6 Best Hard Hat Lights for Work

Quality hard hat lights can be attached to your hat thanks to either clips or straps providing you with a direct light onto whatever you are working on. These hat lights are made with some very helpful features to guarantee your safety such as:

      • Brightness adjustment
      • Several lighting modes
      • Batteries that are rechargeable
      • LED lights that have an impact-resistant frame
      • Weight
      • Adjustable tilt for different angles

The best hard hat lights depend on the type of work you will be doing or the activities you plan to engage in, as well as the environmental conditions you find. If you need hard hat illumination, read on to discover our top choices for the best hard hat lights in various categories and the features they offer.

Best Hard Hat Lights

Comparison Table of Top Hard Hat Lights

Hard Hat LightsWaterproofPivoting headRechargeableMount
Milwaukee Rechargeable LED YesSix position tiltYes, USB cable, Lithium ion batteries Slip-resistant clips and strap
Cobiz 6000 Lumen LED Work Yes 90° capabilityYes, Built-in indicator Built-in headband that is adjustable
Illumagear Hawf-01A Halo Water resistant 360° lightingYes, 18650 Lithium-ion battery Tension spring mounting system
Klein Tools Headlamp IP54 water resistant YesYes, Battery indicator Silicone Anti-slip strap
Streamlight USB Double Clutch IPX4 water-resistantYes Yes, Lithium-ion batteriesRubber hard hat strap and Elastic strap
Dewalt Touch DWHT70440 Water resistantYes Only using, AAA batteriesAnti-slip strap

At any worksite, whether industrial, construction, inside, or outside, safety is always the number one consideration, and visibility can make all the difference in hazardous situations.

When lighting is limited, safety is not up to par and often you need your hands free to work so holding a flashlight or a portable light is not an option. 

Imagine working in an attic, in a crawl space, in a mine, cave, or grotto and not being able to see clearly.  If you perform regular outdoor activities in the evening, you must be able to see.

The solution to ensure your safety on the job, whether you find yourself working in the dark or with minimal lighting available is a quality hard hat light.  

While considering these features, read on for our top picks for Best Hard Hat Lights!

1. Milwaukee #2111-21 Rechargeable LED Hard Hat Light (Our Top Pick)

This 475-Lumen rechargeable Hard Hat Light offers several features that render it a stand-out functional light. It offers a secure attachment method thanks to clips and straps that are slip-resistant together with a powerful output that can perform an entire day.

Being rechargeable, it is convenient and easy to use thanks to a USB cable that is about three times faster. It is waterproof and can be used without problem for outdoor work in the rain.

It offers several lighting modes giving the user various choices depending on the task at hand. Dust and drop-resistant construction and lens mean it can withstand rough environmental conditions.

Pros

      • Tough construction resistant to dust and dropping
      • Secure anti-slip attachment
      • Strong output and brightness
      • Several lighting mode choices

Cons

      • Battery life could be longer 
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon

2. Cobiz 6000 Lumen LED Work Headlight for Hard Hats

This is a really versatile hard hat light that can work well in numerous environments. It is handsfree and allows you to illuminate well the area you are working on thanks to four mode settings that can easily adjust the amount of brightness necessary for your project.

A great feature is the swivel ability up to 90 degrees which allows you to rotate the angle so you can choose the direction to illuminate. It also boasts an IPX4 rating for water resistance, and it even has a switch that is waterproof and wiring that is leakage-proof. 

It comes with a built-in adjustable headband and a built-in indicator light that lets you know if your battery is fully charged or not. 

Pros

      • Waterproof and leakage resistant wiring
      • Adjustable headband
      • 90-degree swivel capability

Cons

      • A bit on the heavy side
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon

3. Illumagear Hawf-01A Halo Light for Hard Hats

Illumagear Hawf-01A Halo Light for Hard Hats

This hard hat light is designed to fit most standard hard hats and is a terrific task light. It can provide narrow illumination without shadows in order for you to see your focus area and tools. It creates good surrounding visibility, and the beam lighting can be seen from a quarter of a mile distance.

If you use the “halo” mode, you can be seen from a distance. If you are perhaps involved in road work, automobilists will be able to see you.

This lightweight hard hat light, made of hard material, boasts a good IP rating indicating that it is resistant to environmental impacts such as water, dust, or dirt, contributing to its durability over the long term.

It features the “halo” mode giving you 360° of illumination, a “hi-alert” mode which rotates and pulses, a “task” mode that powers the front of the lamp for specific focus, and the “dim” mode so you can reduce brightness allowing the light to run with reduced power. The convincing choice for professional electricians, engineers, masons, and plumbers among others.

Pros

      • Shadow free lighting
      • Easy comfortable fit
      • Halo lighting for good visibility by others
      • 4 lighting choices
      • Tension spring mounting system

Cons

      • An omnidirectional light with some increased brightness possible frontally
      • Somewhat expensive

4. Klein Tools #56034 Headlamp

This is a truly comfortable light that is great for rough and tough conditions. It has a slim design with a pivoting mounting.

This mounting allows you to rotate the angle as much as 64 degrees. It comes with a useful silicone anti-slip strap that really helps when attaching to your hard hat. 

If you use the low brightness setting, the bright spot mode or the wide casting flood mode, your Klein headlamp should last all day long.

The light can be removed easily for recharging by sliding it out of the bracket on the strap. There is no need to remove the entire strap.

The light also tells you how much battery is left before needing to recharge. Another extra is the auto-sensing technology that will turn the lamp off after three minutes of continuous bright light use.

Pros

      • Mount that pivots
      • Auto-sensing technology for battery life
      • Easy removal for recharging
      • Anti-slip strap in silicone
      • Battery life indicator

Cons

      • A bit heavy
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon

5. Streamlight USB Double Clutch #61601 Rechargeable Light

This is a lightweight, compact, rechargeable light that is great for hard hats. It offers several settings such as a spot beam, low light, and high light modes. The structure construction is a compact design that is lightweight but can withstand both impact and shock.

It offers great running time thanks to its C4 LED technology that gives the light 50,000 hours of lifetime. The battery compartment has a locking feature permitting you to open and close it with ease.

The head has a 60-degree tilt integrated into the design saving your neck from overwork. The recharging time, however, seems a bit longer than other competitive models.

Pros

      • Comfort light head that tilts 60 degrees
      • Shock and impact resistant
      • Publicized 50,000-hour lifetime
      • Lightweight compact design

Cons

      • Longer recharging time
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon

6. Dewalt Touch DWHT70440 Light Head Lamp

This is a quality constructed light for helmets and hard hats. It operates at 104 lumens and delivers adequate brightness for most jobs.

It offers an easy-to-use high/low switch by turning a knob. The light has been tested for impact damage and boasts resilience when dropped from two meters.

It comes with a strap that is anti-slip with an inside film in silicone to ensure that it remains steadfastly attached to your hard hat.

The light lens is also shatter-resistant, and this lamp is water-resistant so exposure to moisture should not affect its performance. A pivoting head permitting you to direct the light rounds out its features.

Pros

      • A lens that is shatter-resistant and water-resistant
      • Pivoting head
      • Strap is anti-slip
      • High/low setting
      • Affordable

Cons

      • It May be somewhat uncomfortable if worn for many hours
Check Price and Reviews on Amazon

Things to Consider When Selecting Hard Hat Light

1. Hard Hat Light vs. Headlamp

These are not quite the same thing although they may seem to be. Hard hat lights are specifically made for attachment to a hard hat. Headlamps, on the other hand, are designed to be worn directly on your bare head.

2. The Hard Hat with a Built-in Light

Some hard hats come directly with a built-in light.  While a built-in hard hat light won’t slip or bounce around while on the job if its batteries need recharging, the wearer will need to remove the hard hat to do so.

Not a great choice if you are in the middle of a job and end up bareheaded in a dangerous situation. When the light dims just plug it into an outlet. This will offer economic savings in terms of having to purchase batteries, but you’ll lose time if you have to recharge while working.

3. Removable Batteries

Hard hat lights that are battery powered usually use alkaline or lithium batteries. As you consume energy, the light will dim.

Standard removable batteries might be a good choice if you don’t wear your hard hat that often in dark or badly illuminated situations. You will need to keep a supply of batteries with you on the job, just in case.

Features of a Good Hard Hat Light

1. Battery Life/Rechargeable Batteries

Lights for hard hats probably will not last for an entire shift of eight hours. Having to charge or to change your batteries every day will add stress to your life, especially if one day you are running short of time.

Some of the best lights may last up to approximately thirty hours and can be used for several days if the light is switched on and off instead of having it run constantly. Batteries often last longer thanks to LED lights which consume less.

Rechargeable batteries are a great choice as an economic investment. Some even last up to twenty hours on a single full charging, however, they may need several hours, even eight, to fully recharge.

2. Comfortable and Lightweight

A heavy light may lead to a headache. Bulky, weighty lights may make your hard hat heavy in the front and may force you to push the hat down tighter than maybe you are comfortable with.

LED lights may be a good choice because they tend to be smaller and lighter. If they run on batteries, they use smaller sized batteries like AAA or AA. They are overall much lighter.

3. How Functional Is the Light?

Most hard hat lights come with either clips or straps to attach them to the hard hat allowing you to work hands-free. Some will have several lighting options and even more than one color like red or green to be less stressful on eyesight.

Some can even directly focus the light beam on a specific area or object for work in a limited area and others can floodlight onto a path or terrain in order to illuminate a larger work area.

4. Light Brightness

While a standard light with two to three hundred lumens will be more than satisfactory for most jobs, some lights offer as much as one thousand lumens.

Selecting a light with adjustable brightness settings will contribute to battery life and less eye strain. The brightest lights generally use LED or CREE light bulbs. Halogen and krypton lights will provide weaker lighting.

How We Selected

You’ll find a vast assortment of hard hat lights on the market with everyone claiming that theirs is the absolute best. The safest way to make your choice is to study the features every light has to offer.  We considered:

      • Does the light attach securely to the hard hat?
      • Is the hard hat comfortable with it attached?
      • Is it heavy or lightweight?
      • Is it waterproof?
      • Is it bright?
      • Can it zoom?
      • Is the battery life long?

Final Thoughts

Hard hat lights are undoubtedly necessary accessories that will allow you a hands-free illumination of your work area of focus. The market today offers numerous alternatives that allow you to choose the features that best meet your specific professional needs at affordable prices.

Stephen Luettgen
I have 12+ years of experience in construction, inspections, handy work, and currently working as a Construction Site Manager. In today’s day we spent a significant part of our time at workplace and a right work gear can have significant impact not only on your safety but also work quality.

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