Headlamps ?

OK, guys. What are your thoughts on the Petzl Myo 3 head lamp? clicky I just got one and I haven't used it a whole lot yet, but my first impressions are good. Just wondering who's has one and what you like and dislike about it.
thanks. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

See the review on my site...

Not too great.

The leds are great and I like how they turn on. The incandescent is easy to turn on and use. However, the incandescent needs the batteries to be pretty much full. I have been using the LEDs to read with and not all that much. The incandescent is now so dim I can barely see it.

I think the Gemini Black Diamond might be better. Or, I think my new favorite could be the PT Yukon HL (all LED). The MYO is way over rated.

J

I think it was a desperate attempt to recapture the market share they lost to the Black Diamond and Princeton tech headlamps.

They didn't do too well.

The Myo is not as well designed as either of the other brands of light weight headlamps. Petzl's main line of headlamps are very robust and designed for the abuses of caving. It is nice to see them try and make something more practical for above ground use.

However, the spare bulb holder is terrible, the bulb is not easy to change, the switch mechanism is a terrible design and it just looks gauldy.

BD headlamps have a nicely designed switch, are at least as bright, are lighter and require one battery fewer. For running an LED, why use 4 batteries and a bigger resistor?

PT has some good features and is a much better value.

Oh, and what's with regulating the LED instead of the incadescent? The incadescent is what really needs a good regulator.

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mrme said:...BD headlamps have a nicely designed switch, are at least as bright, are lighter and require one battery fewer. For running an LED, why use 4 batteries and a bigger resistor?...

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They may have had in mind the fact that the batteries can be better drained (go to lower voltage) with the LEDs still able to light. Personally, I find 4AA on the back of my head to be a bit much. Since I also like to have a red LED on a headlamp, I can always switch that on to suck the batteries down more. This is atleast helpful in real darkness.

I don't currently have any Petzl headlamps, but I did buy a Myo 3 about a year ago, I think, and returned it. That's not unusual for me, because I do that with a lot of lights. There were things I liked about it, and things I didn't. I thought the battery case and wires were well designed. But I thought the head was too big for my tastes, and I didn't like the bright colors of the whole thing. At the time that was a big issue with me, since I often used a headlamp to walk through a crime laden park, and needed to maintain some stealth ability. For that, the best thing you can do is shut the darn thing off altogether, and have dark colored clothing.

I'm not a big fan of the Myo lights but the 3 is lighter weight than the 5 so that's somewhat of an advantage. I also bought one from REI and returned it a week later. Still, would prefer a PT or BD. Petzl makes other excellent lights but the Myo wasn't one of them.