Because I always like to give you a video….
I received the HYBRIDLight in a monthly Cairn box and have been using it ever since. The option of having it charge with the solar panel is great for when you may not want to have a stack of extra batteries or if you accidentally leave it on / it hits switched n in your bag. I have had that happen on a trip only to find a dead headlamp at the end of the day. With the panel you can at least get enough juice to get you though the night if you use it sparingly.
The Headlamp is water resistant, nice for those times your in misty or truly raining environments and need to keep your gear alive. The LED has two settings with a max of 75 lumens. The claim is 30 hours of light on one full charge, however I have not verified this. I have used it for a few nights without charge and it never started to dim so I would think as long as you set it up to charge a bit during the day you would be good for a long time.
The Headlamp measures 2.5” wide and weighs in at 1.5 oz. It is decently compact but I do wish that since its solar they had added some kind of clip or spot for a clip so I could just hang it off the back of my bag when hiking. I can always rig something up with the strap but its a missed opportunity on their part. Even something like a small D ring would have been great. The solar panel is also quite small and very light, it seems sturdy enough that it will survive in your pack as long as its decently protected from being smashed.
To charge it you utilize a Micro USB port which is nice as almost all electronics minus Apple products use the same cord. You can use your car charger or wall charger that you already have in most cases. Everything from my kindle to phone to backup batteries use the same cord. That also means one less cord to remember if your traveling to go backpacking.
I would recommend this headlamp to anyone looking for a compact bright light. It is not the brightest but it makes up for it with the solar panel. That alone makes it worth it to me, not needing to carry an extra battery or batteries. I also like that its rechargeable just because its so much easier. I am not scrambling the night before a trip because I forgot to buy a AAA battery so I have to scavenge one from my TV remote.
Good buy in my opinion and it seems durable enough to last through my abuses for a long time to come. We will see how long the battery is serviceable over the next few years. I feel like when it finally does kick the bucket ill be buying a replacement for my load out.
Here is the website for the company.
-Review and Photos by Scott