Zebralight H51 Headlamp

If you’ve ever done any night hiking, you can quickly become disoriented and unsettled without a decent light source.  The smallest rustle in the darkness conjures up images of monsters or psychos ensuring our evening won’t be spent sleeping.  Or taking the issue a little less excitedly, a light is helpful for finding tent zippers, reading and any number of miscellaneous camp tasks.

Early on, I used standard headlamps for which the industry is saturated with many great products.  In the last decade, I’ve used various forms of Photo Microlight’s after noting that they were lighter and offered more output than the first version of the Petzl e+LITE (28g/$20) which I loved because it had everything I needed, was simple to use and had a red beam option.  In the last few years I’ve settled on the Photon Microlight II (6.2g/$11.95) but also often used the ITP A3 EOS Upgrade (20g/$19) which is an excellent light for the cost, weight and output, and the strap from my old e+LITE could be easily made to hold it.  All have pro’s and con’s.

For no other reason than because I kept hearing about it, I decided to test the Zebralight H51 (32.2g/$64).  What you get with the H51 is a rugged light with significant output at a weight that is very competitive.

I’ll assume there are plenty of better resources to have a geek discussion on batteries and bulb types, but let’s assume you and I are novice off-the-shelf users.  For comparison of these lights, take the following into consideration:

		Zebralight H51	ITP A3 EOS Upgrade	Photon Microlight II
	WEIGHT	32.2g	20g	6.2g
	COST	$64	$18	$12
OUTPUT	LOW	2.5	1.5	N/A
	MEDIUM	30	18	N/A
	HIGH	200	50	4.5
TIME	LOW	72	50	N/A
	MEDIUM	10.5	4	N/A
	HIGH	0.9	0.9	18

Each of these lights stand out on their own merits.  The Zebralight H51 offers an amazing amount of output.  The Microlight II is extremely lightweight and inexpensive.  The ITP A3 EOS Upgrade is a middle of the road option, but is very competitive cost and performance-wise.

Since I’ve discussed the Microlight II and ITP A3 EOS Upgrade previously, I figure I’d focus on the Zebralight H51.  It is a lot smaller than the picture suggests mainly because it is metallic, thick and bulky looking.  It is not very big.  It is perhaps the size of a chapstick on steroids or perhaps a roll of dimes flared out on each end.  It takes one AA battery which is great considering that’s a very common battery for other items perhaps already in your kit.  The Sanyo Eneloop offers a verifiable increase to performance too which are recommended from the manufacturer and are more commonly used with cameras and photography equipment.

On/Off operation is done with a push of a button on the end.  To the general user, there are three settings – low, medium and high, all white.  To those willing to read the directions and spend time frustrating yourself trying to push the button for a fraction of a second to access other options, you can toggle to two-sublevels for each level and apparently there is even a strobe.  I couldn’t find most of these, but got easily annoyed trying to find them.    Three levels, and a red if that were available, would suit 100% of my needs.  Why manufacturers try to get overly creative is beyond me.

The headband is excessive.  I’m pretty sure it could hold up my shorts.  It is plenty comfortable, just overly engineered.  It comes with a glow-in-the-dark headband fastener as well as a standard version which is nice, but also a bit much.   If I were a soldier needing something robust and sturdy, this would be it.  For lightweight backpackers, manufacturing a more creative solution is necessary unless you’re interested in using the included pocket-style clip.  I personally also like the option of being able to clip it to my hat which isn’t possible, at least not with the accessories that came with it or additional research.

Is it the world’s greatest headlamp option?  Who knows.  It comes down to preference, environment and financial resources I suppose.  It is pretty impressive though.  I'd like it to be lighter and a lighter head mount option.  A red beam would also be nice.  I'd also like the beam to come out the top of the unit, and perhaps the side as an additional option.

Aaron, one of the proprietors of an excellent backpacking and outdoor online magazine over at Trail Groove, recently posted and article about the very similar Zebralight H31W which is definitely worth the read.  On a related topic, become a member of Trail Groove.  The online magazine is excellent and it looks like a great grassroots effort trying to do something this industry greatly needs.