View Full Version : New Petzl LED head torch...
the new petzl Tactikka is out now/soon and looks very interesting for campers/bushcrafters...
features...
http://www.britishblades.com/pics/tactikka.jpg
The Tactikka is identical to the Petzl E43P Tikka LED headlamp except it adds a unique feature in that it has a red fold up lens. No longer do you need to carry a red filter kit around if you need both the white light and the red light. So, just flip up the red lens to preserve your night vision, flip it down if you need to find something. It comes with either a black headband or cammo. It would appear that it's identical to the original tikka, 3 LED's and a simple slide on/off switch. Which is a great shame, as the tikka+ with 4 LED's, variable head angle and multi-mode switch is a much better torch. It would seem more logical to me, to have this night vision preserving feature, on a torch that is also capable of low light output mode. Perhaps Petzl will release a tactikka+ in the fullness of time.
Gaaaa! He posted it here too! Now I really want one! :lol:
Any idea of how much they'll cost?
:-)
Ed
they didnt make a tactical verson the Tikka + because the hinge mecanisam was not soldier proof
the original tikka though not quite as good is more robust (less moving parts, stronger switch, less electronics)
The original Tikka was pretty robust ... you could give it a good soaking and it would still work when dried out and I liked the fact that all the contacts were stainless steel so there was no chance of corrosion even if the bats exploded all over the inside! :shock:
Roving Rich
19-01-2004, 15:27
i LLLLLLLLLLlloooooooooooooovvvv vvvvvvveeeeeeeeee my Tikka plus . Its gotta be one of the best bits of outdoor kit invented recently. The Tikka is a pain as you end up craning your neck to get the beam where you need it. Inherantly floored if you ask me. Has anyone got the filter kit for the tikka plus?
Cheers
Rich
I picked up my filter kit from Cotswold Outdoor in Betws y Coed. I think it is this one here http://www.cotswold-outdoor.com/Cat/75934
i LLLLLLLLLLlloooooooooooooovvvv vvvvvvveeeeeeeeee my Tikka plus . Its gotta be one of the best bits of outdoor kit invented recently. The Tikka is a pain as you end up craning your neck to get the beam where you need it. Inherantly floored if you ask me. Has anyone got the filter kit for the tikka plus?
Cheers
Rich
i LLLLLLLLLLlloooooooooooooovvvv vvvvvvveeeeeeeeee my Tikka plus . Its gotta be one of the best bits of outdoor kit invented recently. The Tikka is a pain as you end up craning your neck to get the beam where you need it.
I'd have to agree, the tikka+ is a great piece of gear. I liked the tikka too, simple, neat, light, tough, but the plus has definitely got the edge. Apart from being brighter, with it's 4x LED's over the old 3x LED's, you can set it to low output which is great for reading and like you say Rich, the variable head angle is such an addition to comfort, that it's almosta "shouldn't be without it" feature. Also, the on off switch is much better, the slide switch on the original was a pain to operate, especially with gloved hands. The hinge might not be "soldier-proof" on the plus, but it doesnt strike me as being in the least bit weak.
uuhhh, sorry guys, the torch you've all been looking for is actually a princetontech aurora! 8-) :lol: waterproof to several tens of metres, adjustable angle, five operating modes....
cheers, and.
Powderburn
20-01-2004, 01:08
Yeah, what Sargey said. :biggthump
Roving Rich
20-01-2004, 09:15
Your probably right, but i have never seen one in the shops! Or anywhere other than the net for that matter. The holy grale of headtorches me finks. :notworthy
Is that one for sale in the classified section ?
Cheers
Rich
And there's me still using my old Zoom! :shock:
Anyone tried a homebrew bulb to LED conversion? :?: :idea:
Roving Rich
20-01-2004, 16:01
Stew my Zoom is now well and truly redundant now.
I lurve my tikka plus :rolmao: :o): :o):
Now Adi, Did you know you can get a maglite to LED conversion, thing is our beloved leader Tone came up with a cunning plan, a plan so cunning.....
Problem is i don't know if he wants to patent his brainwave or share it with us mere mortals :notworthy :nana:
TONE !!!
(he'll be along in a moment)
I have been thinking of updating for a while now but thought I would resist for a little bit. There's been such a boom in the development of new head torches recently with the use of LEDs that I thought it best to see what happens in their design and let prices drop a bit.
The Tikka is a good example. I know lots of people who got one straight away, but there are better versions now. I know that whatever i get it'll be outdated quickly, but i might as well get something with the features I want.
I await his imput!!! :notworthy :You_Rock_ :notworthy
Stew my Zoom is now well and truly redundant now.
I lurve my tikka plus :rolmao: :o): :o):
Now Adi, Did you know you can get a maglite to LED conversion, thing is our beloved leader Tone came up with a cunning plan, a plan so cunning.....
Problem is i don't know if he wants to patent his brainwave or share it with us mere mortals :notworthy :nana:
TONE !!!
(he'll be along in a moment)
You will have to wait for a few more hours!
PS the Mayo 5 is a nice bit of kit
talking about technology quickly becoming redundant
it is now possible to get holed of 5 watt LEDS
just one five watt LED is so bright that its blinding
some cavers in the US started making caving lamps from them but had to reduce the power because the scatter back was making their eyes hurt
they are also available in 1 and 3 watt versions, and come with a lens which takes all the light from the LED and turns it into a solid focused beam (unlike the normal dispersed effect you get with LEDs at the moment)
when these become mainstream the bulb will be dead! and led torches will have more power than a maglite with pure white light in a focused beam, but more than triple the burn time and as small as a petzl tikka!
I got a couple of them as prototypes a while ago, even had to sign a declaration that i wouldnt let anyone know about them
but they are available to buy now, they are manufactured by lumileds, the LED + the board + the lens togeather is about the same size as a stack of 3 £1 coins
talking about technology quickly becoming redundant
it is now possible to get holed of 5 watt LEDS
just one five watt LED is so bright that its blinding
Yeah they're nice. Here's the 5watter I own (a Surefire L4)... fitted onto an e1e body, it's about 2.5 inches long...
http://www.britishblades.com/pics/l4e1e.jpg
A comparison with other small torches...
http://www.britishblades.com/pics/l4.jpg
...and finally an outdoor shot...
http://www.britishblades.com/pics/kl42.jpg
Yeah, they're nice. :-D :-D
Oh my goodness - I'd heard that Surefires were bright but...!
Jeez, I would hope they were bright for the cost of them. :shock: Seems fairly justified!
An L4 will set you back about £90 quid.
They aint cheap.
They also run on lithium batteries, which aint cheap either.
Roving Rich
22-01-2004, 12:46
So i'll stick to me Petzl, where i can get batteries anywhere inth world !
Rich
Just to put that into perspective ... My M2 takes 2 x lithium CR123 which I can get for about £1.20 each ... and that will run for about 90 minutes. My Tikka takes 3 x AAA at about 60 p each for quality (Duracell or Energizer) and theu last for, well, ever! 100 hr easy.
Surefire is great if youwant a robust, powerful "lightsaber" but they are way too fierce for bushcraft and mucho dear to run. However, they are very, very hard to break!
Ouch.
Powderburn
22-01-2004, 19:41
Yeah they're nice. Here's the 5watter I own (a Surefire L4)... fitted onto an e1e body
Martyn, how long does the battery last with the 5 watt head? I was checking them out in a catalog earlier but they didn't have any runtime figures. Very tempting. 8-)
Powderburn, with the 2x123a's the torch will last somewhere between 1 to 1.5 hours in full regulated brightness, then slowly diminishing brightness for a further 3 hours or so.
However, before you buy, you may want to look at the new ARC LS4+ - it's a 1 watt light, but the internal circuitry allows it to be run on a variety of power settings, including an overdrive setting. It wont be as bright as the surefire, but wont be far off and it will have a huge variety of features that will make it a much more attractive optioj for bushcrafterts and campers (including a 2xAA battery option - I think???).
It's about the same price.
...Oh, as regarding what to carry, Ray Mears says he carries 3 types with him, a small LED keyring type (the photon microlight sort of thing), an LED head torch and a superbright halogen torch for emergencies.
Well this sounds very good to me. I figure a photon microlight on a lanyard, carried round your neck at all times is a good solution. The burntime is usually around 12 hours, which is pretty good, though the light output is paltry. It would double as a pretty effective "tent torch" when hung on a cord, though spare batteries (or spare photons) would probably be required for anything longer than a week.
An LED headlamp I would think is the "one" if you can only have one, it's the one to pick. A huge runtime, quite bright, comfortable, hands free, great for after dark walking, cooking, firelighting, firewood hunting, brewing up, kit shuffling, reading and whatever else you can think of. - something like the pricetontec aurora or petzel tikka+, fits the bill perfectly.
The emergency halogen is debatable. You might not need it at all, and if weight was a huge isse for you, you could probably comfortably leave it at home. But there may be occasions, when you just want the superbright, darkness-splitting beam for a few minutes. There are tons of options, most of them either thunking great2xD cell options, or lithium powered options. Lithiums are smaller, lighter, last longer, higher output, temperature tolerant and more expensive. Surefire lights are perfect, but again very expensive. The 5watt LED's are the first LED's which can truly compete with the halogen lights, but they are also much "whiter" than halogens, the bulb doesnt break and they last longer.
My choice:
1x PhotonII (on a neck cord)
1x Petzl Tikka+
1x Surefire LS4
All bases covered. The downside? The obvious one is cost - that's about £150 worth of torches, another is battery incompatibility. But as the LS4 is an emergency torch, I dont anticipate using or needing more than 1 set of batteries. The main torch is the LED headlamp - the only gripe, I would like a Tikka+ that ran on lithium AA batteries. Then I would sell the above and carry:
1x ARC AA (sinle LED to replace the photon)
1x Petzl Tikka (AA variety)
1x ARC L4 with AA battery pack.
...and about 1/2 dozen spare AA litiums for whatever torch ran out. :wink:
/end of ramble. :)
Powderburn
23-01-2004, 04:53
Thanks, Martyn. Looks like I'll have to spend some time on Candlepower Forums getting caught up with the latest and greatest before I buy my next light.
When Its dark, my Arc AAA does me fine, plenty bright enough.
It's only when theres light pollution or at twilight I need somthing with a little more punch.
If you want somthing with power check out the Princeton Tec Surge, its almost as bright as a three cell surfire (100 odd lumens), and can be had for about $20, it takes AA's and not the expensive CR123a's either.
http://www1.ecxmall.com/stores/texastacticalsupply/Detail.bok?no=32
Also, Black diamond do regulated LED, and Incandesant Headlamps, at reasonable prices too:
http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/gear/lightware/soliras.php
RAPPLEBY2000
23-01-2004, 16:31
:cry:
stopit stopit!
i really want the tikka+ just can't afford the extra£ at present!
quite sad really i gave up on my Zoom as it was too heavy and drinks batteries.
i have rather drastically opted for a maglight AA and have made an elastic strap that fits rather uncomfortably to my head!
:cry: :cry:
one day i'll have nice toys like you!! :wink:
Interesting factlet, in August this year, the battery manufacturers will start production and sale of AAA lithiums.
The tikka and aurora already have insanely long runtimes, imagine how long they will burn if the batteries were lithium? :-D
Of course they'll be hellishly expensive, just like the lithium AA's.
Hellishly expensive but worth it. Before I moved over to mostly recharchable NiMH 2100 mAh AAs i used to find that in some devices (such as GPS) that I'd get about 4 - 6 hours from Duracell while Energizer Litiums would give me in excess of 24 hours. At three times the price this was worth it.
It's the way they are unaffected by cold that is really impressive though!
...oh absolutely, if you're using your petzl tikka in arctic conditions, there'll be no contest.
using rechargable battrys such as NiMH would be far cheaper not to mention more enviromently friendly than lithium
donkeyporge
24-01-2004, 18:39
But how would rechargable NiMH batteries hold up in the cold? anone have any experience with this?
I agree ... I tend to not use many throw away batteries as I think that they are a crime against the planet.
As for cold, they seem to work OK down to -10 deg C in my experience in low drain devices like LED torches.
using rechargable battrys such as NiMH would be far cheaper not to mention more enviromently friendly than lithium
Anyone tried the Inova X5 out? I bought for my dad in Oz but never tried one myself, saw em being sold in cotswolds other day.
Got one. Lives in my shell jacket. Excellent build. Meant to be about 15 lumens IIRC so not far off a surefire KL3 (19 lumens). There's no electronic drive circuit so the intensity will just fade away over time. I've no idea how long it lasts in the real world as I've only used it for about 45 mins so far. Shop around and you can get them MUCH cheaper than when they were first introduced in the UK for £50+.
Cheers,
Ive just aquired a Zipka plus... brill bit ov kit.....light and bright
best £25 I've spent in ages..
just about to leave tommorow for the hills (bumps..N yorkshire) plenty of bad weather to test my cold skills...out in a ex dutch army bivi bag and a snugpack kesrel (new also) will test them both out I hopeback from wander now and the head torch worked fine but the bivi bag needs re-proofin and the sleep bag was great even though it was wet....
Anyone tried a homebrew bulb to LED conversion? :?: :idea:
just consider the item for conversion defunct :roll: and save ya pennys for a propper LED version .... :-D
You will have to wait for a few more hours!
PS the Mayo 5 is a nice bit of kit
Are we ever going to tell us or is it staying a secret? :-)