Six Headlamps for Every Outing

Looking to stay out after dark? Whatever way you prefer to get after it, bring one of these headlamps along and it'll serve you well.

Nathan Sports Neutron Fire ($35)

Best For: ­After-Dark Runs

The Neutron Fire is tailored to runners, with tightly cinching straps that prevent jostling. It has five lighting modes—low, medium, high, sprint, and strobe—and provides up to 115 lumens at its highest setting. Two side strobes emit red, green, and blue light to alert drivers.

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Petzl Actik Core ($60)

Best For: Anything and Everything

The Actik Core is more than just a “headtorch,” as the French say. It will also help you get out of the tightest spots. In addition to 350-­lumen proximity and distance beams and 160 hours of illumination, it has red lights for night vision, a 100-decibel emergency whistle, and reflective strips on the band so others can see you, too. 

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Ledlenser MH6 ($50)

Best For: Type A Workout Warriors

If you’re a person who needs to wring out and wash your headlamp straps at the end of a typical session, Ledlenser’s MH6 is for you. The water-­resistant band won’t get bogged down with sweat. And this 200-­lumen lamp is almost as adaptable as you are, able to run off the included rechargeable battery as well as the usual AAAs.

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Coast Products FL85 ($70)

Best For: Moonless Nighttime Missions

This bomber headlamp is a go-to when you need serious lumens—it has a whopping 615 of them. The rotating bezel alternates the light between an ultrawide flood beam and a bull’s-eye spot—handy when looking for a dropped multitool. A button switches the power sipping red LEDs on and off to preserve night vision.

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Black Diamond Spot ($40)

Best For: Exploring Watery Worlds

Need a lamp you can wear with confidence while canyoneering, kayaking, or rafting? The Spot holds a 200-hour battery and 200-lumen bulb in its waterproof housing. Plus, the brightness adjusts with a simple touch of a finger to the side, and the on-off lock protects against battery drain.

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One80 Light Halo ($49)

Best For: Campfire Conversation

One80’s headlamp has a powerful 360 lumens, sure, but we were smitten with the 180 degrees of peripheral lighting, so you don’t have to turn your head to see everything around you. Though it’s not dimmable, the wide strip of 20 LEDs eliminates the typical bobbing beam that moves with each step.

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