Reviews > Lighting > Headlamps - LED > Princeton Tec Yukon HL > Coy Starnes > Long Term Report

Tester Bio
I live outside a small town in northeast Alabama.  I also enjoy hunting, fishing, canoeing, and most other outdoor activities.  Backpacking is my favorite pastime. I consider myself a knowledgeable backpacker but I am not an expert.  I enjoy hiking with my friends and family or solo.  I limit my hiking to areas fairly close to home, usually within a day’s drive of home.  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. 

L.E.D. Primer
Before I attempt to describe the headlamp a few words on L.E.D.s are in order.  L.E.D. stands for light emitting diode.  Doing a quick search on L.E.D. lights will render lots of information beyond the scope of this report. But in a nutshell, L.E.D.s feature long bulb life and much longer burn time when compared to normal incandescent bulbs, which means less frequent bulb and battery replacement.  Also, until recently, the quest for brighter lights was usually met by putting more L.E.D.s in the business end of the light unit.  I found a site which indicated a 1 watt L.E.D. was equal to about 12 to 15 - 5 millimeter L.E.D.s. The 1 watt side emitting focusable L.E.D. used in the Yukon HL is what I perceive as the next step in L.E.D. lighting technology.  If the burn time of this 1 watt L.E.D. is truly 25 hours then this is a great advantage over incandescent bulbs.  My own observations show a typical 3 AA headlamp using a typical incandescent bulb, usually list burn time at around 3 to 5 hours.  25 hours is a great leap in battery life.  All the L.E.D.s in the Yukon HL are white L.E.D.s.  White L.E.D.s are noted for rendering true-to-life color.

As already noted, the light features 2 light modes. The switch to turn the headlamp on and off is also the mode selector switch.  The light simply goes from off to three5mm L.E.D.s mode and back to off.  The next time the unit is turned on the light comes on in the 1 watt L.E.D. mode.  In other words, each time the light is turned off, then back on, it cycles to the other mode.  Other things of note, the three 5 millimeter L.E.D.s are arranged around the 1 watt L.E.D.  The reflector has one barely noticeable dimple which looks like it was made during the molding of the reflector.

The battery compartment is just big enough for three AA batteries and is contoured to fit a slight curve. Square heads my find fit issues.  The lid is hinged and the latch holding the lid on is pretty hard to open and close.  The lid also features a rubber seal to help keep this compartment dry.  The batteries fit in slots provided in alternating polarity.  A sketch in each slot and shows the proper battery placement. However, changing batteries in the dark is fairly easy (I have already tried it out).  Simply feel inside each compartment for the spring and put the negative battery terminal (flattest end of the battery) on that end.  I have seen battery compartments where this is not the case so don't use this as a general guideline. 

Testing Locations and Conditions
Since my Field Report was submitted I have had the opportunity to test the Yukon HL on several more camping trips around home and on a trip to North Carolina where it was cool at night and higher elevations were encountered.  Elevations have ranged from about 1000 ft (300 m) to around 4000 ft (1200 m). Temperatures have been warmer lately, even several hours after dark:thirty. I estimate the temperature ranges in which the light saw action over the Long Term Test period were from 30 F (-1 C) to 90 F (32 C).  I wore the headlamp in a few rain showers and saw no ill effects on the light.

 “Measures 865,000mcd with the Luxeon LED. Measures 51,600mcd with the three 5mm LEDs.” 

“Both measurements were taken on a Meterman LM631 light meter”

The numbers, if taken at face value, would indicate that the 1 watt LED was about 17 times brighter than the three 5 mm L.E.D.s.   My own observation was that it is about 5 times brighter just going strictly by how far I could identify objects in the distance.  

I am still amazed at the battery life using this headlamp.  After switching to a new set of batteries 4 months ago I have used the headlamp on several long walks after dark using both the 1 watt LED and the three weaker 5 mm L.E.D.s as it struck my fancy.  I estimate I used the three 5 mm L.E.D.s at least 75% of the time when walking and about 95% of the time when I was in camp.  I was not keeping an accurate chart of my time with the different modes or total combined time but it was a lot of hours. In fact I was beginning to wonder when they would begin to dim.  Part of this is due to lots of experience with cheap flashlights with 2 or 3 C-cell batteries and regular incandescent bulbs. You can count on it being dimmer after several hours of use.  I verified in my Field Report the using the 1 watt LED would last for around 40 hrs.  In order to round out my testing I decided it was worth the cost of some cheap Dollar General batteries to do a test of the three 5 mm L.E.D.s burn time.  I installed the three fresh AA batteries and turned the headlamp on and made sure it was on the three 5 mm L.E.D.s setting. After 96 hours the light was still bright enough to walk around in the dark but noticeably dimmer than when with fresh batteries.  I would personally change the batteries at this point.   I have included some photos of the light output at correspondingly longer timed intervals.  All photos were taken at approximately 10 pm each night using the same camera settings and the same location, distance etc.  I was unable to take a photo at the 48 hour interval due to operator error (I had to work and forgot to take my camera and headlamp with me).


Graphic illustration of the three 5 mm L.E.D.s  deminishing light output over a 96 hour time period!

It goes without saying that no matter how nice something is, there is room for improvement.  After using the Yukon HL for the past several months I have a few suggestions for improving this light, or creating a different one. Adding a red L.E.D. would really be a nice touch for late night scurrying around camp so as not to wake other nearby campers. Not only would it be less disturbing to others, I have a strong suspicion that a red L.E.D. does not attract bugs nearly as bad as the regular white L.E.D.s do.  This is not speculation because I have experimented with a red L.E.D then alternately a white L.E.D.  I noticed a remarkable reduction in the bugs in front of me as well as flying into my face.  On the bright side I guess walking around with a white L.E.D. headlamp and an open mouth might be a new survival tool. One other area with lots of room for improvement is the switch.  It is hard to mash and I am not crazy about the selection sequence. I like to be able to start out with the smallest light setting and ramp up for more light power if needed.  To be fair though, I can live with the selection sequence if it means a more trouble free switch. Same goes for the switch being hard to mash.  I want reliability over fancy any day.

Final Thoughts
Simply put, this light rocks.  There are cheaper lights, more expensive lights, lighter lights, brighter lights, more waterproof lights and yes even prettier lights. But for my own personal use this light comes very close to being perfect.  The long battery life offered is a decided advantage over regular incandescent light.  The Yukon HL will continue to be my trusty companion when the power goes out or I am miles into the woods after dark.  There is nothing quite as reassuring as being able to throw a bright light in the direction of that strange noise in the middle of the night.

Reviews > Lighting > Headlamps - LED > Princeton Tec Yukon HL > Coy Starnes > Long Term Report