Best headlamp batteries

I sold my black diamond and petzl headlamps and bought a fenix they are far superior in battery and brightness. I spend half or more of my time camping trust me this is the way to go. 

sweet thanks for that info

Long Ranger wrote: Here's the light I use when I do my mountain range traverses like the Crestones. I like it a lot.

+1 for 18650 batteries

And to continue with the thread semi drift...

I picked up the previous version of this lamp a couple years ago after wandering around in the dark off of Whitney with a dying BD headlamp, not able to see landscape features at all. This zebra lamp is a legit floodlight in its highest setting (and generates some heat!)  but understandably the battery doesn't last long on that setting. Save it for when you need to see way out. Very customizable as far as modes and light intensities and run time is impressive in low light modes which will get you by a majority of the time. I carry a small usb charging stick for backup phone charges etc and when paired with something like this 

Universal Magnetic USB Charger

will allow you to charge remotely. Another underrated feature is to fully lock/disengage the power and eliminate the possibility of the light turning on in your pack.

Put on a midnight light show in the great roof on the highest setting and inspired a party behind us to pick up a bright and capable headlamp for when you really need the light (to take photos in this case   ).
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Zebralight H600 MK IV with 18650 battery. Case closed. 

So, has headlamp technology changed to make NIMH a more feasible option? Because when I last tried eneloops in headlamps (about 10 years ago) they didn't work very well at all. Seemed like the lamps weren't happy with 1.2V. I don't know if if matters but all the lights I had at the time used 2 AAAs instead of 3.

I'll still use disposable lithiums for backpacking, especially in the winter, but NIMHs would be nice for day trips.

Also, a tip to keep your light from accidentally turning on in your pack while climbing - stick a small piece of paper on top of one of your batteries to cut out the electrical contact.

NIMH have a problem with discharging quickly after just being left alone - 10 to 15% in 24 hours.

https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/electronic_components/battery-technology/nimh-nickel-metal-hydride-self-discharge.php

 Even if it's been only a few days since you charge them, you can't expect to get a full amount of run time off of them, which is sort of unfortunate. I've also got a bunch of Enloop black NIMH AA duds as well. After moderate use, they're done. So I'm not buying those, again.

Wes Martin wrote: Zebralight H600 MK IV with 18650 battery. Case closed. 

Gotta get the c or d versions for the high color rendering index emitters. Its the same price as the cool white base model, so its a no brainier. 

18650 Li-Ion. Samsung.

A real LED headlamp. One with a high quality and efficient LED with decent CRI and optics. Useful features like lockout, batt indicator, onboard charging, red light, etc...

Nick K wrote:

Gotta get the c or d versions for the high color rendering index emitters. Its the same price as the cool white base model, so its a no brainier. 

what does a high color rendering index emitter do? 

Bug Boy wrote:

what does a high color rendering index emitter do? 

It renders colors more accurately.

Imagine a red LED. It illuminates, but everything looks terrible, because you can't tell what color anything is. LED's may look "white" to your eyes, but they're only made up of a limited spectrum (unlike the broad spectrum of sunlight). Cheap LED's have a spectrum that is ill-suited for accurately representing a wide range of colors.

Early CFL lights were notorious for this. Even though the bulb looked "white" when you looked at it, everything in the room looked like shit.

As an update, I don't use the Zebralight anymore - I lost it in Wild Basin back in December. I picked up this Fenix light that's also powered by a 18650 battery:

https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/fenix-hm65-rechargeable-headlamp/

It's an improvement over the Zebralight in a big way - you can charge it via USB-C cable, and it has both a spot and flood light you can set independently. If that looks too bulky, they have a Zebralight-like light:

https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/fenix-hm61r-multi-use-headlamp/

Which can also be charged via USB, and has a red mode. A little cheaper than the Zebralight, too.

Fenix also has a high capacity battery with all sorts of safety bells and whistles that can be charged directly via USB too:

https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/arb-l18-3500u-built-in-usb-rechargeable-battery/

I use that as a backup, but I haven't ran my HM65 dry to need it. These lights are incredibly bright; and the need to run them on their highest setting is rare, but when you need to, it's nice to be able to.

The best ones IMO are new ones, or at least new-ish ones.  Use the old ones when can camping or in remotes or other devices where it isn't critical to have a full charge.  When you head out in a situation where you may really have to rely on the headlamp, put them in fresh.

do people use these batteries https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/fenix-18650-rechargeable-batteries/ in their zebralights?

How does the Fenix HM65 feel on a helmet?

Bug Boy wrote: do people use these batteries https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/fenix-18650-rechargeable-batteries/ in their zebralights?

Sure, why not?

Dallin Carey wrote: How does the Fenix HM65 feel on a helmet?

Stable. The back where all the straps come together is curved to match the curve of the helmet.

Bug Boy wrote: do people use these batteries https://www.fenixlighting.com/product/fenix-18650-rechargeable-batteries/ in their zebralights?

At 70mm long, they won't fit. Zebralight takes batteries up to 69 mm, and that's a hard stop. I have some button-top 18650's that are like 69.5mm, and they don't work. In order for the battery to make connection, the battery cap has to be screwd all the way down.

Andrew Krajnik wrote:

At 70mm long, they won't fit. Zebralight takes batteries up to 69 mm, and that's a hard stop. I have some button-top 18650's that are like 69.5mm, and they don't work. In order for the battery to make connection, the battery cap has to be screwd all the way down.

Bummer - all these fit/work in the Fenix, 

Long Ranger wrote:

Bummer - all these fit/work in the Fenix, 

Yeah, Fenix appears to be much more accommodating to the longer batteries. (Of course, this makes sense, since they market a variety of batteries with incorporated protection, which pushes the length up.)

Zebralight includes their battery protection circuitry into the headlamp, so it works great with even high-capacity unprotected batteries. If you want the battery to have its own protection (i.e. button-top), and you also want 3500mAh, you're out of luck with Zebralight.

Personally, I'm not to worried about unprotected batteries in my Zebralight (just make sure you store spares in a case to prevent inadvertent short-circuits). However, that battery with the built-in USB charging would be sweet.

Andrew Krajnik wrote: Personally, I'm not to worried about unprotected batteries in my Zebralight (just make sure you store spares in a case to prevent inadvertent short-circuits). However, that battery with the built-in USB charging would be sweet.

Yeah - I was hoping that would be a good workaround for charging w/the Zebralight w/o needing to bring an additional charger. I had probelms with my Zebralight shutting off on the highest setting - never got to the bottom of it before I lost it. Fenix has been solid so far. 

My bad for assuming the UBS-port battery would work in the Zebralight.