If you're doing a GORUCK event, you'll need a headlamp. More than that, it needs to be 1) water resistant/proof and 2) have a red light option.
For my first several events I chose to use the Black Diamond Storm. It is a higher end headlamp that is waterproof and has a number of different light settings. It is a great lamp and gets the job done.
For my last event, I switched to the Petzl e+LITE. Technically designed as an "emergency" headlamp, the ultralight design and easy use have made it my new go-to headlamp for GORUCK Events.
Below I'll outline the good and the and of both headlamps and explain why I've converted to the e+LITE.
The Good.
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Storm:
- It has the ability to have multiple lighting options including white and red light.
- To make things even fancier you can "dim" both the white and red lights, which is super useful to getting just the right amount of light when you need it.
- The light has the ability to "tilt" so that you can get the light to point wherever you want it.
- It has a much higher waterproof rating than lesser priced lamps, thus indicated the "storm" name.
e+LITE:
- It is LIGHT. Like, it weighs nothing.
- It is waterproof, so a quick dip in the river shouldn't impact it.
- Changing lights from bright to dim to red to blinking is SUPER easy with the leaver on the lamp.
- The lamp doesn't just tilt, it is actually on a joint that allows nearly 365 degrees of rotation to point the lamp anywhere you want.
- It is cheaper than the Storm.
The Bad
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Storm:
- Mastering the buttons to switch between white and red is really tricky. Even with a lot of practice, I still can't consistently get it to the right light when I want it. This is super frustrating in an event when a cadre is yelling at you to switch to red light because he hates white light.
- The "dim" feature is super cool, but again, mastering it takes way too much work.
- It is heavy (as far as headlamps go). Even before I tried to e+LITE I didn't particularly care for wearing the Storm because of its weight.
e+LITE:
- So small, it is easy to lose.
- It isn't crazy bright. This doesn't bother me at all, however, if you want something that will offer a blazing path of light, this isn't it. For me, this gets the job done.
- Takes watch batteries. Not gonna be easy to change during an event. But, batteries are supposed to last for like 70+ hours... so.
Verdict
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I love the e+LITE. For me, the Storm is too heavy and too complicated. The e+LITE solves both those problems. I love the ease of use with the leaver to select your lighting and the ability to rotate the light exactly where I want it is much better than just "tilt." For me, it is the perfect GORUCK headlamp.
