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Reviews > Lighting > Headlamps - LED > Petzl Tikka RXP headlamp > Test Report by Kurt PapkePetzl TIKKA RXP Headlamp
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Name: | Kurt Papke |
Age: | 61 |
Gender: | Male |
Height: | 6' 4" (193 cm) |
Weight: | 220 lbs (100 kg) |
Email address: | kwpapke at gmail dot com |
City, State, Country: | Tucson, Arizona USA |
The Petzl TIKKA RXP is a rechargeable headlamp with what Petzl
terms Reactive Lighting Technology, which is a sensor and logic in
the electronics to adapt to ambient and reflected light with the
goal of maximizing battery life. The following photo shows
the details of the lamp in close-up:
Manufacturer: | Petzl |
Manufacturer website: | www.petzl.com |
Model: |
TIKKA
RXP |
Year of manufacture: | 2015 |
Country of origin: |
Bulgaria |
MSRP: |
$99.95
USD (from REI) |
Color tested: |
Coral Also available in black |
Weight: |
Manufacturer:
115 g (4.06 oz) Measured 112 g (3.95 oz) |
Battery: |
1800 mAh Lithium ion |
Weather resistance: |
IP X4 (resistant to splashed water) |
Lamp brightness: |
215 lumens maximum |
Battery life: |
2.5-10 hours depending on brightness and mode
settings |
Recharge time: |
4.5-5 hours minimum |
Warranty: |
Headlamp: 3 years Rechargeable battery: 1 year |
Features not called out on the manufacturer's website but obvious
by observation and/or the supplied documentation:
The headlamp comes with a full sheet of instructions for use,
translated into many languages. The instructions were clear
and easy to follow, and I appreciated the illustrations pointing
out how the various button presses/duration controlled the
unit. It has been my experience that the biggest challenge
of getting to know a new headlamp is figuring out what the various
buttons do and how you have to press them to get them to do
it. The basics of this unit look pretty straightforward, but
it will likely take me a while to figure out how best to use the
REACTIVE technology.
I lengthened the strap to almost its maximum amount (I have a fat
head) and strapped it on. This is a very comfortable
headlamp - I like the way the strap is used for extra padding on
the forehead to prevent any abrasion while in motion. There
is also a section of the strap in the back where the strap
overlaps itself, so the pressure is spread across a larger surface
area.
I downloaded the Petzl OS software that is supposed to allow me
to change the profiles used by the lamp:
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance |
Altitude |
Weather |
July 11-13, 2015 |
Mogollon Rim in the Tonto National Forest,
Arizona |
Highline |
30.4 miles (49 km) |
5500-6900 ft (1675-2100 m) |
Partly cloudy to sunny, low temperature 58 F
(14.5 C), high about 85 F (29.5 C) |
July 24-26, 2015 | Chiricahua Mountains in the Coronado National Forest, Arizona | Chiricahua
Crest Trail |
15 miles (24 km) |
8468-9795 ft (2581-2986 m) |
Sun, rain, sleet, we had it all. Lows around 50 F (10 C), highs around 75 F (24 C) |
August 9-14, 2015 |
Sisters Wilderness in the Deschutes National
Forest, Oregon |
Sisters Loop |
55 miles (89 km) |
5300-7000 ft (1615-2134 m) |
Mostly sunny, lows around 50 F (10 C), highs
around 75 F (24 C) |
August 25-27, 2015 |
Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness in the Mount
Hood National Forest, Oregon |
PCT/Salmon Loop |
48 miles (77 km) |
1320-7000 ft (400-2130 m) |
Mostly sunny, 50-70 F (10-21 C), light winds |
August 31 - September 1, 2015 |
Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness in the Mount Hood National Forest, Oregon | Hunchback Loop |
27 miles (43 km) |
1320-5045 ft (400-1538 m) |
Partly cloudy, 50-70 F (10-21 C), light winds |
September 7-13, 2015 |
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness near
Ely, Minnesota |
Boundary
Waters Canoe Trip |
About 50 miles (80 km) by canoe, roughly 6
miles (10 km) portage |
Around 1400 ft (430 m) |
Mostly sunny, breezy, 38-70 F (3-21 C) |
Two night trip to a trail that I had never explored before.
I only hiked about a third of this historic National Recreation
Trail, so this leaves me something to go back for. I used
the headlamp for bladder emptying expeditions in the middle of the
night, and to prepare and break camp in the morning (I often arise
at 4 AM).
During my night time excursions I used the red lamp to retain my
night vision. The RXP headlamp red LED has a deep, dark red
color, I would term it "ruby" in color. It worked
well: I was able to see the forest floor obstructions to avoid,
and my night vision bounced back as soon as I turned it off.
I had no difficulties switching the headlamp in/out of red LED
mode.
During breakfast prep I got a chance to experience the REACTIVE
LIGHTING feature, as I would focus on both distant and near
objects. The lamp responds quickly, dimming the lamp when I
focused on my stove, and brightening back up when I looked up at
my pack. I can't decide how I feel about this yet, I think
it will take some getting used to. It is a bit disconcerting
when looking down at something you want to see the details of and
having the lamp go dim. On the positive side when looking at
a distant object this lamp has a very bright beam.
Also I noticed the bulb dimming as the sun came up and the sky got
brighter, which is a good thing as the headlamp becomes less
necessary in brighter conditions so it is smart to save the
battery life.
The other thing I noticed is the On/Off button is relatively
small. When I grab my headlamp in the middle of the night
the first thing I do is determine which side is "up" before I put
it on my head; the RXP On/Off button does not give a very good
tactile cue for the up-side. Next I turn the light on, and
the On/Off switch takes a little practice to find quickly. I
am going to have to try it with heavy gloves on to see how easy it
would be to use in severe cold weather.
During this trip I did not need to recharge the lamp in the
field, as it was only in use for perhaps an hour.
This was a three-day two-night backpacking trip, though we camped
at the trail head the first night. I used the RXP for bedtime
preparation, reading in my hammock, and as shown in the photo
above for morning breakfast-making. The lighting in the
photo is a bit deceiving due to the camera auto-exposure, it was
much darker than it appears.
Overall I was very happy with the headlamp performance with one
exception: while reading my Kindle at night, the REACTIVE mode
would brighten/darken the headlamp depending on where I was
looking and the angle of the Kindle. I found this to be
quite distracting. I tried switching to CONSTANT mode, but
then it was way too bright. I need to play around with the
light to see how I can get a constant brightness of the
appropriate level.
This trip reinforced my previous experience of difficulty with
determining where the On/Off button is by feel. I even put
the headlamp on upside-down once. I know I can determine the
orientation of the headlamp by flexing the hinge that controls the
vertical direction, but I had to convince myself I could not
determine the top of the lamp by feel.
This was a 6-day, 5-night backpack circumnavigating the three
Sisters mountains of north-central Oregon. I used the
headlamp for reading at night, getting up to "water the trees",
and for making breakfast in the morning. I am happy to
report that the battery lasted the entire trip with no need for an
in-field recharge and the LED indicated that the charge was still
66% or higher at the end of the trip. This is great battery
efficiency.
I continue to like the red LED for use at night to retain my
night vision. It is significantly brighter than some of the
red LED's on headlamps I have used before making it quite useful
for performing activities that do not require fine detail.
The hike started at Timberline Lodge. From there I ascended
to about the top of the chairlift on the Mountaineer Trail for a
good look at the glacier before beginning my trip south on the
Pacific Crest Trail. After about 15 miles on the PCT I
headed west on the Jackpot Meadows Trail to the Salmon River
Trail, eventually hiking out to the little village of Welches.
Once again I used the headlamp for reading at night and morning
kitchen/camp preparations, all with no issues.
This was a strenuous 2-day "lollipop" hike: up the
Hunchback, down the Green Canyon Way, up the Salmon river, up the
Kinzel Lake trail then finally back on the Hunchback. All of
the substantial elevation change was done at least twice, often on
some extremely steep terrain with lots of fallen logs across the
trail.
In addition to use in camp on this trip I used the headlamp while
hiking. I arose very early in the morning and was on the
trail by 5:30AM, well before the sun came up. I hiked with
the headlamp on until about 7:00AM.
The headlamp worked very well on the trail. It did a great
job of illuminating the track with the spotlight as well as giving
me a view of the area around the trail with the more diffuse flood
beam (see photo at left for example). The only issue I had
is if there was a bough right over my head, the sensor would
detect the light bouncing off the bough leaves and dim the light
momentarily. The Petzl headlamp reacts very quickly to
changes in detected light and would quickly recover as soon as the
overhead obstruction passed me by, so I never felt I lost my view
of the trail.
I left it on later than I would with my old headlamp. I was
often going in and out of bright open areas back into dense forest
canopy, and I appreciated having the additional light in the dark
areas. The headlamp automatically adapted, dimming the light
when I was out in the open, and brightening it back up again in
the dark areas. Knowing that the lamp was conserving power
encouraged me to use it more. I like that.
During this 7-day canoe trip through one of the most pristine
wilderness areas in the U.S. I used the RXP headlamp on a daily
basis in camp. I was up early every morning, and used the
light to make coffee before the others arose. We also stayed
up and had a fire most nights, so I used the headlamp to make my
way to my hammock through the dense forests as I typically camped
well away from the eating area.
I used the headlamp for the whole week without recharging it, and
it continued to indicate a "green" power level which means I never
got below 66% charge. This was the first trip that I
appreciated the reassurance that I had plenty of battery power
remaining.
Date |
Location |
Trail |
Distance |
Altitude |
Weather |
September 25-27, 2015 |
Sycamore Canyon in the Coconino National
Forest near Cottonwood, Arizona |
Packard Mesa |
16 miles (26 km) |
3680-4640 ft (1120-1410 m) |
Sunny, 50-90 F (10-32 C) |
October 3-4, 2015 |
Romero Canyon in the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona |
Romero Canyon |
12 miles (19 km) |
2600-4800 ft (790-1460 m) |
Sunny, 60-90 F (16-32 C) |
This was a weekend backpacking trip near Sedona, Arizona.
On Friday night we car camped on a forest road. I pitched my
shelter (well, I really just threw my bag and sleeping pad on the
ground) some distance from the group campfire. After sitting
around the campfire in the evening it got very dark, and I was
happy that the RXP headlamp has such a bright light, as it wasn't
easy to find my sleeping gear in the brush.
This was an overnight to one of my usual haunts not too far from
my house. My goal was to check out the water flow in the
mountain streams, as we've had a good monsoon rain season this
year and I hoped the waterfalls would be flowing profusely.
I was not disappointed. I sat up for a while after dark
reading my Kindle, and I've found I prefer to use the RXP headlamp
to illuminate the reader screen instead of its built-in
backlight. It is easier on my eyes.
My use during the first two months was intensive enough that I
didn't really discover anything new about the RXP headlamp in the
last two months. It has become a trusty companion and will
accompany me on future backpack trips.
Thanks to BackpackGearTest.org and Petzl for the opportunity to
contribute to this test.