Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n I recently undertook four days camping in the Kosciuszko National Park (I don\u2019t subscribe to my coworker Katharina Loesche\u2019s opinion of camping, see here<\/a>), and I decided to take the H8R headtorch with me to test its mettle.<\/a><\/p>\n And it did not disappoint.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve done a few long-distance overnight hike events, and I\u2019ve had many headtorches die on me, so I was very excited to trial this new piece of tech.<\/a><\/p>\n I had four days and 45km around the Mount Jagungal circuit<\/a> to gather my thoughts about this bad boy, and here they are.<\/p>\n Pros:Brightness<\/p>\n This thing is bright, VERY BRIGHT (see Cons list for thoughts on the brightness).<\/p>\n The sun going down made absolutely no difference to the amount of light we had around camp<\/a> thanks to the H8R.<\/p>\n Multiple nights in a row we arrived at our campsites in the dark, an occurrence that usually lengthens the tent-erecting process, but not so when armed with the H8R.<\/p>\n The different brightness settings came in very handy;<\/a> I generally relied on the dimmest setting for all my evening activities and it was still the most powerful light in my group of six.<\/p>\n It also had the ability to rotate a dial on the front of the light which would narrow or widen the light\u2019s sphere of influence, and that was phenomenal.<\/p>\n On our last night, we camped in a valley by the Tumut River<\/a>, with ridgelines towering all around us.<\/p>\n I was able to narrow the focus and make a pinpoint of light which shone right to the top of the ridge.<\/p>\n It is a phenomenally powerful light.<\/p>\n According to the box, the battery life lasts 10 hours on full power<\/a>, 15 hours on mid power, and 120 on the dim setting.<\/p>\n Four nights out, with about 2 hours of use every evening, equated to about 8 hours of HUT (Headlight Usage Time).<\/p>\n I saw absolutely no lessening of brightness as I continued to use it.<\/p>\n The fact that it has rechargeable batteries<\/a> makes it so much more attractive as well.<\/p>\n Evenly balanced\/comfortable<\/p>\n This headlight looks very different to other lights, mainly due to the prominent battery on the back of the elastic.<\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re one for the aesthetics of your headtorch, then maybe this isn\u2019t for you, but I found I had completely forgotten about the big battery on the back after just a few minutes of wearing it.<\/p>\n The balance was actually quite exceptional<\/a>, normally I need to do a lot of adjusting on the band to counteract the weight of the torch on the front, but because the light on the front was counterbalanced by the battery on the back, it sat perfectly.<\/p>\n Hiking isn\u2019t always the gentlest activity. Theres a lot of shoving stuff in bags, banging things on rocks, and accidentally dropping items in the river never to be found again.<\/p>\n Fortunately, despite all of those things inadvertently happening to the H8R, it took them on the chin and lived on to fight another day. (I will say that it was more of a puddle than a river though, the headtorch has an IP54 waterproof rating<\/a>, meaning it can survive splashes but not complete submersion).<\/p>\n And if somehow you do break this thing, the H8R has a 25-year warranty<\/a> so no harm done!<\/p>\n Now, despite all the great things about it, there are a few hiccups that I found using it.<\/p>\n Cons:Too bright <\/p>\n Okay I know this sounds like I\u2019m clutching at straws but picture this: It\u2019s 3am, you\u2019ve suffered through a -4 degree night on top of Mount Jagungal<\/a>, you\u2019ve been fighting off the urge to wee for the past three hours but it\u2019s finally reached a point of no return.<\/p>\n You slowly ease open your sleeping bag, so as not to wake your hiking partner next to you. You tentatively grab the headtorch at the top of your tent, aiming to only shine it long enough to find the tent\u2019s zipper.<\/p>\n You hit the on button then BAM! Cut to the scene in Oppenheimer when the bomb goes off for the first time and all goes a blinding white light.<\/p>\n Okay yes, maybe a tad dramatic comparing the brightness of a headlamp to a nuclear bomb, but you get the point.<\/p>\n I literally never used the highest power setting<\/a> during the hike unless I was showing people how ridiculously bright it was.<\/p>\n As I said earlier, I used the light on its lowest setting, lest I permanently blind my friends.<\/p>\n Stocky<\/p>\n Whilst the balance was great, the light itself was still quite bulky. It made it slightly challenging to store comfortably, especially in pockets.<\/p>\n Once it was dark and on my head it was fine, but during the day it took up more space than I usually reserve for headtorches<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was also fairly weighty, not outrageously so, but enough to notice you had it on.<\/p>\n My final gripe comes from a safety perspective.<\/p>\n The H8R doesn\u2019t seem to have a flashing light setting.<\/a><\/p>\n Whilst not mission critical as you can still recreate a flashing motion with your hand if needs be, I like to have a headtorch that can flash itself in case of emergency, so it\u2019s easier to attract attention.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re in the market for a higher end headtorch, the H8R headtorch is a great investment.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Multimedia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2de9cfc492a6db03580640f246eb938fe21d0a24.jpg\")
Multimedia journalist and hiking enthusiast Tim McLachlan on the Mount Jagungal ridgeline in Kosciuszko National Park Credit: Tim McLachlan<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ba92cb3b919e28b37fe070502ca2cce2fb335301.jpg\")
The H8R was great for locating the countless Kosciuszko wolf spiders crawling through the grass. Credit: Tim McLachlanGood battery life<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c8a5d1b2a20d394ce47f251f910b35daf26d76f1.jpg\")
A little bit of junk in the trunk thanks to the headtorch\u2019s rechargeable battery. Credit: Tim McLachlanSturdy<\/p>\n![\"What\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/ffcdb301318027d8a5349174981d20bc86a01f8e.jpg\")
What\u2019s he looking at? Whatever it is, it\u2019s perfectly lit thanks to the H8R. Credit: Tim McLachlan<\/p>\n![\"Sleek](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/95179e795b47262f1ceb8962e1ce420ced8ed275.jpg\")
Sleek and handsome…and the H8R doesn\u2019t look too bad either. Credit: Tim McLachlanSafety feature<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fbc994d7cd985aa55598aa2b07b330c232e6a787.jpg\")
The H8R effortlessly lighting up a cliff face next to the Tumut River in Kosciuszko. Credit: Tim McLachlan<\/p>\n