Winter is coming. Screw that, winter is here, and with it the need for a few good lights. LED Lenser makes some great stuff, and their SEO 5 headlamp with a beam you can focus is worthy of place in your lighting quiver. Yeah, I said lighting quiver. You know you have one.
The SEO 5 is a bit on the large side, but still lightweight enough at 3.6 ounces that you don't notice it on your noggin, and the larger size helps with manipulation of the single button on top. The plush headband helps with that; it's definitely a step above the straps on most headlamps, and it even includes a carabiner-like buckle that will let you clip it on to small cords.The inner light housing can be tilted without moving the outer housing, and it sticks in place nicely so you can jostle away.
The beauty of the SEO 5 is its adjustable focus. You just rotate the bezel to switch from a 180 lumen spot to a 20 lumen flood, or anywhere in between. You can easily do it with one hand, and once you get used to it you'll find yourself using the feature a lot and liking it. Run time varies from 7 to 20 hours on three AAA batteries, which are easily swapped out with the flip of a finger.
But wait, there's more! In addition to the bright and dim white light settings and the solid and blinking red light, you can hold the button down and adjust the light level, which the SEO 5 will then remember until you remove the batteries. Very cool. And bonus feature: hold the button for 5 seconds and the light is locked in Transport Mode. No more worrying about the button being pushed in your bag and the light melting something or burning out the batteries just as you arrive at your epic night ice climb.
The SEO 5 is supposedly water resistant, but after examining the battery compartment we were not confident enought to test that out with a submersion test, but it should be fine under light rain and incidental water contact. For the price the SEO 5 is a fantastic value. If you're looking for a do-it-all headlamp the SEO 5 will light up your life without breaking your bank account.