A Good Headlamp for $17? You Bet.

On the spur of the moment, we decided to go camping recently.  One of the first things I looked for was my headlamp. I have a Petzl Tikka Plus from a few years ago.  When I got, I liked what I got for the money. It didn't cost a lot, and gave me good range and good battery life.

But I'm not the most organized person on the planet.  I figured the headlamp could be in one of 3 locations: the kitchen drawer, my son's room, or in my hunt pack.  Of course it was in none of these places.  I quickly dashed over to the store and there amongst the pricier, well-known brands was the Coast HL5 LED Headlamp.  On the package it said 175 lumens, and the price? $16.95. Immediately I was skeptical. But I figured I needed something and the price was right, so I thought I'd give it a try.

Well, let me tell you, this lamp pumps out the lumens.  I was very surprised by the range and brightness.  While I'm not sure if this is built to last very long, it has so far and at this price I could buy several and keep some as back-ups.

I think the big boy headlamp makers should keep an eye on companies like Coast. 

UPDATE: A few months ago, the switch on my headlamp started to have intermittent problems. I contacted the headquarters in NE Portland and they were super gracious. They said they would gladly replace or repair it for free. Since I live in Portland, I drove down there and they took one look at it and promptly gave me a new one on the spot. If you know me, I am hugely into good customer service. I call it out when I see it (or the lack of it.) I was very impressed at their willingness to stand behind their product!