Princeton Tec Yukon HL

As a conservation biologist working on frogs, salamanders, geckos, snakes and other small critters with nocturnal habits, and a dedicated amateur photographer, headlamps for night work are essential for me. This one is my current favourite, has been for a few years now. It can just about illuminate a small animal while I'm focusing a bulky SLR camera with large top-mounted flash - always a tricky situation getting a light to shine past that big flash at your forehead. It's rainshower-proof. It's about as comfortable as a headlamp could be. The hi-power light output is good for field work, to see things in good detail at your feet or a few yards up ahead, without washing it out in excessively bright light. It's not powerful enough for spotlighting owls or mammals in the distance - get a large heavy halogen for that. The low-power LEDs setting is fine for making notes or general navigating on the trails. The best feature is the battery usage: three penlites will last me for over a full week in the field. Perfect for expeditions - leave home loaded with a fresh set of batteries and a set of spares (just in case), and that's it. A massive advance over earlier halogens burning through four penlites in a single evening, or three C-cells lasting 2-3 nights. That's a lot less weight to check in and carry around, and a lot fewer batteries to buy and recycle (where that's possible). In conclusion: one of the first pieces of equipment that I pack for any field trip. And while I hear great things about Princeton Tec's customer service, I can't confirm this from experience because I've not had failures with their products in nine years of using a variety of models.

I have had mine for about 2 years with almost daily use -- doing maintenance around my (rural) property -- yard work and equipment usage and maintenance. It is very reliable under hot, cold and wet conditions. I use the low beam (3 LED) most often. However, it does not take long for the light output of the 3 LED to get noticeably weaker using alkaline batteries. The high output long range single LED seems to last longer even when the 3 LED light is diminished. I've switched to NiMH rechargeables which serves me better since I can charge the batteries often (and not have to put up with using the weaker light output until I had close to exhausted the alkalines). As for maintenance of this headlamp, I occasionally wash and submerge the whole flashlight in a sink to clean the straps. (I wish the straps were removable so I can just put them in the washer.) Recently, one of the 3 LEDs started to blink (like a strobe light) and then died. I sent it back to Princeton Tec and they sent me a new one immediately. I am quite pleased with this flashlight.

We've been using for more than a month now on a daily basis as we have a small farm and need it every evening for the chores; the light has not dulled and we have not had to replace any batteries yet. The headband is very easy to adjust (I'm only 5'4" and he's 6'1") and it's easy for us to adjust back for ourselves when the other uses it. The light is also very easy to adjust for pointing the beam - it stays where you want it. Even though the battery pack is in the back, it does not feel bulky at all, even for me. This is a fantastic light all the way around and I would recommend it to anyone needing a good all purpose headlamp!