear battery pack sits at the top of the nape of the neck. I found the Distance 1500 very comfortable and it works great with any headlamp-compatible helmet. I was even able to get it to work with my mountain bike helmet—which has no headlamp-compatible features and almost seems designed to not work with a headlamp—by placing the battery pack on the flat back of the helmet and the LED under the brim on my forehead in front. The band is both stretchy and adjustable and accommodates any size headlamp or helmet. 

One minor note: The Distance 1500 comes with a lot of modes and a lot of controls, including flashing options for lights on the back. I’ve found all the modes quite useful, except the blue and green colors in the color modes; however, the controls took a while to learn and I had to do some fiddling and experimenting on my first few times taking it out (despite reading the instructions, which occupy about four square feet of paper).

The Verdict

While overkill for most users, the ultra-bright Distance 1500 proves invaluable for off-trail navigation as well as high-speed activities like skiing and biking after dark—in other words, the circumstances when you really need a bright light.

BUY IT NOW

You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Black Diamond Distance 1500 Headlamp at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com, or the Black Diamond Distance Headlamp Battery at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com.

See “The Best Headlamps” and all reviews of hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside. And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year and all stories with expert backpacking tips at The Big Outside.

—Nate Lanza

Note from Michael Lanza: An avid climber, backpacker, dayhiker, and backcountry and resort skier, Nate Lanza has been doing all of these since he was a preschooler; and as my son, he has nearly 20 years of experience on wilderness adventures. I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all gear reviews and expert buying tips.

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From an 18-mile, 13-hour, four-summit, partly off-trail hike in Utah’s Wasatch Range in early October to many evenings biking city streets after dark, I’ve found that BioLite’s rechargeable Headlamp 800 Pro stands out for a rare combination of ultra-bright power, wide range of modes, modest weight for a backcountry headlamp that packs this much power and versatility.

When you’re out well before dawn or after dark on a hiking, trail-running, climbing, ski touring, mountain biking, or other adventure where a very bright light is paramount to success and safety, your usual ultralight headlamp won’t do: they are not nearly bright enough and don’t hold a charge long enough. For those missions, you need an ultra-bright headlamp with a longer battery life.

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Powered by a micro-USB rechargeable, 3000 mAh lithium-ion battery, the 800 Pro’s multiple lighting modes include dimmable white spot and white flood plus the two combined; white strobe; dimmable red flood; and on the battery pack, rear-facing red solid and red strobe visibility beams, for biking streets after dark. It also has a lockout function, turned on and off by holding the power button down for eight seconds. It recharges to full in three hours.

Operation is simple and intuitive. The front power button scrolls through the light modes when clicking in rapid succession—it will turn off if you pause while clicking—and holding the button down in any mode engages the dimming function. The 800 Pro turns on in the mode and brightness level it was last turned off; and whenever the front headlamp or rear battery pack light is turned on or off, a four-bulb battery indicator on the battery pack displays the current charge level. The front housing’s four-position tilt provides an adequate range of beam angles and doesn’t slip positions, even when running.

Brightness levels range from a common low power of five lumens that’s adequate for basic campsite tasks to 250 lumens on medium, 500 lumens on high—brighter than virtually any ultralight headlamp—and a max of 800 lumens in 30-second burst mode, throwing an ultra-bright beam 135 meters/440 feet (that’s BioLite’s measure, which seemed accurate, in my experience). After 30 seconds, burst mode automatically reverts to the previous mode and brightness level.

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While 500 lumens will illuminate far enough ahead for virtually any off-trail navigation or high-speed descent, and even 250 lumens is more than bright enough for hiking a trail, the burst mode provides added assurance of finding whatever you are seeking.

The rear battery pack has two power buttons, the smaller one scrolling through the two red modes, solid and strobe, with dimming in either mode engaged by pressing and holding the button. The larger button has two functions: Click it to activate the front headlamp’s burst mode. Press and hold the large rear button for eight seconds to activate and deactivate constant mode, indicated by a blue LED bulb on the back of the battery pack (separate from the four-bulb battery indicator).

Constant mode is one of the 800 Pro’s uncommon features. Unlike most headlamps, which operate on so-called regulated power, meaning they gradually dim in brightness as their charge depletes, constant mode maintains the headlamp’s brightness level for 150 hours on low, four hours on medium, and two hours on high. As the charge diminishes, the headlamp shifts to regulated power, and the charge lasts for 150 hours on low, 8.5 hours on medium, seven hours on high, and 30 seconds on burst.

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Keeping it in constant mode is useful to avoid your light weakening unnoticeably, and perhaps dangerously, while engaged in the very type of activity for which you bought an ultra-bright headlamp, like mountain biking or skiing downhill, climbing or searching for a descent route, or maybe even running a rugged trail in full darkness (although 250 to 500 lumens will usually provide plenty of light for running in the dark). Constant mode will also, of course, deplete the charge faster.

When the 800 Pro’s charge is running low, it issues a pre-reserve warning, automatically dimming the brightness to 100 lumens and flashing four times every minute for 10 minutes; after that, it switches into reserve mode, providing a very dim but possibly critical five lumens of brightness for up to eight hours in flood, spot, or strobe mode (burst is disabled).

Another unique feature of the 800 Pro is pass-thru plus charging, which enables you to plug the 800 Pro into an external power source, like the BioLite Charge 40 PD power bank ($60, 9.4 oz./266.5g, scroll down in my review of backpacking accessories) using the included, three-foot-long charging cable, which circumvents the headlamp’s internal battery. By keeping the external power source in a jacket pocket, close to body heat, you can operate the headlamp in sub-freezing temps for hours longer than its max burn times, where other headlamps would drain quickly. It gives the 800 Pro an operating temperature range of -4° to 122° F/-20° to 50° C).

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Comfort can be easily overlooked in headlamps—but makes a more pronounced difference with larger, ultra-bright headlamps, especially when you’re wearing one for hours on a long backcountry mission. Here, like other BioLite headlamps, the 800 Pro excels.

First of all, while it weighs at least three ounces/85 grams more than the lightest headlamps on the market, for its power, the 800 Pro remains impressively light and compact at 5.3 ounces/150 grams.

On top of that, having the electronics integrated into the slim, moisture-wicking head strap creates a smooth, comfortable fit that doesn’t feel like a bulky, heavy headlamp and does not slip or bounce even when moving quickly while running, mountain biking, or skiing. The head strap splits into a double strap across the rear battery pack—which is less than half the size of a smartphone—creating soft contact against the back of your head that’s so comfortable (again, for a headlamp of this size and power) that I hardly think about it while wearing it.

The IPX4 rating means it’s fine in rain or getting wet from perspiration but is not designed for immersion in water.

See an instructional video on using the many features of the BioLite Headlamp 800 Pro at help.bioliteenergy.com/hc/en-us/articles/9301942458651-HeadLamp-800-Pro-Product-Guide.

The Verdict

For a variety of after-dark activities on or off-trail, from bike commuting to hiking and backpacking, mountain biking, climbing, or ski touring, when you need an ultra-bright headlamp, the BioLite Headlamp 800 Pro delivers a rare combination of multiple lighting modes and brightness levels, a long-lasting charge, plus comfort and modest weight for its power and versatility—at a very competitive price for this degree of performance.

BUY IT NOW

You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a BioLite Headlamp 800 Pro at backcountry.com, rei.com or bioliteenergy.com.

See my picks for “The Best Headlamps,” and all reviews of hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

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Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all gear reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

How simple and inexpensive a headlamp do you want for the backcountry? Or to frame the question from a different angle: How complex a headlamp do you need? Using Black Diamond’s rechargeable Astro 300-R and the optionally rechargeable, battery-powered Astro 300 on a pair of backpacking trips in the Canadian Rockies—the Skyline Trail in Jasper National Park and the Nigel, Cataract, and Cline Passes Route in the White Goat Wilderness—as well as a four-day hike in the Wind River Range and camping at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, I became very acquainted with the strengths and shortcomings of two of today’s most affordable ultralight headlamps.

The two Astro models are identical except for the Astro 300-R being strictly rechargeable, powered by a 1500 mAh Li-ion battery with a micro-USB charging port—like all of BD’s “R” series headlamps. At 40 bucks, the Astro 300-R is certainly one of the most affordable rechargeable ultralight headlamps out there and arguably the cheapest that offers reliable performance in the backcountry.

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As with BD’s other traditional battery-powered headlamps, the Astro 300 runs on either AAAs or the rechargeable BD 1500 battery pack ($35, sold separately). The main benefit that “dual-fuel” design offers is the option of a backup power source if the BD 1500 drains its charge—and the Astro 300 and BD 1500 combo actually saves you five bucks versus the Astro 300-R. Plus, the BD 1500 can be used in other battery-powered BD headlamps.

Operation and features are otherwise the same in both Astro models. The single power button turns them on and off, always powering on in the same mode and brightness level last used. The button controls dimming function and clicks between the white light and white strobe modes. Holding the button down when it’s off engages lockout mode.

In their primary, white area mode, both headlamps throw a round beam that fills much of my peripheral vision with even lighting; the white strobe mode does the same. The max brightness of 300 lumens, with a range of 180 feet/55 meters, is certainly bright enough for hiking or even running a trail in complete darkness. You’ll probably be comfortable walking in the dark at medium power (150 lumens), at which the range is 115 feet/35 meters, and at lower brightness levels in camp—prolonging battery life. And the range of 26 feet/eight meters at low power (six lumens) provides dim light for small tasks or finding something in your tent.

The run time, or battery life of the Astro 300 using AAAs, is four hours at high power and 140 hours at low power, with 16 hours of reserve power, according to BD. For the Astro 300-R, a full charge lasts six hours at high power and 140 hours at low power, with 1.5 hours of reserve power.

The easily adjustable, low-profile headband, made from recycled materials, remains comfortable on your head for hours and does not bounce when you’re moving quickly. The IPX4 waterproof rating, comparable with some mid-priced headlamps, means it withstands splashing water from any direction—it’s likely safe in rain but don’t stop this headlamp into water.

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The Astro headlamps lack the multiple modes found in other BD headlamps, and PowerTap technology, which allows you to tap the side of the casing to cycle between max brightness and whatever dimmed level you previously set. Those are definitely nice features, worth their added cost, and more important for more technical users, but absolutely not a deal-breaker for many users seeking simplicity and affordability.

Do the Astro 300 and 300-R offer all you need in a headlamp? The biggest shortcoming of the Astro is that the area mode does not give you the stronger, focused beam of a spotlight mode, especially for seeing an object at a distance. These headlamps are not an ideal choice for hiking or route-finding off-trail or when climbing. Otherwise, though, they deliver all the functionality that many outdoor users need. And some people will definitely prefer the simplicity of the Astro lights over models with more modes and functions but also more complexity in operating them (and cost).

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The Verdict

While not as versatile as the best headlamps available today, the Black Diamond Astro 300 and rechargeable Astro 300-R offer backpackers, dayhikers, trail runners, hut trekkers, and others affordable options for a simple but adequately bright and functional ultralight headlamp, including the ability to use either AAAs or a rechargeable battery in the Astro 300.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Black Diamond Astro 300-R at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com, a Black Diamond Astro 300 at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com, the BD 1500 rechargeable battery at blackdiamondequipment.com, or any BD headlamp at blackdiamondequipment.com or backcountry.com.

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See “The Best Headlamps,” all reviews of Black Diamond headlamps, and all reviews of hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

What does the ideal backcountry headlamp look like? Many of us who find ourselves in wild spaces well before dawn or after dark might describe that headlamp as light, bright enough to see what lies at least 200 feet ahead of you (especially when off-trail), with a versatile set of lighting modes and brightness levels, easy to use, and rechargeable with sufficient juice to last several days. BioLite’s Headlamp 425 checks all those boxes and impressed me with its performance on backpacking trips in the Wind River Range in late summer and on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River and in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon in the first week of April.

Replacing BioLite’s older Headlamp 330, the Headlamp 425 not only ramps up the max brightness to 425 lumens—BioLite claims it projects a beam for 85 meters/280 feet at high power, which rings consistent with my experience using it—it also sports a smart design that translates to high comfort and ease of use.

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For starters, the large, front power button is easy to depress and to find with a finger when it’s on your head. Click that button in half-second increments to scroll through the four front lighting modes, which include red flood, white spot, white flood, and white spot and flood combined, all with dimming capability. Plus, the battery pack’s rear-facing light has white strobe and red flood and strobe modes that are bright—ideal for biking streets after dark, as I’ve done many times with this headlamp.

The 425 turns on in the mode and brightness level it was last turned off; and whenever the front headlamp or rear battery pack light is turned on or off, a four-bulb battery indicator on the battery pack displays power remaining. The front housing’s four-position tilt provides an adequate range of beam angles and stays put securely. The lockout mode is activated and deactivated by holding the 425’s power button down for eight seconds.

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Perhaps most distinctively, the Headlamp 425 finds an appealing middle ground between heavier, bulkier, less comfortable torches that have greater power and charge duration and lighter models that are not as bright and don’t last as long in the backcountry.

Weighing just 2.75 ounces/78 grams, its ultrathin, low-profile, molded front housing integrates fully into the strap with a profile of just 0.4 inches/10mm, sitting flush against your forehead without bouncing or slipping even when hiking fast or running. The easily adjustable strap, with smooth, moisture-wicking fabric, feels so good I’d forget it was still on my head after dawn. And it shrinks down enough to fit kids.

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While a battery pack at the back of your head can feel annoying in certain circumstances, like lying on a pillow reading, this one is light and compact enough to reposition for comfort; it’s usually hardly noticeable. Plus, the rear pack provides the advantage of having a rear-facing light there for safety when biking streets.

Powered by a 1000 mAh Li-ion battery that recharges in about two hours using any USB-C cable, the headlamp has pass-through charging, meaning it can be used while plugged into a battery pack and charging. It has a run time of 60 hours at low power (five lumens, projecting a beam about 15 meters/50 feet) and four hours at high power (425 lumens); in practice, most backpackers have no need to worry about losing the 425’s charge on typical, three-season backpacking trips. I burned through only about half its full charge using it for six days straight with no recharge between back-to-back hikes on the Arizona Trail and in Aravaipa Canyon.

The IPX4 rating means it’s fine in rain or getting wet from perspiration but is not designed for immersion in water.

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The Verdict

Ultralight and compact yet bright, with a versatile set of lighting modes and brightness levels and a charge that lasts through a multi-day backcountry trip, the BioLite Headlamp 425 checks all the boxes for most backpackers, dayhikers, trail runners, climbers, bike commuters, and other users.

BUY IT NOW

You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these links to purchase a BioLite Headlamp 425 at bioliteenergy.com.

See my picks for “The Best Headlamps” and all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

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Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all gear reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

Look for an ultralight headlamp built for backcountry use that’s under two ounces and $40 or less and you’ll find very few choices—with the BioLite Headlamp 325 arguably the best among them. Then consider that it sports a basic but functional set of lighting modes, cranks out enough brightness and lasts long enough on a full charge for backpackers, dayhikers, trail runners, and other backcountry users, and this slim light will look pretty good to many people who log significant hours on the trail.

I used the Headlamp 325 on nights in camp on a five-day, late-summer backpacking trip in the Wind River Range and on back-to-back backpacking trips in the first week of April on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River and in Arizona’s Aravaipa Canyon. With a 700 mAh Li-ion battery that recharges via micro USB (charging cord included), the Headlamp 325’s max brightness of 325 lumens—a more than 50 percent increase over its respectably bright predecessor, the Headlamp 200—throws a solid white beam for about 250 feet/75 meters, certainly bright enough for hiking a trail in deep darkness or even route-finding off-trail.

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A full charge lasts three hours at max brightness and 40 hours at low power (five lumens, adequate for camp tasks), according to BioLite. That’s good enough for the typical backpacking trip: I finished that five-day hike in the Winds with charge remaining in the 325. The reserve power mode buys you one more hour. The flood LED doubles as the charge indicator: After turning the 325 off, the flood light will flash green twice to indicate more than 50 percent of the charge remaining, red twice for under 50 percent, and red four times to indicate it requires recharging. When plugged in, the flood light slowly blinks green while charging and goes off when fully charged.

Operating the Headlamp 325 is simple and intuitive using just one power button. Click it in half-second increments to scroll through the four lighting modes, which include all that most backpackers and dayhikers need: white spot and red flood LEDs, both with dimming capability, plus white and red strobe. Its built-in “brightness memory” means the headlamps turns on in the mode and brightness level you last turned it off.

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The dimming function—common in ultralight headlamps unless they have three or four brightness levels—is useful for tasks in camp and in the tent while helping to extend the battery’s charge when using it at lower levels. The intuitive lockout mode turns on and off by holding the power button depressed for eight seconds.

The four-position housing tilt covers an adequately wide range of angles for directing the light. With all of the electronics contained inside the tiny, nearly weightless front housing, which is, in turn, integrated into the slender, easily adjustable, no-bounce head strap—which is wider from the housing to the temples for better comfort—the Headlamp 325 goes almost unnoticed on your head.

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The moisture-wicking stretch fabric, with a reflective strip on the back for night use, makes a very smooth contact all around your head, even at the housing, and doesn’t slip at all—making it certainly among the most comfortable ultralight headlamps to wear for any length of time. Plus, lacking a battery behind your head, it’s easier to wearing while it lying on your back.

The IPX4 waterproof rating means it withstands splashing water from any direction—it’s likely safe in rain but don’t let this headlamp fall into water.

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The Verdict

The BioLite Headlamp 325 combines incredibly low weight and comfort with an adequate range of modes at a bargain-basement price for a rechargeable, ultralight headlamp.

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See my picks for “The Best Headlamps,” and all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “25 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

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Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

When I reviewed this headlamp’s predecessor, the Bandicoot, I thought it was the kind of new product that had the potential to upend an entire category. After using the more powerful and comfortable Knog Bandicoot 250 on a nine-day hike of nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail, I still think this technology is a game changer.

You can sum up the appeal of the Bandicoot 250 in one sentence: It’s powerful, rechargeable, lighter than most competitors, and cheaper than many. But there’s more to this story than that.

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The innovative Bandicoot has been upgraded to a maximum brightness of 250 lumens with a range of over 100 feet—not cutting-edge by today’s standards (a tradeoff for its compactness and almost insignificant weight), but certainly bright enough for the needs of most backpackers and hikers, including hiking a trail at night. 

The very light and durable silicone housing now is adjustable with a toggle to fit a huge circumference range of 30-70cm, covering the biggest and smallest heads. It still seamlessly merges the strap, body, and LEDs and doesn’t bounce at all or snag in hair. It’s easy to forget you’re wearing it.

Its four LEDs—high beam, elliptical beams for broad ambient light, a red light for preserving your night vision, and downward-angled lights for reading—cover the needs of many users, including trail running and biking streets at night (and this low-profile headlamp fits more comfortably under a bike helmet than bulkier models). One nitpick: I found the reading lights angled too far downward for reading while lying on an air mattress.

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Operation is simple and intuitive: Turn it on and off by depressing the larger (right) power button for a second; that button also scrolls through the modes, while the smaller (left) button clicks through brightness levels in each mode. 

Lock and unlock it by depressing both power buttons for three seconds; the red light flashes twice if you press either power button to indicate lockout mode and a white LED flashes twice to indicate it’s unlocked. Click either button when the light is off and the reading lights function as the four-level battery indicator.

The LEDs are easily removed from the stretchy housing/strap through the opening on the back side of the thickest part of the housing; it then plugs it directly into any USB port to recharge (no cord needed) in four hours (from being fully drained). Few headlamps offer such simplicity for recharging or replacing batteries.

According to Knog, the Bandicoot 250 runs for eight hours at max brightness; 12 hours at Spot level (200 lumens); 22 hours at ambient level (50 lumens); and 25 to 32 hours in the dimmer red and reading modes. Even with normal use on a nine-day hike, I finished with plenty of charge left in this headlamp. The IP67 rating means it’s waterproof up to one meter for 30 minutes and completely protects against dust.

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The Verdict

Powerful enough, comfortable, simple, rechargeable, lighter than most competitors and cheaper than many, the Knog Bandicoot 250 represents a great all-around value for backpacking, hiking, climbing, trail running, and other outdoors activities.

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See “The Best Headlamps” and all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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How do you choose a headlamp for the backcountry? If you’re looking for a range of modes that’s both basic and versatile, good brightness and dimming capability, and smart features that make it more useful while maintaining a design simplicity that doesn’t require an advanced science degree to operate it, Black Diamond’s Spot 400 is hard to beat. On evenings in camp on a five-day, late-summer hike in the Wind River Range, I found this latest update sustains and improves on the legacy of BD’s popular Spot line as an excellent value in an ultralight headlamp.

Powered by three AAA batteries, the Spot 400 boosts maximum brightness to 400 lumens, casting a beam for 100 meters; that’s bright enough for hiking off-trail or searching for a descent or ascent route in pitch darkness. BD says that at max brightness, the headlamp will burn for four hours on three fresh AAA batteries—but most users won’t need that brightness level for anywhere near that length of time on a single outing or multi-day trip.

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At minimum brightness level of six lumens—bright enough to find your way in and out of a tent in the middle of the night—the headlamp will run for 225 hours. At medium power, the Spot 400 projects a beam 60 meters and runs for eight hours on fresh batteries; that’s brighter than many users will need in camp or even most of the time you’re hiking a trail in complete darkness. In peripheral white light mode, the broad beam projects adequate light uniformly to organize gear or illuminate a campsite or tent interior.

Those metrics illustrate not only this lamp’s power but a key fact: Typical use will not quickly drain its batteries. After four nights of regular use at various brightness levels and modes in the Wind River Range, the headlamp still retained two-thirds of its charge—displayed by its three-level battery meter. The Spot 400 will normally make three AAA batteries last more than one typical backcountry trip or throughout a long trip.

BD made this Spot update incrementally lighter and more streamlined, with a housing that doesn’t feel like a load on your head or bounce around when you’re moving fast. The low-profile design still has two buttons and simple operation: It powers on and off and dims using the larger button, while the smaller button cycles between the three modes: direct beam, peripheral white mode, and red for night vision.

It also has dimming capability in all three modes, activated by holding down the larger button. Strobe is activated in all modes by clicking the larger power button twice rapidly.

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BD’s unique PowerTap technology—found in other BD headlamps—allows you to simply tap the right side of the casing (marked by a bulb icon) to cycle between max brightness and whatever dimmed level you previously set. The Spot series and other BDmodelshave brightness memory technology: They turn on in the mode and brightness level you last turned them off.

Like other BD headlamps, the Spot 400 also has a lockout mode that turns on and off by holding down both buttons for a few seconds, to ensure that the lamp isn’t inadvertently turned on and draining its batteries inside your pack or pocket.

I found the easily adjustable headband remains comfortable for hours. The IPX8 rating means the headlamp is waterproof to just over one meter for 30 minutes. The battery compartment is easilyaccessed by flipping a small lever on one side.

BD’s rechargeable 1500 mAh Li-ion battery and its charger can be purchased separately ($30) and used instead of three standard AAA batteries in the Spot. But if you’re buying a new headlamp and don’t want to constantly throw away batteries, it makes more sense to just get the Black Diamond Spot 400-R ($70, 2.6 oz.), which is rechargeable and otherwise identical to the Spot 400—and it won’t take long to cover the additional $15 cost of it through the savings on batteries.

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The Verdict

Still priced competitively among ultralight, high-performance headlamps at $50, the Black Diamond Spot 400 has the brightness, versatility, and features to make it arguably the best ultralight headlamp value for backpackers, hikers, climbers, trail runners, and other outdoors users.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a Black Diamond Spot 400 at backcountry.com, rei.com or blackdiamondequipment.com, or a rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R at backcountry.com, rei.com or blackdiamondequipment.com.

See “The 7 Best Headlamps” and all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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Using Black Diamond’s Spot 400-R on various outings, from nights in camp in Montana’s Beartooth Mountains, southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, and on a nine-day hike of nearly 130 miles through the High Sierra in August, mostly on the John Muir Trail, and pre-dawn starts on a seven-day, nearly 70-mile walk in September in Glacier National Park and a six-day hike on the Grand Canyon’s Gems Route in April, to dawn patrol backcountry skiing in Idaho’s Boulder Mountains, backpacking on a section of the Arizona Trail along the Gila River in the first days of April, and trekking hut-to-hut on New Zealand’s Routeburn and Milford tracks in late spring, I found this latest update continues the legacy of functionality and versatility that has made BD’s long-popular Spot line arguably the best value in an ultralight headlamp—while also demonstrating the strong value proposition of choosing this rechargeable model over a battery-powered headlamp.

Powered by a 1500 mAh Li-ion battery with micro-USB charging port, the Spot 400-R—the rechargeable version of BD’s outstanding Spot 400—throws a beam 100 meters at its maximum brightness of 400 lumens; that’s bright enough to hike off-trail, search for a descent or ascent route in pitch darkness, or identify the large, nocturnal animal showing an interest in your cached food. BD says a full charge lasts for four hours at max power—a brightness level most users won’t need for anywhere near that length of time on a single outing or multi-day trip.

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At the other end of its brightness range, the headlamp will keep running for 225 hours at low power of six lumens, which is bright enough to find your way in and out of a tent in the middle of the night. At medium power, the Spot 400-R projects a beam 60 meters and lasts eight hours on a full charge; that’s brighter and farther than many users will need in camp or even most of the time you’re hiking a trail in complete darkness. In peripheral white light mode, the broad beam projects adequate light uniformly to organize gear or illuminate a campsite or tent interior, without getting blotchy or having an annoying dark spot in the center.

Those performance details illustrate both this lamp’s power and how typical use will not quickly drain its charge. After eight nights of regular use at various brightness levels and modes, I found the headlamp still retained two-thirds of its charge—displayed by its three-level battery meter—meaning the Spot 400-R can hold plenty of juice for normal use on a very long trip.

BD has again made this Spot update incrementally lighter and more streamlined, with a housing that doesn’t feel like a load on your head or bounce around when moving fast. The low-profile design still has two buttons and intuitive operation: It powers on and off and dims using the larger button, while the smaller button cycles between the three modes: the direct beam, peripheral white mode, and red for night vision.

It also has dimming capability in all three modes (by holding down the larger button) and strobe is activated in all modes by clicking the larger power button twice rapidly. The Spot series and other BDmodelshave brightness memory technology: They turn on in the mode and brightness level you last turned them off.

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BD’s unique PowerTap technology—found in other BD headlamps—allows you to simply tap the right side of the casing (marked by a bulb icon) to cycle between max brightness and whatever dimmed level you previously set.

Like other BD headlamps, the Spot 400-R has a lockout mode that turns on and off by holding down both buttons for a few seconds, to ensure that the lamp isn’t inadvertently turned on and draining its charge inside your pack or pocket—a smart safety feature, even though both buttons lie flush in the housing to help prevent accidental activation.

The easily adjustable headband, made from recycled elastic, features comfortable Repreve fiber and remains comfortable for hours. The IP67 rating means it provides full protection from small, solid objects like dust and sand and is waterproof to one meter underwater for up to 30 minutes. The micro-USB charging portis accessed easilyby flipping open a small port cover.

BD’s line of headlamps includes the battery-powered but otherwise identical Spot 400 ($55, 2.5 oz.) and the rechargeable Storm 500-R ($90, 3.5 oz.), featuring 500 lumens at max power and the full suite of features found in BD’s Spot and other headlamps.

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The Verdict

At just 15 bucks more than the Spot 400, the rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R delivers the same brightness, versatility, low weight, and value for backpacking, hiking, climbing, trail running, and other outdoors activities at a price that’s soon covered by the money saved not buying (and throwing away) batteries.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase a rechargeable Black Diamond Spot 400-R at backcountry.com, rei.com or blackdiamondequipment.com, a Black Diamond Spot 400 at backcountry.com, rei.com or blackdiamondequipment.com, or the Storm 500-R or any BD headlamp at backcountry.com or blackdiamondequipment.com.

See “The 7 Best Headlamps” and all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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As we skied back to our backcountry yurt through falling snow on a dark night at the end of a full day of touring in Idaho’s Boise Mountains, my IKO Core brightly illuminated our route through meadows and conifer and aspen forest. But brightness and low weight are just two of the measurable ways in which few ultralight headlamps match Petzl’s rechargeable IKO Core, which has unique design features that would appeal to backpackers, dayhikers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers.

At the highest of its three power levels, 500 lumens, the IKO Core is exceptionally bright—especially for a headlamp weighing under three ounces, the best of which top 300 lumens and rarely exceed 400. In campsites beside wilderness lakes on rainy, dark nights during an August backpacking trip in the Wind River Range, this headlamp lit up the open forest like a klieg light, with a broad, even beam that illuminated objects clearly for at least 100 meters (as Petzl claims for the IKO Core’s range at max brightness). I also used the IKO Core on other trips, including a six-day hike in the Grand Canyon.

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That degree of brightness comes in handy when trying to identify anything at a distance in the dark, like a trail marking or your off-trail route; a campsite, shelter or yurt; food hanging from a tree branch, stored in a bear canister on the ground, or cached; or a person in need of help.

At 100 lumens, the headlamp’s middle power level projects a beam 45 meters, according to Petzl; I found it certainly bright enough to follow a trail in the dark. The max and middle levels simultaneously project both a spot beam and proximity light—more useful than separating those two lighting modes, as many headlamps do. The low setting (six lumens) throws enough light for inside the tent or close-at-hand tasks in camp but seems a bit dim to me for reading, though that may not bother everyone. The only conspicuously missing modes are red and flashing.

The headlamp housing tilts through a wide range up and down. Turn the headlamp on and insert only the lamp housing inside its white stuff sack and it doubles as a lantern.

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While a headlamp’s brightness diminishes steadily as standard batteries drain, the Core battery maintains constant brightness over the duration of a charge before power drops off abruptly; you’ll appreciate that on a long slog after dark. It recharges in three hours via a USB port and has a burn time (how long a charge lasts) of nine hours at 100 lumens.

The IKO Core’s hybrid design enables substituting standard AAA batteries after the Core battery has lost its charge. Operating on AAA batteries, the low power performance remains the same but max power drops to 350 lumens—still brighter than max power on many ultralight headlamps and plenty bright enough for most backcountry situations—with a range of 80 meters and a burn time of two hours. (Petzl cautions against mixing battery brands or new and used batteries.)

The battery pack—easily opened to recharge the battery—has a curved, rubberized cover that’s unobtrusive against the back of your head and is only a half-inch thick, so you can lie back on it without feeling like your head is resting on a block of wood.

Operation is idiot-proof: The single power button on the housing clicks through the three brightness levels; and depressing and holding that button switches the IKO Core into lockout mode, to prevent it accidentally turning on and depleting the charge while inside your pack.

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The thin, bendable, adjustable, semi-rigid headband provides a comfortable and very secure fit with minimal area of contact against your head; it also doesn’t absorb water or sweat and fits over climbing helmets. Plus, having the battery pack in the rear keeps the lamp housing very light in front, meaning no bouncing when running, hiking fast, skiing, or scrambling in the mountains. The headband must be bent and folded to stuff into its small, super light storage sack—a task that might annoy some users but I found simple and quick. Plus, the stuff sack keeps the entire unit more compact for storage in a backpack lid pocket.

The IKO Core’s IPX-4 rating means the headlamp is resistant to splashed water from any direction but not waterproof and would very likely be damaged if immersed. That’s not as high a rating as other ultralight headlamps, some of which are as high as IPX-7, protecting them from immersion up to one meter for 30 minutes.

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The Verdict

For its low weight, exceptional brightness, useful range of power levels, comfort, ease of use, and packability, the Petzl IKO Core rechargeable headlamp will appeal to many recreational users—backpackers, dayhikers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers—and perhaps especially to professionals like guides and search-and-rescue teams.

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You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a Petzl IKO Core at backcountry.com.

See “The 7 Best Headlamps” and all reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

And don’t miss my popular reviews of “24 Essential Backpacking Gear Accessories” and “The Best Backpacking Gear” of the year.

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures.
Join now for full access to ALL stories and get a free e-book!

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-book versions of “How to Plan a Backpacking Trip—12 Expert Tips,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all my reviews and expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

As headlamps for the backcountry have continuously improved in terms of brightness, versatility, and low weight, some have acquired a level of complexity that demands spending a little time learning how to use it. Not so with the latest version of this longtime top-performer. Still among the brightest ultralight headlamps, Princeton Tec’s Vizz 420 stands out for many reasons that others do—plus simplicity: You don’t need a degree in electrical engineering to operate it—almost anyone who’s ever used a headlamp will intuitively understand how to use it. But many will most appreciate not having to study a user manual.

I’ve used generations of Vizz headlamps on countless backpacking trips over the years and the Vizz 420 most recently in camp on a five-day September backpacking trip in the Pasayten Wilderness and a six-day rafting and kayaking trip through Desolation and Gray canyons in southern Utah.

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With quick, one-button operation, you can click the power button to cycle through the two white modes and one red mode and depress and hold the button to control the dimming function in all three modes. Holding the power button for several seconds turns the lockout mode on and off.

At max power, the 420-lumen spot LED projects a beam 79 meters (over 250 feet), according to Princeton Tec. In my experience with it on dark nights in the backcountry, at max power, the beam illuminates at a distance well over 200 feet (60 meters). But most of us will more commonly use any headlamp at medium power, which is 90 lumens in the Vizz 420. That’s bright enough to light your foreground for 25 meters (65 feet)—certainly adequate for hiking a dark trail—and the Vizz 420 can provide that level of light for over 50 hours on three fresh AAA batteries, longer than most backpackers need on typical trips.

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Two white LED bulbs cast a broad flood light with a range that PTec puts at 24 meters (almost 80 feet), for up to 90 hours. The red mode formaintaining night vision has a max brightness of 16 lumens, fine for walking around camp in the dark, and will last 135 hours, but lacks a strobe option. Plus, the headlamp’s regulated circuitry delivers consistent light output even as the batteries run down.

Like many leading ultralight headlamps, the Vizz is rated waterproof down to a meter for up to 30 minutes (IPX7).

While not rechargeable, the Vizz’s battery compartment is accessed by simply turning a small screw, easily done with your fingers. Lastly, the head strap is comfortable whether on the move or lying on your back.

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The Verdict

Still among the brightest ultralight headlamps for dayhikers, backpackers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers, the Princeton Tec Vizz 420 shines for its versatility and simplicity.

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NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all my reviews and expert buying tips.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read those stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip” and the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide.

—Michael Lanza

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BD’s latest update to its Spot line of headlamps, while incremental, maintains this light’s high functionality for backpackers, climbers, trail runners, backcountry skiers, and other users. The Spot350 illuminated moonless nights for me on a six-day rafting and kayaking trip down the Green River through Desolation and Gray canyons, demonstrating the reliability and versatility that its lineage has on many past adventures, such as rising before dawn to beat the heat on a 74-mile backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon in May and predawn mornings and dark evenings on a 94-mile traverse of the CDT in Glacier National Park and a 45-mile hike in the Pasayten Wilderness, both in September.

The primary upgrade is a boost in max brightness to 350 lumens, projecting a beam for nearly 300 feet (BD claims 86 meters, or 282 feet)—bright enough for climbers searching for a descent route in the dark, trail runners and backcountry skiers on predawn missions, and certainly for hiking a dark trail. The Spot350 will burn for almost four hours at max power on three AAA batteries.

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As before, the low-profile design—featuring two buttons that simplify mode selection—uses the larger button to power on and off and for dimming function (in all modes), while the smaller button cycles between the three modes: white beam, peripheral white mode, and red for night vision. The strobe function activates when double clicking the large button in all three modes.

BD’s PowerTap technology—found in other BD headlamps—allows you to simply tap the right side of the casing to cycle between max brightness and whatever dimmed level you previously set. The brightness memory technology means the Spot350 turns on in the mode and brightness level you last turned it off.

In peripheral lighting mode, the broad beam projects light uniformly at medium brightness to organize gear or illuminate a campsite or tent interior, without getting blotchy or having an annoying dark spot in the center. At low power, six lumens, the beam carries eight meters and BD says lasts 200 hours on three AAA batteries. I’ve taken numerous multi-day trips with all Spot models—including time hiking in the dark as well as normal campsite usage—without the batteries dying.

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The easy and infallible lockout function turns on and off by depressing both buttons for a few seconds. The IPX8 rating means it’s waterproof to a little over one meter for 30 minutes.

The slender headband is wide enough to remain comfortable for hours, and the battery compartment opens easily with the flip of a small lever, requiring no tools.

BD’s Spot325 differs largely in that it has minimally less brightness at max power—it’s essentially unnoticeable—and you can grab one at 25 percent off until stocks are sold out at blackdiamondequipment.com.

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The Verdict

The Black Diamond Spot350 isn’t rechargeable, but for brightness, versatility, features, weight, and price, it’s still a top value in an ultralight headlamp for backpackers, dayhikers, climbers, trail runners, backcountry skiers, and other users.

BUY IT NOW

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See “The 5 Best Headlamps” and all of my reviews of hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

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NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See The Big Outside’s Gear Reviews page for categorized menus of all my reviews and expert buying tips.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight and ultralight backpacking guide, and “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be.”

—Michael Lanza

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Few headlamps combine the attributes of being super ultralight, rechargeable, very bright, and having a long enough burn time (or charge duration) for a multi-day backcountry trip, but that’s exactly what you get with the BioLite Headlamp 330. For multiple backpacking trips this summer—including four days on Nevada’s Ruby Crest Trail, five days hiking the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier, six days in Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness, and seven days on the Wind River High Route—this torch lit up the darkness quite well and never lost its charge.

Over six days in the High Uintas in July (when, granted, we had long days), a full charge lasted until the headlamp died late on our last night—it was good for five nights of normal summer use. And my Wonderland Trail hike was in the first week of September, when days were short enough that I used the headlamp on each of our four evenings and some mornings without it losing its charge. BioLite says the rechargeable 330 runs for 3.5 hours at max brightness—which is rarely needed, so it’s easy to prolong its charge—on its 900 mAh USB rechargeable li-ion battery and for 40 hours at its minimum brightness level of five lumens, which is dim but good enough to read by.

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While there are brighter headlamps out there, this one’s max brightness of 330 lumens is more than powerful enough for backpackers, dayhikers, ultra-hikers and ultra-runners, climbers, and backcountry skiers getting after it before dawn or past dusk. In one camp on the Wonderland Trail, I put the Headlamp 330 at maximum brightness in dark forest and could see trees and other objects clearly at a distance of approximately 200 feet.

The Headlamp 330 has an ultrathin, low-profile, molded front casing with a slightly curved shape that rests flush against your forehead, not bouncing at all, and a battery mounted on the back side of the slender, adjustable head strap. The light casing does have tilt capacity, although it’s so small that it’s not easy to manipulate with light gloves on.

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The tiny power button controls on and off, the lockout mode (holding it for eight seconds), and clicks through the five white and red modes in sequential order: red flood, white spot, white flood, white spot and flood combined (maximum brightness), and white spot strobe. The white spot and flood have dimming capacity, the headlamp turns on in the mode it was last turned off, and it has a battery indicator (four LED lights).

The IPX 4 rating means it’s fine in rain or getting wet from perspiration but is not designed for immersion in water.

Any headlamp with a battery pack positioned at the back of your head creates minor discomfort if you’re wearing it while lying down (for, say, reading). But it’s easy enough to slide that pack higher on your head without the headlamp slipping off, and it’s a small inconvenience for this level of performance.

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The Verdict

While its charge does not last as long as some rechargeable headlamps or most that run on batteries, the BioLite Headlamp 330 sports the advantages of being rechargeable, super light, powerful, and holding a charge long enough for most backpackers, especially in summer.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking either of these links to purchase a BioLite Headlamp 330 a BioLite Headlamp 330 at moosejaw.com or bioliteenergy.com, or the BioLite Headlamp 425 at backcountry.com, moosejaw.com, or bioliteenergy.com.

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See my review of “The 8 Best Headlamps,” and all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Whether you’re a beginner or seasoned backpacker, you’ll learn new tricks for making all of your trips go better in my “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking,” and “10 Tricks for Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier.” With a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read all of those three stories for free; if you don’t have a subscription, you can download the e-guide versions of “12 Expert Tips for Planning a Wilderness Backpacking Trip,” the lightweight backpacking guide, and the 10 tricks for making hiking and backpacking easier without having a paid membership.

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You may also be interested in my story “How to Know How Hard a Hike Will Be,” which you can read in its entirety as a subscriber or click here to purchase separately.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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My first reaction to the Knog Bandicoot was: a rechargeable headlamp that weighs and costs less than headlamps that require batteries?! My second thought was: Hey, this thing looks kind of… cool. After using it on late-summer (think: it’s dark by early evening) backpacking trips on the Teton Crest Trail and in Yellowstone National Park, and camping in September at Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve, I see its minor shortcomings, but I also think the Bandicoot is the kind of new product that has the potential to upend an entire category. Here’s why.

For starters, it looks very different. The Bandicoot’s unique, very light and durable silicone housing seamlessly merges the strap, body, and LEDs, stretches to fit anyone’s noggin, and doesn’t grab, cling to, or snag in hair—it’s quite comfortable on your bare head, so much that you may forget you’re wearing it, especially over a hat. Weighing just two ounces (60g), it can do the job whether you’re hiking, backpacking, climbing, car camping, trail running—you name it.

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The four sets of LEDs include a high-power beam, elliptical beams for proximity lighting, a red LED for night vision, and LED’s angled downward for reading. A fifth mode combines the high-power and proximity LEDs for maximum brightness—which I used at times while hiking in the dark, although the high-power beam alone was bright enough for that, too. In fact, the combo and high-power modes are bright enough for trail running and biking city streets after dark (and this low-profile headlamp fits more comfortably under a bike helmet than bulkier models).

The large button controls on and off (holding it down) and cycles through the five modes (clicking the button). The small button cycles through an unusual four brightness settings in each mode. At 100 lumens at max brightness in combo mode, it’s bright enough to hike a dark, wooded trail at night—although not nearly as bright as the best ultralight headlamps (which are only about an ounce heavier)—and the four brightness levels offer more convenience and utility than some headlamps. I found the reading mode (six lumens) barely enough to read by, even at its brightest level, but that may not bother everyone.

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Holding both buttons for three seconds activates and deactivates the lockout mode, to prevent accidental turning on and draining the charge inside a pack; the red LED blinks twice to indicate locked, and the white LED blinks twice when unlocked. Pressing the button on the back of the left side of the housing opens it up for plugging it directly into any USB port to recharge (no cord needed). The row of four small reading LEDs act as a charge indicator when the headlamp is off and you click the smaller button, and each light represents a 25 percent charge.

According to Knog, a full charge will last for two to 13 hours in the combo (brightest) mode, and up to 80 hours in reading mode. Starting a couple of late-summer backpacking trips (with early sunsets and some pre-dawn starts) with a full charge in the Bandicoot, it was down to about a half charge after a two-night hike on the Teton Crest Trail; and it did not lose power, but was down to 25 percent or less, on a four-night hike in Yellowstone, which included us rising more than two hours before first light on our final morning to get an early start hiking. In other words, this rechargeable has the life for backpacking without necessarily having to recharge it mid-trip.

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The Verdict

While not as bright or as versatile as some ultralight models, the Knog Bandicoot is a rechargeable headlamp that’s very functional for backpacking, hiking, climbing, trail running, and other outdoors activities, and actually weighs and costs less than headlamps that use batteries. That’s darn impressive.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking either of these links to purchase a Knog Bandicoot at Eartheasy.com.

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Want to make your pack lighter and all of your backpacking trips more enjoyable? See my “10 Tricks for Making Hiking and Backpacking Easier” and “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” If you don’t have a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read part of both stories for free, or download the e-guide versions of the 10 tricks here and the lightweight backpacking guide here without having a paid membership.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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From rising before dawn for early starts to beat the heat on a 74-mile backpacking trip through the Grand Canyon in May, to predawn mornings and dark evenings in camp on a 94-mile traverse of the CDT in Glacier National Park in September, the Black Diamond Spot325 demonstrated the brightness and versatility that makes it arguably the best value in an ultralight headlamp today. Here’s why.

I was a fan of the Spot325’s predecessor, the Spot, and this new model represents an overhaul of that top performer. It has been reduced somewhat in size while powered up to a much brighter 325 lumens. The low-profile design adds a second button that simplifies mode selection. It powers on and off and dims using the larger button, while the smaller button cycles between the three modes: the primary, direct beam, peripheral white mode, and red for night vision. BD’s brightness memory technology means the Spot325 turns on in the mode and brightness level you last turned it off.

Powered by three AAA batteries, the Spot325’s beam projects at least 200 feet at max brightness, by my estimate (BD says up to 83 meters). In peripheral lighting mode, the broad beam projects light uniformly at medium brightness to organize gear or illuminate a campsite or tent interior, without getting blotchy or having an annoying dark spot in the center.

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BD’s unique PowerTap technology—also found in other BD headlamps—allows you to simply tap the right side of the housing (marked by a bulb icon) to cycle between max brightness and whatever dimmed level you’ve already set. The Spot325 also has dimming capability in all three modes.

The slender headband is wide enough to remain comfortable for hours, and the battery compartment opens easily with the flip of a small lever, requiring no tools. BD says the Spot325’s burn time (how long it operates on one set of batteries) is 65 hours at max brightness and 300 hours at minimum brightness. In addition, the improved optical efficiency not only delivers more power at a longer peak intensity, but also saves battery life, indicated by a three-LED battery meter on the side. I took multiple typical trips without noticing any reduced brightness due to the batteries running low.

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Like other BD headlamps, the Spot325 has a lockout mode that turns on and off by holding down both buttons for a few seconds, to ensure that the lamp isn’t inadvertently turned on and burning through batteries inside your pack or pocket—definitely a smart feature, even though both buttons lie flush in the housing to help prevent accidental activation. The IPX8 rating means it’s waterproof to one meter for 30 minutes.

The Verdict

It’s not rechargeable, but for brightness, versatile functionality, low weight, and value in an ultralight headlamp for backpacking, hiking, climbing, trail running, and other outdoors activities, the Black Diamond Spot325 is hard to beat.

NOTE: Black Diamond has updated the Spot325 with the Spot350, which is identical but brighter at maximum power. Watch for my upcoming review of the Spot350.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links to purchase a Black Diamond Spot350 at backcountry.com, moosejaw.com, or blackdiamondequipment.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons at right, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See my “Gear Review: The 5 Best Headlamps,” and all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

Want to make your pack lighter and all of your backpacking trips more enjoyable? See my story “A Practical Guide to Lightweight and Ultralight Backpacking.” If you don’t have a paid subscription to The Big Outside, you can read part of that story for free, or click here to download that full story without having a paid membership.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See my Gear Reviews page at The Big Outside for categorized menus of all of my reviews and my expert buying tips.

—Michael Lanza

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NOTE: See my review of the newest version of the Princeton Tec Vizz headlamp.

Long a favorite headlamp of mine for backpacking or climbs or dayhikes that somehow stretched into the wee hours, the Vizz received an update in 2018 that made it the brightest three-ounce headlamp I’ve reviewed (three ounces being the standard in ultralight headlamps these days). The new Vizz still stands out for versatility and ease of use: You don’t need a Ph.D. in electronics to operate it. I’ve used it on numerous trips from Sequoia National Park, Washington’s Glacier Peak Wilderness, and Idaho’s White Clouds Mountains to, most recently, Glacier National Park with the 2018 version of the Vizz, and still consider it one of the best. Here’s why.

For starters, the Vizz has fast, intuitive, one-button operation: Click the power button in rapid sequence to cycle through the two white modes and one red mode, and hold the button down to control the dimming function in all three modes. Hold the power button depressed for several seconds to engage the lockout mode.

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In high-power mode, the 420-lumen Maxbright LED in the Vizz throws a powerful beam that Princeton Tec claims projects 78 meters (256 feet). When I backpacked to the Big Boulder Lakes in Idaho’s White Clouds Mountains after dark, took a 6.4-mile evening hike from our campsite in the Glacier Peak Wilderness to Image Lake, and wore it walking around a meadow campsite in Glacier National Park, the beam projected at least 200 feet (60 meters).

Two white LED bulbs cast a broad flood beam with a range that PTec claims is 24 meters, or almost 80 feet. I found the blood beam illuminated the forest on both sides of the trail for farther than I needed it to, which is very helpful when hiking or especially running or climbing in the dark. The red mode does not have a strobe option.

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Like many leading ultralight headlamps, the Vizz is rated waterproof down to a meter for 30 minutes (IPX7). It has impressive max burn times of up to 110 hours for the white spot beam, 104 hours for the white flood beam, and 150 hours in red mode. More importantly, its regulated LEDs mean that the Vizz maintains constant brightness for as long as the batteries hold enough voltage, meaning that its brightness does not slowly fade as the batteries lose juice.

The Vizz uses three AAA batteries and is not rechargeable. Turning a small screw opens the battery chamber, and I could loosen and tighten it with my fingers. Lastly, the head strap is comfortable whether on the move or lying on my back reading.

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The Verdict

Certainly one of the most powerful ultralight headlamps for dayhikers, backpackers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers, the Princeton Tec Vizz also delivers good versatility that ranks it among the best headlamps for backcountry users, at a competitive price.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking any of these affiliate links to purchase the updated Princeton Tec Vizz 420 at outdoorplay.com or ems.com, or the original Vizz at nrs.com.

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See my other headlamp reviews and all of my reviews of hiking gear and reviews of backpacking gear.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

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Ultralight Rechargeable Headlamp
Petzl Bindi
$60, 1.2 oz./35g
moosejaw.com

To get a backcountry headlamp that’s crazy ultralight, you have to ditch all superfluous parts, stripping it down to only what’s essential—the light and housing. With the rechargeable Bindi, Petzl created a super-ultralight headlamp by shrinking the housing and dropping two elements that comprise much of the weight of many three-ounce headlamps on the market today: the batteries and head strap (the latter replaced with an adjustable, stretch cord). The result is an uber minimalist light that weighs barely more than an ounce and fits in a closed fist, but proved very functional on predawn mornings and dark evenings in camp on a six-day backpacking trip in Glacier National Park in September.

Rechargeable using a micro USB cable, the Bindi has three white brightness levels and a red bulb with proximity and strobe options, and is waterproof to one meter for 30 minutes (IPX4). At 200 lumens, the brightest white beam projects at least 100 feet in my estimation—consistent with Petzl’s claim of 36 meters (118 feet), and competitive with headlamps that weigh three times as much. At medium brightness (100 lumens), the Bindi illuminates a trail well enough for hiking on a dark night, though not for route-finding off-trail. The dimmest white setting (five lumens) is bright enough for reading and tasks within arm’s reach. Red mode is strictly for close-up tasks or stepping outside the tent at night.

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White mode casts a flood beam that’s much brighter in its center than on its periphery, which feels very natural whether in camp or moving along a dark trail. Holding the power button toggles between white and red modes. Burn time on a full charge is a relatively limited two hours at max power, three hours at medium, and 50 hours at the dimmest setting. The Bindi reaches a full charge from drained in about four hours when plugged into a wall outlet.

With such a tiny housing (that tilts) and an adjustable cord in lieu of a strap, the Bindi remains entirely stable on your head even while running. I found the adjustable, stretch cord almost unnoticeable even wearing it for a couple of hours in camp, and it fits on my various climbing helmets. Petzl guarantees the Bindi for three years or 300 charging cycles.

The Verdict

While its burn time on a single charge isn’t adequate for adventures when you’re on the move for several hours in the dark, the Bindi functions well for many dayhikes, trail runs, dawn-patrol backcountry ski laps, and relatively short backpacking trips when you have daylight for most waking hours. At this weight, it’s also appealing as a backup, second headlamp. If you’re willing to spend more on a headlamp for ultra-ultralight weight rather than for versatility, the Bindi shines.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase a Petzl Bindi headlamp at moosejaw.com or ems.com.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Subscribe now to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Please follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

See my “Gear Review: The 5 Best Headlamps,” and all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and ultralight backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

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As darkness and light rain both fell on a partner and I for the last couple of miles of a 27-mile dayhike the length of western Maine’s brutally rugged Mahoosuc Range, I slipped the Storm onto my head—which helped prevent my shuffling and occasional staggering from turning into falling. I also used this ultralight headlamp in campsites from Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve and Yosemite National Park to backpacking the Grand Canyon’s Thunder River-Deer Creek Loop. Through all that field testing, the Storm proved itself one of the best high-performance headlamps on the market today. Here’s why.

Few backcountry headlamps have the Storm’s range of features and power, and perhaps none do at its price. For starters, it sports 350 lumens of power in its two LED bulbs—a very bright spotlight and an excellent LED proximity beam for illuminating a campsite, tent interior, or a map or book page. That’s brighter than most headlamps in this weight class. Night vision mode offers three colors: the most common, red, plus green (useful for hunters because it doesn’t disturb game animals), and blue (which cuts through fog). The Storm is rated IP67, meaning it’s both dustproof and waterproof to one meter for up to 30 minutes.

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As with other BD headlamps, the Storm has a couple of features I use frequently: Power Tap technology, which allows you to switch instantly between a dimmed level (that you set) and full brightness simply by tapping the side of the casing; and Brightness Memory, which lets you power the light on and off at a chosen brightness level without having to go to full power (draining batteries).

While the instructions can appear complicated at first glance, using the Storm is fairly intuitive; and anyone who’s owned a BD headlamp of recent vintage will find it familiar. Depress the power button once for on-off, twice to change modes—for instance, from spotlight to proximity beam in white, or from red to green to blue when in a night mode. Press it three times to enter strobe for whichever mode it’s in. In any mode, hold it down when turned on to dim and brighten. Hold two seconds to change between white and red LED modes, and double-click in red mode to switch to green and blue; all three colors have a strobe option.

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Like other BD lamps, the Storm locks off by depressing the power button for four seconds (a blue light will blink rapidly for three seconds when it’s locked off)—a very useful feature to prevent accidentally draining your batteries inside your pack.

Operating on four AAA batteries, it has a longer battery life than many ultralight competitors: BD puts it at 40 hours of battery life at high power, and says that’s based on testing battery life down to the threshold of what is considered “usable” light, for which the industry standard (also used by other companies) is 0.25 lux at two meters. At low power, battery life is up to 120 hours, according to BD.

But that leads to a minor drawback of the Storm: Four batteries make it slightly heavier than the lightest headlamps, and it feels a little bulkier on your head. Although it never bobbed, even when hiking fast, runners may find it a little large. A lever lock provides easy access to the battery compartment without requiring a tool. Any rechargeable batteries can be used in the Storm.

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Whether you’re hiking or descending from a climb after dark, route-finding, starting a dawn-patrol ski run long before sunup, firing up a stove, or just kicking around the campsite at night, the Storm is one of the two or three most versatile, high-performance ultralight headlamps on the market.

At just $10 more than the popular Black Diamond Spot, the Storm has more features and brightness, along with slightly more weight. Some users may not need that enhanced performance. But hard-core wilderness backpackers, climbers, hunters, and ultra-hikers will appreciate the brightness boost, watertight housing, and rangy feature set that can handle any adventure—at a competitive price.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links to purchase a Black Diamond Storm headlamp at backcountry.com, moosejaw.com, or ems.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See my “Gear Review: The 5 Best Headlamps,” and all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

You live for the outdoors. The Big Outside helps you get out there. Subscribe now and a get free e-guide!

If you agree that a rechargeable headlamp is the way to go—as it is for any backpacker, dayhiker, climber, trail runner, backcountry skier or other user willing to foot the added up-front cost, knowing it eventually pays for itself through what you save not buying (and throwing away) batteries—then the question boils down to which rechargeable headlamp is the best for most backcountry recreationists. Numerous backpacking and other trips with Petzl’s compact, rechargeable Actik Core have convinced me that this one ranks among the best.

The Actik Core has the usual white and red modes (for night vision) and two beam patterns—a spot beam for seeing straight ahead and a proximity beam for illuminating a wider area. Its maximum brightness in white mode of 350 lumens makes it one of the brightness ultralight headlamps—and even more significantly, it delivers that much power even when using the rechargeable battery. Other rechargeable headlamps only achieve maximum brightness with standard batteries; they aren’t as bright operating on their rechargeable battery.

On a September night in the Wind River Range, I found this headlamp, with a nearly full charge, clearly lit up trees about 300 feet away across a meadow, a range consistent with Petzl’s claims for the Actik Core’s max range (95 meters). That kind of range can make a difference when navigating an off-trail route, searching for rappel anchors, or trying to find a campsite in the dark.

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Operation is simple and intuitive: Hold the power button for two seconds to switch between white and red modes. The middle white setting puts out enough light to hike a trail or see across a campsite in the dark, while the dimmest (five lumens) will light a tent interior dimly and is adequate for reading. Red has one brightness level and a blinking mode that Petzl says is visible for up to 700 meters for 350 hours.

The comfortable, reflective headband has a 100-decibel emergency whistle—a unique and useful feature on a headlamp.

The 1250 mAh Core battery charges via a standard USB port. It took about two hours to fully charge it the first time when plugged into my laptop; Petzl reports it can take up to three hours. Access the battery compartment easily by lifting a tab to open the back of the headlamp; the Core battery’s power indicator glows red while charging and green when fully charged. At the brightest setting, Petzl says the Core battery’s charge lasts two hours; between the middle and dimmest brightness settings, it ranges from seven to 160 hours.

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While with standard batteries, brightness diminishes steadily as the batteries drain, the Core battery maintains constant brightness over the duration of a charge before power drops off abruptly; you’ll appreciate that on a long slog after dark. It can also run on three standard alkaline, lithium, or Ni-MH AAA batteries. (Petzl cautions against mixing battery brands or new and used batteries.)

Its biggest shortcoming is that, unlike some headlamps (including many Black Diamond models), the Actik Core does not have a lockout switch to prevent it from accidentally turning on. But with its low-profile power button, that never happened to me.

The Verdict

Powerful, intuitive to use, and versatile, the Petzl Actik Core is a top-performing, rechargeable headlamp for backpackers, dayhikers, climbers, trail runners, bike commuters, and other outdoor recreationists.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog, at no cost to you, by clicking either of these affiliate links to purchase a Petzl Actik Core at backcountry.com or rei.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons at right, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See my “Gear Review: The 5 Best Headlamps,” (the Actik Core is one of them), and all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, backpacking gear, and trail-running gear at The Big Outside.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

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Rechargeable Headlamp
Black Diamond ReVolt
$60, 3.5 oz. (with 3 AAA batteries, included)
moosejaw.com

Updated in 2017, Black Diamond’s ReVolt rechargeable headlamp quickly became the one I grabbed from a drawer full of headlamps, for trips ranging from backpacking 40 miles in May through Utah’s Dark Canyon Wilderness, to backcountry skiing for four days in Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains and camping in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley. Beyond the convenience of running on either its USB-rechargeable NiMH batteries or standard AAA alkaline batteries, it offers a variety of modes and features not found in other headlamps—including BD’s PowerTap technology to instantly cycle between brightness settings, plus being waterproof—at a competitive price.

A single click of the power button turns on the TriplePower white LED, a focused beam with a range that I found effectively illuminates objects at a distance of at least 100 feet on a dark night in the backcountry when using the rechargeable batteries (BD claims 68 meters/223 feet on a full charge). Holding the power button depressed dims and brightens that bulb; and at the upper end of brightness, the DoublePower white LED kicks on in tandem with the TriplePower white LED. BD states that they deliver together a max brightness of 300 lumens, but that’s only with alkaline batteries; the rechargeables deliver a max brightness of 175 lumens, still plenty bright enough for most backcountry needs.

The DoublePower white LED is a proximity bulb—which can be turned on alone by double clicking the power button—that disperses light more broadly over a shorter distance, and is also dimmable. Alone, the proximity bulb illuminates a trail well enough for hiking, but I usually prefer using the TriplePower white LED and its dimming/brightening function for most purposes. When the two white bulbs are both on, at the ReVolt’s max brightness, they throw more light, of course, but the proximity bulb does not increase the maximum distance of the headlamp’s light; it simply better illuminates a wider area immediately in front of you. Still, the two white-light modes, along with the dimming function, provide more than enough range and variety for dayhikers, backpackers, climbers, trail runners, and backcountry skiers, whether you’re hiking a trail, searching for rappel anchors, or trying to follow an off-trail route in the dark.

The unique PowerTap technology is something I found myself using often: In either of the two white modes, you can dim the light, then tap the right side of the headlamp casing with a finger to instantly toggle back and forth between that dimmed level and max brightness—very helpful whether you’re in camp or on the move and need to briefly see something at a distance.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter, or enter your email address in the box in the left sidebar or at the bottom of this story. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

When the headlamp’s off, holding the power button down for a couple of seconds switches between the white TriplePower LED and the DoublePower red LED—which brightens your immediate surroundings while allowing your eyes to remain adjusted to darkness. When in red mode, holding the button down dims/brightens that light, and triple clicking it activates the red strobe mode.

Like other BD lamps, the ReVolt locks off by depressing the power button for several seconds—a critical feature to prevent accidentally draining your batteries inside your pack, which I’ve seen happen with headlamps that lack a lockout feature. Depending on how you use the ReVolt’s modes, the rechargeable batteries last anywhere from six to 75 hours on a single charge, and fresh alkalines 20 to 175 hours, according to BD. Using the rechargeable batteries, I got through the three aforementioned backcountry trips with the ReVolt’s meter still showing green—meaning at least 50 percent charge remaining.

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The IPX8 rating means it’s waterproof in water more than a meter deep for 30 minutes—which effectively means in any precipitation or anyplace most backcountry users might accidentally drop it and still be able to retrieve it (like a creek or fairly shallow lake). The three-level power meter lights up green, orange, or red to give an approximation of remaining power in the batteries. The widely adjustable strap fits even the biggest skulls and helmets and is comfortable to wear for hours. Rechargeable batteries typically last for several hundred recharges before reaching the end of their lifespan, but they can also lose effectiveness over time, even if not used much.

An excellent value for its versatility and features, BD’s ReVolt headlamp is ideal for most outdoor activities and eliminates the cost and waste stream of throwaway batteries—thus, erasing over time its higher price compared to non-rechargeable headlamps.

BUY IT NOW You can support The Big Outside by clicking any of these links to purchase a Black Diamond ReVolt at moosejaw.com, ems.com, or rei.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See my “Gear Review: The 5 Best Headlamps” and all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures. Subscribe now to read ALL stories and get a free e-guide!

Ultralight Rechargeable Headlamp
Black Diamond Iota
$40, 2 oz.
backcountry.com

Even as backcountry headlamps continually shrink without compromising brightness—indeed, today’s ultralight models keep getting more powerful—my first impression of Black Diamond’s Iota is how darn tiny it is. Smaller than a golf ball, it’s nearly unnoticeable on your head: After turning it off, you could forget you’re wearing it. This two-ounce beacon also represents a leap forward in the affordability of rechargeable headlamps. While the Iota’s relatively short burn time on a full charge limits its versatility, it will appeal to people who want an affordable, ultralight, rechargeable headlamp for outings of up to two or three hours.

BD says the Iota’s single TriplePower LED bulb projects 150 lumens at max brightness for more than 100 feet. Testing it on fall hikes in Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the North Cascades National Park Complex, and while car-camping in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley, I found that the oval beam of light it throws illuminates a broad area well for perhaps half that claimed distance; beyond that range, dark forest and land swallow the light because the beam expands with increasing distance. Still, it adequately lit a pitch-black, forested section of the Appalachian Trail for me to hike that steep, rocky path before dawn, and it casts enough light for trail running.

Unlike some rechargeable headlamps, the Iota does not use batteries. A full charge of its lithium ion battery lasts 40 hours at the dimmest setting—really only bright enough for tasks at hand distance or reading—or two hours on high. BD says a charge lasts an average of three hours. Thus, the Iota’s only practical for relatively short, multi-day trips, unless you’re also carrying a portable, solar-powered recharging unit and you can count on consistent sunshine. But the Iota recharges via mini-USB in three hours (during the day or overnight) from a variety of devices, making it useful for short adventures or when you’re confident of needing light for only part of your day, like an early-morning trail run or hike.

Holding the power button down controls the dimming function. The Iota’s PowerTap technology allows you to instantly switch between the most-recently set level of dimness and max brightness by simply tapping the right side of the casing (marked by a bulb icon). Click three times quickly to engage white strobe mode. There is no red mode. The Iota’s lockout feature prevents it accidentally turning on in a pack: Hold the power button down for several seconds; a blue light flashes when lockout is engaged. Hold the power button down again to turn it back on. A power meter indicates remaining battery life in three levels—imprecise, but adequate. The IPX4 rating means it can withstand splashes of water or a light drizzle, but don’t let it get soaked. Lastly, the comfortable, adjustable strap will help you forget it’s on your head after you turn it off.

For multi-day trips or activities like mountain biking and alpine climbing, you’ll need a brighter headlamp with a much longer burn time, or battery life on a full charge. But for early-morning or evening trail runs, hikes, or schlepping back to the car after getting off a climb at dusk, the Black Diamond Iota will light your way without creating more battery waste or setting you back as much as other rechargeable lights.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking this link to purchase a Black Diamond Iota headlamp at backcountry.com.

See all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside, and my stories:

“The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun”
“Gear Review: The Best Gear Duffles”
“My Top 10 Favorite Backpacking Trips”
“10 Tips For Getting Outside More”

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, the creator of The Big Outside, recognized as a top outdoors blog by USA Today and others. I invite you to get email updates about new stories and gear giveaways by entering your email address in the box in the left sidebar, at the bottom of this post, or on my About page, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

The Big Outside is proud to partner with sponsors Backcountry.com and Visit North Carolina, who support the stories you read at this blog. Find out more about them and how to sponsor my blog at my sponsors page at The Big Outside. Click on the backcountry.com ad below for the best prices on great gear.

Ultralight Headlamps
Black Diamond Spot
$40, 3 oz. (with 3 AAA batteries, included)
Black Diamond Cosmo
$30, 3 oz. (with 3 AAA batteries, included)
moosejaw.com

A headlamp doesn’t have to take a big bite out of your gear budget—in fact, as these two models demonstrate, you can score a multi-featured backcountry lamp for as little as 30 bucks, and a high-performance model for less than you’ll probably spend on food and gas for a weekend trip. From backpacking trips in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains in October, Utah’s Dirty Devil River canyon in late March, and the Panamint Range of Death Valley National Park in May, to a four-day climb of the Mountaineers Route on California’s 14,505-foot Mount Whitney in mid-April and dayhiking the 32-mile, 10,000-vertical-foot Pemi Loop in New Hampshire’s White Mountains in August, I put the Cosmo and Spot through many hours of use. Both shined at the usual tasks, like lighting the way when pitching a tent or hiking off-trail in the dark, but my testing also spotlighted their differences.

Both redesigned for 2016, the Cosmo and Spot share many useful similarities. With both, one click of the power button turns on the TriplePower LED, two clicks powers up the dimmer white bulb (DoublePower LED in the Cosmo, SinglePower LED in the Spot), and three clicks puts the headlamp in white LED strobe mode. With both, holding the power button for two seconds with the power off switches it to the red LED for night vision (DoublePower in the Cosmo, SinglePower in the Spot); and both have a red LED strobe mode. Holding the power button down for two seconds with the lamp off in red LED mode switches both back to white light. They both have dimming capability through holding the button down.

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Each has a smart locking feature to prevent it from turning on accidentally in a pack—just hold the power button in any mode for four seconds and it locks off, with the Cosmo blinking red to indicate it’s locked, and the Spot’s power-meter light blinking blue. The Spot is waterproof up to a meter underwater for 30 minutes, the Cosmo water-resistant to splashing, rain, and a briefing, shallow immersion (but dry out the batteries and casing after immersing either of them).

They differ in brightness and range. The less-expensive Cosmo projects 160 lumens up to 200 feet/60 meters at its brightest setting, the Spot 300 lumens up to 260 feet/80 meters, according to BD. Many hikers and backpackers rarely need a headlamp to project a beam 200 feet or more—but that kind of power can be critical in an emergency, or route-finding or rappelling in the dark, and useful when skinning uphill before dawn for some backcountry turns. The Cosmo is pretty darn bright, but few ultralight headlamps match the Spot’s 200 lumens. The choice comes down to how you intend to use a headlamp.

The Spot’s unique PowerTap technology allows you to simply tap the right side of the casing (marked by a bulb icon) to cycle between the TriplePower LED and SinglePower LED—a feature I liked for circumstances such as rolling into a campsite late at night in the Panamint Range, after a few hours of backpacking in the dark, and switching from the brightest light for hiking to medium brightness for pitching my tent. The Spot also has dimming capability in red LED mode.

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They have an identical, streamlined housing, with an inset power button that rarely turns on accidentally, an adjustable, comfortably wide headband, and a battery compartment that’s easily opened with the flip of a small lever, requiring no tools. BD says the Spot’s burn time (how long it operates on one set of batteries) ranges from 50 to 200 hours, the Cosmo’s from 50 hours to 250 hours. I took several typical trips with both without having to replace the batteries.

My take: If you just want a headlamp that’s reliable, lightweight, functional in typical dayhiking and backpacking situations, and inexpensive, the Black Diamond Cosmo is a good value. But for only a few more dollars, the Spot offers high-performance features and brightness at a hard-to-beat price.

BUY IT NOW You can support my work on this blog by clicking any of these links or the text ad below to purchase a Black Diamond Spot at moosejaw.com, ems.com, sunnysports.com, or rei.com, or a Black Diamond Cosmo at moosejaw.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this review, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear at The Big Outside.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my Gear Reviews at The Big Outside.

—Michael Lanza

You live for the outdoors. The Big Outside helps you get out there. Subscribe now and a get free e-guide!

Ultralight Headlamp
Vitchelo V800
$50, 3 oz. (with 3 AAA batteries, included)
store.vitchelo.com

On dark nights and early mornings from New Hampshire’s Presidential Range to Idaho’s Boise Mountains and New Zealand’s Kepler and Dusky tracks, and other trips, I needed a headlamp that was very light, reliable, versatile, and above all, bright. Vitchelo’s V800 met all of those standards, plus proved itself to be reliable and distinctly simple to use.

I tested the V800 on a three-night, January ski trip to a backcountry yurt in Idaho’s Boise Mountains; on New Zealand’s Kepler Track and Dusky Track in early March, including hiking in the dark in dense, dark forest; and used it a lot on a five-day, family backpacking trip down Paria Canyon in Utah and Arizona in late March, without the batteries running low, even though those batteries had already gone through my New Zealand trip. When we hiked the last 90 minutes of a 17-mile dayhike over the four summits of the Northern Presidential Range in New Hampshire in the dark in June, I handed this headlamp to my 14-year-old son, so he’d have a bright light to descend very steep, rocky, slippery trail. He also used it for three nights on a 34-mile backpacking trip the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies in August, and a two-day backpacking trip in Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains in September.

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The V800’s white LED bulb has three brightness levels and a blinking light; and the red LED bulb has solid and blinking modes. Vitchelo claims the range of the brightest, 168-lumen white power is 360 feet/110 meters, which would rank it among the brightest ultralight headlamps on the market; the useful range looked to me like well over 200 feet on a dark, winter night in the forest. Best of all about the V800: It has separate buttons for red and white lights—keeping it simple. You just click each to scroll through the lighting levels. The buttons rise only slightly above the headlamp housing, so I never had a problem with the headlamp turning on accidentally in a pack (although there’s no lockout mode to actually prevent that from happening). Unlike with some headlamps, the back of the water-resistant housing opens easily to access the battery compartment, not requiring a tool. The adjustable headband remained comfortable for long periods of hiking.

I give it one demerit: It’s not rechargeable—it runs on three AAA batteries (included). If you’d like a headlamp that’s lightweight, powerful, and doesn’t require an engineering degree to figure out, give the Vitchelo V800 a look.

See all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear that I like.

See also my stories “The Simple Equation of Ultralight Backpacking: Less Weight = More Fun,” “Buying Gear? Read This First,” “5 Tips For Spending Less on Hiking and Backpacking Gear,” and “Ask Me: How Do We Begin Lightening Up Our Backpacking Gear?”

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

I invite you to subscribe to this blog by entering your email address in the box in the left sidebar, and follow my adventures on Facebook and Twitter.

This blog and website is my full-time job and I rely on the support of readers. If you like what you see here, please help me continue producing The Big Outside by making a donation using the Support button at the top of the left sidebar or below. Thank you for your support.

Ultralight Headlamp
Princeton Tec Sync
$30, 2.9 oz. (including three AAA batteries)
moosejaw.com

Hiking down the steep, rocky, frequently slippery trails of Mount Washington in the dark for the final 90 minutes of a 17-mile, 6,000-vertical-foot dayhike over the four summits of New Hampshire’s Northern Presidential Range, the last thing I needed was a headlamp that wasn’t bright enough or lost power. With the Sync, those issues weren’t a problem. In fact, its brightest setting threw a broad beam that illuminated the lower Tuckerman Ravine Trail well enough that two teenagers in our party who had forgotten their headlamps could see. Considering also that the Sync is one of the lightest, cheapest, and simplest headlamps on the market today, and it’s hard to find fault with it.

I also used the Sync on a four-day, 34-mile family backpacking trip on the Rockwall Trail in Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies, and a three-day, 34-mile backpacking trip on the Royal Arch Loop in the Grand Canyon; and I carried it (didn’t need to use it) on a 25-mile dayhike in the Grand Canyon, from Hermits Rest to Bright Angel Trailhead.

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If you don’t need a headlamp that requires reading a manual and costs more than your hiking shoes, the Sync may be just what you’ve been looking for. It has five modes that deliver all the versatility that virtually any backcountry user could need: dual beam (max output 150 lumens and max range 58 meters on fresh batteries), spot, high flood, low flood, and red. One dial spins quickly through the modes—no multiple clicking—and there’s a lockout position that prevents accidental turning on inside a pack or a pocket.

Burn time ranges from 75 to 200 hours—so you not only won’t lose power at a crucial moment, you don’t even really have to carry extra batteries (unless you’re on a long, committing expedition). It’s not rechargeable—it runs on three AAA batteries (included). And that’s about the only negative comment I can think of making about the Sync.

BUY IT NOW: You can support The Big Outside by purchasing a Princeton Tec Sync at moosejaw.com or rei.com.

Tell me what you think.

I spent a lot of time writing this story, so if you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a share using one of the buttons below, and leave a comment or question at the bottom of this story. I’d really appreciate it.

See all of my reviews of headlamps, hiking gear, and backpacking gear that I like.

Hi, I’m Michael Lanza, creator of The Big Outside, which has made several top outdoors blog lists. Click here to sign up for my FREE email newsletter. Click here to learn how I can help you plan your next trip. Click here to get full access to all of my blog’s stories. Follow my adventures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Youtube.

NOTE: I tested gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See categorized menus of all of my gear reviews.

—Michael Lanza

The Big Outside helps you find the best adventures. Subscribe now to read ALL stories and get a free e-guide!

Rechargeable Ultralight Headlamp
Bosavi
$70, 2 oz. (including rechargeable battery)
Max burn time: 65 hours at low power, six hours at high power
bosavi.com

With an increasing number of headlamps weighing in under four ounces without compromising brightness, the name of the game these days is versatility and convenience. The Bosavi sets itself apart not just because it’s rechargeable (like some others), but with a design that makes it ideal for hiking or backpacking, trail running, climbing, skiing, bike commuting, and just about any activity you’ll do outside in the dark that doesn’t require a super bright light (and a massive, heavy battery pack). Plus, an ounce or two may seem like splitting hairs to some, but ultralight backpackers and hikers, climbers, and trail runners will appreciate that the Bosavi is lighter and more compact than most competitors.

I used the Bosavi quite a bit this summer: on a three-day backpacking trip to the Big Boulder Lakes in Idaho’s White Clouds Mountains with my son, including 90 minutes of hiking after dark; and on a six-day hike in Sequoia National Park; and my son used it on our five-day backpacking trip in Washington’s Glacier Peak Wilderness. Its slim strap and small unit are quite comfortable and unobtrusive on my head whether hiking, in camp, or lying down reading in the tent. And unlike some models that are only slightly larger, the Bosavi does not bob at all when trail running.

The power button scrolls through six modes, including bright LED, low power LED, and red LED (for night vision). Double clicking in any mode activates a brighter, white LED setting for up to a minute before automatically powering back down to the previous mode; that “boost” mode illuminated a food bag hanging in a tree 200 feet away. But at 110 lumens, the regular bright setting casts plenty of light for hiking a trail in the dark. I particularly like two convenient features: first, depressing the power button for two seconds indicates the amount of charge remaining (measured in white versus red blinks); and second, you can turn off any unwanted mode (I turned off blinking white) to reduce how much you have to scroll through the various modes, which is the only inconvenient design feature. A lock button inside the hinge prevents accidental turn-on; if you depress the power button, the lights blink between white and red to indicate it’s locked.

You can recharge the Bosavi with its micro USB port from a computer, car charger, solar charger, or scores of other power sources. One full charge carried it through 11 days of about an hour of use per day on the Glacier Peak Wilderness and Sequoia trips; afterward, it showed three-quarters of the charge still remaining. The head strap removes easily and you can purchase a bike mount for the Bosavi ($10, sold separately); the headlamp is bright enough for biking around town, but I wouldn’t use it for high-speed or technical trail riding. Lastly, the Bosavi’s packaging converts into an origami lantern—nice that it’s reuseable, though it’s certainly a delicate lantern.

See my other headlamp reviews, including two ultralight models, the Princeton Tec Vizz and the rechargeable Black Diamond ReVolt, and all of my reviews of backpacking gear.

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

Rechargeable Headlamp
Black Diamond ReVolt
$60, 3.5 oz. (including its three rechargeable NiMH AAA batteries)
Max burn time: 12 hours with rechargeable batteries, 70 hours with alkaline (triple-power LED); 190 hours with rechargeable batteries, 300 hours with alkaline (single-power LED)
blackdiamondequipment.com

[Note: See my review of the updated, 2017 version of the Black Diamond ReVolt headlamp, which replaced the version reviewed below.]

One of the few downsides of backcountry travel is the volume of alkaline batteries we burn through and throw away. So the first thing that attracted me to the ReVolt is that it’s rechargeable. Then I discovered that this headlamp not only treats the environment well, but it’s powerful, versatile, and pretty darn light and compact—an all-around winner.

I used it recently for 11 nights of camping in southern Utah, including backpacking Coyote Gulch and in Capitol Reef National Park; plus on a four-day, March backcountry skiing trip to the Baldy Knoll yurt in the Tetons, inside the yurt and walking around outside at night. Over those 11 nights in Utah, I would estimate I had it on for a total of 10 hours on one charge, and there was some charge remaining on it when I came home. I carried alkaline batteries as backup and never used them. And the ReVolt’s three-level power meter lets me know if the charge is running low.

The ReVolt has all the power and range of modes most hikers and backpackers need: one white triple-power LED that throws a solid beam, with 130 lumens of power, far enough for easily hiking at night; two white single-power LEDs for proximity lighting; two red LEDs for night vision (which I used outside on full-moon nights); and a strobe setting. The distance and proximity LED settings can be dimmed for reading in the tent, and there’s a smart locking feature—activated by depressing the power button for six seconds—to prevent accidentally turning the headlamp on and draining its juice.

BUY IT NOW: You can support The Big Outside by purchasing a Black Diamond ReVolt at Outdoorplay.com.

See my other headlamp reviews and all of my reviews of backpacking gear and hiking gear.

NOTE: I’ve been testing gear for Backpacker Magazine for 20 years. At The Big Outside, I review only what I consider the best outdoor gear and apparel. See all of my reviews by clicking on the Gear Reviews category at left or in the main menu.

—Michael Lanza

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