Over Christmas, I realised that I don’t actually own any torches, and whilst I have no interest in throwing myself into yet another expensive, niche hobby, I wondered if the folk here could help suggest a possible flashlight.
I’m wondering what kind of options are for a headlamp style flashlight, ideally one that can be detached from the headlamp mounting, if that’s a thing. In the most ideal world, the flashlight itself would be small enough I could fit it in my everyday carry tool pouch, which is a tool pouch that’s around A5 size.
I used to have a basic headlamp which had three lights on it and a button which toggled between modes so it had some variable brightness. I liked that I could tilt it up and down. I used it mostly for digging in unlit storage units, or illuminating in and around my car when unloading at night. It wouldn’t need to be too bright (the brightness aspect is one of the things I find most overwhelming about fancy flashlights, because there’s a lot of in-group lingo to be learned which I haven’t had the brain for.
One of the worst parts about my old headlamp was that its charging adaptor was specific and it’d often go uncharged if I couldn’t find the specific charger for it. I don’t know how fancy flashlights™ are generally powered, but I don’t want to get a nice gadget I never use because it’s awkward to charge. Proprietary connectors are a bit of a nightmare.
My budget would be up to £100 as a maximum, and only for something that ticked all my boxes. I have no idea how reasonably my goals are here, so thank you for reading this. I’d be glad to hear any suggestions anyone has, whether they be product suggestions, or questions that might be useful for me to consider in narrowing this down. You don’t need to explain your recommendations too much — I can go away and research stuff once I have a place to start, but at the moment it just feels a bit big
Thanks
Edit: I feel like I’ve got plenty to go on now, thank you to everyone who answered, I love y’all, wonderful nerds
One thing the flashlight community usually strongly prefers is lights that run on standardized, field-replaceable lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. Common form-factors for these include 14500 (14x50mm; AA-sized), 18650 (18x65mm), and 21700 (you can probably guess the dimensions by now). Some lights have built-in charging for these, but they can also be charged in slot chargers like the Xtar VC2SL.
There are versions of these batteries with USB charging ports on them like these from Keeppower. Just note there are a few lights that don’t fit them due to length - it’s best to consult reviews (or just post here) before buying if you want to use those.
As for the headlamp itself, I really like the Skilhunt H150 with Nichia 519A LED in 4500K (or 3000K if you like the incandescent look). These have brightness levels from low enough to keep your dark adaptation to… well, likely brighter than your previous headlamp. The optional BL-110C battery has a USB-C charge port directly on the battery, while the headlamp itself has a proprietary magnetic charging pad. It can take an AA battery as a backup.
Going up in size from there, the Skilhunt H04 series, Skilhunt H300, and Armytek Wizard Pro, all with their optional Nichia LEDs are great options. Their 18650 batteries have about three times the capacity of the H150’s 14500.
All of these have pocket clips and magnetic tailcaps, which makes them work well handheld lights and magnetic work lights as well as headlamps.
Thank you for this great response, it’s given me a lot to think about wrt batteries. I feel like I’ve got a decent sense now of what good things to look out for