Fenix  HM61R Rechargeable Headlamp

Before I discovered fenix’s headlamps, I had been a regular (daily) user of black diamond and petzl’s lamps for years. I had pretty much just accepted that something on the headlamp will fail in 6-months to a year. Weather its the button, or the latch, or the light itself. But after going thru 3 iterations of the slop blackdiamond has been slinging recently in 3 months I had had eneough. After extensive research, and based on recomendations from multiple serious outdoorsman, mountaineers, climbers ect. I eventually settled on giving this lamp a try. I have had it a month and I can confidently say this is probably the best headlamp REI carries. It’s not even a close call. First off this thing is about as durable as it gets. The main body is made from aluminum. The battery is accessed by unscrewing a gasketed cap. Making it 1: actually waterproof and 2: so durable you would have to drop this thing off a modest cliff to actually break it. The battery life is absolutely incomparable. Look at the stats, it puts out the same lumens for over FIVE TIMES longer then the plastic lamps. I’ve litterally charged it once since I got it(the battery comes not fully charged for safetey reasons) And if it does die on you? no problem , it has a built in charging port. Out in the middle of the wilderness? No problem, it takes cr123’s available in almost every grocery store or gas station. Some might galk at the price, but concider this: If you actually use headlamps more then a few times a year, you will end up spending the same ammount buying a lanp AND replacement aaa’s within the first year. Also the thing has a lifetime warranty, and a 5 year guarantee of free repairs. How many times do you think you’ll end up replacing a BD or petzl headlamp in five years? The only things I dont like about it is the magnetic charger cable that comes with it is too short. And being proprietary, you either have to buy a new one direct frm Fenix, or use any of the easily aquired 18650 over the counter chargers. Of coarse I could of also bought a different model, fenix makes some with an internal micro usb port. But rei doesnt carry those unfortunetly. It’s also a bit heavy, but honestly I dont even notice unless I’ve had the thing on my head for an hour, and using the second over the top headband mostly eliminates that issue. I also wish the direct to red function, actually went direct to red instead of briefly turning on the white light, thus trashing my night vision, but w/e. Ultimetly these minor drawbacks don't even come close to narrowing the vast vast gap in quality between this and a plastic lamp. I’m not usualky someone who takes to the internet to talk up some random companies products, but this one deserves it. Get this lamp.

There are several problems with this headlamp, but the positive is that it’s quite bright with a good selection of brightness levels. The battery option, in addition to a rechargeable battery is nice too. The quality of the build is solid. The most significant flaw, however, is the red light mode, which can only be reached by briefly turning on the headlamp in white light mode, destroying the night vision that red light mode is there to preserve. This seems like a major design flaw. Another, more minor, negative aspect is that I found it difficult to turn the lock mode on. This requires a double click of the power button, but the timing of the double click doesn’t feel natural and it tends to result in turning the power on. I imagine this would get easier with use, but for a piece of equipment that is used infrequently (we try to avoid kayaking or backpacking at night) remembering the feel of the right double-click is a lot to ask. Similarly, and although mitigated by the removeable batteries, the rechargeable battery requires a proprietary charger, which is just one more piece of gear that has to somehow stay with the headlamp, which is especially challenging to manage in the field along with all the other little details. As above, it’s just one more thing I’ve got to manage during a trip. Overall, I’m disappointed for the cost and plan to return it.