Gear Review: 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED Headlamp

The night is dark and full of terrors! Well, at least it can feel that way when you’re 10 miles into the woods on a moonless night… or even when you are hiking down Spencer Butte after watching the sunset. Regardless of what might actually be out to get you in the woods, a good headlamp can do wonders for your peace of mind and ability to travel or perform tasks around camp at night. That brings us to my favorite headlamp: the 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED.

Pros

I swear some factory in China has figured out how to capture little bits of the sun, and let it out through this light. This thing is bright, like way bright, like so bright that you really want to be careful not to look at your fellow hikers while wearing it because they will be seeing stars for hours. At full charge it lights up trees around 300 yards away, at closer ranges it feels like daylight.

The specs for the 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED claim that it produces 1600 lumens. This is likely a serious stretch, but that doesn’t negate the fact that this light is brighter than any other headlamp I have encountered in my search and rescue experience (and I’ve seen a lot of them). Using it around my fellow searchers is always entertaining, as their lights become irrelevant as soon as I turn mine on. Most headlamps are designed to illuminate the path right in front of you, this one lights up the whole forest, which is awesome when searching for people in thick, dark, woods.

Cons

Unfortunately, the 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED is not without its limitations. For starters, you only get about two hours of light on full brightness. The batteries are rechargeable lithium ions, and substantially bigger than AAs. Very few of my adventures require more than two hours worth of light use, but just in case, I always make sure to bring a backup light that takes AA or AAAs. Buying additional batteries for the 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED is also a solid idea, and they are generally affordable on Amazon.

Quality on these things can also be questionable, since they are made in China for an extremely low cost. Some of the Amazon reviews report units that broke after a few weeks, but most people seem to be very happy with what they got. I only expected mine to last about a year, so I’m very pleased that it is still running strong after two years of hard use. The only issue that you might notice from the pictures is that the plastic clip that holds the power cord (connecting the batteries with the lamp) has snapped. Thankfully this really hasn’t been much of a problem for me.

Price

The only thing crazier than the 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED’s brightness is its affordability. Prices on Amazon vary, but you can usually find one for somewhere between $10-15 with free shipping. That’s rather insane when you consider that most headlamps at REI (that aren’t nearly as bright) range from $30-100. Even with it’s potential quality issues, the 1600LM CREE XM-L T6 LED is still a great deal. If the first one your order doesn’t work, chances are the second will, and you still will have spent less than you would have on an inferior light at REI.

Conclusion

If you spend a great deal of time hiking, biking, or camping in the dark, you really should have one of these in your pack.

At the time this was posted the headlamp was available here at Amazon.com. If that link no longer works, a quick search on Amazon should find you another seller for a similar price.

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