Owner Review by Scott Thompson

Princeton Tec Yukon HL headlamp
Owner Review

October 14, 2005

Name:       Scott Thompson
Age:      22
Gender:   Male
Height:      6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:   215 lb (98 kg)
Email:       mwasa254@yahoo.com
Locale:      Provo, Utah
Background:     I have been hiking and backpacking longer than I can remember, my father started bringing me along before I could even walk, and I have not stopped since. Over this past summer I went on about a dozen or so 2-5 day trips along the Wasatch front, mostly in the Lone Peak Wilderness Area. Rarely do I set up camp at established sites or even stick to established trails, I much prefer to navigate ‘unexplored’ terrain and practice leave-no-trace ethics. My usual base pack weight (everything but food and water) is about 20 lb (9 kg).

Product Info:

Manufacturer: Princeton Tec
Year of Manufacture: 2004
Website: www.princetontec.com
Listed Weight: 8 oz (227 g)   (with 3 AA batteries)
Actual Weight: 7.5 oz (213 g)   (with lighter, rechargeable batteries)
Retail Price: $59.95 US
Field Info:

Location: Utah’s Wasatch Mountains, Southern Utah Desert, High Uintas. Elevations from 3,000 to 12,000 ft (914 to 3658 m)
Terrain: Easy horse paths, steep trails with lots of scrambling, deep backcountry bushwhacking, canyoneering, sport climbing, caving.
Weather: Extreme heat (90-100 F, 50-56 C) and sand in the desert, freezing temperatures (0-40 F, 0-22 C) in the high mountains. I have used this light in very wet caves and canyons, heavy rainfall, but never submerged it…don’t plan to either.

Review:

   The lamp is built in a very basic style, with a strap over the top of the head in addition to the main strap around the forehead. The lamp is very stable, even when running long distances. The adjustable straps remain at the length I want , never slipping, and go large enough to fit securely over my climbing helmet. The lamp is on a hinge that has about a 120-degree range of motion (though anywhere past 90 degrees and it will be shining into your eyes). It runs on 3 AA batteries housed in a lever-locking, weather resistant casing at the back of the head. The lever is very hard to open, especially with cold hands. Fortunately, since I have only changed the batteries once in six months, this is not an issue for me.

    I have been using this light for about 5 or 6 months and have been very happy with it so far. It is an LED Hybrid light with two intensity settings. The single 1-watt LED in the center is more powerful than any LED I have used before, I had no idea that an LED beam could have this kind of effective distance. I have found this setting perfect for trail running and any other trail travel (or bush-whacking) at night. With a battery life of over 40 hours at this intensity, I don’t have to worry about bringing extra batteries on even 5-day trips (if all else fails, I can just use my camera batteries). The other setting consists of 3 dimmer LED’s in a familiar triangle pattern; I found this setting much better for getting around camp and my tent at night. This setting was too weak for me to travel more difficult trails and navigate obstacles, but great for the well-beaten path, the total darkness of caves, and climbing. This lower setting has a burn time of 120 hours. I estimated my usage at about 60-80 hours before I changed batteries; I am still only on my second set. When the batteries finally did wear down, I did notice a bit of progressive dimming, but still had plenty of light to finish the trip.
   Switching between the settings is often a pain. Clicking the ON button once will turn the light on at one setting, then to get it to the other, it must be switched off and on again. I realize that might not make such sense on paper, so here is an example:

   Click 1: ON – three-bulb setting
Click 2: OFF
   Click 3: ON – one-bulb (brighter) setting
   Click 4: OFF
   Click 5: ON – three-bulb again

   One downside for me was the weight of this light. Although it is considerably lighter than my last big headlamp, it still weighs more than twice as much as my newer, itty-bitty headlamps. For trail running I need the higher intensity and the weight does not bother me, but if I have a 5-day trip with no night travel, I will bring something lighter.
   This light has performed well in the rain (the website didn’t mention how weather proof it is supposed to be). I have also slammed it into cliff faces and cave walls on several occasions; it seems to still be in great shape.

Likes:
   •Intensity and effective distance of the brighter setting.
   •Durable, weather-proof.
   •Long burn times. Brighter and longer than any comparable incandescent I have owned.
   •Lighter than my last “big” headlamp.

Dislikes:
   •Too heavy for longer trips.
   •Pressing the button 3 times to get to my desired brightness.

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Reviews > Lighting > Headlamps - Hybrid > Princeton Tec Yukon > Owner Review by Scott Thompson

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