New Petzl LED head torch...

[Martyn]

the new petzl Tactikka is out now/soon and looks very interesting for campers/bushcrafters...

features...



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.

[Adi007]

Gaaaa! He posted it here too! Now I really want one!

[Ed]

Any idea of how much they'll cost?

:-)
Ed

[Stew]

About £28(ish)

[Stuart]

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)

[Adi007]

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]

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

[Adi007]

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

[Martyn]

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.

[sargey]

uuhhh, sorry guys, the torch you've all been looking for is actually a princetontech aurora! 8-) waterproof to several tens of metres, adjustable angle, five operating modes....

cheers, and.

[Powderburn]

Yeah, what Sargey said. :biggthump

[Roving Rich]

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.
Is that one for sale in the classified section ?
Cheers
Rich

[Stew]

And there's me still using my old Zoom! :shock:

[Adi007]

Anyone tried a homebrew bulb to LED conversion? :?: :idea:

[Roving Rich]

Stew my Zoom is now well and truly redundant now.
I lurve my tikka plus :rolmao: ): ):
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
TONE !!!
(he'll be along in a moment)

[Stew]

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.

[Adi007]

I await his imput!!!

Stew my Zoom is now well and truly redundant now.
I lurve my tikka plus :rolmao: ): ):
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
TONE !!!
(he'll be along in a moment)

[Tony]

You will have to wait for a few more hours!

PS the Mayo 5 is a nice bit of kit

[Stuart]

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

[Martyn]

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...



A comparison with other small torches...



...and finally an outdoor shot...



Yeah, they're nice. :-D :-D

[Womble]

Oh my goodness - I'd heard that Surefires were bright but...!

[Stew]

Jeez, I would hope they were bright for the cost of them. :shock: Seems fairly justified!

[Womble]

how much are they?

[Martyn]

An L4 will set you back about £90 quid.

They aint cheap.

They also run on lithium batteries, which aint cheap either.

[Womble]

Ouch.

[Roving Rich]

So i'll stick to me Petzl, where i can get batteries anywhere inth world !
Rich

[Adi007]

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]

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-)

[Martyn]

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.

[Martyn]

...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.