PRINCETON TEC SPECTRUM FUEL HEADLAMP
TEST SERIES BY KATHRYN MONTOVAN
INITIAL REPORT:
April 26, 2012
FIELD REPORT: August 21, 2012
LONG TERM REPORT: October 16, 2012
TESTER INFORMATION
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NAME:
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Kathryn Montovan
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EMAIL:
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sull0294(at)gmail(dot)com
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AGE:
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29
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LOCATION:
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Groton, New York, USA
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GENDER:
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F
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HEIGHT:
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5' 5" (1.65 m)
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WEIGHT:
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150 lb (68.00 kg)
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I have been backpacking, climbing,
kayaking, canoing and winter camping for over 10 years. My excursions
are mostly weekend and occasionally weeklong backpacking and kayaking
trips in the wooded and often wet, rolling terrain of western New York.
I usually tarp camp with a small to large group and love to cook fun
and delicious foods on my trips. In general, I strive for a compact and
light pack and value well-made and durable gear.
INITIAL REPORT
PRODUCT INFORMATION & SPECIFICATIONS
Product information
Manufacturer: Princeton Tec
Manufacturer's Website: http://princetontec.com/
Model: Spectrum Fuel
Year Manufactured: 2012
MSRP: $35.00 US
Listed weight: 2.75 oz (78 g)
Measured weight (total): 2.9 oz (82 g)
Measured weight (headband): 0.6 oz (17 g)
Measured weight (light housing without batteries or strap): 1 oz (28 g)
Listed Power: 70 Lumens
Batteries: 3 AAA
Listed Burn Time: 146 hours
Lamp: 4 Ultrabright LEDs
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
 | | The headlamp and headband |
The
Princeton Tec Spectrum Fuel is a custom colored compact headlamp that
can be attached to the removable elastic headband, pack straps, or
other similarly shaped gear. It has 4 ultrabright LEDs with 3
brightness levels (high, medium and low) plus a strobe function. The
body of the headlamp is made out of a combination of Xenoy and Xylex
plastics. The angle of the light is adjustable and is designed to stay
in position during use. The light is water resistant to splashing and
quick dunking.
 | | The back bracket |
The
power button is a simple press button with a water resistant cover. The
number of times the button is pressed initially determines the
brightness level. I press once for high, twice for medium, three times
for low, four times for strobe, and five times will turn the light off
again. The light will also turn off if the button is pressed when it
has been more than 2 seconds since the last button press.
CUSTOMIZATION PROCESS
My first step with this test was to use the manufacturer's website to
design my headlamp. I picked my own colors for the headlamp housing,
button and headband, but could not change the features or functional
parts of the light. The Princeton Tec website made it easy to try out
different color combinations and to preview the result. I could choose
one of ten colors (teal, yellow, pink, green, red, blue, orange, black,
white and gray) for the door, body, arm, end cap, and bracket. The
button could be either gray or black and the strap could be black and
gray checker or banded dark and light gray. At first it seemed like the
color choices were fairly limited, but when I played with them I
quickly created multiple designs that I liked. I think that Princeton
Tec did a nice job selecting appealing colors that can be combined in
many different ways without providing an overwhelming number of
options.
Once
I created a headlamp design, there were three options: share, save, or
buy. I tried to save my design and found that a “My Spectrum” account
was required. Creating this account was much easier than I expected. It
only asked for an email address and a password and then I was
registered and ready to create and save my headlamp designs. After I
created my account and logged in, I was able to save designs and then
look at all of them next to each other. The screenshot shows the
headlamps I designed across the top and the headlamp that I chose is in
the center. Viewing designs side by side made it easier to compare
possible options and choose my favorite.
 | | The My Spectrum website |
Overall,
I found the website to be very user friendly and intuitive. Signing up
for a my spectrum account was easy and has not resulted in any email
solicitations. I have only two suggestions for improving the website.
The first is that it would be very nice to be able to delete designs
from my account. I also wish that it was easier to change which
headlamp is displayed in the middle in the “My Designs" page. When I
clicked on one of them, it left the “My Designs" page and displayed
only the chosen design. It would be much nicer if clicking on a design
simply made that the one displayed largely below all the others.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
 | | The image the manufacturer sent |
 | The tool being used
to open the battery compartment |
When
I received the information about placing my order, there was an
estimate that it would take approximately 3 weeks to arrive. That
seemed like a long time to wait for a headlamp, but I didn't think it
was unreasonable for a custom built design. I placed my order during
the afternoon of April 23, 2012. I was surprised when I received a nice
email with shipping confirmation and a photograph of my completed
headlamp on April 24. Then flabbergasted when the headlamp arrived on
April 25, 2012.
The headlamp arrived in a little box with 3
AAA batteries and a small instruction booklet. The colors are slightly
brighter than they appeared on the website, but overall the headlamp
meets my expectations. It looks like a sturdy headlamp with a good
range of light angles. The only thing that bugs me about the headlamp
design is that there is a part of the arm that sticks out when the
headlamp is turned away from the neutral position. My complaint is
mostly cosmetic, but I wonder whether this point will be likely to
catch on things or more likely to break if the headlamp is dropped.
 | The inside of the
battery compartment |
The
first step was to install the included AAA batteries. There is a “tool”
built into the headband buckle that opens the battery compartment
opens. This tool is really just a thin tab on the buckle, but is
essential for getting the battery compartment open. The batteries are
arranged in a triangle within the housing. The polarity is clearly
marked on the end cap and is much easier to read here than when I have
seen it marked within the battery casing. It took me a minute to match
the markings on the cap with each open slot; then I inserted the
batteries and snapped the compartment shut. I switched the headlamp on
and confirmed that it works and that I could get it to turn onto high,
medium, low and strobe.
SUMMARY
I am looking forward to using this headlamp on all of my trips this
summer. I often take trips with large groups and it will be nice to
know that I have a unique headlamp that will not get confused with
anyone else's. I will test how well it works for cooking, finding the
bear bag line in the dark, reading in my sleeping bag, and finding my
way out of the tent in the middle of the night. The customizable
bracket is a feature that I am particularly excited to try out by
searching for things within my gear that it could attach to that might
add functionality to the light. The durability of this light will also
be determined through extended field use in rough and often wet
conditions.
FIELD REPORT
FIELD CONDITIONS
I
have used this headlamp while camping, around the house, for reading at
night, and on runs after dark. I have used it for something almost
every day since I got it.
Trip 1: 5-night canoe camping
trip in the boundary waters near Ely, Minnesota (MN). Temperatures ranged from 70 F
(21 C) to 95 F (35 C) and weather covered most options including high
wind, beautiful sunny days, drizzly rain, and sudden downpours. I used
the
Trip 2: 2-night car camping
trip with a group to Stillwater Reservoir, near Lowville, New York (NY). Weather
was sunny and 75 - 85 F (24 - 29 C).
Trip 3: Solo 2-night
backpacking trip along the Finger Lakes Trail, near Ithaca, NY. It was
sunny and humid for the whole trip and temperatures ranged from 57 - 88
F (14 - 31 C).
Elevation ranged
from 400 - 1700 ft (120 - 520 m).
FIELD REPORT
General Use: This
headlamp worked well for me for doing tasks around camp after dark. It
is bright enough to use for cooking, finding my way down a trail, and
hanging a bear bag. The highly adjustable angle makes it easy to point
where I need it, and usable even when it is upside down.
Custom Color Design: I
enjoy the color scheme that I chose and like that my headlamp no longer
gets confused with everyone else's. Before this headlamp I had a very
popular headlamp that almost always was present on my trips in
multiples. Now, my headlamp is very easy to find. I don't think that
the colors that I chose really help me look cool around the
neighborhood- there is only so much that well chosen colors can do to
make a headlamp look less goofy in town (but it is so helpful that I
use it anyway).
Customizable Attachment Bracket:
This back bracket has held up well during use and I have not had any
problems with the headlamp slipping off of what it was attached to. I
take this headlamp for runs with me after dark and dislike how hot and
sweaty I get with the elastic headband. One night I decided to try
attaching the headlamp directly to myself. I looked at my clothing and
decided that my sports bra strap looked like the right size for the
mounting bracket. I slipped it onto the strap and headed out. It worked
great! I hardly noticed that it was there and had no problems with it
bouncing around. The one challenge is that it was oriented sideways
when attached to a vertical strap, so I could adjust it to shine left
or right but not towards the ground. It was great for my visibility for
cars, but not so great for seeing my path. During this phase of testing
I did not do any hiking after dark, and cannot attest to how well it
works when attached to a pack. When I do use it for this purpose, I will probably try to attach the light to the sternum strap so that the angle can be adjusted to point at the ground.
Reading at Night: I
discovered a long time ago that headlamps work great for bedtime
reading. I especially like ones with a dim and/or red light setting for
this purpose and was excited about this headlamps multiple light
settings for this reason. However, I have found that there is not a
large difference between the bright light and the dimmest light and
that all three light settings are much brighter than I prefer for
bedtime reading (both for allowing my tentmates to sleep while I read,
and for letting my eyes adjust to the dark and get sleepy). I wish that this light had a larger difference between bright and dim so that it worked better for this purpose.
Water Resistance: I
often keep this headlamp in my purse and one day had a water bottle
spill and soak everything. The elastic strap of the headlamp was wet
but the light had no troubles and lived up to it's water repellent
claims. I also have had no problems using this in the rain.
Changing the Batteries:
The tool built into the strap made it very each to open the battery
compartment, but the battery compartment was so close fitting to my
batteries that I really had to work to get the batteries out. One
slipped out fine, but the other two required tapping the headlamp on a
hard surface and gently coaxing the batteries out. The markings for
battery direction were easy to read if I had another light to use while
changing the batteries, but would have been impossible if I had been on
a solo trip and not had a backup headlamp.
SUMMARY
This
is a standard headlamp that works well in most of the conditions I have
used it in. It is bright, water resistant, easy to use, dependable, and
distinctive. For running I find myself searching for it over my other
headlamp because of the back bracket that allows me to attach it
directly to my clothing. But I keep my other headlamp next to the bed
at night, because this one is too bright (even on the dimmest setting)
for reading and preserving any sort of sleepy lighting. Overall, I have
found this to be a good headlamp and enjoy using it.
LIKES
- Distinctive colors make it easy to find and hard to confuse with other people's headlamps
- Highly adjustable bracket angle makes it possible to point
it in a wide range of directions and to use it while it is upside-down
- Back bracket make it easy to take it off the elastic band and attach it to another, more convenient, strap.
DISLIKES
- Low setting is too bright for my nighttime reading
LONG TERM REPORT
FIELD CONDITIONS
Trip 1: 2-night kayak camping trip to Cranberry Lake in the Adirondacks of western New York. Temperatures ranged from 55 F
(13 C) to 75 F (24 C) and with high winds and drizzling rain.
In addition, I have continued to use the headlamp for night-time runs, reading in bed, and nighttime car repair.
PERFORMANCE
In the long term testing of this headlamp it continued to
perform as it had in previous phases of testing. I only encountered one
problem which occurs when I use
rechargeable batteries. A few trips after I replace the batteries with
fully charged ones, the headlamp starts to dim. It works fine for
the first few minutes and then diminishes quickly until I realize that
I am functioning without much light at all. If I let it sit, it will
turn on with good light output then diminish again. I have not
experienced this with any of my other headlamps using the same
rechargeable batteries. I am always careful to carry a set of extra
headlamp batteries, so when I notice this starting to happen I now know
that it means the batteries are dying and it is time to change the
batteries before I am suddenly stuck somewhere away from my extra
batteries with no light.
SUMMARY
This
has become my headlamp of choice because of its distinctive color,
adjustable bracket, small size, light weight, and water resistance. I
have to say that when I initially realized that the only customizable
parts of this headlamp were the coloring I thought that it was a little
frivolous. After all, I don't go to the woods to show off my fashion.
But I have come to appreciate the distinctiveness of my headlamp on
group camping trips where there are many of the standard headlights
that often get mixed up. I have also enjoyed the back bracket that
allows attachment customization. Overall, the Spectrum Fuel Headlamp has been reliable and has worked well in the conditions I have encountered.
LIKES
- Distinctive colors make it easy to find and hard to confuse with other people's headlamps
- Highly adjustable bracket angle makes it possible to point
it in a wide range of directions and to use it while it is upside-down
- Back bracket makes it easy to take it off the elastic band and attach it to another, more convenient, strap.
- Light weight
- Small size
DISLIKES
- Low setting is too bright for my nighttime reading
- Light diminishes quickly when rechargeable batteries become low on charge
Thank
you to Princeton Tec and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to
test the Spectrum Fuel headlamp. It has been an enjoyable test of a nice little headlamp.
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