Head lamps for night fishing

[Sleeper-6]

So what's everybody favorite headlamp for night fishing?

I have had a few of the cheap ones that work OK, but I'm thinking about upgrading to something a little nicer, maybe rechargeable. Something that doesn't require cycling through the various settings to turn each time I turn it on would be nice.

[Chrisper4694]

i have a regular $20 one it lights up everything i can want to do in the boat/dealing with the fish. i've seen guys with ones that are like car headlights and they can light up the shoreline from 50 yards out!

whether you want to spend the money to light up the shoreline or not is up to you but i would def get one that has colored settings as well in case the bugs are swarming your face. red usually keeps the bugs off your light.

[cosmo]

Personally, I picked up a couple from Home Depot. They are simply the Energizer 200 Lumen LED lights for $19.99. The one with the neon green straps. They have multiple click settings, but it's a one click off. Best feature!

The one's I saw in fish & tackle at various retailers were $50 and up. Maybe those were rechargeable. But I don't see the value in the added expense. IMO. I'd rather spend it on all the other tackle we sink our cash into!

[NJSquatch]

My brother in law just got me the Black Diamond Spot lamp. It is really sweet. It stays on the setting you are in when you shut if off (single, red or max). It also has a tap function on the side that will change to max brightness. Red setting is a must to preserve night vision.

The 200 lumens are plenty bright for me. I had been using a Princeton that was only 60 lumens. I also carry a high powered flashlight in the boat if needed.

Some guys use the miner type lamps that are too bright in my opinion and cause temporary blindness to others.

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/headlamps-and-lanterns/spot-headlamp-BD620621_cfg.html#cgid=lighting&start=2

[XXlyakattacker]

I had a real nice Princeton, paid about $80 for it. Had 2 levels of white, red, green, and blue. Red best for bugs. Wiped my sweaty head and it flew out of the kayak. So I bought another Princeton, one not so expensive, $29 I believe. Just 3 levels of white light. White attracts bugs so I swatted at one and off my head and into the water it goes. Now I have a couple cheapie for about $15-$25. 2 levels of white and one of red. I don't use it to light the shore line, my super nova lights do that just fine, just to tye and untangle. Highly recommend the red for buggy night though.

[Skunk City]

As of Saturday, Dick's had a line of headlamps for 50% off. I picked up a 160 lumens one with red l.e.d. for $25. The cheapo ones kind of suck for anything but lighting up a few feet from you.

[Sleeper-6]

I've been checking out some of the $30-40 ones on Amazon. Not getting too crazy price wise. I get what you're saying about them being too bright. I'll definitely look into the suggestions here.

I have a Streamlight Waypoint spotlight that I keep in the boat. That thing is awesome, with a laser tight spot that will light up the shoreline hundreds of yards away. Great for navigation and checking out the shoreline, way overkill for task lighting while fishing.

[Moz]

My preference is it uses a AA battery.

First one I ever purchased clipped to the bill of my hat and used the flat watch-like batteries. Worked well until the original battery(which I took out when not using it) I needed to replace and it drained the rather pricey new ones seemingly as soon as I put them in.

Nothing worse than getting up at o'dark thirty and finding no juice for my primary source of light. Never short on AA batteries when needed!

[Charlie B]

If you want recharge ability and the light you like best does not have it. You can get rechargeable batteries in sizes aaa through d and a charger for them at a pretty good price at Harbor Freight. Or other places for maybe better quality. The nice thing about that is you can carry spare batteries with you and be back in business if the batteries die on you. And of course use the batteries for other purposes too...Charlie

[Eskimo]

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I have a collection of different headlamps because I shop on Amazon when I'm drinking and I'm often surprised at what shows up on my doorstep a week later.

I've learned that headlamps follow the law of diminishing returns. The expensive ones are only marginally better than the relatively cheap ones. Get one that takes AAA or AA batteries. Save the CR123A battery flashlights and headlamps for police SWAT and military entry teams.

100 lumens is more than enough for fishing or even walking at night. High powered headlamps will quickly burn through your batteries and blow-out your night vision when the light reflects off a surface. The only time I jack-up the output on my lightsource above 100 lumens is when I'm fishing or walking in an area frequented by bears. A high-powered light will reveal the eye-shine of other animals from a long distance away.

A basic Petzl Tikka will almost anything you ask of it to do on a fishing trip.


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[Jigman13]

I fish so much at night I no longer use a headlamp... like Bane:

"Ah you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!"

Lol... but seriously. Double or triple A battery powered lamps for $30 or less are sufficient.

[Mikey topaz]

New bourits are really sweet for the money and are super bright get em on amazon for 25$ comes with usb charger and evreything never need buy batteries again it takes the same batterys as the vape thingys

[Skunk City]

I fish so much at night I no longer use a headlamp... like Bane:

"Ah you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but blinding!"

Lol... but seriously. Double or triple A battery powered lamps for $30 or less are sufficient.

lmao!

[Sleeper-6]

Thanks for all the input guys. As usual I spent more than anticipated. I wound up picking up a Fenix HL60R. It uses rechargeable batteries, but can also use regular CR123 batteries as a backup. I can keep a pair in my tackle bag just in case. Multiple light levels, including Red, 5 and 50 lumens that I will probably use the most. It will ramp up to 150, 400, and a time limited 950 if I need it to though. I can only see needing that if my regular boat light craps out or something. I'll post a few pics when I get to play with it.

[Delawareriver]

If fishing from a boat, couple interior lights are easy to install and extremely cheap. 90% thats all I need but I do have a few cheap stream-lites I get free from work. Plenty bright enough and only $20 if you had to buy them

[Eskimo]

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Thanks for all the input guys. As usual I spent more than anticipated. I wound up picking up a Fenix HL60R.

I have some Fenix flashlights that I really like. Their basically Chinese knock-offs of Surefire products. I really like being able to get a Surefire-like product for about a quarter of the Surefire price. So far they have held up fine.

I recommend getting a small back-up light, too. It's scary when you drop your light or it stops functioning and you're left alone in the inky blackness of a moonless night.

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[june181901]

I got a hat from LL Bean that has two bulbs built into the beak that runs forever on a small battery and throws a lot light.

[Sleeper-6]

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I have some Fenix flashlights that I really like. Their basically Chinese knock-offs of Surefire products. I really like being able to get a Surefire-like product for about a quarter of the Surefire price. So far they have held up fine.

I recommend getting a small back-up light, too. It's scary when you drop your light or it stops functioning and you're left alone in the inky blackness of a moonless night.

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I always have at least another handheld with me. I have a bunch of those Harbor freight freebies. They have proven to be reliable and I have enough to keep one in each my tackle bags and boxes.

[Bruce Litton]

Good advice on this thread & I'm putting it on my favorites for later. I bought a headlamp for $16 at Dicks way back in 2003 I really liked, but somehow, it went missing, and for the life of me I can't find it anywhere. So last fall night surf fishing I used one of my cheap Energizer headlamps, think that's it, something for like 8 bucks at Home Depot I despise. Wanted the other to last the rest of my life, and maybe it will, turning up years from now, but in the meantime, before I go back out for stripers, I guess I'm going to have to spring for something that's better anyway.

[NJ219bands]

Princeton Tec but most nights on the jetty I never turn it on because I can see well enough without it.