G_I_B_B_O_N

Are there any headlights that can double as either a head lamp or have some sort of wearable clip for camp at night?

I've been looking at the NiteRider Lumina 900 for a headlight, but being able to wear it on my head would be useful. I don't wear a helmet so a helmet mount isn't useful unless maybe I mod it somehow.

imi

On tour I don’t find I ride much after dark, so when needs be, I just put my headlamp on my handlebar bag using the head strap.

That said, a proper handlebar mount for a headlamp would be great 👍

G_I_B_B_O_N

So you'd argue that it's more important to have a good head lamp around than a headlight? I'm not saying I'm against having both, just trying to avoid redundancy.

imi

For me, yes. I wanted to have just one, and I use a head lamp more in camp than a headlight on the bike.
I think wearing a bicycle headlight in camp wouldn’t work so well due to the beam pattern and intensity (depending on model of course).

If I was expecting lots of riding in heavy rain, fog or after dark, I would take proper bicycle lights (as well)

Steve0000

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32608924131.html
This is similar to a light I have had for some years. They appear to be the same brand under a different name ('Blaze' rather than 'Cree')
You have to wear the battery pack around your waist rather than on your head but it does allow for head mounting. Battery life is never as good as claimed though.

Trevtassie

If I didn't already have a dynamo light I think I'd just get a little blinky light for the bike and a proper headlamp for me, like the Petzl I carry anyway. I don't ride a lot at night on tour, but you do need a good light in tunnels at times. Ah hah, there you go, Petzl sell a bike mount for their headlamps. Probably of all their headlamps I'd go the Acktik Core with a bike mount. The Core comes with USB rechanging..

imi

imi

Hah! Just realised that a handlebar mounted light would be obscured by my handlebar bag

staehpj1

Why not just wear the headlamp? I have ridden while wearing a headlamp and found it to work pretty well. I used to even go single tracking with a little Petzl. It didn't offer much light, but it also didn't kill your night vision too badly.

I haven't done that on tour much since lately I have been using a tiny Pico key chain light as my in camp light. I wear it on a cord around my neck. I found that I prefer to use a minimal light and only use it a few seconds at a time so the Pico is adequate and the battery lasts for a very long time in that usage. If I still carried the Petzl I'd probably wear it when I wanted a headlight on the bike.

Tourist in MSN

Realistically, the headlight for your bike should have a tight enough and bright enough beam to easily see the road quite a good distance in front of you, but the light in the campsite should be dimmer and have a wider beam. And a light good enough for a bike would be way too bright and tightly focused in the tent. I would never want to use one light for both purposes.

Last year I got a Princeton Tec Snap that is 200 lumens, it is the only headlamp and bike headlight I know of. It has a strap for your head and a mount for the handlebar that uses an elastic. It has a dimmer so it can be dimmed down for campsite use, but the beam is way too wide to work well as a bike light. I was lucky and got it for free, but I would not have bought it at the price they charge, I already had several good headlamps.
https://princetontec.com/product/snap/

***

When touring, if I use my S&S coupled bike I carry a headlight for the bike that I can strap on to handlebar if I encounter a tunnel or a late trip to the pub, but I do not think that I have actually used a headlight on a bike during a bike tour since I went through tunnels on the GAP and C&O in 2013. During my last bike tour, I carried a headlight I could plug into a powerbank for USB power that I could strap to handlebar with an elastic if needed, but never used it. It has no internal battery. I always travel when the sun is up on bike tours. I paid about $5 USD for the light.



Most of my other bikes (non-S&S coupled) that I would tour on have bike lights installed on them.

I try to time my tours in early summer before campgrounds get crowded, thus perhaps you may need a headlight on the bike more than I do if you travel in later months or ride for many more hours per day than I do.

I however did the Katy Trail in Oct and Nov, was often out in the dark, that is the only bike tour I can remember where I used a bike headlight after sunset.

I bike toured Southern Florida in Feb and we often wanted to get a VERY early start so that we could get some distance in before it got hot, but we never got rolling early enough to need a bike headlight.

***

Note that in USA the word headlamp almost always means the light on your head, but in the UK (and possibly elsewhere) the word headlamp(s) is often used for the front lights on your vehicle. Thus the word headlamp can be ambiguous depending on where you are.

Happy Feet

Funny, but lights is one area where I want redundancy (the other being two lighters for the stove).
I have a usb rechangeable headlight (600 lumens I think) and a Petzl headlamp.

There are adapters out there though, for turning bike lights into headlamps and headlamps into bike lights. Here are two (more on that site btw):

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/6004-561/Bike-Adapt

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5063-7...Light-Headband

fietsbob

Yes There are.. I have one bought 30 years ago that has seals on battery box so they serve as SCUBA Dive lights too..

Not unusual to use a helmet mounts rather than or in addition to handlebar mounts..

staehpj1

I have started out a couple hours before daylight quite a few times and never bothered with a headlight. I could see the white line okay. I was usually in really empty country on very lightly trafficked roads where I could see any car or truck a mile off. I figured that I could get out of their way if I had to. That was most often in the wide open spaces of the south west or the great plains with long sight lines though.

I have been caught out in the evening where it got really dark and staying on the road was tricky, but in those conditions I was at least super visible with even a cheap blinkie. It seldom gets dark enough that you can't see the road at all with eyes fully adjusted to the dark. Off the top of my head I can think of twice where seeing the road was kind of an issue and even then I managed.

Then again I like the dark. I am the guy who likes to go single tracking without lights and who likes to shut off his lights and enjoy the darkness in caves while his buddies go off exploring.

BTW, as far as spares, my in camp light weighs 1/4 ounce so throwing in a spare or even two is not even noticed weight or bulk wise even by a weight weenie like me..

G_I_B_B_O_N

Smacking my face on this one. Forgot about the handlebar bag.

I think eventually I want to do a dynamo setup. I think this is gonna be the right way to go with a little redundancy. Maybe just a decent blinky to alert cars and a good head lamp for everything else, even as a second headlight when needed. That Petzl Acktik Core seems versatile! I probably gonna grab one of them.

fietsbob

I happen to have more clearance under my bar bag so the fork crown light is under it on 1 bike ,

put a headlight mount on the low rider hoop of my other touring bike ,,
there are head mounted things to re use your ,, battery bike light

But of course the beam needs are different for seeing the road and into your pan cooking in camp, after sunset.

Tourist in MSN

Near sunup or sundown, I usually get most concerned about drivers seeing me if the sun might be in their eyes. For decades I commuted by motorcycle and had lots of very close calls. When I took the photo of the silhouette of my touring partner, sun was coming up as we were riding into the sun out of Everglades National Park. I had both of my flashing taillights on but it was early enough that there was almost no traffic and it was foggy enough that the little bit of traffic was really slow.



Perhaps it is from my motorcycle commuting days, but I really want to see the pot holes or the broken glass or in fall the wet slippery leaves in the road before I hit it.

***

I recall your flashlight from a post several years ago. I bought several of those and gave out to family for Christmas gifts, told them that I kept mine on my jacket zipper so it was easier to find my house key in winter.

If I am cooking after dark (most of my canoe trips are in fall when the sun sets early), I find a headlamp is really convenient. A flashlight would be difficult to use, although yours would be easy to hold in your teeth. I have been using headlamps ever since people were phasing out of carbide lamps to the 4.5 v Wonder brand headlamps for caving. I have that old Wonder light somewhere in a box of other antiques.

phughes

I agree. I mounted mine on the front rack braze on. It is about midway down the fork. It works great there for street riding, and doesn't shine in the eyes of oncoming motorists. I personally hate headlamps, but that is just me. Oh, and other drivers tend to hate bicyclist headlamps too, since they generally shine in their eyes.

As for lights, I spent more money, but I but I bought it in 2011, and I am still using it, with the original battery, and it still works as it did when it was new. I got a Lupine Piko 3, and their quick release bar mount. I originally had it on the bars, but used a Paul Components Gino Light mount on the fork as I mentioned before. It can be used as a headlight, or mounted to the bike.

The Piko 3 is very bright, but more importantly, it has a good beam pattern, and illuminates what it is supposed to, not everything else. I do not think the Piko 3 is available anymore, but they have the PIko 4. Yes, pricy, but, I have been using it for nine years so far, the cost per year is minimal, I don't have to pay for batteries, and It is still working well. https://www.lupinenorthamerica.com/P...D_Headlamp.asp

adventurepdx

For something you can use as both an in-camp headlamp and on-bike headlight, I'd recommend the EOS Bike from Princeton Tec:
https://princetontec.com/product/eos-bike/
It comes with a head strap, plus bracket mounts for either helmet or handlebar. I used one of these for several tours as my helmet/in-camp light.

phughes

I should have added, the Piko 4 has a separate diffused soft-white light for reading, camping, etc. The Piko 3 I have doesn't have that, but it isn't something I am interested in. Seriously, it is a great light. Once you use one it is difficult to use anything else. Here is someone else's review of the Piko 4. https://reviews.mtbr.com/review-lupine-piko-4-2

I rarely run my Piko 3 on high, I usually have it on low, or medium, but usually low, so it lasts for hours. I was concerned about it while touring, but since I don't ride a lot at night on tour, I have never had to charge it on a tour. Mt last tour was two weeks, and I didn't use it a lot during the tour, but some, then on the last day I was trying to get to my friend's house, after a late start. I had planned on getting there the next day but decided to ride and get there, making it a 70 mile day. The last hour and a half was in the dark, and even after having used it once in a while during the tour, and not recharging it since leaving home, it worked perfectly and I didn't run out of battery.

LeeG

Fenix HL40R rechargeable headlamp with focusable lens. Four intensity settings. Tight beam for riding and low level lighting for long duration. I have one on my helmet.

Pratt

One little thing I have learned about headlamps is that wearing a bill cap under them helps preserve night vision and improves the experience

fietsbob