Head Torches are simple, effective and great way to keep walking in the dark. It’s always worth having a head torch packed in your bag, just in case. 


The brightness is measured in Lumens and the adoption of LED and lithium-ion batteries, they are much lighter and robust. For walking, ideally, you should be looking 200-500 lumens but for running or biking, you might need something brighter.

When choosing the right one, check out the type of light being offered, i.e spot or flood lighting. Some offer both but some torches are focusing on a beam for lighting a distance ahead but take in to consideration the option of having a wider spread of light

Obviously you need a power source and there is a choice of rechargeable or disposable. Although disposable AA and AAA are in someways more convenient, you still might want to consider the re-chargeable versions.

Whatever you use as a battery, they need to be regularly checked to make sure your have a full charge, at all times. If you’re out for very long walks, the head torches with larger battery packs, maybe an option to look at but for shorter walks, typically the all in one will suffice. It is worth investing in having spare batteries or having a (charged!) power bank in your bag, that will work for both phone and torch. If you do a lot of walking in the dark, you might also want to consider having a spare cheap head torch for emergencies.

The performance of the head torch will be determined by the charge of a battery and output power. You might have the most powerful head torch there is but no use without a power supply.

Weight of head torches are typically determined by the size of the batteries. If you’re walking occasionally for short distances, the lighter all in one versions will be fine.
Most good manufacturers will display an IP rating. What the hell is that, you may ask. Well “IP” stands for Ingress Protection and there will be two numbers following the IP e.g IP57. The first number is the Dust protection rating and the latter is the Moisture protection rating. The latter is the more important. The level is 0 – 9 , with 9 being the most water resistant and should be more than 4. If there is an “X” appearing for the dust rating and this means, it has not been tested.

The better quality head torches will provide setting options for brightness, colour etc. That can be useful, so long as they are easily accessible, even if you are wearing gloves. Some now offer an infra-red, where you can swipe to change which is really cool, unless something like a pesky bat flies close by and you’re suddenly in darkness.

See our head torch offers; https://store.walx.co.uk/product-category/accessories/lights-head-torches/