The Princeton Tec FUEL is a nice headlamp..

I bought my first headlamp and I really like it. The Fuel is smaller than most other headlamps and is why I like it. The 3AA battery configuration is in a tube shape to minimize space. It is smaller than I thought it would be and one of the smallest around using normal batteries.

I have not had many lights with 5mm LED in some time and can say that the ones in the FUEL are extremely bright (I wonder if they are the Nichia CS or DS models). I would say that the brightness on high (with Enelope rechargables - probably at 1.25 volts each) is comparable to a Seoul modded Pacific Ultra flashlight that I have. The amount of light of these 3 LED's is quit impressive considering most of my lights are Cree and Seoul. I am using the Enelope rechargables in it and it may even be brighter with primary lithium cells.

I am impressed with the new 5mm LED's and like the smooth pattern that they put out with a decent throw to boot.

I bought this light yesterday and was also quite impressed. For such a small light it is great that it boasts three AAA's. This makes runtimes of 50, 110 and 160 hours. I was actually impressed with the brightness for three LED'S. I'm a big fan of the PT EOS but with these runtimes it makes a great alternative.

TWO THUMBS UP

I wonder if the LED's in the Fuel are the new DS ones or not since the Fuel is very new.

As comparison, I also just picked up a Cateye 3 LED bike light for fun. The package said "now 60% birghter". Not sure of how recent the light is though. It was kind of unique in that it also only used 2 AA's. The Cateye LED's are much more blue than the fuel and may not be as bright. I really do not care for the angry blue of the Cateye - but the Fuel LED's are more white (they still have a slight hint of blue but not bad).

I am pleased by output and size of the Fuel. The beam pattern is also pretty nice and wide. Works well with Enelope AAA's.

Just purchased one and I think it might replace my Tikka. The battery compartment on the Petzl has been known to open up spontaneously. This could not happen with the FUEL. Also, there is a handy little tool on the headlamp strap to open the battery compartment- rather than trying to do that with your cold hands on the Petzl.