Okay, here is one who has tried it. I have two Surefire flashlights and have always been amazed at the quality of the things, the build, the beam quality and the regulation of the light. Both use 123A batteries as does my Princeton Tech Apex Pro headlamp. If you buy the domestic batteries you will not have a problem as long as you store them properly. Some of the foreign batteries are not protected but the US made batteries are.

To save myself from the fate that Rick alludes to I bought two of these things, one for me and one for Girlfriend. We both do a lot of night stuff together, sometimes bushwhacking and other times just getting in some reading around camp at night. The Surefire Minimus is perfect for our needs.

The very lowest setting is great for reading a close page. It can be used to faintly illuminate camp if you need to have a bit of light but not totally blow your night vision. There is a slight detent at mid range which is a great level for general hiking. When you need to put out a wall of light there is high. We have need for big variances in light levels and the Minimus can be dialed to any level between 0 and 100 lumens. Normally with a good beam quality, I like about 15 lumens for cross country travel with momentary bursts of brigher for certain passages.

The beam color is way better than the Apex Pro and it is about 70 grams lighter that the Apex pro as well. There are some tiny, faint artifacts in the beam if you white wall it but in real use, you will not notice it. All headlamps I have used have had far worse beam qualities compared to the Minimus.

The beam can be angled up or down to any angle like many other headlamps.

Some of my friends have broken headlamps. Many of them are plastic things. The Surefire build is so good that I expect that this one will still be around after decades of rambling.

They are very comfortable.

Yes they are expensive. I'm not exactly well to do but I do buy the best quality I can afford in certain tools.

I hope that helps you some 6brnorma.