R11GS
Newly Enlightened
I received my Primus Primelite AR yesterday. It's a very well made headlamp. The straps are very easy to adjust and overall the balance of the unit with the 3 X AA battery pack in the back is very good and it is very comfortable. The battery pack is easily removable but extremely secure. They supply a neck lanyard for the pack so that it can be hung in front of you for either keeping it warm or if for some reason it's just in the way. The lamp can point downward more than enough for reading. The buttons are easily operated and the lamp can be pointed with even bulky gloves. They supply a white stuff sack that "works as a light dampener for overall lighting"; it does let out a lot light that even if not that truly useful to make the unit a lamp, will make it easy to see if it is turned on in the sack. It is advertised as waterproof (IPX8 - 1m for 24hrs) and I can see no obvious reason to be concerned about the lamp portion. The battery pack look pretty reasonable, but if I had spent a lot of time in wet conditions, I might check the battery pack afterwards. I know we all understand how bad water in a battery compartment is. A small downside is that you need to remove the battery pack from the back to change the batteries. If it weren't so easy to turn this on when packed, this would just be a small nuisance in my mind since the pack is so easily removed and there is a low battery indication that is unmistakable and will give you plenty of time before you have to change them. But since it is easy to turn the unit on when packed, I would remove the batteries before packing and so this becomes just a little more of a nuisance.
It has two red 5mm LED's, four "white" 5mm LED's and a white Luxeon with a reflector.
The operation is very straightforward with two large buttons (~1cm) on the top of the unit. One on each side. One turns the unit on and off and the other toggles through the modes. The on/off button has a ridge around it to prevent accidental activation, but I think that this light would very easily be activated when packed.
The access to the modes is very logical. When you turn the unit on, the two red LED's come on which makes good sense for preserving dark adaptation. The next step turns on the four "white" 5mm LED's at "low"; next step is these four on "high". Next step is the Luxeon on "low", then next to "high". The next step is the four "white" 5mm LED's flashing at what appears to be about once per second.
The red is not terribly bright and I can't see a good reason that dimming them would be very useful. They won't throw very far, but far enough to see what's immediately in front of you while walking. The "white" 5mm's are too blue and too focused in my opinion to be very useful for much. The Luxeon has a very nice tint and very reasonable throw with not a lot, but adequate side spill.
Reports are that it is not well regulated, but I can't really test that easily.
I bought the AR (it has a remote) on close out, but I wouldn't bother spending extra on it. You set the headlamp into a "standby" mode that will allow you to turn it on with the remote and cycle through all the modes, but it does not appear as though you can turn it off. I think if you could also turn it off, the remote would be *way* more useful. This way when overnighting outdoors, you could set the headlamp where it would light your sleeping area and be able to turn it on and off from your rack.
So bottom line, the pros and cons from my perspective...
Pros:
Red light is good for preserving dark adaptation and is accessed when the unit is first turned on and you can turn it off directly from red without cycling through any white modes.
Very comfortable and balanced.
Easily accessed buttons that are quite useful even with gloves.
Logical mode access.
Uses readily available AA's and should have good runtime.
The Luxeon has a very nice tint, decent beam and the low and high modes both are useful.
It appears very well built and is advertised as waterproof.
The battery pack is removable and they supply a neck lanyard for it.
Cons:
The 5mm "white" LED's are too blue and too focused to be of much value to me. I just cycle to the Luxeon. This to me is a shame since a nice lower output, floody white would be useful.
The red is not very bright, but then again, if it were I would want a "low" and "high" mode.
It's too easy to accidentally turn it on when packed. I think they really should consider a "lock-out" feature. With two buttons, I would think this would be practical.
You have to remove the battery pack to change the batteries. This would be less of a concern if I didn't feel the batteries needed to be removed for packing.
Poor regulation? I can't confirm this...
And for the AR, the remote does not appear be able to turn the lamp off.
Conclusion:
This is a nice headlamp. It is one of the very few that have red LED's for preserving dark adaptation and runs on AA's (my personal preference). It is a very well built and a useful headlamp. It has enough deficiencies that while I'm happy with it at the price I paid ($35), I don't think I'd be so happy at the full advertised price. Without the remote being able to turn it off, I wouldn't opt to pay extra for the remote option.
It has two red 5mm LED's, four "white" 5mm LED's and a white Luxeon with a reflector.
The operation is very straightforward with two large buttons (~1cm) on the top of the unit. One on each side. One turns the unit on and off and the other toggles through the modes. The on/off button has a ridge around it to prevent accidental activation, but I think that this light would very easily be activated when packed.
The access to the modes is very logical. When you turn the unit on, the two red LED's come on which makes good sense for preserving dark adaptation. The next step turns on the four "white" 5mm LED's at "low"; next step is these four on "high". Next step is the Luxeon on "low", then next to "high". The next step is the four "white" 5mm LED's flashing at what appears to be about once per second.
The red is not terribly bright and I can't see a good reason that dimming them would be very useful. They won't throw very far, but far enough to see what's immediately in front of you while walking. The "white" 5mm's are too blue and too focused in my opinion to be very useful for much. The Luxeon has a very nice tint and very reasonable throw with not a lot, but adequate side spill.
Reports are that it is not well regulated, but I can't really test that easily.
I bought the AR (it has a remote) on close out, but I wouldn't bother spending extra on it. You set the headlamp into a "standby" mode that will allow you to turn it on with the remote and cycle through all the modes, but it does not appear as though you can turn it off. I think if you could also turn it off, the remote would be *way* more useful. This way when overnighting outdoors, you could set the headlamp where it would light your sleeping area and be able to turn it on and off from your rack.
So bottom line, the pros and cons from my perspective...
Pros:
Red light is good for preserving dark adaptation and is accessed when the unit is first turned on and you can turn it off directly from red without cycling through any white modes.
Very comfortable and balanced.
Easily accessed buttons that are quite useful even with gloves.
Logical mode access.
Uses readily available AA's and should have good runtime.
The Luxeon has a very nice tint, decent beam and the low and high modes both are useful.
It appears very well built and is advertised as waterproof.
The battery pack is removable and they supply a neck lanyard for it.
Cons:
The 5mm "white" LED's are too blue and too focused to be of much value to me. I just cycle to the Luxeon. This to me is a shame since a nice lower output, floody white would be useful.
The red is not very bright, but then again, if it were I would want a "low" and "high" mode.
It's too easy to accidentally turn it on when packed. I think they really should consider a "lock-out" feature. With two buttons, I would think this would be practical.
You have to remove the battery pack to change the batteries. This would be less of a concern if I didn't feel the batteries needed to be removed for packing.
Poor regulation? I can't confirm this...
And for the AR, the remote does not appear be able to turn the lamp off.
Conclusion:
This is a nice headlamp. It is one of the very few that have red LED's for preserving dark adaptation and runs on AA's (my personal preference). It is a very well built and a useful headlamp. It has enough deficiencies that while I'm happy with it at the price I paid ($35), I don't think I'd be so happy at the full advertised price. Without the remote being able to turn it off, I wouldn't opt to pay extra for the remote option.
