Fenix HP25 Headlamp Review

Click on the photo for a larger view

Fenix HP25 Headlamp

MY HISTORY WITH HEADLAMPS

I've been an avid outdoors guy for years, fishing, hunting, herping (snake hunting) and wildlife photography. For some reason, many of my pursuits take me outdoors at night, especially the herping.  For years I resisted headlamps because for lack of a better term, they looked like birth control to me. Then one day while fishing with a friend about 8 years ago, we arrived before sun up. As we put our boat on the water in the dark, he slapped on a headlamp and started doing his thing while I fumbled with my handheld light trying to pull out back lashes, tie on lures, etc. He finally said, "here, try this". I reluctantly put on his headlamp and I've been a believer since then. Soon after, I went out and bought a cheap headlamp at my local WalMart and used it for many things but I longed for something better, more powerful. So I at the reccomendation of a friend, I got on Amazon and bought a Petzl Tikka headlamp; much better. While I loved the Petzl Tikka and it worked great for small chores around the house, reading in bed, great for early morning and evening fishing and as a focus assist light for photography, it still didn't have the power I was looking for. I tried it looking for snakes at night in the wilds of West Texas and it just didn't have enough juice. So after lots of research and reccomendations by others in the herping (snake hunting) community, I bit the bullet and picked up a Princeton Tec Apex; now we're talking. This light did it all. For years as a snake hunter, I carried around a florescent wand powered by a big, heavy 6V battery and always wished for something lighter but provide the light I needed, the Princeton Tec Apex provided that and worked great for all aspects. It even completely replaced the florescent wand for snake hunting. It would take a heck of a light to trump the Apex, read on...

The Princeton Tec Apex (left) and the Fenix HP25 (right)

The Petzl Tikka left and the Fenix HP25 right

Well, as I said earlier, in my "real job" in Law Enforcement, I rely on artificial light on a regular basis. The one limitation with head lamps however was that in a life or death situation, involving gunfire at night, wearing a headlamp provides your adversary with a grand, glowing target,...not good. So hand held light are a must; and I've used LOTS of them. I would imagine that I own probably 14 hand held lights / torches. Of those lights, the ones I find that I use most are my Fenix lights such as the Fenix  2 x AA L2D (now replaced by the E25) and the Fenix  CR123 powered TK30 (now replaced by the TK60), a real blaster of a flashlight! I can usually get by every shift with just these two lights; L2D for regular tasks and TK30 for search and rescue and tracking. These two lights have provided me years of reliable service. So my experience with Fenix lights made me curious about their headlamps. So along comes the Fenix HP25 Headlamp. It had both a flood light and a spot light that I liked so much with my Princeton Tec Apex. My Princeton Tec unfortunately, has had some issues as of late (bad switches and a broken pivot bracket) and I was in the market for a new headlamp and my very good experiences with Fenix made the Fenix HP25 a "no brainer". Well, it turned out Fenix was kind enough to allow me to run one through it's paces.

Left to right, the Nitecore Defender Infinity, the Nitecore EZ 123, the Fenix HP25 , the Fenix TK30, Fenix L2D and SureFire U2 Ultra

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

The new Fenix HP25

The back of the HP25 package with all the run time info (click to enlarge)

The Fenix comes nicely packaged with four AA's included. Upon opening the package and assembling everything, I was pleased that the HP 25's pivot point(s) are on either side of the head lamp as opposed to the Princeton Tec Apex (which eventually broke) which is centered. The Fenix's pivot points seem much sturdier and the pivot point on the right side included the insertion point of the power cable. Assembly of the straps were easy as where the provided cable guides. I was happy to see that the straps were sufficiently big enough to accommodate my big head, a minor complaint I had with the Petzl; it was always a bit tight. The HP25 is comfortable but snug where it needs to be.

BATTERY COMPARTMENT

The Fenix HP25 is powered by four (4) AA's and is opened and closed by a threaded tension screw. The battery compartment is protected by reverse polarity protection to protect the light from people like me putting batteries in backwards. I really like the feel of the threaded screw over the 1/4 turn closure of the Princeton Tec Apex . While I never had issues with the Apex leaking, the screw type closure of the HP25 definitely seems to close the compartment more snugly and gives one more confidence that it isn't going to leak. Also of note is that the female portion on the battery carriage is brass as opposed to plastic on the apex pictured below.

Battery carriers of the Princeton Tec Apex on top and Fenix HP25 on bottom

The battery carrier on the Fenix HP25 is well done and the batteries are not difficult to get in or out. I have to give the Princeton Tec Apex a small attaboy in this department because the carrier has holes in the opposite side of all four battery compartments allowing the batteries to be pushed out from behind instead of picking them out with fingernails (of which I have none). The Fenix only has holes in two, but this may give the carrier more strength in the long run, we'll see. All of the spring contacts on the HP25 are gold plated which was a nice touch. The carrier itself is hard plastic and the top cap is a rubberized polymer for sealing purposes. Placing them in the waterproof carrier and screwing it closed was easy with zero alignment issues. I like the over sized knob as opposed to the small coin-slot knob on the Apex. The Apex was sometimes difficult to turn closed without a coin or using the provided clip tool when my hands were sweaty. The large knob on the HP25 fixes that issue, well done Fenix.
 The question of comfort often comes up with the 4 AA battery compartments. I may be a little more tolerant than others but I've never seen it as an issue while out in the sticks with either the Apex or the HP25. Heck, my 10 year old daughter wore it the other night with no complaints. I guess if you where laying in bed reading books with this light, it might be an issue riding on the back of your head but then again, wearing this light to read while laying in bed is kinda like killing a fly with a sledge hammer. It can be done but it's kinda over kill. If laying in bed and reading books is your thing, I'd recommend a AAA head lamp like the  Petzl Tikka , Princeton Tec Fuel or even the Fenix HL10 . If you're the outdoor type, get the Fenix HP25 .

The well done battery carrier of the Fenix HP25. Note the large screw down knob

The Princeton Tec Apex on the left and the HP25 on the right

POWER SWITCHES

The power switches on the Fenix HP25 are separate; one for the spot light and one for the flood light.

HP25 Switches, Flood on the right, spot on the left

One of my current problems with my Princeton Tec Apex are the switches. When new, they didn't provide much feedback and were a little tough to operate but they worked well for about 4 years. During those four years however, they progressively became tougher and tougher to activate. Currently. none of my kids nor my wife can activate them. Fortunately the switches on the Fenix HP25 seem a little better made. You activate either switch my holding them for approximately one (1) second to turn them on or off and quick taps when they are on to scroll through their various power modes. A three second depression of the spot side will activate the "SOS" mode. These switches provide good clicky feedback and hopefully, years of reliable service like the rest of my Fenix lights.  The power switches on the Fenix HP25 are on the top of the light as opposed to the bottom on the Princeton Tec Apex . the Fenix also has a protruding plastic lip on top to protect the switches in the fully closed position.

Switch comparison, Princeton Tec Apex on the left and HP25 on the right. I  like the HP25 switches better. You'll note that the pivot on the Apex is broken as well so I had to torque down the pivot screw to make it usable.

IN USE

Well this is where it all matters for most folks. Just how well does it work, how bright is it and how usable it it for various applications? Well, I've had it now for 2 weeks and I can report it works GREAT on all counts and brighter than any head lamp I've used or own. Thus far I've used it for night-time photography, herping and fish netting at night (sleeping fish are much easier to catch). My daughter likes to go out occasionally at night and collect fish from our local rivers for our huge aquarium and the HP25 worked great for this.

The flood light is the best I've used on ANY headlamp. It's unbelievably smooth throughout the beam and the run times are hard to believe:
Flood Turbo: 180 lumens / 4h 40min
Flood High: 90 lumens / 10h 30min
Flood Mid: 45 lumens / 24h
Flood Low: 4 lumens / 206h

In Spot Mode the Burn Times are advertised as: 
Spot High: 180 lumens / 4h 30min
Spot Mid: 90 lumens / 10h 30min
Spot Low: 45 lumens / 24h
SOS: 90 lumens

Of course using the spot and flood together will significantly shorten these times.

I'm happy to report that I used the spot and flood separately and together occasionally for almost four hours three nights ago before I had to replace the batteries. To say I was impressed with the Fenix HP25 is an understatement. The run-time beats my Princeton Tec Apex by a long shot. I would feel confident going out for a night of herping (snake hunting) with two good sets of batteries (8 AA's), one set in the headlamp and one extra in the pocket. I use the flood light option for walking and looking 90% of the time and switch on the spot temporarily to look into crevices/caves and up onto rock faces of rock ledges or road cuts. So in short, like I discovered with my Princeton Tec Apex, to make a good herping light, you need a flood AND spot light. The Fenix HP25 has both, they're both BRIGHT and they're both smooth with very little artifacts. I may have found my perfect herping light with the HP25.

While doing macro photography at night, a low level flood light is desirable for focus assist to leave your hands fee and my Princeton Tec Apex headlamp worked good for this. One variable is the power that is needed for focusing. This mainly depends on the distance from the subject to the camera sensor. Fortunately, the HP25 has four different power settings and has worked great for night-time photography. To all the photographers out there, if you haven't invested in a good headlamp yet, do it now! You'll wonder how you ever got by without one at night or in low light situations. The advantage of LED's of incandescents is that LED's provide a much "whiter" light than the yellow hue of the old incandescents. LED quality varies however, some cheaper ones giving off a blue tinge and some giving off a yellow tinge. The aim is pure white in most cases and the HP25 with it's Two Cree XP-E R4 LED's creates a very nice almost pure white with barely any perceptible yellow for photography purposes.

Equipment check for a night-time photography hike, Spyderco Gayle Bradley, Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Fenix HP25

BEAM SHOTS AND TESTS

The following are shot of spot only (on bright), flood light only and spot and flood together. All shot at 25 feet. The Camera was a Canon 40D / Canon 24-70 f/2.8L shot at f/5.6 at 2 seconds on ISO 400. There were no adjustments in the brightness or hue in post processing.

It worked great for hunting American Green Tree Frogs in central FL

Illuminating subjects for focus assist works great with the HP25. The head lamp was still illuminating during this shot.

CONCLUSION

If haven't figured it out yet, I think Fenix has a winner with the HP25. For the outdoorsman, the fisherman, the hunter, the herper (snake hunter), photographer, caver, hiker or camper, you'd be hard pressed to find a better light in this price range; heck at any price range. This is just one awesome BRIGHT headlamp with great run-time. Fenix must read the various forums and pick up on things that people have liked and disliked about headlamps because they seemed to really have nailed this one. It's spot light has a heck of a throw for a headlamp; more than sufficient for most outdoor activities. The flood light like previously stated is the best I've used. It's dang near perfect in my book for walking around, hiking, working at night, and herping. The Princeton Tec Apex (Albeit an older model) used to be my favorite. The Fenix HP25 has now taken that crown. This is one great light.... It will be getting LOTS of use. Fenix continues the tradition of being one of the best bang for your buck lights on the market.

Zero Tolerance 0560 (Hinderer Collaboration) Review

The Zero Tolerance 0560 (Hinderer Collaboration)

Click on any of the photos for an enlarged version

I had to sell a couple of other knives to fund the purchase of the Zero Tolerance (ZT) 0560 because I really wanted this knife. Fortunately, I found one brand new in the box at a gun show for a VERY good price and snatched it up in short order.

MATERIALS:

The lock side of the ZT 0560 is made of 3-D textured 6AL4V titanium while the non-lock side is made from 3-D Textured G-10 with a skeletonized, thin, I'm assuming titanium liner underneath (I'm guessing here) . The 3-D Machining on both sides of the handles look somewhat like fish scales; I like them. The blade is made of Uddeholm's "super steels" in ELMAX; more on the blade later. Like my favorite knife, the Hinderer XM-18 and my other Zero Tolerance knife the ZT 0550 , it is very apparent as soon as you open the box and handle this knife, you're handling top quality.It's also very apparent that it has a strong Hinderer lineage.

The beautiful 3-D Machined Titanium Lock Side of the ZT 0560

FIT AND FINISH:

Out of the box, the ZT 0560 was VERY smooth albeit with some serious sticking trying to use the thumb stud. According to ZT however, the "thumb stud" is actually not intended to be a thumb stud for opening the knife; it's a blade stop. This knife was intended to be opened with the provided flipper. I can open it with the thumb stud/blade stop but it is very difficult. With the flipper, there is very little effort required and it works great. In fact, flipping it is very addictive and you'll probably find yourself flipping it quite-a-bit when you fist get it. There were no issues with the pivot screw turning while opening like I've had with a few of my other Ti frame locks. The screws were all nice and tight and nicely recessed. The Standoff's , like my ZT 0550 and Hinderer XM-18 are very substantial. The clip was tight and there were no burs on any of the milled areas. There were no sharp edges on either the G-10 nor the Ti Side. The jimping on the back of the blade, spine of the knife, lock area and inside the knife handle were sufficiently smooth and not uncomfortable by any means; nice machining! Blade centering was as close to perfect out of the box as I've seen on a Ti Frame Lock. The edge was ground very nicely and very even on both sides. The one ding I have on this knife is that the frame lock has failed several times. Once while trying to field dress a deer, the lock failed and cut my hand pretty good. Mere hand pressure backwards on the blade in the locked position can cause it to fail; no spine whacking needed. Other than blade play in the direction of the lock face however, there is no blade play in any direction. The sole blade play is due to the weak lock. I have contacted ZT and they have advised to send it in and I will update this review accordingly. Thus far, I have had zero issues with ZT/Kai's warranty service so I expect no issues...to be updated later..

Dang good Blade centering out of the box

 LOCKUP:

As stated previously, I have had some issues with lock up on this knife but will be sending it in to allow ZT's excellent customer service remedy this...update to follow...

Lock up on the ZT 0560 (left) and the XM-18 (right)

If you look closely, you can see the detent ball marks on the blade but the detent/bearing itself is nicely concealed within the TI Side scale

BLADE:

I love the 3.5 inch stone washed ELMAX drop point style blade. It works excellent for just about all of my purposes, save delicate ones. ELMAX is a powdered steel  from a company called Uddeholm. ELMAX is a bit higher in carbon content than CPM S30V, CPM S35VN, CTS-XHP. This  gives it good wear resistance but even with it's higher carbon content, it's other characteristics like a higher Chromium content, allows it maintains it's claim to stainless steel. In use, it has proven one tough customer and I have seen zero signs of rust. I REALLY like this steel. All in all, I wouldn't change a thing about this blade

Excellent blade shape for many applications. You can also see why ZT refers to the stud as a blade stop.

ERGONOMICS:

One of the reasons I bought this knife obviously was it's similarities to my favorite XM-18. In truth however, it lies somewhere in size between the XM-18 and the XM-24. Despite it's closed size of 5 inches, it carries very well in the pocket with little pocket hog issues and feels excellent in the hand. The provided 4 way adjustable deep carry pocket clip is long enough to allow for some flex so as not to destroy pockets and makes it fairly easy to slide in and out of the pocket. In short, for such a large knife, the ergonomics are excellent!

A very well done 4-way adjustable pocket clip on the ZT 0560

ZT 0560 (left) compared to the Hinderer XM-18 (right); two fine knives...

SIZE AND WEIGHT: 

The ZT 0560 weighs in at a significant 5.8 ounces but for a knife of this size and solid build, it's actually very well done. The overall opened length is a big 8.8 inches which makes it useful for many tasks but a little large for delicate ones. Those people who like large knives will be impressed but you might cause some undue bladder control issues with the sheeple while flipping it open in public so be careful.

A trio of Titanium frame locks, the ZT 0550 (left), ZT 0560 (middle) and XM-18 (right)

SMOOTHNESS OF OPENING:

This is where there is a little controversy with the ZT 0560 . The traditional thumb stud that is used on countless knives from many companies is not actually a thumb stud on the ZT 0560 , according to ZT; it's a blade stop. I knew this when I bought the knife but being the seasoned knife nut that I am figured, I could use it as a thumb stud anyway; I was wrong. While I can flip it open with the thumb stud, it is very sticky and clearly wasn't intended for this. Conversely, the provided flipper works like a champ and flicks open with some serious authority. The pivot on the ZT 0560 is surrounded by what ZT calls the KVT (Kinetic Velocity Technology) ball bearing system. It's basically a set of bearings housed in a tough plastic washer and it works well. I am happy to report that flipping the blade open with the flipper is insanely smooth and FAST. In fact, as I mentioned previously, when you first get the knife, I'm betting you'll flip it until your finger is wore out. It's just fun to flip.

LOOKS:

Take a look at the provided photos of this knife; it's just plain cool. Everyone that has seen this knife remarks how nice it is. It will quickly become one of your most shown off folding knives.

USES:

With its blade shape and size, the uses are pretty much endless save delicate tasks like peeling apples, intricate carving, etc. For a police officer or someone in the military, this knife is tailor made for EDC (Every Day Carry) and last ditch self defense uses. This would be a great knife for any police officer, firefighter, EMT or someone in the military. It might be a little large for some folks who prefer a smaller EDC but for me, it works just fine.

WARRANTY / CUSTOMER SERVICE:

I don't usually include a section in my reviews regarding Warranty issues and customer service but KAI / Kershaw / Zero Tolerance deserves a mention on this subject. Two things stand out about this company in this regard; one, Zero Tolerance is made in the United States by craftsmen at their factory in Oregon. Second, Kershaw and Zero Tolerance have EARNED a reputation in the industry for their rock solid customer service and warranty. In short, it does not get any better that I know of within the knife world. Purchase a Kershaw or Zero Tolerance knife and you have bought a knife from a company that stands behind their product. Nothing else needs to be said....I'll be testing it again with this knife. :)

CONCLUSION: 

This is one seriously well built, heavy duty knife, one that make you all the envy amongst your knife carrying buddies. Is the ZT 560 worth the $200+ asking price? Well if you count the sum and quality of it's parts, the build and the coolness factor, I think you'd be hard pressed to find another knife in this category priced better. To top if off, it needs to be mentioned that the ZT 0560 is made right here in the United States which is a huge plus for me (as it should be for others living in the US) .The ZT 0560 actually won Blade Show's Knife collaboration of the year for 2011. That being said, as of this writing (6-14-13), I'm having issues with lockup to the point that it's dangerous under heavy use. I'm assuming this is just a fluke and will be giving ZT the opportunity to prove me correct. Assuming this is the case (a fluke), this could well be one of my favorite knives in my collection. Everything else about this knife is dang near perfect for a knife of this size. This is a knife that I'll be carrying on and off duty and it will become part of my bushcraft arsenals. To be continued once I get the repaired knife (or an exchange) from ZT...

UPDATE 4/29/14 : I have FINALLY sent the knife off for service (I have lots of knives so I procrastinate a bit). I will update with ZT's response as soon as it occurs.

UPDATE 5/19/14: I just received my ZT 0560 back from ZT customer service. It now locks up solid as a rock. There is no lock rock what-so-ever. While they did not provide an explanation of what they did, it APPEARS as though they reground the lock face to make it sit more solidly against the blade. As it sits, this knife is as close in quality to my Hinderer XM-18 as I think any knife could be. This is ONE SOLID knife. Zero Tolerance / KAI / Kershaw again gets a solid 10 in the customer service / warranty department. Don't hesitate to get this knife.

The ZT 0560 on a bushcraft hike in the Lincoln national forest in NM.