The Best Headlamp Award Winners For 2014 Released By OutdoorGearLab.com

Feb. 5, 2014 - CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- OutdoorGearLab.com recently published the results of the 2014 Editors' Choice awards for the best headlamps, honoring the best, best value and best for certain applications. The OutdoorGearLab Review Editor's choose the following award winners after testing over eighty products both in the lab and out in the field.

Using industral light meters to measure brightness, a battery life measuring "light coffin" and the world's first headlamp beam comparison tool, they rated 37 top models in the categories of brightness, weight, battery life, ease of use, gloved use, trail finding and close proximity. You'll find the full comparative review here: http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/

 

Headlamp-Reviews / The winners include:

Two 2014 Editors' Choice award winners;
The Coast HL7 http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Coast-HL7 According to Gear Editor RJ Spurrier, "It had one of the highest measured brightness and by far the best close proximity lighting. It's inexpensive and light (for its brightness) and has a very intuitive beam control lever. It does have a shorter battery life when in high beam mode, which is why we awarded a second Editor's Choice award winner."

The Black Diamond Spot http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Black-Diam... Gear Editor Spurrier reports, "The best battery life and beam performance for a compact model that only costs $40. No other contender tested had a better trail finding score while still maintaining a long battery life and weighing under 100 grams."

The Top Pick award is given to a product that excels at a specific application. In this case, there were four products chosen for this award. The 2014 OutdoorGearLab Top Pick awards were presented to the following products:

The Black Diamond ReVolt http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Black-Diam... Gear Editor RJ Spurrier explains, "The ReVolt won this award for being the best rechargable headlamp. It's great for extended trips without extra batteries. It can charge off anything with a USB adapter. If charged every night the wearer has the comfort of knowing that a full charge is there. Which is great if you use them a lot."

The Black Diamond Icon http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Black-Diam... "The Icon recieved this award for being the Top Pick for Trail Finding due to its unique combination fo excellent battery life and a 80 meter beam distance. Its beam is wide and bright and provides a nice even lite that is great for trail finding and the low setting is also great for around the campsite at night. It is the highest scoring product in our test," according to Gear Editor, RJ Spurrier.

The Black Diamond Sprinter http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Black-Diamond-Sprinter RJ Spurrier states, "The Sprinter wins this award as the Top Pick for runners. It is an example of what the future will bring. Similar products that are lighter, brighter and more robust. It's designed for biking and running and other urban uses since it's battery life it too short to be ideal for backcountry use, but, we still love it anyway."

The Petzl E+LITE http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Petzl-E-LITE As described by Spurrier, "The E+LITE is a micro lamp the size of a stack of quarters. It is the lightest we know of by far. It wins our Top Pick for being the most lightweight. It's size and weight make it perfect for eliminating the question of wether or not to bring one which at $30 we see it as really inexpensive insurance in case you get caught out after dark with no light."

The Energizer 3 LED http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Headlamp-Reviews/Energizer-3-LED is the winner of the 2014 Best Buy award. This award goes to a product that recieved high scores on our tests balanced with a very reasonabe price. Spurrier explains, "It's not high performance, but for something that you might be able to pick up at the supermarket, it did surprisingly well. At $13 it scored reasonably well for beam quality. It won our Best Buy award for being the least expensive model in the review while still meeting the needs of casual hikers, campers and around home use."

OutdoorGearLab LLC, headquartered in Cheyenne, Wyoming, is dedicated to creating the world's best outdoor gear reviews. The company website is a free resource for people who love the outdoors and participate in activities such as hiking, climbing, backpacking, and camping. The company performs side-by-side reviews of outdoor gear and publishes the findings in comparative reviews. Each product is scored across a range of weighted areas, competing products are ranked, and awards are given to the best performing products.

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