The best head torches will strike an optimum balance between battery life (or burn time) and brightness, and will also need to meet other considerations like overall reach, water and dust proofing, comfort, usability and of course, price.
Whether you’re getting an early alpine start to reach a mountain summit as the sun rises, heading out on a night hike or just settling down in your tent for the night – the value of head torches (or head lamps, as our U.S. friends call them) cannot be underestimated – especially when the days get shorter and the dark nights start to draw in.
Whilst we understand that everyone packs differently, we find it best practice to carry two separate head torches: a small, lightweight ‘emergency’ head torch and a slightly tougher, heavier workhorse. The compact emergency option is usually stored out of the way in say, the personal items section of a rucksack lid and is only reached for when your main head torch has run out of juice.
Our main head torch is generally a beefed up version of its smaller counterpart, usually a little heavier, but with that; greater battery life, brighter lumen output and possibly a reactive beam. These features are usually the extent of the features head torches carry – after all, their sole purpose is to provide as much light as possible, for as long as possible.
Our Team’s Pick of the Best Head Torches for Hiking
Here’s our selection. All of these head torches have been tested by our crew for their brightness, battery life, functionality and reliability. Price, durability and sustainability were also part of the equation.
- Silva Free 1200 S – Best Overall Head Torch
- Petzl Actik Core 625 – Our Runner-Up
- Black Diamond Distance 1500 – Best Bright Head Torch for Brightness and High-Performance Use
- Silva Smini – Best Head Torch for Ultralight Hikers
- Princeton Tec Remix 450 LED – Best Head Torch for Battery Life
The Expert
Will’s been reviewing gear professionally for over 10 years now, mainly looking at equipment and clothing for hiking, backpacking and trail running. In that time, he’s been a jury member for some of the biggest gear awards in the outdoor industry, including the ISPO Awards, the OIA Awards and the Scandinavian Outdoor Awards and has written for numerous outdoor magazines. His hobbies are linked to his career; he’s always out in the hills. More specifically, he love long distance hiking and dabbles in a bit of ultra running and fastpacking too.
How We Tested Them
Will tested all of the head torches in this list and also looked at numerous others that didn’t make the cut. He admits that he comes at things with the perspective of a long-distance hiker so, for him, the battery life and weight of each head torch always commands his attention but he says that he also assess brightness, water resistance, functionality, durability and comfort and stability. Will didn’t follow a set format for his testing and instead, each of these head torches joined him for a different trip outdoors – or, in most cases, on multiple trips. The Petzl Bindi, for instance, joined him on a 500-mile run across Wales, the Nitecore HC65 came on evening dog walks and he was out testing the Princeton and Silva Free head torches in the Cairngorms during Storm Babet.
1. Silva Free 1200 S
Our pick as the best head torch for hiking overall
Price: £180
Weight: 113g
Max brightness: 1200 lumens
Key attributes: Modular system, excellent wireless head lamp
The Free 1200 S sits in the broad ‘Free’ family of head torches from Silva and within this there are loads of components that you can add on to each head torch. These include spare batteries, GoPro mounts, bulbs of varying brightness and even cords that let you link up your bulb to a battery that’s stowed in your jacket pocket. So essentially, it’s a kind of customisable head torch.
The headband alone is impressive. It feels very stable – even when you’re running downhill – and it’s fuss-free. By that, we mean that all of the wires are hidden away within the headband, so there’s nothing that’s dangling or there to be snagged.
We tested out the 1200 bulb and were impressed. This has an incredibly powerful beam of 1200 lumens. It also has three different light settings and comes with Silva’s Intelligent Light technology. This is a double light beam that gives you the combination of a long reach spotlight and a close flood-light together. The purpose of this is that it helps to reduce tunnel vision and creates a faded natural light at the edges.
Not only can you have a red light on the front of the head torch but on the back too. This provides night time safety on roads or when you’re leading the way for other runners or walkers. You can have this fully off, flashing or on continuously.
Ultimately, this is a massively impressive head torch series and we were blown away by its capabilities. To some the extra components might be more fuss than is needed, but for those who spend a lot of time out hiking or running, often in gloomy or fully dark conditions, those extra components are worth exploring.
Full Specifications
1200 lumen bulb / light distance of 150m / max, med, minimum settings / USB-C Li-ion battery / spotlight and flood light mix / IPX5 water resistant.
Selected for our Outdoor 100 – read our full Silva Free 1200 S review.
Buy the Silva Free 1200 S: £180 at Silvasweden.uk
2. Petzl Actik Core 625
The Actik Core comes in at a close second, according to our tests
Price: £65.50
Weight: 88g
Max brightness: 625 lumens
Key attributes: Rechargeable via batteries or USB-C (Petzl Hybrid concept), comfortable and stable, easy to use, versatile enough for running, hiking, and camping.
We’ll cut to the chase here: this is a good head torch that ticks pretty much all the boxes for us. The biggest tick? Its dual-battery capability. This is what Petzl call a Hybrid Concept head torch, meaning it can run off three AAA batteries or off the removable USB-C rechargeable battery that it comes with. This gives you practical flexibility: you can use the rechargeable pack for everyday, cost-effective performance and fall back on AAAs when you’re off-grid or can’t recharge, which means you’re never stuck without light.
The CORE battery it comes with is a high-capacity 1250 mAh lithium-ion. This is designed to provide performance even at low temperatures, and it recharges directly with the integrated USB-C port. Petzl say that it has a lifespan equivalent to 900 standard batteries and its charging time is 3.5 hours.
OM editor and tester Will said, “I’ve found this to be a very dependable performer, with a bright and clear beam that creates good visibility. On my hikes and runs with it, it’s felt well balanced and I’ve appreciated its good battery life on trips that have lasted longer than a day.”
“The Petzl Actik Core’s blend of usable brightness levels, dual power system, and practical design add up to a head torch that’s bright and easy to rely on, whether you’re running through the woods or sorting out a dehydrated meal in your tent.”
Full Specifications
625 lumens / 115m range / 2h burn time at max. lumen / 100h burn time at min. lumen / 5 different light modes, battery level indicator, blink light, red light / 3 AAA batteries and/ or USB-C rechargeable (Petzl Hybrid concept) / IPx4 (splash proof) / 3.5h charge time.
Read our full Petzl Actik Core 625 review.
Buy the Petzl Actik Core 625 : £65.50 at Alpinetrek.co.uk
3. Black Diamond Distance 1500
The best head torch for brightness
Price: £180
Weight: 213g
Max brightness: 1500 lumens
Key attributes: innovative design, very bright, long battery life, stable and durable
This casts a seriously bright and far reaching beam and we were blown away by just how effective it was during our tests. The overall design also impressed us for its innovation.
The battery pack, which sits at the back of the head, not only has a light on it, but it is also designed so that it can be removed with just the press of a button and that means, if you buy a spare battery, you can switch out effortlessly, giving you a potential burn time of 80 hours (on the lowest setting).
What we also appreciated when using this was the fact that a simple tap on the side of the head torch triggers the max bulb setting to give off a burst of 1500-lumens for 10 seconds. This is exceptionally handy on technical trails when you need max illumination to quickly gauge a tricky section of trail ahead or when you’re trying to quickly sight something in the distance.
Full Specifications
Max 1500 lumen output / 8 hours burn time at 300 lumens / 40 hours on its 15 lumen setting / rear red bulb / three bulb colours on front / USB-C rechargeable / 117-metres max distance.
Buy the Black Diamond Distance 1500: £180 at Ellis-brigham.com
4. Silva Smini
Looking for something light? This gets our pick as the best lightweight head torch for hikers
Price: £50
Weight: 53g
Max brightness: 250 lumens
Key attributes: light and bright, modular, good value, good eco credentials
An out and out pocket rocket, we’ve been hugely impressed by what the Silva Smini brings to the table. It comes in two different versions, one with a head strap and one with a bungee. Weighing 53g and 38.5g respectively, both are light but they’re also powerful too, offering 250 lumens on their max setting. Only the head strap version comes with a red backlight but the system is totally modular and this means that if you opt for the bungee version you can still buy the red bulb separately to uyse either on the bungee or even clipped onto your backpack.
OM editor Will says, for him, this has knocked the Petzl Bindi off its perch, becoming his new favourite lightweight head torch for hiking. He’s been testing the Smini over the last three months and says that it performed excellently, making for a reliable option for ultralight hikers and as a back-up head torch for serious mountain professionals.
Full Specifications
Modular design / option for red backlight / Li-Po 700 mAh battery / USB-C charged / 20 hour total burn time / IPX 5 water resistant.
Buy the Silva Smini: £50 at Silvasweden.uk
