Alpkit
Alpkit Kula 550
- Brightness: 7/10 How much light it gives at full power, for finding your way in the dark.
- Runtime: 8/10 How long one charge or set of batteries lasts at a level you can walk and cook by.
- Weight: 6/10 How much it adds to your pack and your head.
Wild camping and hill walking where you want a bright main mode and a long low mode
- Brightness
- 550 lumens (maker's figure)
- Runtime
- 8.5 h at 160 lumens
- Weight
- 92 g
- Power
- Rechargeable
- Water rating
- IPX5
Where to buy
Alpkit £19.99 In stock. Delivery £2.99. Delivery £2.99, free over £60 (Alpkit's shipping page). Alpkit sells only through alpkit.com and its stores. Sale price, was £24.99. Colmans in stock. Tarmac out of stock on 2026-10-19.
View at shop: AlpkitPrices checked 8 Nov 2026 on each shop's own page; shops can change them. We earn no commission on these links; shops are listed by price. More
Our ratings (out of 10)
1 to 10, compared with the whole market. Each says what it's based on. How we score
Brightness
From maker's figures 7/10How much light it gives at full power, for finding your way in the dark. 7: Better than most.
Maker's figure, 550 lumens in the High mode (3 hours 30 minutes) with no test standard stated: the 500–799 band (maker's figure). Alpkit also describes a boost that gives maximum brightness for 5 seconds, which isn't counted.
Runtime
From maker's figures 8/10How long one charge or set of batteries lasts at a level you can walk and cook by. 8: Clearly better than most.
The 160-lumen Low mode runs 8 hours 30 minutes on the built-in 1500 mAh battery (maker's figure), in the 6–9.9 h band. The 260-lumen Mid mode lasts 6 hours and the 550-lumen High mode 3 hours 30 minutes; the 6-lumen Eco mode runs 80 hours but is under 80 lumens, so it doesn't count.
Weight
From maker's figures 6/10How much it adds to your pack and your head. 6: A bit better than average.
Alpkit lists 92 g including the strap, in the 90–109 g band.
What reviewers say (out of 10)
Ratings marked * are from reviews and are not part of the trip score. They are reviewers' scores, not our own measurements. How we score
Comfort*
Estimate: only 1 review about comfort (fewer than the 3 we need, so never above 8) 6/10How comfy and steady it sits on your head.
1 review on comfort, e.g. "Previous complaints about the comfort seem to have been addressed".
Ease of use*
Estimate: only 1 review about ease of use (fewer than the 3 we need, so never above 8) 4/10How easy the buttons, modes and lock are, with gloves too.
1 review on ease of use, e.g. "the very non-intuitive controls for the different brightness and light settings, which are controlled by 2 buttons".
In short
Good for
- Wild camping and hill walking where you want a bright main mode and a long low mode
- Walkers who want a red light for camp
Strengths
- 160 lumens for 8.5 hours and 550 lumens for 3.5 hours (maker's figures)
- 180° adjustable beam angle, with red, warm white and flash modes and a lock mode
- 1500 mAh battery with USB-C charging and a battery level check while off
- IPX5 and a 3-year Alpine Bond guarantee
Weaknesses
- No independent review found, so comfort and beam are estimates, not reviewed scores
- IPX5 only: it handles rain but is not rated for being dipped in water
- The 1500 mAh battery is built in and can't be swapped for disposable batteries
- The 550-lumen High mode lasts 3.5 hours; the 5-second boost is not a usable level
- 92 g, in the middle of the weight bands
Sources
We haven't tested this ourselves. Every score comes from these specs, tests and reviews.