Petzl headlamps?

Anyone had experience with these lights are they any good? Do you guys no of any Petzl model that you would recommend?

Cheers.

You'll probably get more replies posting this in the Headlamps forum:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?6-Headlamps

Let's put it this way when I was very actively rock climbing/mountaineering, I would not go on a mountain with anything but my Petzel Zoom, and my Princeton tec solo as a backup/camp light

I've owned and used quite a few Petzls over the years, still have most of them. They're sort of Euro-usable, meaning OK in your average recreational situation but not so much so in a really fraught one and for more durability I can recommend the somewhat dated Princeton Plus Apex, the tank of headlamps. Petzls are lighter that that one and more updated, personally I like the Myo models. Living in a cold climate, I prefer the Myo with a belt mounted battery box- you can keep the batteries warm more easily and also it's easier on the head for long periods- and Canadian nights are long. Direct customer support from the Petzl company is non-existent in my experience, so be sure to buy them from a good dealer. And be careful about using rechargable batteries.

Last note: I have about 10 Petzl e+lites: they are the perfect emergency kit headlamp, being really small and using lithium button batteries.

Wrong forum. :green:

CraigK, you have >80 posts and you've been here long enough to know (or at least, long enough to attempt to discover) where different topics belong. Do you really not yet know there is a Headlamps section here?

Moving the thread there now...

I live in Europe so Petzl (a French manufacturer) headlamps were the first ever that I came across. I've used three of their older models so far (Tikka, Tikka+, and finally settled with Tikka XP Gen 1 w/ADAPT). Never had problems with them, except for the occasional flickering (a contact problem) on Tikka, but that was sorted thanks to cooperativeness of my local distributor. The named lights are unregulated, but rugged and well thought out. I'm not sure about their new models. Petzl has a specific way of determining runtimes for their unregulated headlamps, so read about it before you buy (not everyone is happy with it).

Cheers,

Tam

Sorry DM51 I am silly I overlooked the fact that there is a headlamps section because I don't look around the forum that much I just always go straight to the LED lights section, anyway thanks for moving this thread for me.

Craig k - Yes Petzl's are high quality and when someone rips it off from your gear bag it hurts a lot worse than if you'd bought
a generic 3aaa $20 headlamp from Walmart.

Hi
I'm using a TacTIkka XP adapt for four years now - modded it with a Seoul P¤ and will put a XP-G in it. Never had any problems whatsoever. They make great headlamps. One can say that thei're the headlamps Surefire over here in europe... exept for thee price of course. They're all relatively reasonably priced.

I've never been impressed with any of the headlamps from the 'name brand' headlamp manufacturers; Petzl, Black Diamond, Brunton.

I've not looked into their products recently, but in general, none of them make a regulated, wide range (meaning modes or levels), light with a neutral tint. They stick to an archaic 3xAAA battery configuration when 1xAA is just as much power but more compact and usable, because they're too cheap to create a driver that would use a lower voltage and provide greater output ranges at the same time, and provide regulation. I suspect they avoid regulation because they want to be able to advertise ridiculously long run-times, while not telling you that after the first couple of hours you barely have any useable light.

If you're serious about getting a high quality headlamp, forget about these and get a Spark, a Zebralight, or a Fenix. Right now Spark and Zebralight are neck and neck for the best ones on the market, with Fenix running a distant third. When they start using neutral emitters and improve their run times, they'll close the gap.

Ahem. What about the Petzl myo RXP?
> fully regulated
> AA batts
> programmable modes

Over here you can just return the petzls to the store to claim warranty...

I've owned a number of petzl headlamps. Overall I do like them but I don't think they're perfect, I just haven't found anything I liked better that really replaced them for me.

I have an e-lite which as someone mentioned is a fantastic emergency light.

I also have a zipka i keep in a camera bag. Whether I use it on my head or strap it to my tripod in beacon mode so I can find it again in a dark field or something, it's handy.

The Myo's have been the main Petzl lights I've used though. I had a Myo XP which wasn't bad but I now have a Myo Belt XP (with the removable battery pack you can stash in your jacket to keep warm) and the Myo RXP. The RXP is my favorite of all the Petzls I've used. The tint is much better and I can customize the modes and have it operate in low->med->high order as I like it.

I've found them comfortable and I love the flip up diffuser, which is what keeps me using the Myo line. I'd love a more rugged and better heatsinked light though, I've been watching the Fenix models but don't like their diffuser implementation.

Count me a big fan of Petzl here. I have the Zoom, E+Lite, Tikka 2, and Tikka CORE XP2.

The Tikka2 is way more awesome than people give it credit for: the 4x5mm LED array gives it a pretty good combination of flood and throw that works very well for most uses, it's extremely lightweight compared to similar ones from competitors (like the PT Quad), highly water resistant, and loooooong runtimes. Not to mention it's pretty affordable at $30.

Mr Bigglow said:

I've owned and used quite a few Petzls over the years, still have most of them. They're sort of Euro-usable, meaning OK in your average recreational situation but not so much so in a really fraught one and for more durability I can recommend the somewhat dated Princeton Plus Apex, the tank of headlamps.

Click to expand...

WOW, certainly the exact opposite of my experience. Had 2 Apexs break in my pack - not what I would call durable at all. My Petzl lights OTOH have never broken. I've owned a Zoom, an original Tikka, and a Micro. None of them were great lights, but for the time they were. Now I am an HP10 fan, and I don't use the Petzl lights any more - except my Tikka which I popped some upgraded LEDs in.

snoboy said:

WOW, certainly the exact opposite of my experience. Had 2 Apexs break in my pack - not what I would call durable at all. My Petzl lights OTOH have never broken. I've owned a Zoom, an original Tikka, and a Micro. None of them were great lights, but for the time they were. Now I am an HP10 fan, and I don't use the Petzl lights any more - except my Tikka which I popped some upgraded LEDs in.

Click to expand...

Wow, two? At the same time? What exactly did you break on them, and how?

Some discussion can be found in this thread about the PT Apex's weak hinge failing

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?195442-A-note-on-P.T.-Apex/page1