A
ARTJR338WM
Guest
Several months ago I posted here a request for help and advice in desiding which head lamp to buy for possable use on my 08 elk hunt.
As luck would have it I was able to buy two different models suggested to me by people repsonding to my request here for help. They were:
#1-The Black Diamond Spot
On sale at Cabelas for $19.95
#2-The Petzl Tikka Plus
On phone special from Cabelas for $14.99
I was able to buy both at a significant savings.
I used both prior to the trip while camping with my sons to check how well they worked and to also become compleatly familure with their operation. I was extreamly impressed by the large area they both were able to illuminate but even more so as how brightly they did it. Literaly turning night into day. This was done while I camped in a park that was as it turned out populated with several pwerfull lights that came on at night that I felt took away from me being able to truely evaluate eithor lights performance in total or near total darkness as I would incounter while camping in the mountains of Wyoming.
I would soon enough get a oportunity to fully evaluate both head lamps performance while being used on a dark almost moonless night helping my friends skin and bone-out a bull elk. Both my friends shot their bulls just before dark so we had to skin and debone them after sunset 100% by artaficial light suplied by us. I put on my "Black Diamond Spot" and proceeded to to my friends downed bull allowing my friends to light the way till we got there. I purposely used a hand held flash light while walking so I could use my friends reactions to my Black Diamond Spot head lamp to fully evaluate it, as neither one of them had ever seen or used a good quality head lamp before.
Once there I turned on my Black diamond and both my friends were utterly amaized by the amount and intencity of light cast by my tiny 3oz head lamp. They were litteraly stoped in their tracks by the Black Diamonds performance. I tlit up anywhere I looked so well that I am now 100% confident that it would be all I would need to skin and debone a elk if I found my self having to do so alone.
After that I gave the Petzl a work out while walking back to camp for over a hour and a half in the dark. While it perfromed on par with the Black Diamond, I much perfered the Black Diamonds more simplistic design and ease of use. Let me explane.
I prefer to carry my head lamps (and flash lights for that matter) with the batteries in a mannor so not to allow the lights to come on accidently while in strorrage. The Black Diamonds design allows this to be done with ease. The Petzl does not and worns that putting one or more bateries in a reverse polarity state risks dammage to the unit. It is also IMHO much simple and easy to incert the batteries into the The Black Diamond as compaired to the Petzl.
Bottom line is I much prefer the Black Diamond Spot Head lamp as it met my prerquesits of:
<>Being extreamly light weight
<>Extreamly bright or bright enough to allow me to safely skin/de-bone elk
<>Lasts a looooooong time
<>Extreamly well made
<>Simplicity of use, "Arthur Proof" so to speek.
As fate would have it, the Cabelas near my home ran a in-store sale on Black Diamond Spot head lamps, again at $19.99. I bought three more.
They normaly retail for almost $43.00.
Again thanks to this website and the fine people in it for sharing their knowledge with me. If anyone is interested in a good alround head lamp that will serve you superbly for hunting or fishing at night, for a price of $19.99 you would be hard pressed to find a better head lamp than the Black Diamond Spot.
Thanks, and be well,
Arthur.
As luck would have it I was able to buy two different models suggested to me by people repsonding to my request here for help. They were:
#1-The Black Diamond Spot
On sale at Cabelas for $19.95
#2-The Petzl Tikka Plus
On phone special from Cabelas for $14.99
I was able to buy both at a significant savings.
I used both prior to the trip while camping with my sons to check how well they worked and to also become compleatly familure with their operation. I was extreamly impressed by the large area they both were able to illuminate but even more so as how brightly they did it. Literaly turning night into day. This was done while I camped in a park that was as it turned out populated with several pwerfull lights that came on at night that I felt took away from me being able to truely evaluate eithor lights performance in total or near total darkness as I would incounter while camping in the mountains of Wyoming.
I would soon enough get a oportunity to fully evaluate both head lamps performance while being used on a dark almost moonless night helping my friends skin and bone-out a bull elk. Both my friends shot their bulls just before dark so we had to skin and debone them after sunset 100% by artaficial light suplied by us. I put on my "Black Diamond Spot" and proceeded to to my friends downed bull allowing my friends to light the way till we got there. I purposely used a hand held flash light while walking so I could use my friends reactions to my Black Diamond Spot head lamp to fully evaluate it, as neither one of them had ever seen or used a good quality head lamp before.
Once there I turned on my Black diamond and both my friends were utterly amaized by the amount and intencity of light cast by my tiny 3oz head lamp. They were litteraly stoped in their tracks by the Black Diamonds performance. I tlit up anywhere I looked so well that I am now 100% confident that it would be all I would need to skin and debone a elk if I found my self having to do so alone.
After that I gave the Petzl a work out while walking back to camp for over a hour and a half in the dark. While it perfromed on par with the Black Diamond, I much perfered the Black Diamonds more simplistic design and ease of use. Let me explane.
I prefer to carry my head lamps (and flash lights for that matter) with the batteries in a mannor so not to allow the lights to come on accidently while in strorrage. The Black Diamonds design allows this to be done with ease. The Petzl does not and worns that putting one or more bateries in a reverse polarity state risks dammage to the unit. It is also IMHO much simple and easy to incert the batteries into the The Black Diamond as compaired to the Petzl.
Bottom line is I much prefer the Black Diamond Spot Head lamp as it met my prerquesits of:
<>Being extreamly light weight
<>Extreamly bright or bright enough to allow me to safely skin/de-bone elk
<>Lasts a looooooong time
<>Extreamly well made
<>Simplicity of use, "Arthur Proof" so to speek.
As fate would have it, the Cabelas near my home ran a in-store sale on Black Diamond Spot head lamps, again at $19.99. I bought three more.
They normaly retail for almost $43.00.
Again thanks to this website and the fine people in it for sharing their knowledge with me. If anyone is interested in a good alround head lamp that will serve you superbly for hunting or fishing at night, for a price of $19.99 you would be hard pressed to find a better head lamp than the Black Diamond Spot.
Thanks, and be well,
Arthur.
