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Reviews > Lighting > Headlamps - LED > Princeton Tec Quad > Coy Starnes > Field ReportPrinceton
Tec Quad Headlamp
Field Report January 8, 2007  Author gearing up for a night-time bike ride
Tester Bio I live in North East Alabama. I enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing, and most other outdoor activities but backpacking is my favorite pastime. I enjoy hiking with friends and family or solo. I hike throughout the year and actually hike the least in the hot humid months of summer. My style is slow and steady and my gear is light. However I will sacrifice weight for comfort and durability. A typical 3-season load for me is around 20 lb (9 kg) not counting food or water. I usually sleep in a hammock and cook with an alcohol stove. My backpacking trips are usually 2, 3 or 4 days in length. Product Information
Product Description The Princeton Tec Quad is a very compact and low weight headlamp suitable for backpacking and anytime a bright but adjustable light is needed (think power outage or crawling under the house). As with most LED lights, long battery life and almost indestructible bulb(s) are a part of the deal. It has four beam settings (low, medium, high and flash) but all put out a wide beam. It uses 4 Ultrabright LED's, and regulated power to help maintain a steady beam throughout the batteries life. Princeton Tec has this to say about the Quad. "At a mere 96 grams, the Quad is the lightest in Princeton Tec's line of regulated-LED headlamps. Four Ultrabright LEDs power through the darkest conditions. The LEDs are safe forever inside a tough waterproof housing that will survive severe impacts and water submersions up to one meter. The wide beam of the Quad is perfect for tasks around camp and is bright enough for technical scrambles and brisk runs on dark trails. Weight conscious users will love the Quad's sophisticated circuitry that allows the use of lithium AAA batteries. They reduce the Quad's weight to 82 grams, perform in extremely cold temperatures, and significantly increase regulated burn times on all modes. Equipped with regulated LEDs that maintain constant brightness and a battery power meter, this light just may be smarter than you are." Field Test Locations and Conditions I have used the quad on several more overnight hikes and as a light for many chores around the house. I have used it while backpacking down to as cold as 12 F (-11 C) and it dropped well below freezing for three of the four nights. The woods have been wet because of all the rain received during the past few months. I was mostly out testing different bag and hammock setups for an anticipated cold January hike in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. So far I have not worn the headlamp in rain and due to the cold temperatures; I have not sweated much while wearing the headlamp. Field Test Results I have used the Quad for approximately 20 hours on the various settings, using the low setting the bulk of the time. I estimate I have used the medium setting roughly 2 hours and bright setting about 1 hour. The beam does not seem any dimmer now than it did when the batteries were new but this is hard to judge without some way to measure the light output. During my hikes I have used the Quad once for setting up camp and cooking supper because I arrived after dark. On two occasions I needed the Quad because I packed up before daylight and hiked home. Actually I could have made it without a headlamp on both these nights due to a full moon but the headlamp did make the trail easier to see. I used it on other nights without the benefit of a full moon and needed it. This has included feeding horses, hunting for kids, walking, and bike riding. I used it around the house working at the back of my computer and working on a heater/AC line my dogs and/or cats (not sure which) keep knocking loose. I even used it once while changing the oil and filter on my son's truck. He went to town to get the supplies but neglected to get home before dark. As a camp light the Quad has worked very well. I used the high setting to check out the trees I set up under for deadfalls. I used the medium setting to look around for firewood for my wood stove. However, I used the low setting more than the others to preserve battery life. And since it provided plenty of light for tying knots while setting up my hammock, whittling on wood for kindling, and for cooking, I really did not need the extra light of the higher beam settings most of the time. Due to the rather cold temperatures, I put the Quad inside my sleeping bag when I headed to bed. I normally put it on the ground (usually in a shoe) or perhaps on the suspension line overhead if in my Hennessy. This posed no problem but I will be adding a camera when on longer hikes. It might eventually get crowded inside the bag... For walking after dark I usually used the low setting and found I needed to tilt the light down a few notches for the best light. In other words, the low works well for just seeing the ground but I occasionally found myself bumping into a limb across the trail. It's hard to describe but I am speaking of the small limbs which are about head high and seemed to unexpectedly slap me in the face. On thing that contributed to this more than selecting the low beam was tilting the beam slightly toward the ground. With the low beam pointed straight ahead I could see the limbs better but not the ground right in front of me. On medium and especially bright I could see the ground better with less tilt or see higher with the same downward tilt. I did notice one thing while using the Quad tilted downward and I have seen the same thing using other headlamps with a tilt mechanism. I won't call it a problem but I noticed the light seemed to jiggle when walking and got progressively worse going down steep portions of trail. My guess is, this is occurring where the tilt mechanism is giving just a little. It could also be the elastic headband giving but I tightened it very tight and it still occurred. Regardless, there is no doubt it was from the impact of my stride. It became more pronounced when walking down steep trails as it would not jiggle as much on flat sections or going uphill. I could make it even worse by jogging but I kept this to a minimum due to my bad knees. It also made me very aware my hiking style. I found that if I slowed down just a little I could almost eliminate this. And for the record, I checked it on my bike with the unit tilted and saw absolutely no jiggle. Speaking of which... I wanted to try the Quad as a light for night time bike riding. I used it on the high beam setting. The broad beam was especially nice as it lit up the road all the way across and even showed what was off the edges fairly well. The beam length was OK, and by this, I mean that when put on the high setting the beam lit up the road very well as long as I kept my speed under 15 mph (24 kph). Once I got faster than this I felt like I needed a longer reaching beam. Since it is not designed for bike riding this is understandable. I just recently bought a used touring bike and I appreciate that I can take the Quad for my camp light and use it as a backup riding light. Summary Thus Far I really have no complaints. With the three light output settings the Quad offers all the light I need for a typical hiking outing. I can choose the bright setting for those times I need a lot of light but conserve battery life with the lower settings and have adequate light for doing most camp chores or hiking after dark. My only real complaint is the order in which the light output modes are selected, because when first turned on, the brightest mode is selected by default. If I wait more than two seconds, another mash of the switch turns the light back off. If I want the lowest setting, I have to turn the light on and quickly mash the switch two more times to get to that setting. In my haste to get to the low setting, I have advanced to the emergency flash setting a few times. I would prefer it just came on at the lowest setting. Not only will I be less likely to blind someone, most of the time I would not need to do any additional adjusting. As an added benefit, the fewer switch manipulations should lead to longer switch life. Future Testing I have about two more months to report on how the Quad is working. I have a long hike planned this January and I am concerned about the alkaline batteries performance when I will be out for several days in cold weather. I will keep the Quad in my bag at night but in the daytime it will be in my pack where it will most likely get cold. I will take spares and most likely these will be Lithium. They are expensive, but more suited for this type activity. Read more reviews of Princeton Tec gear Read more gear reviews by Coy Ray Starnes Reviews > Lighting > Headlamps - LED > Princeton Tec Quad > Coy Starnes > Field Report | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||