Head torches can be invaluable for work in the garage, brightening up the darkest of engine bay nooks and suspension crannies. The EverBrite’s COB LED light has a motion sensor function, which allows you to turn it on or off with the swipe of a hand. The Blukar rechargeable head torch has good build quality and doesn’t weigh much so you hardly notice you are wearing it. The torch feels really well put together, too - at 50g, it’s light, and the casing feels solidly put together. It’s a shame that it’s not waterproof, but on balance of quality, comfort and a great run time, the BiolLite is the best here.

Blukar LED Torch Rechargeable, 2000L Super Bright Adjustable Blukar LED Torch Rechargeable, 2000L Super Bright Adjustable

Even so, others here have a usefully brighter main light, even without a changeable beam, and feel usefully better quality. If you spend much time outdoors in the UK – running, dog walking, hiking, camping or even working as an electrician, a mechanic or a breakdown recovery driver – at some point you are going to get wet. The actual rating is just ‘IP’ followed by two numbers and one or more optional characters. The first number is actually for dust exclusion – most devices are not tested for this, so use an X instead. It is safe to say though that if a head torch is reasonably waterproofed, it is likely to be fairly dust proof as well. The headband is comfortable and is fully adjustable. This head torch is also fully waterproof should you get caught out in a shower. It works surprisingly well, although we’re also glad that you can turn the function off as it could be really unhelpful in a garage situation for accidentally turning the torch off… The 350 lumen light can be dimmed, and there’s a red light, too, both of which have strobe settings.

They can be used individually or together, and there’s a strobe light setting. But, it’s supposed to throw light for up to 150m yet we didn’t see anything like that, and it’s nowhere near as bright as some of the others here, either. The first digit (0-6) shows the level of protection from solids such as dust, debris and other discarded fine material. However, the torch body is hefty, so it can slide down your head if you move around a lot - despite the central, over-your-head strap.

Blukar Head Torch Rechargeable, Super Bright Lightweight Blukar Head Torch Rechargeable, Super Bright Lightweight

An IPX6 rating means the LED head torch is fully weatherproof. These products can survive ‘powerful water jet’ conditions The X acts as a placeholder since there is not a particle (or dust rating). If something has a dust rating of 6 (dustproof) and a water rating of 5, you write it as IP65. In the rare instance that the dust and water rating are the same (let’s say 6), you write it as IP6.On paper, the Lovcoyo looks really impressive. It’s waterproof, has a spotlight torch with a ‘zoom’ function that focuses the light beam, and a floodlight for a wider beam beneath the spotlight. Our main issue is that the narrow strap doesn’t keep the torch all that stable when you’re moving around, and the run time isn’t great. For detailed garage work, you’ll probably want it on high, but it’ll still do three hours in that mode, and there’s a red light and a pulse setting for both white- and red- modes.

Blukar Head Torch Rechargeable, 2000L Super Bright

The Aplos also feels durable and hefty thanks to its metal body, if not as hefty and well-built as the Sofirn. Even so, with 1600 Lumen, this is one of the brightest lights we tested, and it’s a neat touch that the on-switch glows red when the battery gets low. There are three light levels that can be used in both the motion sensing and standard modes. Most head torches with a motion sensing feature only let you use high level. There is also one flashing red light mode which you activate with a long press of the power button.The 200 lumen rating seems low in this company but in practice this was still one of the brighter torches we tested, with a headlamp that swivels downward and that runs for some 40 hours when on low. The Aplos is a three-phase dimmable LED torch, and also has various strobe and flash modes. It’s similar to the Sofirn in design, with a removable, cylindrical, metal-bodied torch that can be rotated in the single strap. This IP rating is effectively rain proof as it refers to protection from splashing water. These water resistant headlamps can withstand a light rain shower as they are protected against splashing or sprayed water from any angle for some time. A head torch is not something that all detectorists will need but for those who prefer to detect at night, whilst the rest of the world sleeps, they can be an important part of the essential toolkit. This is near enough identical to the Everbrite; it comes with the same motion sensor function, the COB LED is bright and has two dimmable phases, and there’s a red light with fixed or strobe effect settings.