How to choose a head torch

A head torch lights where you are looking while your hands are free. The models compared here, from Petzl, Black Diamond, Ledlenser and Silva, all do that for walking, running, camping and climbing, and differ in how much light they give, how far it reaches, how long it lasts, what powers them, what they weigh and a few features. This guide explains what each specification on the category page means.

Brightness in lumens

Light output is measured in lumens (lm), the total amount of light the lamp gives out. The category page gives it for the brightest setting that stays on, as Light output, brightest setting, which here runs from 150 lm (the Ledlenser NEO1R) to 1500 lm (the Silva Free Pulse 1500). A few hundred lumens is plenty for a campsite or a path; the brightest settings are for running or skiing fast.

Two things about the figures. First, the one a maker leads with is often a short boost rather than a setting you can leave on: Petzl’s SWIFT RL gives 1200 lm for a 6-second BOOST and 800 lm on its highest lasting setting, Black Diamond’s Distance 1500 gives 1500 lm with PowerTap and 800 lm on Max, and Ledlenser’s Boost is a short burst too. A setting the maker says runs longer counts as one you can leave on: Silva’s Speed Mode runs for up to 50 minutes while the lamp stays cool enough, so it is the brightest setting of the Free Pulse 1500 and Free Runner 1100. The category page says whether a lamp has one, under Boost mode, and where it does shows its figure as boost light output (up to 2000 lm, on the Ledlenser H9R); it gives light output, beam distance and burn time for the highest setting that stays on, so all three describe the same light. Second, the dimmest white setting matters too: it is the one for a map or a walk around camp, and it decides how long the battery lasts on a multi-day trip. The category page shows it as Light output, lowest setting, between 6 lm and 80 lm here.

Beam distance

Beam distance, in metres, is how far the beam reaches on the brightest setting that stays on before it fades to the brightness of a full moon. It depends on the lens as much as the lumens: a focused spot throws light further, a wide beam spreads it over the ground in front of you. The Petzl TIKKA’s wide beam reaches 70 m from 350 lm; the Ledlenser H7R’s focusing lens reaches 300 m from 850 lm.

Burn time and the FL 1 standard

Burn time is how long the lamp gives light on one set of batteries or one charge, and it is given for two settings on the category page: the brightest setting that stays on, and the dimmest white setting. Brightest-setting burn times here run from 50 minutes (the Silva Free Runner 1100, and the Free Pulse 1500 with its XS battery, in Speed Mode) to 6 hours (the Black Diamond Astro 300-R); dimmest-setting burn times from 7.5 hours (the Silva Trail Runner Free 2 Hybrid) to 200 hours (the Black Diamond Spot and Cosmo on AAA batteries).

The figures only compare directly when they are measured the same way, and that is what ANSI/PLATO FL 1 does. It is the torch industry’s test standard: light output is measured shortly after switching on, burn time runs until the output has fallen to a tenth of that, and beam distance is measured to where the light equals a full moon’s. The category page has a row, Figures to ANSI/PLATO FL 1, that says whether the maker states its figures follow it. Petzl says so on every product page, Black Diamond in the instructions supplied with each lamp, and Silva on the pages for its Seek 320, Seek 450 Recharge, Trail Runner Free 2 Hybrid, Free Runner 1100 and Free Pulse 1500 but not for the Smini Fly, Seek 600 Recharge or Explore 5; Ledlenser does not say so. A lamp without the statement may be measured the same way, but its maker has not said so.

Burn times also depend on the batteries: the category page uses the battery the lamp comes with, or alkaline AAA batteries where none are supplied. Where a model comes with a choice of battery, such as the Silva Free Pulse 1500 with its XS or S battery, each version shows its own figures and the family row shows the range.

Power and charging

The Power row says what the lamp runs on, and there is no best answer.

• A built-in rechargeable battery (the Petzl SWIFT LT, Black Diamond Storm, Silva Seek 450 Recharge and others) is the simplest: charge it, go. It cannot be swapped on a long trip.
• A removable rechargeable battery (the Ledlenser H5R, H7R and H9R with their 18650 and 21700 cells, Petzl’s SWIFT RL and NAO RL, Black Diamond’s Distance models, Silva’s Free series) can be swapped for a charged spare.
• Rechargeable or AAA batteries is Petzl’s HYBRID CONCEPT, Black Diamond’s Dual Fuel and Silva’s Hybrid technology: the lamp takes either, so you can carry shop-bought AAAs as a backup far from a socket. Check what is in the box: the Petzl TIKKA comes with three AAA batteries and takes the CORE rechargeable battery as an accessory, while the TIKKA CORE is the same lamp sold with the CORE battery; the Black Diamond Spot and Cosmo come with AAA batteries and the BD 1500 battery is sold separately; the Silva Seek 320 comes with no battery at all.

USB-C charging means the lamp, or the battery supplied with it, charges through a USB-C port, the same cable as most phones. Lamps that run only on AAA batteries have no port, and a few rechargeable ones use something else: the Black Diamond Astro 300-R charges by micro-USB and the Ledlenser NEO1R through a magnetic cable.

Weight

Weight on the category page includes the batteries and the headband, as worn. The lightest here are the Silva Smini Fly at 38.5 g, the Ledlenser NEO1R at 39 g and the Petzl SWIFT LT at 43 g, built for running and as backups in a race vest; the heaviest, the Ledlenser H9R at 283 g and the Silva Free Pulse 1500 with its S battery at 263 g, carry big batteries in a rear pack or a pocket. Weight on the forehead is what you notice while running, which is why running models put the battery at the back of the head (Petzl NAO LT and NAO RL) or in a pocket (Silva Free Runner 1100).

Red light

A red light setting lets you read a map, find things in a tent or move around camp without dazzling the people next to you or losing your own night vision, so the category page counts only a red setting at the front that stays on. Most of the lamps here have one. Several running lamps also have a red safety light at the back, for being seen by others: the Petzl NAO LT and NAO RL, the Black Diamond Distance 1500 and the Silva Trail Runner Free 2 Hybrid and Free Pulse 1500. It does not count, steady or flashing, so of these only the Distance 1500, with its red, green and blue front light, has a red light on the category page.

Automatic brightness

A few lamps have a sensor that reads the light in front of them and sets the brightness and beam to match: dim and wide for a map in your hand, bright and far for the path ahead. Petzl calls it REACTIVE LIGHTING (SWIFT RL and NAO RL) and Ledlenser Adaptive Light Beam (HF6R, HF7R and H9R). It saves pressing the button and, because the lamp is rarely on full power, stretches the battery.

Lock

A lock stops the lamp switching on in a bag and arriving flat; it is a long press on most lamps and a digital lockout on Black Diamond’s. The Petzl TIKKINA and Silva Seek 320, the two entry models, and Silva’s Free series running lamps (the Trail Runner Free 2 Hybrid, Free Runner 1100 and Free Pulse 1500) have none.

Water protection

The IP rating says how much dust and water a lamp keeps out. The first digit is dust (6 means dust-tight; X means not rated), the second is water: 4 is splashes from any direction, 5 is a jet, 6 a powerful jet, 7 immersion to a metre for half an hour and 8 deeper or longer. IPX4, which Petzl calls weather resistant, is rain; IP67 and IP68 lamps can be dropped in a stream. Here the Petzl lamps are IPX4, the Silva lamps IPX5 (the Explore 5 is IP68), the Ledlenser lamps IP67, and Black Diamond’s run from IPX4 on the Astro and Deploy to IPX7 and IP67 on the Spot, Cosmo, Storm and Distance models.

Putting it together

Decide what the lamp is for first. For camping and walking, a red light and long burn times on the low setting matter more than the headline lumens, and a hybrid lamp lets you carry AAA batteries as a backup. For running, look at weight and where the battery sits, then at the burn time on the brightest setting that stays on. For climbing and winter days, a lock and a higher IP rating earn their place. Then use the comparison on the category page to set two or three models side by side, with the FL 1 row saying which figures compare directly.