Headlamp LEDs come in a few different wattages, but you can expect quite a lot of light from a 3 watt headlamp LED It’s the LED you want to have if you’re going to be moving fast at night and want to have plenty of warning for whatever is coming at you. Of course a 3 watt headlamp LED will drain your batteries rather quickly, so you want to make sure that the 3 watt LED is not the only LED on your headlamp, unless you want to be carrying extra batteries around with you.
3 Watt Headlamp
What to look for when you want a 3 watt headlamp.- Power Settings – It’s best if your headlamp has several different power settings, especially if there is a 3 watt LED on your headlamp. That 3 watt LED will drain your battery quite quickly, and so if you want to conserve power, it helps if there are smaller, less powerful LEDs that can be switched on for those times when you don’t need high amounts of light.
- Battery Life – As alluded to above, a 3 watt LED will drain a battery quickly, which is why it helps to have a big battery. If you’re going to need a lot of light for a long period of time, it might be worth considering a headlamp that has an auxiliary battery pack that can be worn on your belt, to extend the battery life of your headlamp.
Best 3 Watt Headlamp
There aren't many, but here are the best 3 watt headlamps.- Black Diamond Icon 3-Watt LED - It's right there in the name, this is a 3 watt LED headlamp. More specifically, it has a maximum light output of 100 lumens, and a beam distance of approximately 100 meters. It will even go for about 165 hours on the lowest battery setting, making it an ideal choice for a wide range of activities. It even won the Best in Gear award from Rock and Ice magazine. It weighs 6.6 ounces, or 188 grams.
- Princeton Tec Apex Pro - The Apex Pro is another headlamp with a combination of one especially bright 3 watt LED and a few smaller, bright LEDs, so that you get a good maximum lumens of 200, while at the same time the low power setting will go for 100 hours and provide ample illumination, thanks to the multiple smaller LEDs. It's also waterproof, which is a definite bonus for bad weather conditions. The whole thing weighs 6.2 ounces, which is 173 grams.
- Petzl Ultra Headlamp - If you really want a bright headlamp, then there are few options more impressive than the Ultra, which can put out 350 lumens on the highest setting, which equates to a beam distance of about 120 meters. It manages that with a total of 6 high power LEDs, though it actually has no low power LEDs, which means that even on the lower power setting you only get 17 hours of battery life to work with. The battery is rechargeable, however, so you don't have to buy new ones every couple of hours of headlamp use. It weighs 12.2 ounces, which is 345 grams.
