Princeton Tec Bot (a Kid's Headlamp)

[Bolster]

I could not resist picking up a PT Bot for my daughter when they went on sale at the local sport's store for $12. After all, it was available in pink and purple.

It's a 2xAAA configuration, a little unusual, which makes it nice and compact. Two ringy 5mm LEDs provide the light. Angry purple tint hotspot with a dirty yellow ring of spill, just as you'd expect. The hotspot is only 10 degrees, and the ringy spill (difficult to measure where it tapers off, so went for the point of half-bright) is around 30 degrees, making this a remarkably narrow spot headlamp. Anyone aware of my headlamp preferences knows this is just about opposite of what I prefer, so I won't be stealing it from my daughter anytime soon, who by the way loves it...because...the body is pink and purple!!

Claims 4.5 hours on "high" (15 lumens! Woo!) and 9 hours on low. I actually prefer the very modest illumination; she won't exactly be blinding herself with it; and in the dark 15 is plenty. The battery compartment requires a screwdriver to access...not a bad feature on a kid's light, actually, but if you don't bring a small phillips, you're screwed. Actually, "not screwed," as the case may be. Claims IPX4 water resistance. The bot has an auto-off feature, which is a great idea for kids...but...the downside is that the auto-off kicks in after 6 hours so...what's the point? If on high, the batteries are spent by then anyway.

I'm going to try my spray-frost magic and see if I can spread the beam a bit.

Overall a ho-hum headlamp except...it's pink and purple!!! Which is its saving grace.

 

[eh4]

I wonder if a small child might appreciate high quality light as much as (or even more than?) a savvy adult.
I loved lights as a child, and read for hours with a dim, dying incandescent. Would have gone nuts for a low lumen, floody high CRI that seemed to run forever.

Sounds like a good light for an led upgrade, good call on the pink and purple!

 

[Bolster]

I modified the Bot's beam with RustOleum Frosted Glass, by masking around the LEDs and then spraying it directly on them. This mixed the yellow/purple tints so the beam is a decent white now, and it also spread the beam out. More diffused, less throwy, no artifacts. I'd have graded the light a 'C-' without the modification, but a 'B-' with the modification. I posted photos of beam mod using this method here.

Now the Bot passes the "read a page" test, giving reasonably even light over a book page. It failed this test miserably before the modification. It's not as even as my H501w (which gets a solid 'A'), but decent enough to read by.

FWIW, the Bot handily outperforms my old 3AAA, 3-LED Petzl Tikka on all counts: beam quality, color, and especially brightness.

 

[eh4]

Nice trick, I'm making note of the rustoleum mod and give it a try.
As best as I can remember my childhood, I give the mod a big thumbs up.

Kids have nice fresh sensory inputs, they haven't been blunted yet by stress and over stimulation, whether loud music, power tools or the stressful connotations of content.
I would have explored a cave, basement crawlspace or creepy attic at 7 years with a 5 lumen light so long as I Knew it would not go out.
A reliable, even light is a wonderful gift for a child, brightness is third behind evenness and reliability/runtime imho.
Thumbs up again. ;-)