In 2007, the EL8 Solar Headlamp was throughly tested on camping and backpacking trips by a number of experts from Backpacker Magazine, and was recently awarded Editors' Choice, one of only 15 outdoor retailer products to receive the award in 2008

I picked this lamp up at a Northface outlet and then drove home with it opened in overcast weather. By the time I got home I could already start playing with it! Pretty versitile, you can figure out ways to attatch it to different backpacks and what not. I'm just curious to see how the adapters work out.

I'll get the negatives out of the way. First and foremost is the mount for this lamp. It's about as limp as an 80 year old man. Sux to need it to stay in a perfect fixed position only for it to flop down and out of viewing feild...especially when bushwhacking and you hear the rustling in the bushes and ya REALLY wanna KNOW what THAT was, lol!!! Also, the one thing I wasn't expecting to have to do was use the headlamp as the powerplant for energy. What I'm saying is I truly was expecting to be able to plug my usb and 12v adapters directly to the solar panel and charge them thru there. As is, you have to charge whatever device you may be charging via the headlamp plugged into the solar panel. Unless I'm dumb...but I have owned this for a year now and have not found away around this. However, this is not a complaint as much as I find it a production flaw...they thought this far, they could have thought a lil further on behalf of charging devices directly through panel. Seriously though, unless I just got a bad mount it IS WEAK!!!! Was seriously disappointed after it gave way in the first couple weeks of ownership.

Anyhow, all and all I think this is the greatest thing since even before peanut butter and jelly...freal!!!! It's friggin awesome not to have to worry about lugging around batteries for lights and knowing I can keep ipods, cameras, gps, cell phones and so many other things running on and on without need to resupply with batteries. This thing has been a dramatic piece of equipment for my outdoors adventures and will be irreplaceable on my AT trip next year. I have charged, drained, charged, drained, charged, drained the solar panel over and over and over and over many many many times. It never has seemed to build up a memory of any kind, which was something I was concerned about over its longterm usage. the panel charges great in good light and surprisingly well in overcast. My older toshiba laptop crapped out finally and I was broke and without the money to replace it at the time a while back and thank goodness I still had my trusty everlite to keep my ipod charged...nice!

The panel has nice sized holes and rails along the sides and corners of it to make it easy to clip on a pack, in/on a tent and what have you. Everlite truly made a name with this piece of eqipment as someone else pointed out that even Backpacker magazine listed it in their 08 gear reviews as one of the best and handiest products available. Only downside is that friggin mount and that horridly limp hinge, ugh...but it'll still do what I got it for overall...that's the only reason I CAN'T give it 5 stars....

No need to worry if you'll have enough "extra batteries" for your head lamp: the solar charger for this headlamp works great, even on cloudy days, and no batteries are required for anything. You can leave it on the dash of your car while driving to make use of the sun before you even get to the trail head. The light output on high is plenty bright enough to see everything at night. On dim you'll save power and still have enough light to read before you hit the sack. Initially I tested the unit by hanging it from a ceiling fan, close to the light bulb for that room. Great way to get a full charge before leaving for your trip. Used on multiple week-long backpacking trips with no problems. The plastic attachment to the head strap is a little annoying on the forehead, so I wear a buff or bandana under it.

This is a neat lamp however it feels more fragile than my friend's Petzl. Don't get me wrong, the solar charging feature is great but I feel like this lamp wouldn't be able to survive much of a hit. The way the lamp attaches to the head band is a little shoddy as well. It isn't the most secure design. I haven't experienced a problem with the mounting system yet but I would not be surprised if I did at some point. The power level LED on the lamp itself is kind of difficult to see unless you look at it at just the right angle. The LED is too recessed to make a quick check of your lamp's power level. The five LED's are plenty bright enough and the battery charges very quickly, even on overcast days.

I was pretty excited to find a headlamp with a solar charger, and had been considering getting it for a while. I finally bought this headlamp about a month ago and have been really have with it thus far. Light is pretty bright, and seems pretty sturdy.

For lea2967606's review, if you give the guys at Backcountry a call, they are generally happy to help you out with return shipping since you're headlamp was missing a piece.

after a whole week waiting. THis "cool" lamp comes without one screw. Functionalities are ok. but how come without one screw. I intended to return, but "this is no pre-paid shipping sheet". I need to pay shipping fee myself. I just keep it;-(