Fenix Shadowmaster vs Exposure Raw Pro: Battle of the premium head torches for sailing

Two premium headtorches, both with a powerful red light and white beam. But which one comes out as winner in the battle of the best of the best?

As a sailor who is regularly out on the water for days (and nights) at a time, having the best head torch for sailing that offers a good red-light mode in my kitbag is absolutely vital. On the surface, both the Fenix Shadowmaster head torch and the Exposure Raw Pro head torch should do the job, but which is better? I’ve tested both to try to answer that question.

If there’s something sailors know a thing or two about, it’s head torches. When I’m navigating my way around a boat gymnasium at sea,  in the dark,  trying to do complex manoeuvres, getting dressed at 40 degrees angle without waking your bunk neighbour and accurate adjustments to sails, lines, and food prep. Over time,  I’ve really got to know what works and what doesn’t.

Quick Links to buy Exposure Lights Raw Pro Head Torch and Fenix Shadowmaster Head Torch

Exposure Lights Raw Pro Head Torch versus Fenix Shadowmaster

Our headtorches are individually chosen to suit our needs,  just as we all have our own preferences for sailing footware.

So what suits me,  might not suit you.

But, there’s a bit of a short list that we all choose from.

The one thing they nearly all have is a red light option.

Now most common garden headtorches with red light, they only have one brightness option on red. These are primarily aimed at the camping market,  but work well for sailors too on a budget.  But what if your budget can stretch a bit higher or your requirements are a bit more demanding?

Two of the higher spec’d models have different levels of red,  as well as white. That’s what we’re here to battle,  head to head. Two premium priced aluminium body,  waterproof headtorches with adjustable red light.

Get strapped in

Out of the packaging,  both head torches feel substantial in the hand.

The Shadowmaster is noticeably bigger and heavier than the Raw Pro. Because of this,  the Fenix has the extra strap for the top of the head. The Shadowmaster is almost double the weight of the Raw Pro at 147grams vs 80grams.

The strap on the Raw Pro feels very comfortable, and has velcro fastening,  which adds some bulk to the strap and when adjusted to a smaller head there’s some overhanging strap that doesn’t have velcro to attach to. There’s the very nice touch of reflective lettering woven into the Raw Pro Head band and a stripe of grippy silicon on the inside.

By contrast, the head strap for the Shadowmaster is much lighter, and narrower with a breathable open weave. It’s adjusted using sliders and a contained loop system meaning no loose ends to flap about. It also has a couple of thin stripes of silicon gripper on the inside.

Personally, I prefer the wider strap and more structural thickness of the Raw Pro strap,  but I like the breathability of the Shadowmaster.

Power modes

There’s one power on button for the Raw Pro. It’s on the side/end and very easy to locate.  It starts with the lowest red setting first. But hold down the button and you get a low white.

It always  starts with the low red.

The Shadowmaster has two buttons, located on the top. Press the left button and you get Red light.  It resumes the same light setting you had before.  So if you had the red on max brightness, turn it off,  then turn it on again,  it will be red at max brightness.

The same applies to the white light,  which is a separate button directly to the right (as you’re wearing it) of the other one.

The lowest red setting of both headlamps is the same,  at 5 lumens. The Raw Pro has a battery life of around 25 hours on the lowest setting,  the Shadowmaster gives a whopping 120 hours.

The highest power of red on the Raw Pro is 75 lumens while the highest red power of the Shadowmaster is 150 lumens on “turbo”

You’ll get about 2 hours out of the Raw Pro, or 4.5 hours out of the Shadowmaster using the highest red light. If we reduce the power of the Shadowmaster to match that of the Raw Pro, you’ll get 10 hours.

The white light comparison doesn’t really feel like a fair fight here,  the Raw Pro is a decent little head lamp with a tiny size, but at 265 lumens,  it’s a featherweight fighter compared with the Shadowmaster’s heavy weight 1200 lumens turbo.

Might as well ring the bell now then, fight over…

Not necessarily,  we can look at this another way.  It depends what you want to use the white light for.

If you want a softer, subtler white light for reading a chart, or a book at night,  then the Raw Pro wins here,  as it offers a 15 lumen white light that doesn’t overpower your eyes at night when needing to see some colour accuracy but not blind yourself silly.

The lowest setting on the Shadowmaster is still very potent 50 lumens. You’ll find yourself baffling that with a neck tube or other thin fabric from a t-shirt just to dim it enough to not be too much for a night watch. That’s a bit of a faff if you regularly find yourself using a very dim white light.

If you are looking for a strobe function,  the Raw Pro has that, but the Shadowmaster does not.

Charge up and go go go

Both headlamps charge from a USB cable and take 3 hours to fully charge.

The Shadowmaster has a USB C socket under a rubber cover. But you can also swap out the battery fairly easily by unscrewing the watertight battery tube.   It’s a large lithium barrel battery.

The Raw Pro has been upgraded to a magnetic connector for charging (older models were a fiddly micro usb connection hidden under a rubber band and screw cap, so this is a welcome update) This allows a docking station to be used or a magnetic charging cable.

The magnetic charger allows for a higher waterproof rating in the Raw Pro, IPX8 no less! but this does depend on you remembering to take you charging cable with you. Or keep a docking station on your boat.

The USB C charger is now pretty universal for most devices,  so you’ll not struggle to charge the Shadowmaster. The compromise here is the rubber covering for the charging port is a little less waterproof than the Raw Pro, with the Shadowmaster being rated at IP68 rating.

What’s the cost?

Pricing: the Shadowmaster can be found online for around £100-£110

The Raw Pro is available for somewhere in the region of £140-£150

Who’s the winner then?

Having both on my desk and in my kit bag for several months now, I find myself reaching for one of these more than the other.  Though I do use both,  if they’re both on the desk,  I’ll pick one up before the other.

I haven’t needed to summon Batman yet, but I think if I ever wanted to,  the Fenix Shadowmaster is a good contender for that job.

The extra power it offers for picking out my mooring buoy in the dark,  or finding my black dog in the bushes,  or the super long battery life when using the red light for faffing about in my kit bag,  in the cockpit looking for snacks or turning up the red to check sail trim,  means I’m never left wanting another torch.

The central headband is a bit annoying given I have hair,  usually tied up. And the headtorch is a bit too heavy to use on the existing band without the central strap.  I think they could make a wider head band,  more like the Raw Pro which would be more comfortable for wearing hours on end, to match the battery life.

It’s ironic really,  the Raw Pro is very comfortable to wear all day,  it’s just a shame the battery life is so short.

Both headtorches are superb bits of kit.

To summarise…

If you want light weight, all day comfort and a softer low light to gently, but firmly navigate through the darkness, then the Raw Pro is your trusty companion.

If you want something powerful and with a little less subtlety, then the Shadowmaster will punch away the darkness like Chuck Norris.

Exposure Lights Raw Pro Head Torch versus Fenix Shadowmaster specifications

max lumens white	265 lumens	1200 lumens
min lumens white	15 lumens	50 lumens
max lumens red	75 lumens	150 lumens
min lumens red	5 lumens	5 lumens
battery life on max beam	1 hour	2 hours
battery life on min red	25 hours	120 hours
weight	76grams	147grams
charging	USB C	USB C
body type	metal aluminium	metal aluminium
max distance visible high beam	tbc	168m
wateproof rating	IPX8	IP68

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