Personal Information

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Product  Information

• Manufacturer : Petzl
• Model : Tikka Plus
• Year of manufacture : 2004
  
• Manufacturer's website : http://www.petzl.com

From the manufacturer's website:
Inventor of the headlamp, Petzl constantly innovates to propose "hands free lighting" concepts to people who practise [sic] outdoor sports but also to professionals.

• Combines a variety of illumination with long-lasting battery life.
• 3 brightness settings (maximum, optimum, economic) and a blinking mode.
• Batteries last up to 150 hours on regular settings (up to 400 hours on blinking mode).
• Lamp articulates with new tilt feature.
• Lightweight and comforatable [sic] to wear.
• Water resistant and excellent for use anytime.
• Elastic band is fully adjustable and comfortable to wear.
• Requires 3 AAA batteries (included)
• 78 g with batteries

Technical specifications :

4 LED	Battery Life	Distance of illumination
Maximum mode	80 h	15 m  (50 ft)
Optimum mode	120 h	10 m  (33 ft)
Economic mode	150 h	5 m  (16 ft)
Blinking mode	400 h	-

  

Measured weight as delivered (without batteries) : 46 g (1.6 oz)
Measured weight as delivered (when batteries fitted) : 79 g (2.8 oz)
Measured size as delivered : Lamp body (approx) : 60 mm x 42 mm x 35 mm (2.4 " x 1.6 " x 1.4 ")

Product description and initial impressions:

The Petzl Tikka Plus is one of a range of small headtorches made by this company.  They utilise Light Emitting Diodes (LED's), which give an intense blue/white light, as the light source.  The Tikka Plus has four, arranged in a horizontal line.  The intensity of the light and the low battery consumption means that they can be run on the small standard AAA cells, which are readily available all over the world.  Unlike many incandescent or halogen lamps, or even some LED lamps now, the Tikka Plus is not focusable.  For more details on my initial impressions, see my INITIAL REPORT.

Field use so far:

I've been using the Petzl Tikka Plus on my nightly walks around the fields near to my home but so far, being summer, it hasn't been really dark enough to justify it's use.  For most of the time on day-walks, it's been in the bottom of my pack.  I've taken it on a couple of short one-night trips and it was with me on a three day backpack of the South Downs Way and here it got quite a bit of use and some rough handling.   On the second night, I stayed at a small campground and the only other people there were a couple of families with an assortment of small children who decided that my dog and I were an interesting diversion.  They examined every piece of my kit with eager enthusiasm and were asking searching questions about everything.  As soon as I produced the Tikka Plus and showed them how to operate it I knew that I wasn't going to see it again for a few hours.  This did give me a bit of time and space to sort out my camp and have a meal but as it began to get dark I had to go in search of my headtorch.  I eventually found them, still playing with it, in the camping barn where they were staying.  How many times the switch had been operated, or the unit had been dropped I'll never know but it certainly didn't appear any the worse for its adventure.  I used it for the rest of the evening in my tent, on the lowest setting, and found it ideal when reading or making a drink.  The low light is more than sufficient in the confined space of a small tent.  One thing that I need to devise is a means of hanging the light from the apex of the inner tent.  It's been my experience that headtorches don't readily lend themselves to being used in this way so perhaps a purpose-made hook will do the job.

In my Initial Report I outline some of the things that I wanted to look at while using the Tikka Plus and I've been able  to examine some of the features:

Is it possible to switch the headtorch on accidentally (in a pack)?

Not as far as I'm aware.  I keep the Tikka Plus with a spare set of batteries in a small stuff sack in the bottom of my daypack or in my backpack pocket.  I find that it makes it easier to locate and keeps the strap from tangling with other kit. 

Is it possible to swivel the headtorch accidentally and will this swivel function become sloppy over time?

So far the swiveling feature remains very positive.  I only really swivel between the straight down (which is very good for map-reading even on the low-light setting) and straight ahead positions.  In the straight ahead position, it sits very comfortably against my forehead.

Does the light spill down the front of my glasses?

Eureka! The little beak just below the LED housing that I referred to in my Initial Report, works a treat.  I must admit that when I first saw it I was a bit sceptical that such a small protuberance would make any difference but it does, it really does.  I get virtually no light spilling down the front of my glasses so I'm confident I'm getting the full benefits of the light as it's projected forward.

Is it water-resistant? It's not stated anywhere in the literature (There is a little symbol on the manufacturer's leaflet that reads "H2O OK" so perhaps it is water-resistant, the next few months will tell).

So far, I've not been able to test this properly yet.  We've had a largely dry summer here in the UK but I'm sure I'll be using it in wetter conditions before too long.  In the instruction leaflet there are diagrams that show opening the battery compartment, removing the batteries and drying the inside under a fan.  I suppose a hair-dryer would be equally as good but I'm not sure how accessible either of these items are going to be for me in the field. 

How does it function in wet conditions?

Again, I've not put it to a severe test and on the couple of occasions I've worn it in the rain, I've had my rain jacket on with the hood largely protecting the Tikka Plus.  The usual 'bounce-back' of light reflecting from the falling rain is there as with any torch, but it doesn't seem any more or less with the Tikka Plus.

How comfortable is it to wear for long periods at a time?

Well, in 'normal', even fast, walking it's very comfortable because of it's light weight and small profile and it's not really necessary to have the elastic strap adjusted tightly.  Once I started to hurry or broke into jogging, it did start to bounce a little and became slightly uncomfortable.  Tightening the strap stopped it from bouncing but then the strap felt a little too tight.  So I guess it's a compromise.  I'm fairly happy with the comfort level for normal backpacking though and hardly notice it most of the time.

At the highest setting will I be confident in using it on broken, tricky terrain?

So far, I haven't used it in these sorts of conditions but on the highest setting I can easily read a vehicle license plate at about 80+ ft (25 m) distance.  I've used the 3 LED Petzl Tikka a lot and, knowing its limitations, I'm confident that with the extra light provided by the Tikka Plus I shouldn't have too many problems.

At the lowest light setting, will it work as a tent light?

It does.  The low light setting is just right for the confined space of a backpacking tent.  I just need to devise a way of hanging the Tikka Plus so that it shines down as evenly as possible, illuminating the vestibule of my tent.

Is the blinking mode any use to me?

Not so far.  I did strap the Tikka Plus to the handlebars of my mountain bike and it made a very good front lamp, but when I suggested to my nephew (an avid mountain-biker) that the blinking mode would be ideal, I was informed that this would not be legal for road use in the UK.  I can see how the blinking mode might be useful as a locater beacon and I intend to try this out when I get an opportunity.

Overall impressions :

So far, I'm really pleased and impressed with the Petzl Tikka Plus.  As a step up from the Tikka, for a small weight and size gain, the additional light power, adjustable swivel and small beak are well worth it to me.  I have nothing to complain about so far.

Further testing :

With a three week trip to the Spanish/French Pyrenees coming up in September, the Tikka Plus is going to get a lot of use.  I'll be using it daily as a tent light, as a light to move about in camp a lot and almost certainly to backpack in the dark over broken, bouldery, hazardous ground.  The area we will be in is notorious for being tricky to navigate in poor weather so trusted gear is not something I like to leave to chance.  I'm confident that the Tikka Plus won't let me down when it's needed.  Although I'll be taking a spare set of batteries I'm not sure that I'll need them, as the light, even on it's highest setting, still seems to be burning strong.  Weather in the area at this time is usually fairly stable, although sub-freezing temperatures, afternoon thunderstorms and early winter snow are all likely.  Couple this with cloudless, hot, 95 F (35 C) days or thick pea-souper mist and it's pretty obvious that one has to be prepared for a fairly diverse mix of conditions.  The maximum altitude of most of our camps will probably be around 2600 m (8530 ft).

I'd like to thank BackpackGearTest and Petzl for the opportunity of taking part in this test.