Owner Review:  Petzl Tikka Plus 28FEB2005

 

Biography  Product Info  What I Found  Summary

 

 

Biography

Mark Keskes	32 year old male
Height:  5’9” (1.75 m)	Weight:  270 lb (122 kg)
markkeskes (at) yahoo (dot) com	Michigan, USA

Backpacking background:  Like all things, I feel that my backpacking style is evolving.  I have dropped both weight and bulk over the course of my backcountry pursuits from Scouting, Military, car camping, everything but the kitchen sink backpacking, to now more of a mid weight backpacker.  I prefer to be comfortable and to enjoy my escapes from civilization rather than to run through them or to feel uncomfortable in them.  I participate in organizational/large group camping, as well as family/crew backpacking, occasional car camping, and as many day trips as I can squeeze into my schedule.  I live, work, and vacation primarily in Michigan in all seasons and weather.  I enjoy hiking and day trips, but truly enjoy extended backpacking trips. 

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Product Information

Company:  Petzl

Product Name:  Tikka Plus

URL: http://www.petzl.com/

Manufactured in:  France

Colors:  Smoke/Clear, band is 2-tone brown with orange and white lettering

Manufacturer Reported Weight:  78 g/ 2.75 oz

Received Weight: 79 g/ 2.79 oz

Price:  $35 US

Features:  This is a 4 LED headlamp with a tilting lamp body.  The headlamp is non-focusable.  Three lighting levels are achieved by using the sealed orange switch on top of the lamp, which is a push-button style switch.  Multiple pushes on the switch revealed a change in light intensity through 3 diminishing levels, a flashing level, and then off.  Off was also achievable after 2 seconds of being in any lighted mode and then pushing the button again.  The headlamp also has a 1 in./2.5 cm headband that is claimed by Petzl to be ergonomic.  Petzl also claims the headlamp to be water resistance.  The LEDs are not removable nor are they replaceable. 

Claims by Petzl regarding usable light:  Petzl has developed a new method for determining lighting distance and duration.  Their study found that the minimum amount of light required for satisfactory vision is 0.25 lux. They have thus based all of their measurements around this value, which is comparable to the light of a full moon on a clear night. To help know the lamp better they measured the lighting distance at: Time = 0 (lamp at maximum capacity), Time = 0h30 (common interval of use), Time = 10 h (all-night use).  Petzl defines a usable light source as one that provides at least 0.25 lux at a distance of 2 m; this is the minimum amount of light required for efficient movement in the dark. They stop measuring a lamp’s burn time (light duration) when its light output falls below this minimum level.

Power Setting	Maximum battery life at this setting	Distance of usable light with fresh batteries at this power setting	Distance of usable light with batteries used for 30 minutes	Distance of usable light with batteries used for 10 hours (all night)
Maximum	80 hours	17m/56ft	14m/46ft	8m/26ft
Optimum	100 hours	13m/43ft	11m/36ft	7m/23ft
Economy	120 hours	9m/30ft	8m/26ft	6m/20ft

*Please note this is a table compiled from the product insert.  Rounding up or down was done based on rounding up from 0.50 and rounding down from 0.49

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What I Found

The Petzl Tikka Plus is the 3^rd LED headlamp that I have owned and is so far my favorite.  I have taken this headlamp on 2 extended trips, 2 overnight trips, and 12 day/evening outings.  It has earned a regular place in my 10 essentials and gets frequent use around the house as well.  I have found that during my night time trips that the light works very well on trail allowing me to see well enough to navigate the trail, campsite and to and from nature’s calls.  I have set up camp at least twice after arriving well after nightfall with only this light.  It has allowed me to read comfortably next to my tent mate without disturbing them as well as allowed me to swivel the light down so as to not blind other people I am talking to at night (they expressed their thanks too).  I found the maximum light output to be good for navigation, the optimum setting good for around camp and cooking, and the economic setting good for reading and for the midnight calls.  I have not used
a tape measure to measure the distances that are claimed by Petzl but, by my measured step, they seem to be reasonably accurate.  I have used the Tikka Plus to work under the car as well as not disturbing my better half while reading at night at home.  There are some things that have been difficult.  Changing the batteries has been the biggest difficulty with this lamp.  It takes some definite time to get everything lined up so as to be able to close the casing properly.  Also the lens does not change very easily from clear to the aftermarket red.  Perhaps there is a more user-friendly way of attaching a red lens so as to preserve night vision and being able to change back to the clear without leaving the LEDs exposed; perhaps a red plastic over hood for it.  It also takes some practical pushing and shoving to get it to fit into its aftermarket pouch.  I have operated it on days from 4 F (-16C) to 94 F (34C) and can vouch for it working well in that temperature range.  The Petzl Tikka Plus has handled rain and snow without any moisture being noted inside the case even after repeated and prolonged (4 hour) uses in these conditions.  Mean elevation of use has been from 500-800 ft/ 152-244 m and in all forms of weather.  I used the flashing mode facing behind me while walking along the road at night to increase driver awareness but this left me using another hikers light ahead of me and a lot of guessing and using my trekking poles to feel around for me.  I also found that there is one end of the head strap that can be taken out of the buckle end so as to allow the strap to be wrapped around things for better or different lighting situations and then reinserted to secure.

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Summary

I have used the Petzl Tikka Plus for over 6 months now and find it to be a lightweight, well-designed, reliable piece of gear that performs as it is billed.  It, as I have noted earlier, has been added to my primary 10 essentials bag and has been useful around the house too.  It has become so far my favorite of my headlamps. 

Pros:  Lightweight, water resistant, tilt-able, multiple power settings, flashing mode.

Cons:  Difficult to change batteries, to change lenses, does not easily fit into aftermarket pouch, non focusable.

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