Petzl Headtorches

Dominic Sexton

In article <fj3sd6$q83$1@aioe.org>, Richard Phillips
<raphillips@ntlworld.com> writes
>Dominic Sexton wrote:
>
>Why did you buy the Tikka XP when you already had the Myolite 3?

Lighter, smaller - half the size and weight. More beam options. And I'm
a gear junky!

> Do you see
>any scenario where you'd prefer the Myolite 3 over the Tikka XP?

Not really. The only advantages I can see with the Myolite 3 are:

the focussing of the beam (with the Tikka XP you only have spot
or diffused) but this isn't likely to be a big advantage in my
experience

locking mechanism to stop being accidentally turned on. This is
a good feature of the Myolite but having said that I doubt that
the push button of the Tikka XP will easily get accidentally
pushed and if it does a second push more than a couple of
seconds later would switch it off.

>How do you think they compare? What's the beam length on the Tikka XP like
>compared to the Myolite 3?

In use they compare rather well. The Myolite 3 on the Xenon beam
focussed to a spot shines further. However the beam is not completely
evenly lit and is not as white as the LED beam so at the extreme range
it can be hard to make things out. The LED of the Tikka XP produces an
even, white light which may have a shorter beam (Petzl says 76m for the
on fresh batteries and 50m for the Tikka XP of boost with fresh
batteries) but in practice the even light makes up for the shorter
range.

Trying them side by side I can tell that the Myolite 3 has a longer beam
but I could not honestly say I could see any better with the Myolite 3
than the Tikka XP.

The Tikka XP has a battery life indicator on it to show the state of the
batteries but I don't know how accurate it is. Carrying spare batteries
for the Tikka XP is a trivial addition to space / weight.

If I were you and I easily could take / send the Myolite 3 back for a
refund / exchange for a Tikka XP I would.

If that is not an easy option the Myolite 3 is a good head torch so I
expect you'll be happy with it. However from my experience the Tikka XP
is a good as or better in use and lighter, smaller & cheaper to run.

Finally I am probably a bit obsessed about small and light head torches
because most of my use for them in night running out in the countryside.
When walking I try to rely on my night vision as much as possible
because that gives a much broader view when there is enough light.
Interestingly I found that the Tikka XP on its dimmest setting and with
the diffuser on doesn't adversely affect my night vision too badly so I
can still get a reasonable general view outside the beam which is lost
when using a brighter light.

--

Dominic Sexton

T Dave R

"Rob G" <robkgraham@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:ad6c187c-4070-4c31-af9f-

> The 3W versions with the back of head battery pack showing up on Ebay
> have a much better head frame.

Got one of the ebay jobbies and it has worked well for a cheap head torch,
i've used it on a night walk once and it was powerful enough for purpose. If
i was fording streams then i'd want a bit more light (preferably daylight).

Biggest gripe is that it switches itself on in the pack, so 2 sets of spare
batteries always needed (especially rechargable as i've thrown a flat set in
before now).

Second biggest gripe, and this goes for all the torches mentioned,;who
decided that 3 batteries was a good idea? Batteries are sold by the pair or
in fours. My charging unit only charges even number of batteries. Anyone
know of ANY decent head torches that take 2 or 4 batteries? Any that also
take AA instead? The headtorch is the only item i carry that doesn't take AA
batteries, so it's a pain.

T Dave R

Richard Phillips

Dominic Sexton wrote:
> In article <fj3sd6$q83$1@aioe.org>, Richard Phillips
> <raphillips@ntlworld.com> writes
>> Dominic Sexton wrote:
>>
>> Why did you buy the Tikka XP when you already had the Myolite 3?
>
> Lighter, smaller - half the size and weight. More beam options. And
> I'm a gear junky!
>
>> Do you see
>> any scenario where you'd prefer the Myolite 3 over the Tikka XP?
>
> Not really. The only advantages I can see with the Myolite 3 are:
>
> the focussing of the beam (with the Tikka XP you only have spot
> or diffused) but this isn't likely to be a big advantage in my
> experience
>
> locking mechanism to stop being accidentally turned on. This is
> a good feature of the Myolite but having said that I doubt that
> the push button of the Tikka XP will easily get accidentally
> pushed and if it does a second push more than a couple of
> seconds later would switch it off.
>
>> How do you think they compare? What's the beam length on the Tikka
>> XP like compared to the Myolite 3?
>
> In use they compare rather well. The Myolite 3 on the Xenon beam
> focussed to a spot shines further. However the beam is not completely
> evenly lit and is not as white as the LED beam so at the extreme range
> it can be hard to make things out. The LED of the Tikka XP produces an
> even, white light which may have a shorter beam (Petzl says 76m for
> the on fresh batteries and 50m for the Tikka XP of boost with fresh
> batteries) but in practice the even light makes up for the shorter
> range.
>
> Trying them side by side I can tell that the Myolite 3 has a longer
> beam but I could not honestly say I could see any better with the
> Myolite 3 than the Tikka XP.
>
> The Tikka XP has a battery life indicator on it to show the state of
> the batteries but I don't know how accurate it is. Carrying spare
> batteries for the Tikka XP is a trivial addition to space / weight.
>
> If I were you and I easily could take / send the Myolite 3 back for a
> refund / exchange for a Tikka XP I would.
>
> If that is not an easy option the Myolite 3 is a good head torch so I
> expect you'll be happy with it. However from my experience the Tikka
> XP is a good as or better in use and lighter, smaller & cheaper to
> run.
>
> Finally I am probably a bit obsessed about small and light head
> torches because most of my use for them in night running out in the
> countryside. When walking I try to rely on my night vision as much as
> possible because that gives a much broader view when there is enough
> light. Interestingly I found that the Tikka XP on its dimmest setting
> and with the diffuser on doesn't adversely affect my night vision too
> badly so I can still get a reasonable general view outside the beam
> which is lost when using a brighter light.

Thanks for all that, I'll see about getting it exchanged then!

Cheers,
R.

Mike Clark

In message <hQXaXcaIzYVHFwrp@nospam.demon.co.uk>
Dominic Sexton <{d-sep03}@dscs.demon.co.uk> wrote:

> In article <fj3sd6$q83$1@aioe.org>, Richard Phillips
> <raphillips@ntlworld.com> writes
> >Dominic Sexton wrote:
> >
> >Why did you buy the Tikka XP when you already had the Myolite 3?
>
> Lighter, smaller - half the size and weight. More beam options. And I'm
> a gear junky!
>

I think if I was forced into choosing one headtorch for all round use it
would currently be the Tikka XP for all the reasons given by Dominic.

It's perfectly adequate for mountaineering and hillwalking at night and
the long battery life is a real bonus. Switched to the diffuser it gives
an all round light which makes it easy to see the immediate terrain. On
low power it is perfectly adequate for reading and other general
activities around the camp. With the diffuser off and the power boost
setting it then lights up a reasonable distance ahead.

However as I too am a bit of a gear junky I also have a Black Diamond
Space Shot which has a high powered halogen lamp as well as a low power
LED and a separate six cell powerpack that you can wear under your
clothing to keep the cells warm in extreme cold weather. The down side
is that with the most powerful bulb installed the light barely lasts
four - six hours using rechargeable cells (use an intermediate power
halogen bulb and the life is extended). However it is excellent for
picking out stiles and other features which might for example be the
other side of a large field, since it brightly illuminates well over
100m ahead in a focussed beam. If I know that's what I am after doing
I'll take it out with me. However most of the time I carry the Tikka XP.

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Dominic Sexton

In article <5rlinmF15jr22U1@mid.individual.net>, T Dave R
<dave@walkeryri.org.uk> writes
>Second biggest gripe, and this goes for all the torches mentioned,;who
>decided that 3 batteries was a good idea? Batteries are sold by the
>pair or in fours. My charging unit only charges even number of
>batteries.

Best get a new charger then. Seriously the only chargers that can
possibly get the best out of batteries are those that charge them
individually not in pairs.

>Anyone know of ANY decent head torches that take 2 or 4 batteries? Any
>that also take AA instead? The headtorch is the only item i carry that
>doesn't take AA batteries, so it's a pain.

The Princeton Tec Apex is a great LED head torch and takes 4 AAs. Works
well on my NiMH rechargeables. The push buttons are flush with the body
so hard to turn on by accident. There is a battery life indicator and
when it senses it is running down (20 min left) the light flashes
briefly as a warning so there is no need to check the indicator.

It has one 3W LED for spot lighting with full and low power modes and
four lower power LEDs for flood lighting. The flood lighting also has
two power levels and an additional flashing mode.

It is regulated so that the power output remains constant until the
batteries can no longer supply enough juice. It is waterproof to 1m.

The downsides (there always have to be downsides) are weight (300g with
NiMH batteries) and cost. The weight is offset by the very comfortable
straps / curved design of the battery box and lamp unit. The cost - list
price is about £70. Its about $70 in the US too so if you get a
reasonable deal on postage and don't get stung by customs you'll save a
fair bit.

I bought one about a year ago from the US via ebay and have used it lots
for night running. It is great.

Beware there is now an Apex Pro model that runs off two CR123 (lithium
batteries often used in cameras) which is much lighter (173g) but would
be expensive to run if you use it much. So if you go for it make sure
you get the right one!

--

Dominic Sexton

Jim Ford

Beats me why anyone would want to pay through the nose for overpriced
French headtorches, when there are any number of alternatives on Ebay,
Aldi, Alpkit, Lidl etc. which are at least as good. I've got several
good ones from the above suppliers with varying number of LEDs and none
of them I paid over a tenner. The best one has a Luxeon LED and is too
bright to look at. I was using it for plumbing recently and the 3 AAA
NiMh cells lasted for several hours. I think I paid about £7 for it from
a U.K. supplier.

Jim Ford

Mike Clark

In message <d2i5j.1631$1j1.1268@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net>
Jim Ford <jaford@watford53.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

> Beats me why anyone would want to pay through the nose for overpriced
> French headtorches, when there are any number of alternatives on Ebay,
> Aldi, Alpkit, Lidl etc. which are at least as good. I've got several
> good ones from the above suppliers with varying number of LEDs and
> none of them I paid over a tenner. The best one has a Luxeon LED and
> is too bright to look at. I was using it for plumbing recently and
> the 3 AAA NiMh cells lasted for several hours. I think I paid about
> £7 for it from a U.K. supplier.
>
> Jim Ford

Well you're only alive once and you can't take your money with you when
you die.

:-)

Mike
--
o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
<\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
"> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Chris Eilbeck

Richard Phillips wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> I bought a Myolite 3 last weekend, salesman convinced me it was a good
> one. Normally I do lots of research before buying stuff, this was a bit
> more
> "heat of the moment" purchasing though. Having read a little more about
> it, it seems the Myolite 3 is aimed at night running, hence it has a long
> distance beam and is rather heavy and bulky! Plus, the batteries won't
> last long at all with the main zenon beam...
>
> So, I'm thinking on changing to a Tikka. Anyone use them? Opinions?

I've got a Myo XP and a Tikka Plus. The XP is ace, last for ages and gives
a brilliant light to walk by or to cook/camp/read by. The Tikka Plus is
only ever a backup since I bought the Myo XP.

Rob G

On 4 Dec, 19:55, Mike Clark <m...@nospam.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> In message <d2i5j.1631$1j1.1...@newsfe7-gui.ntli.net>
> Jim Ford <jaf...@watford53.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Beats me why anyone would want to pay through the nose for overpriced
> > French headtorches, when there are any number of alternatives on Ebay,
> > Aldi, Alpkit, Lidl etc. which are at least as good. I've got several
> > good ones from the above suppliers with varying number of LEDs and
> > none of them I paid over a tenner. The best one has a Luxeon LED and
> > is too bright to look at. I was using it for plumbing recently and
> > the 3 AAA NiMh cells lasted for several hours. I think I paid about
> > £7 for it from a U.K. supplier.
>
> > Jim Ford
>
> Well you're only alive once and you can't take your money with you when
> you die.
>
> :-)
>
> Mike
> --
> o/ \\ // |\ ,_ o Mike Clark
> <\__,\\ // __o | \ / /\, "A mountain climbing, cycling, skiing,
> "> || _`\<,_ |__\ \> | immunology lecturer, antibody engineer and
> ` || (_)/ (_) | \corn computer user"

Which sounds like an awfully good plug for buying something by price
and not by value.

One of the mistakes that most people make is that they relate
'quality' to price, whereas 'quality' is actually meeting what the
customer wants, and in most sensible cases, the the price does need to
be taken into account. Regretably sports gear and its buyers are
seriously, in current times, subject to fashion and there are items
that are blatantly overpriced.

Rob

Peter Clinch

Rob G wrote:

> One of the mistakes that most people make is that they relate
> 'quality' to price, whereas 'quality' is actually meeting what the
> customer wants, and in most sensible cases, the the price does need to
> be taken into account. Regretably sports gear and its buyers are
> seriously, in current times, subject to fashion and there are items
> that are blatantly overpriced.

On the one hand "yes", but on the other hand that neatly ignores a lot
of R&D. And while my Tikka isn't any better than cheaper things
available now, when I got it they didn't exist because it was up to
"expensive" people to do the R&D. So while Alpkit will sell you a
perfectly good one-size-fits-most LED headtorch, they won't sell you the
equivalent of a Myo XP because that's very much more cutting edge, and
if you need to reconnoitre a descent from a technical scramble in the
dark you might very well get wistful about the extra tenner in your bank
account... Also it's worth bearinbgin mind that there's more to torches
than light: my Duo won't go dark because it leaks in a torrential
downpour, I'm not sure I'd make the same claim about something from Tescos!

If you bear in mind that the first Munroists were going a century ago
it's pretty clear that we're spoiled for equipment, and also that most
of us have spent far more than necessary on it, and continue to do so,
and continue to feel it's still money well spent.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.clinch@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Neil

In message
<ad6c187c-4070-4c31-af9f-5e42ec01129d@y43g2000hsy.googlegroups.com>, Rob
G <robkgraham@btinternet.com> writes
>
>Neil
>Had a quick look at these. Keep away unless you are wanting something
>just for camp. The head strap system is c**p on these very cheap ones
>- I bought one of the single LED 1W ones which put out a good light in
>a reasonable beam but the strapping was useless. I ended up
>canabalising an old Petzl and mounting it on that.
>
>The 3W versions with the back of head battery pack showing up on Ebay
>have a much better head frame.
>

Thanks Rob. If I'd been ordering something else from 7dayshop (who are
generally pretty good, especially for camera cards, USB drives, etc) I
might just have bought one at that price, but the P&P would probably
double the cost.

After reading this thread I feel a burning desire to own a Myolite 3,
ahhh, the power of advertising, even on ukrw!

Pathetic gear junky that I am.....

Regards,
--
Neil Pugh

Allan Gould

Richard Phillips wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I bought a Myolite 3 last weekend, salesman convinced me it was a good one.
> Normally I do lots of research before buying stuff, this was a bit more
> "heat of the moment" purchasing though. Having read a little more about it,
> it seems the Myolite 3 is aimed at night running, hence it has a long
> distance beam and is rather heavy and bulky! Plus, the batteries won't last
> long at all with the main zenon beam...
>
> So, I'm thinking on changing to a Tikka. Anyone use them? Opinions?

Apart from the amassed wisdom of urw (probably worth far more), there
were a couple of reviews recently on Head-torches
Trail, Jan 08
tgo, Nov 07
(I know this cos I'm looking for a head-torch at the mo, so this thread
has been invaluable)
Allan

Rob G

On 5 Dec, 08:25, Peter Clinch <p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk> wrote:
> Rob G wrote:
> > One of the mistakes that most people make is that they relate
> > 'quality' to price, whereas 'quality' is actually meeting what the
> > customer wants, and in most sensible cases, the the price does need to
> > be taken into account. Regretably sports gear and its buyers are
> > seriously, in current times, subject to fashion and there are items
> > that are blatantly overpriced.
>
> On the one hand "yes", but on the other hand that neatly ignores a lot
> of R&D. And while my Tikka isn't any better than cheaper things
> available now, when I got it they didn't exist because it was up to
> "expensive" people to do the R&D. So while Alpkit will sell you a
> perfectly good one-size-fits-most LED headtorch, they won't sell you the
> equivalent of a Myo XP because that's very much more cutting edge, and
> if you need to reconnoitre a descent from a technical scramble in the
> dark you might very well get wistful about the extra tenner in your bank
> account... Also it's worth bearinbgin mind that there's more to torches
> than light: my Duo won't go dark because it leaks in a torrential
> downpour, I'm not sure I'd make the same claim about something from Tescos!
>
> If you bear in mind that the first Munroists were going a century ago
> it's pretty clear that we're spoiled for equipment, and also that most
> of us have spent far more than necessary on it, and continue to do so,
> and continue to feel it's still money well spent.
>
> Pete.
> --
> Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
> Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
> Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
> net p.j.cli...@dundee.ac.uk http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Valid point - I would like to think I don't push the margins now such
that I would be challenging the equipment's capability, which is of
course fine until something goes wrong !!

Yes, it's true that as new equipment comes on the market, it's
development has to be paid for and it is the professionals and those
at the cutting edge, or the gadget freaks, who will pay that. What is
unfortunate is that the price for some items remains unnecessarily
high.

I found a good example of this the other day - some years back I got
pair of dark glasses from the cycling shop that you could change the
lens on - dark, clear or yellow. They cost me £20 and I thought they
were great, and as there was nothing else equivalent, I thought that
an acceptable price. I got a replacement pair from Lidls the other
day for £3 - identical and actually in a better case. And
realistically £3 is a fair price for the manufacturing cost - £20 was
not ! There are plenty of similar examples - take these plastic
clogs, how much do they cost to make and how much do the fashion names
sell for ?

Sorry, rant over !!

Rob

Richard Phillips

Allan Gould wrote:
> Richard Phillips wrote:
>> Hello all,
>>
>> I bought a Myolite 3 last weekend, salesman convinced me it was a
>> good one. Normally I do lots of research before buying stuff, this
>> was a bit more "heat of the moment" purchasing though. Having read
>> a little more about it, it seems the Myolite 3 is aimed at night
>> running, hence it has a long distance beam and is rather heavy and
>> bulky! Plus, the batteries won't last long at all with the main
>> zenon beam... So, I'm thinking on changing to a Tikka. Anyone use them?
>> Opinions?
>
> Apart from the amassed wisdom of urw (probably worth far more), there
> were a couple of reviews recently on Head-torches
> Trail, Jan 08
> tgo, Nov 07
> (I know this cos I'm looking for a head-torch at the mo, so this
> thread has been invaluable)
> Allan

Oh, that's the current Trail edition then?

R.