Light is highly important for our existence and we simply can not exist without it. So when there is no natural source of light, we are forced to get it ourselves. Our ancestors managed it using a fire, we are few steps ahead. With the energy hidden in batteries along with lighting medium, we can reliably illuminate the darkness. Flashlight can be used in many situations - during work as well as outdoors. When hiking, passing through hills and caves, we will need both of our hands. How do we solve this problem knowing we also need some light...The solution is headlamp, that allow us to have our hands free. How they manage to do it ? Good question.
Headlamps go on head
By the name we can tell that headlamps are placed on the head. Here, they are secured using elastic adjustable strap, which is attached to the flashlight´s body. Some of the types have an extra strap that goes over the head. Such a strap helps with moving and stabilization and is used mainly with larger and heavier types of headlamps. The use of flashlight itself is very easy. The battery powers the lighting medium which creates a beam of light using a well thought out reflector. But there are many types.
Front or back ?
The power source are batteries. They can be either rechargable or standard. The biggest difference is in the battery container. The less powerful headlamps will have everything in one box - batteries, reflector and power switch. Those types are usually not really powerful and can be considered as a back up ones. The better and more powerful headlamps have batteries separated from the light, usually placed on the other side of the headlamp. This is for better balance. What is it good for ? Imagine that our headlight is powered with 4 AA batteries all stored in one box. It would be too large and heavy and it wouldn´t be comfortable so that is why is better to have it separated.
LED light?
Although halogen lamps are not as much around, we can still see them. In the past, they were the main light source, but they broke easily. Modern times are the times of LED diodes. There are basically two types - standard and high-power. Standard LED diodes are those, where we can see more of them (for example 20) on the headlamp. However, these headlamps are usually not of high-quality. Highly powerful LED diodes have luminious flux around 1000 lumens, but for such a high power they need sufficient charging and cooling system.
Last but not least
Knowing all these good informations we can finally purchase our desired headlamp. But, once again, the selection can be subjective. For the basic, at home use, we will be fine with unexpensive standard LED headlamp. However, if we are more serious, we should opt for better versions, for example those with CREE ® LED diode, which has great properties and reviews. The main features are always max output, runtime and luminious flux. With the more powerful ones, we should also focus on source of energy and high-quality construction. Aircraft-grade aluminium, which is strong, durable and yet lightweight, is often used. Another advantage is passive cooling. With highly powerful LED diodes we can expect higher temperatures and aluminium handle this perfectly.