P.T. Aurora from REI arrived & reviewed.

My Aurora from REI was shipped yesterday ( edit 3/9/02 Review has now been posted below).


Warning Ad copy ahead: An easy to use push button allows for three different brightnesses and two strobe options, one fast and one slow. The Aurora is hinged to allow adjustments up and down. 2.6oz weight.
$30 but you can get it cheaper at IMO scroll up some.

I also ordered:
TNF GLOW IN THE DARK ZIPPER PULLS $8.00
and backordered.
KELTY TRIPTEASE Reflective GUYLINE $15.00
so I can make reflective glowing lanyards for all my Arcs.
I'll let you know how well everything works when it gets in.

All this and more was free because I have an REI credit card and I get 1% back in the form of a gift certificate. Lots of toys and no explainin to do.

Ooooh. Bunch of goodies. I had my eye on that headlamp too.

I see that REI only sells the gold Triptease. You didn't find another color did you?

Dave, please let us know how you like it. Esp. how it compares to the Tikka.

Witsend, I've had my Aurora headlamp for a couple weeks now and I love it. It's a tad thinner than the Tekka, since the Petzl people made a sort of pre-angled head, whereas the Aurora can be tilted on a hinge, so when it's flat, it's thinner. The differences in size are pretty insignificant. The differences in brightness, however, are more noticable. The Aurora is significantly brighter when set to it's highest setting. The Aurora seems to be more solidly built as well. It's hard to describe, but it feels more solid than the Petzl. The only thing I dislike about the Aurora is the potential for the on button to be inadvertantly pressed whilst in a rucksack or backpack. There's no "auto-off" feature, such as that found in the LRI Photon, and the on button is easy enough to depress. I'd hate to accidently have it running when it's packed deep amongst the rest of the clutter. I've been trying to keep my eye out for a small, rigid container that would protect the light from being accidently turned on. So far, a larger sized pill bottle is the closest suitable option. If anyone knows of a better solution, I'd be happy to learn of it.

Cheers!

Plinko, does the headlamp appear to be regulated in any way? Does the light output fade as fast the tikka?

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Plinko:
I've been trying to keep my eye out for a small, rigid container that would protect the light from being accidently turned on. So far, a larger sized pill bottle is the closest suitable option. If anyone knows of a better solution, I'd be happy to learn of it.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Something like an Otterbox would work great, but would be a bit spendier than a pill bottle.

Chuen,

It doesn't look like it's regulated, but it's hard to tell with all the the circutry or the flashing/dimming modes. As for battery life, it lasts so long that it's hard to gauge without light meters. If I had to guess, I'd say it dims at close to the same rate as the Tikka when both are left on side by side. Perhaps someone with more appropriate measuring devices can help us out here.

Cheers!

I had almost talked myself into getting the PT Matrix, but after hearing about the Aurora I'm a bit unsure..

One of the reasons I liked the Matrix was that it came with both the LED assembly and the incandescent one...

But the Aurora sounds good, and appears to be more compact. Can anyone advise what the brightness comparison between the 2 is like? Also, how waterproof is the Aurora?

Graham

They both seeme to be equally water tight. To give you an idea of the brightness, the Aurora has 3 brightness settings...on the lowest setting, roughly the same brightness as the Matrix. So on the medium and maximum settings, it blows away the Matrix.

I too, love the idea of having incandescent and LED from the same light, but the Matrix is about twice the size and weight of the Aurora. For the same weight, I can toss in another light. When I'm hiking ultralight, the Aurora is the one that will go with me. When I'm packing a few more "luxury items", I'll compliment the Aurora with a Tec 40 with lithiums for when I need a big searchlight in the wilderness. The downside to all this is that they take different batteries (AA in the Matrix and Tec 40, and AAA in the Aurora), so there's no interchangability. But since there's a backup light availible (and a backup for the backup light, and another backup light for the backup light's backup light, i.e. a couple of Photon II's...is 4 lights enough?!?) having the bateries go dead in one light isn't detrimental. Redundency is a wonderful thing.

PT Switchback is the future of such things...3 LEDs and an incandescent, built in so there's no swapping reflectors and what not. Coghans (sp?) markets a headlight with this same como configuration, and sells it for 19.99. It looks like a good light, and it's being sold under a lot of other names/companies.

Does anyone have the Coghanns LED/incan headlamp? Perhaps we should pose the question in a new thread and see what turns up. Typically, Coghann's has put out a lot of junk, but if someone else is making it, as is the case, it might be a viable option.

Cheers!

Speaking of headlamps with led/incandecants, has anyone bought the Black Diamond Gemini?
web page

I've played with the BD Gemini and it's a good light...very solid, but it's only got a single (1) LED in the head. If it had 3 LEDs, (better yet, had selectable brightness)I'd own it.

Can you answer some questions please:

Is there one button to cycle through the modes? Specifically, is it quick to turn on and off?
Is it the same brightness with NiMH's? I would assume so if it's regulated
Where do you get it cheaper than $30

Thanks

Sam

The cheapest I've seen is $25.00 at
Inner Mountain Otfitters
Not sure about NiMH batts, since I only have NiCad's around just now. As for the switch, it's a single button...just one. It's super-quick to turn on, even with gloved hands. You press it once, and it's on the maximum brightness setting. You press it again within 3 seconds of the last pressing, and it goes to the next mode. Repeat this process and it goes through each of the five modes. Once you leave it on a setting for more than 3 seconds, then press the switch again, it turns the light off. When you press the switch again, it starts back at the max brightness mode (it doesn't start up in the mode you last used). Hope this helps.

Cheers!

Here is my review of the Aurora. I thought it would be easiest to compare it to the Tikka.

VS

Brightness: Tie. New batteries in both and the Aurora is a tad bit brighter on high, but my Tikka has a better beam and a warmer color. The Aurora leds aren't lined up correctly and have odd blue artifacts in the beam. Your results may vary.

Battery Change: Tikka. The Tikka is much easier to change the battery, the trick is to use the hard plastic D-ring on the headband to push on the release tab. The Aurora is just a pain in the fingers to change the battery, I can see batteries flying every where once you get the Aurora open, although I haven't had this happen yet.

On Off switch: Tikka. The Tikka is easier to use and better protected from accidental turn on. Though the Aurora is OK, I worry about it accidently turning on in my pack, wish there was a lock out programmed in to the circuit or an auto off mode.

Usability: Aurora: I love the tilt feature, and if mounted on a helmet it's essential. The Tikka just doesn't cut it when you are trying to read or crawl through a cave.

Headband: Tikka. The tikka headband adjusts easier, is thinner, more compact, lighter and is removable. The Aurora is sewed on. Many cavers like to remove the headband and zip tie the lights on, I plan on puting the light on the headband from my primary light.

Gee Whiz factor: Aurora. 5 modes to select from, but I'm not sure how practical this really is.

Durability: Tikka. The Aurora tilt seems thin and fragile, and the Aurora battery case is held on by tiny depressions while the Tikka case has a large latch holding it in place. The clear dome over the LEDs on the Aurora is more exposed than the Tikka and there is also more glare coming down into your eyes. The Tikka lens is replaceable, and the newer version Tikka has a lip under the leds to cut out the glare.

Other: Neither light is regulated. The Aurora has a very, very slight double flicker that occurs every two seconds. Is this being caused by the circuit? I might trade it in for a new one.

Winner: Aurora by a slight margin because of the tilt feature and the way I plan on using the light, also less expensive. I honestly expected a better showing from Princeton Tec, I think they rushed this one to market, because I can see room for lots of improvements.
I wish one of the modes was a lockout where the button would have then have to be held for 5 –10 seconds before it came on.

Thanks for the great review. It looks like the Aurora isn't what I'm looking for at this stage..

Ah well, I might go for the Matrix after all..

Graham

I just played with the aurora at EMS store last weekend. One thing that is worth noting...
On the one that I played, the hinge that the head rotates around is loosen and the head won't stay locked at the postion. So the head keeps falling down all the time. It's easy fixing by tighten the nut on the hinge. Anyway, I don't know how long it will last before it get loosen again.


I like it though.., very small and good life with AAA batteries

Ake

Instead of messing around with those PT lights, just get an eternalight and use a jackstrap headband with a piece of elastic loop sewn onto the headband to hold the light. I have been using this combination for a couple of years and it works great in caves and non-subterrainian situations.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Graham:
It looks like the Aurora isn't what I'm looking for at this stage..

Ah well, I might go for the Matrix after all..

Graham<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Graham, What are you looking for at this stage?

I have a Matrix module also. I often use the Solo on short caving trips. I use the halogen bulb w textured reflector and carry the matrix module in a small waterproof container in case of emergency. I have used it once in this capacity, when I ran out of extra batteries.

The Aurora is considerable brighter than the Matrix, in fact my Arc AAA is a tad bit brighter than the Matrix. course the Arc don't last 50 hrs.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cave dave:
Graham, What are you looking for at this stage?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well, I want a fairly bright LED headlamp with reasonable runtime that I would use around the house, but as I do some diving as well, I wanted something which I could take on night dives. That means a reasonable incandescent.
I may be better off just getting a PT Solo, and then getting something separate for the LED, since the impression is that the Matrix LED isn't as bright as others..

Graham

I have found the Aurora to be great. I was a little skeptical of the multiple out puts and the needs of them, but I spent that last week backcountry and I found two great uses for the features. I do a lot of night orienteering. When marching, the high beam is great, but when working with paper, the medium beam is much better. My companion also had an Aurora and I brought my Tikka along as well. We marked our campsite each time we left with one Aurora strobing attached to a tree. This thing makes a great marking light when needed.

In another instance, I was running at night and I ran with the Aurora around my waist – I am not a small wasited person either – and it did not stretch out the band. I think that the band is a strong quality.

I am very pleased with this light.