Tactical brand headlight - reliable?

[Eljimberino]

Picked up a cheap Tactical brand headlight from large store the other day. Put some batteries in it and it reluctantly turned on, but I'm worried it'll stop working. Should I worry?

[CasualNerd]

If it's a cheap chinese light, it's reasonable to worry. I have had some great lights and some duds, just don't rely on it for emergencies.

On the bright side, many are easily fixed when simple things break. It's always worth spending more on a higher quality light when you can.

[Gadgetgeek]

I'd be careful of trusting it too far, but with some testing you should find out its limits pretty quick. a lot of cheaper LED lights suffer from drain while they are off, so I'd test for that, make sure fresh batteries were in for every trip, and that sort of thing.

[taipan821]

I've used another tactical style of headlamp (not the one you have) for a while now for both hikes and night searches

hasn't failed yet, though for hikes i'm only using it around camp and for night searches i have two backups.

[undercling-mike]

These are made by a company called Sunree, who have their products re-branded by quite a few western retailers and gear companies. I've got a Sunree branded headtorch (Youdo 2 model I believe) and the quality seems rather good, as does the whole lineup. OK I stick with my Zebralight and use the Sunree as a loaner but if I had to use the Sunree I wouldn't have any concerns.

The one you have is a Sunree mini, which I've actually looked into getting as a 'just in case' light for when I don't expect to need one (primarily for rock climbing)

[Eljimberino]

Thank you for your replies. I'll give it a go.

I do all my walking in the day. Last multi-day trip I think I used my headlight once. With a phone (with a light) and a backlit ereader most of the 'find something' duties are taken care of. Thought this might be useful as it's much lighter than my current light for when I have to do something with my hands.

Does the red light mode work on yours Mike?

[undercling-mike]

The one I have doesn't have a red light mode, I'm guessing it doesn't work on yours or you haven't been able to activate it? What's the user interface like and how are you supposed to switch between white and red? On mine you have to hold the button for a few seconds while the light is on to switch between the regular beam and flood beam.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

Is this from Anaconda? "Tactical" is a brand they sell.

[Eljimberino]

It's meant to have a red mode, but when you move through the modes, as you describe, it flicks red for 0.1 sec and then seems to turn itself off.

Whether this means it's still on or not I don't know.

Yes, from Anaconda. Was cheap.

[undercling-mike]

It's meant to have a red mode, but when you move through the modes, as you describe, it flicks red for 0.1 sec and then seems to turn itself off.

Whether this means it's still on or not I don't know.

Yes, from Anaconda. Was cheap.

Hmmm, could be a problem with your unit.

[South_Aussie_Hiker]

My old man had two "tactical" lights from anaconda fail. One just stopped working. The other one he opened to replace batteries and the plastic shattered in his hands.

I wouldn't trust it.