Lightweight headtorch. unbranded torches?

Autumn Flower

Ultralighter
I have one if those little Petzl emergency headtorches 25g or so but often coming back down mountains in the dark this is not good so have been given a cheapie bigger torch.

I now want to buy a light, strong battery power, reliable and bright torch.

Hours of researching left me with a headache. I did however quite like the zipka 200 and found plenty unbranded ones on amazon but having difficulty trusting them especially as with fake review 'scams'.

any other recommendations out there?

Lightweight
good lasting battery power
Reliable, trustworthy
bright enough
and no more than £35

Thanks
 

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Decide on your battery size first as a large proportion of the weight in the torch is in the battery.
I've moved over to using CR123 batteries. Half the size of 18650 's but will allow bigger output than AA's. And that's the size battery in my Steripen (not that I use it much :rolleyes::rolleyes:) - so not carrying multiple sorts of spares.
After that try Aliexpress - loads of cheap an light options.
I bought several unbranded 'flashlights' from there and they've all been OK. At those weights I carry 2 so always have a spare light/battery.
 

Max

Ultralighter
I use a Fénix HL55 and rate it highly.
It is on the heavy side, a very robust piece of kit.
The way I use mine is 1 spare battery 18650 carried in its own charger swap out torch battery when needed and charge drained one from battery pack. No problem walking all night. When the dodo hits the fan I want Lumens and reliability over weight.
 

Enzo

Thru Hiker
I've heard a lot of the us hikers recommend hand held little torches over headtorches as held low they cast shadows giving a better idea of trip hazards. That said nothing to stop you holding a head torch in your hand.
 

MikeinDorset

Ultralighter
I've heard a lot of the us hikers recommend hand held little torches over headtorches as held low they cast shadows giving a better idea of trip hazards. That said nothing to stop you holding a head torch in your hand.

One popular option among them is to put the headband on maximum diameter and then hang it round your neck. You get the ground illumination and keep both hands free. It works well, I think, although you sometimes put up with a bit of torch wobble.
 

Gadget

Thru Hiker
One popular option among them is to put the headband on maximum diameter and then hang it round your neck
I'm tempted to get one of these pocket clips,
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when I get one of these headllamps,
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Jamess

Section Hiker
For the last few years I've been using a wind up head torch.

It weighs very little and is no bulkier than a standard decent head torch.

It wouldn't win any awards for power but its powerful enough and on its highest power setting lasts about 15 mins between winds.
 

Autumn Flower

Ultralighter
Thank you for sharing everyone :) :)

I am still none the wiser or - correction - decisive!

@Dave Vaughan I like the weight of your suggested torch but too frightened to be out and about for it to die and no spare batteries.

I became to weight conscious to consider heavier stuff.

Will try searching for CR123 battery torches... sounds greattt!!

Thank you :)

ps. I can see why @Gadget is called Gadget - very fitting name ;)
 

Gadget

Thru Hiker
What did you get?
Oh yeah, I remember, you were getting a TH20 offa Amazon.
I like the controls, long press to moonlight, double press to turbo and the infinitely variable brightness.
 
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SteG

Thru Hiker
Ive used a few torches over the years. My main one now is the petzal tikka, which is heavy but would get you home safely in an emergency and good long, wide beam for pathfinding.But,the light cheap ones I also always carry is the Alpkit gamma or viper. The viper actually saved me from trouble in a potentially very dangerous situation on one of my first wildcamps where i made so many unwise choices and camped on top of Cnicht when the wind changed for the worst and broke my pole, pole split my fly and had to make my way down and walked 3 1/2 hrs trying to finding the way back to the car.I had never been to the Moelwyns before either,so it was all new terrain to me.
Anyway, the Alpkit Viper did the trick and its light lol.
 

FOX160

Thru Hiker
What did you get?
Oh yeah, I remember, you were getting a TH20 offa Amazon.
I like the controls, long press to moonlight, double press to turbo and the infinitely variable brightness.
Received mine tried it out on basic battery really rate it
 

Gadget

Thru Hiker
These look good value
Looks very like the Xtar H3, but cheaper. The Wowtac A2 has got some favourable reviews on Budgetlghtforum.
The A2's lower 550 lumens, should equate to longer runtimes. The A2S has the same output as the Xtar.
 
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