The 10 Best Headband Magnifiers

Luckily, many headband magnifiers come with several lenses, or allow you to purchase additional lenses as your needs change, which makes these products versatile. Perhaps one day you’re painting tiny artwork on pennies and the next you’re reading a book; a visor with a range of lenses will let you tackle each task in comfort. But interchangeable lenses aren’t the only feature you should seek. Headband magnifiers are available with a wide range of features that will make various tasks much easier.

To begin with, most headband magnifiers offer extras that make wearing them more comfortable. Most, if not all, are adjustable, and the majority have some type of padding to keep your forehead from feeling pinched. Some even let you switch between wearing them like a headband and wearing them as a pair of glasses, thanks to a removable headband strap.

Next, some headband magnifiers let you flip the lens portion up so that you don’t have to keep putting the headband on and taking it off as you switch between normal and magnified work. These also commonly let you adjust the angle of the lenses.

Then, you’ll find headband magnifiers that feature a bright light to help illuminate the item you’re magnifying. These are especially useful for hobbyists who work with small details. Many lights are fixed in place, but a few models offer lights that are moveable.

Last, but certainly not least, is how well the headband works with your own prescription glasses. Some headband magnifiers are designed so that the wearer can keep his or her own glasses on, while others have a tighter fit and don’t offer enough room. There are even headband magnifiers that let you wear safety goggles at the same time.

With all of these great features, it’s pretty obvious just how many uses a headband magnifier has: electronic work, jewelry repair, painting, needle crafts, and just plain old reading. But imagine that archaeologists 3,000 years from now dug up one of these items. Would they immediately understand why it was so useful and how people actually used it? Or might they speculate on the range of uses of such an item?

This is a problem that archaeologists have faced before with optical devices, perhaps most notably with the Nimrud Lens. This piece dates back to around 750 B.C.E. and is also called the Layard lens after its discoverer, the English anthropologist Sir Austen Layard. He found the item in what is now Iraq and immediately identified the piece as a lens. Examination of the piece confirmed that it could, indeed, have been used for magnifying; it has a focal length of about 4 inches and provides 3x magnification. This is equivalent to the lenses of many headband magnifiers available today.

Many optical experts and scientists oppose the idea that the Nimrud lens is a magnifying device, however, since there is no other evidence to support the idea that the Assyrians who fashioned it knew about or used these devices. Some experts have suggested that the lens could have been used for starting fires, and a few have suggested that it was part of an astronomical device. If the latter were true, then this device would predate what is accepted to be the first telescope, Hans Lippershey's model from the early 1600s.

Although these are exciting hypotheses, the truth is probably much more pedestrian. According to the British Museum, the piece is most likely a decorative inlay from a piece of furniture. No future scientists will mistake a headband magnifier for a piece of a chair or sofa, especially since we now leave overly ample written records, but who knows? Your humble headband magnifier could end up in a museum someday.