Who makes the best headlamp?

I've had several headlamps over the years and they never seem to last. With all LEDs out there now there must be a high quality long lasting headlamp for rugged outdoorsmen. I'd love to hear what the Alaska and northern Canadian guys use in the extreme cold.

I've had good luck with streamlight headlights. Dropped one from the tail of a 747 and it still worked just fine

I run a nextorch viker star it just made it through its 4th trapping season. Runs on AA batteries. And I'd venture to say I'm pushing 500hr of run time on it and it's still trucking along. I've always gravitated towards cree LEDs seem to be a quality bulb. As far as brutal cold I cant vouge for it there but wouldn't see it bothering it from the little cold we get here. Well worth the $35 imo

You talking like a little headband type of headlight, or a spot a coon in a 200 foot tall tree type of headlight?

A decent light to run my trapline after work kind of head lamp. Seems like most of them are built with 23 different settings and are made of cheap plastic that will probably break in the cold.
I want a durable one with 2 settings: off and on.

Go to PCS Outdoors and look under their hunting lights section. Look up the Western Rivers lights. They have two of their cap light models listed for under $100. Either one will come mounted to a hard hat, have just two settings, and are good for countless hours. I think you will find the hard hat mounted lights hold up better than the cheap headband lights.

I replaced my wheatlights with night light LED headlamps. Wear the battery on a belt, charge it when I get home. LED is brighter and lasts a long time.

https://www.huntsmart.com/collections/light-systems

I use'em for night fishing and such. I just got some Foxellis (sp) and they are cheap but work good.

I have an older cabelas alaskan guide series. The headband is all stretched out from wearing over stockin hats but it still works fine. Its probably 10 years old, not nearly as bright as the alaskan guides now. Runs on 3 or 4 aa’s and just an on and off switch, dont have to toggle through a bunch of settings. Between trapping and catfishing its been used pretty hard and works great. Ill get another.

My model came from Double U and has been discontinued, but it's very much like this one.

https://www.dusupply.com/4-volt-w-led-head.html

I used it well over 20 hours before I ever had to recharge it. Slips right in your back jean pocket, or can clip on your belt.

https://www.amazon.com/ACEBEAM-XHP70-2-Rechargeable-Headlamp-Lumens/dp/B07L4B42KC/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3JIF7ZTMY88RF&dchild=1&keywords=acebeam+h30&qid=1593479974&sprefix=ace+beam%2Caps%2C707&sr=8-2

Sorry, muffed that link. It's the Acebeam H30.

The Fenix HM65 R is also a good one, with two different bulb settings, wide and narrow focus. It's a bit lighter in weight but not quite as bright as the Acebeam.

I have both, and if having to chose one, I'd go with the Fenix, which is also a bit cheaper.

Jim

They aren't cheap but olight makes some really good, really tough, really bright headlamps, they are compact and rechargeable with great battery life.

Does that have a high/low switch, or just one setting? How bright is it?

I bought a pair of simple coast headlamps at home depot for about $20 each. They do have 3 brightness settings and off, all with one switch though. The brightest setting is bright enough I can use it to run early in mornings in dark when marathon training. The headband has reflect portions for safety so I can be seen by cars approaching behind me. I think these are 400-450 lumens if I remember correctly. I use these for running traps in winter too. Very bright LEDs and run on 3 AAA batteries.
Pay attention to not only lumens brightness but how far the beam will throw. I've had bright headlamps that were only good for about 20' distance and some way less than that. I want one that will truly take back the night!
I logged 1200 running miles on them each year for last three years plus winter coyote and coon line work in december and January. Still using same pair of lamps, I switch them out when batteries run low but change the batteries when I get back home. They will take abuse. Between constant jostling from running, plus dropping them several times and my dog grabbing one and working it over...they both work fine today.
I have tried a jillion off the shelf headlights and these are best and brightest for not much money out of pocket. I need a headlamp that I can run with that will light up the trail well ahead of me. I can pick up coon eyes a VERY long ways off with these seriously throw a bean about 1/8 mile or so but will pick up eyes way farther than that. And i can see dog crap on trail far enough ahead that i can sidestep it at full running pace.
It's been my go to headlamp last few years anyway.
Jim

I wasn't sure if it was exactly the same as mine, so I went to see if I could find out for you. I found out it's different than mine is. So I can't answer your questions, other than it only has the one setting. Sorry, it looked about identical to mine but now I see it's made different.