Foxelli Headlamps

What Foxelli makes for hunters and campers

On this site, Foxelli is one type of gear: headlamps. The lineup in the grid above splits into three groups:

• An AAA headlamp, sold as the IPX5 LED Headlamp, that runs on standard batteries
• A 180-lumen USB-C rechargeable headlamp, sold single and in many 2-pack colorways
• A 160-lumen USB-C rechargeable headlamp, sold as a kids lamp and as a 2-pack

That's a short list, and it's a light, small-lamp list. Nothing here is a big search beam for scanning a field. These are the lamps for getting dressed at 4:30 a.m., walking a known trail to a stand, cooking in the dark and finding the tent zipper.

Foxelli's own site sells more than headlamps: hiking boots and jackets, hammocks, trekking poles, rain tarps, solar chargers, sleeping pads and chest waders, among others. This site doesn't list those, so the grid stays with the headlamps.

Most of the specs in the grid come from Amazon listings, and the grid marks those values. Where the maker's own product pages add something, like weight, tilt angle or the water rating, I've said so and named the model the maker lists. Where neither says, the grid shows a dash. I left the gaps as gaps.

Lineup notes: the Foxelli headlamp groups

The AAA headlamp

The IPX5 LED Headlamp in the grid lists three things that set it apart from the rest of the lineup: it runs on AAA batteries, its beam is listed at 165 feet, and its runtime at up to 45 hours. It lists a red light and a tilting lamp.

The maker's site lists an AAA model called the MX20 at 165 lumens, and its FAQ gives that lamp's battery life by setting: up to 45 hours on minimum, 12 hours on average and 5 hours on maximum. Its red mode is the brightest in the maker's FAQ, at 40 lumens.

The point of an AAA lamp is the batteries, not the lamp. You can buy AAA cells at any gas station on the way to camp, and a spare set weighs next to nothing in a jacket pocket. There's no cable to remember and no charge light to squint at. Real talk: that's the lamp I'd put in the glovebox and forget about, which is exactly what a glovebox lamp is for.

The maker also lists a 210-lumen AAA lamp, the MX210, on its own site. It isn't in the grid, so I'll leave it at that.

The 180-lumen rechargeable headlamp

This is most of the grid. The USB-C LED Headlamp 180 Lumens and the Rechargeable LED Headlamp 2-Pack listings all describe the same numbers: 180 lumens, a 300-foot beam, up to 40 hours of runtime, a red light and a tilting lamp. The 2-packs differ mostly by color.

Foxelli's own page for its 180-lumen rechargeable, the MX200, adds the maker's details:

• Weight: 2.4 oz
• Tilt: up to 45 degrees
• Water rating: IPX5
• Battery: a USB-rechargeable lithium battery
• Warranty: 12 months for repair or exchange, plus a 90-day money-back guarantee

The maker's FAQ breaks the runtime down: up to 40 hours on red light, 10 hours on low and 5 hours on high. Read that line twice. The 40 hours in the listing is the red light. White light on high is the 5. (That isn't a trick. It's how every runtime number on every headlamp works. More on that below.)

The 160-lumen rechargeable headlamp

The Kids Headlamp USB-C and the Rechargeable Headlamp 2-Pack listings describe a 160-lumen lamp with a 200-foot beam, up to 30 hours of runtime and a red light. The 2-packs list tilt too.

Foxelli's own page for its 160-lumen rechargeable, the MX10, says:

• Weight: 2.4 oz
• Tilt: up to 60 degrees, the widest in the maker's lineup
• Buttons: two separate buttons, one for white and one for red
• Water rating: IPX5
• Runtime: up to 30 hours on the product page; the FAQ lists over 100 hours on red, 30 on low and 4 on high

That second button is the detail I'd look at first. More on that in a minute.

The kids listing fits my head too, by the way. Renee says that tells you something, and she won't say what.

How to choose within the Foxelli lineup

Pick the power source first

This is the real fork in the lineup. AAA or rechargeable.

• AAA: spares anywhere, no charging, a little heavier with batteries in
• Rechargeable: no batteries to buy, but it has to be charged before the trip

Black Diamond's headlamp guide says rechargeable lamps generally offer more output and are the better pick for regular use, and that AAA lamps suit long trips and smaller budgets. In this lineup, the rechargeables are the brighter lamps by lumens. The AAA lamp is the one that runs off a gas-station purchase.

For a deer camp weekend with a truck and an outlet in the cabin, either works. For a week in a wall tent with no outlet, the AAA lamp and a bag of spares is the simpler plan. The rechargeable headlamp page goes deeper on the trade across brands.

Then read the beam distance and lumens as a pair

Lumens and beam distance aren't the same number. Streamlight's summary of the ANSI FL 1 flashlight standard defines light output in lumens as the total light the lamp puts out, and beam distance as how far out the beam still delivers 0.25 lux, a very dim light level.

In the Foxelli grid, the beam distances step up with the lumens: 165 feet on the AAA lamp, 200 feet on the 160-lumen rechargeable, 300 feet on the 180-lumen one. For a walk to a stand on a trail you know, any of those reaches farther than you need to put your feet down. For checking a far fence line, the longer beam helps.

Princeton Tec's guide on beam types says floodlight beams suit close-range tasks like setting up camp, spotlights suit distance, and spot beams generally use more power and run shorter. Most of what happens at deer camp is close range. Tying a boot doesn't need 300 feet. The headlamps page explains beam types across brands.

Then read the runtime by mode

Here's where most people get surprised. ANSI FL 1, per Streamlight, measures runtime from the light's output 30 seconds after switch-on until it falls to 10% of that. So a long runtime is often the lowest mode, dimming toward the end.

Foxelli's FAQ is useful here because it lists runtime by setting. On the 180-lumen lamp, high is 5 hours and red is 40. On the 160-lumen lamp, high is 4 hours and red is over 100. Jess's take: "A runtime number without a mode is a sentence without a verb." She has a spreadsheet column for it.

If you sit in a stand from dark to daylight and only use the lamp to get there and back, any of these lamps covers the weekend on low. If you cook, clean and play cards by headlamp every night, plan around the high-mode number and charge every night.

Then the red light, and how you get to it

Every Foxelli lamp in the grid lists red light. The difference is how you reach it and how bright it is.

The National Park Service's article on dark adaptation explains that night vision takes 20 to 40 minutes to build, that a few seconds of bright light breaks it down, and that deep red light doesn't. It also says a dim red light is best, because even red light carries some other colors.

That's the one opinion I'll put on this page: on a walk-in, pick by the red light's brightness and the button, not by the white light's lumens. The maker's FAQ lists red at 15 lumens on the 180-lumen lamp, 30 on the 160-lumen lamp and 40 on the AAA lamp. And on the MX10, red has its own button, while the FAQ says the MX20 and MX200 enter red by pressing and holding the on/off button. A press-and-hold lamp is fine once you know it. Know it before the first morning. The red light headlamp page compares red modes across brands.

Then the tilt and the fit

Tilt decides where the light lands. Most of camp work happens at your hands, below your chin, and a lamp that can't tilt makes you nod at your work like you agree with it. The maker lists tilt up to 45 degrees on the MX200 and MX210 and up to 60 degrees on the MX10.

The straps are elastic bands with a buckle. The maker's MX210 page says that lamp fits kids and adults and goes over a hard hat or a helmet. Try the strap over the hat you actually hunt in. A blaze-orange stocking cap changes the fit more than you'd think.

Singles or 2-packs

Most of the grid is 2-packs. A 2-pack is one lamp to wear and one to keep in the truck or the kid's bag. The two lamps in a pack are the same model, so spare cables and charging habits match. If you only need one lamp, the single listings carry the same specs.

Charging, water and care

Charge it like a battery, not like a phone

The rechargeable lamps use lithium batteries, per the maker. The US Fire Administration's lithium-ion tips apply:

• Temperature: don't charge below 32°F or above 105°F
• Storage: room temperature when possible, not in a hot car or direct sun
• Warning signs: stop using a battery that smells, changes color or shape, gets too hot, leaks or makes odd noises
• Disposal: not in the trash; take it to a battery recycling location

The cold-charging line is the one deer camp breaks. A lamp left in the truck overnight in November should warm up inside before it goes on the charger.

Use the cable that came with the lamp or one made for it, and follow the maker's instructions. The fire administration also says to keep spare lithium-ion batteries away from anything that can burn, so charge on a table, not on a sleeping bag.

Keep the port dry

IPX5, the maker's rating on its 160-, 180- and 210-lumen lamps, is described on its pages as protection against splashing or spraying water from any angle. Rain on a walk-in is what that rating is for. A sink or a creek is not. Keep the charging port cover closed, wipe the lamp dry after a wet morning and let it air out before charging.

Spare parts

Foxelli's FAQ says it doesn't sell brackets, batteries or headbands separately and asks owners to contact customer support if a part breaks. So treat the strap kindly. Don't stretch it over a cooler lid as a bungee. (I'm told this is a habit of mine. I'm told by Renee.)

Batteries in the AAA lamp

For the AAA lamp, take the batteries out if it goes in a drawer for the summer. Old cells left in a lamp from March to October are how a working lamp becomes a science project. Fresh cells in September, spares in the pocket in November.

Foxelli facts

Here's what the maker's own site states:

• Products: headlamps alongside outdoor apparel, hammocks, trekking poles, rain tarps, solar chargers, sleeping pads and chest waders
• Headlamp warranty: 12 months for repair or exchange and a 90-day money-back guarantee on the MX10 and MX200 pages; a 1-year warranty against defects on the MX210 page
• Spare parts: not sold separately, per the FAQ
• Fulfillment: the maker says it ships from warehouses in the US

When Foxelli was founded and who owns it aren't stated on its site, so I've left them out.

Charge it Thursday, put it on the hook by the door Friday, and Saturday's 4:30 a.m. starts with a red light instead of a search.