Dorcy Headlamp Product Review

Recently, Ashley and I received two different headlamps from Dorcy to review for our readers. We were sent one broad beam headlamp and one spot beam headlamp to review. We tested out both of these headlamps and we were both impressed by the quality of the Dorcy headlamps snd their reasonable retail price. A headlamp is a must have in a hikers set of tools and Ashley and I always carry a headlamp on our overnight hikes or any hike we plan on starting or ending in the dark.

The two headlamps that were sent to Ashley and I were the Dorcy 41-2096 120 Lumen Headlight Broad Beam and the Dorcy 41-2097 134 Lumen Headlight Spot Beam. Both products came in at a weight of 2.9 ounces with 3 triple a batteries. The nice thing about these headlamps is the batteries are included with a purchase of either of the headlamps. 2.9 ounces for a headlamp is light and you will have to usually spend more that the $24.99 advertised on their website to find a lighter product. You can find both headlamps for even cheaper on Amazon. The lowest we saw was on Amazon for around $15.00 with the average price approaching $20.00. Both headlamps have the exact same settings; Full Power, Half Power, and Strobe mode. We found both headlamps were comfortable to wear and they were easy to adjust for comfort. It was additionally very easy to switch between the different settings.

The headlamp casing is made out of plastic and the battery casing is separate of the LED light casing. The LED light casing swivels which allows you to shine the beam of light in a varies of different angles to suit your hiking preference. The spot beam headlamp has 134 lumens and Dorcy's website states the spot beam headlamp shines up to 357 Feet. The broad beam headlamp is listed as 120 lumens and Dorcy's website states the spot beam shines up to 157 Feet. When using the headlamps you can notice a clear difference between the two types of headlamps. The broad beam headlamp shines a much larger broad beam of light that is perfect for illuminating all of the hiking trail in front of you. However, the broad beam of light does not go as far as the spot beam headlamp. You will notice the spot beam headlamp is brighter, more focuses, and in our opinion probably superior to the broad beam of light while on the hiking trail. When hiking at night in the pitch black of the wilderness the general rule of thumb we use is the brighter the light the better.

We tested the headlamps on several short hiking trips to our local mountains, and found that the battery charge would last approximately 12 hours. Both headlamps are weather resistant, but are by no means weather proof. If you are doing night hiking in rainy/snowy conditions you will need to spend considerably more money to get a waterproof headlamp. The plastic material of both headlamps seems sturdy, but over time and use will probably not hold up quite as well as some of the stronger polycarbonate headlamps that are on the market. Again those headlamps cost more money. Overall, we feel both these headlamps are great headlamps for a really good price and would recommend them to others.