Petzl Tikka Plus LED Headlamp
January 17th, 2007Becky and I are slowly acquiring things that will help us in an emergency. Light is something we mostly take for granted. In the Far North of New Zealand, however, the power goes out on a semi regular basis. This has accentuated the point for us: Do not wait to get reliable, backup lighting.
There is no shortage of options. While we all know about candles and lanterns, which should be a part of your plans, I would encourage you to strongly consider acquiring at least one high quality LED headlamp. Becky has owned a LED headlamp for years. I found myself borrowing it quite a bit. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to have one as well.
I wanted an excellent quality light. I wanted something that I knew I could rely upon, something that would last a LONG time. After researching the topic at length, because there’s so much Made In China garbage out there, I decided to go with the Petzl Tikka Plus.
The Petzl Tikka Plus LED Headlamp
Overall, the Petzl Tikka Plus is an incredible headlamp. It exceeded my expectations. The brightness, at full power, is roughly double what I had expected it to be. It seems impossibly bright, actually, for the size of the unit. There are three intensity modes, plus blinking, all controlled by a single button. I found that the ‘low’ setting is easily bright enough for any indoor task. The lamp will operate for 150 hours in the low intensity mode on a single set of three AAA batteries.
The build quality is excellent, it’s weather resistant and, while I haven’t subjected the unit to punishing treatment, it seems very durable. The Petzl Tikka Plus is made in France, by the way, for those of you who like to avoid buying things that are made in China when possible. (See Cryptogon references on Chinese fascism.)
It’s simple and inexpensive to stockpile batteries, or, better yet, get yourself a solar battery charger and a few sets of rechargeable AAA batteries. It will be easy to confront the darkness, with just a bit of preparation and forethought.
This is an excellent product. About 2 years ago I bought 6 of them from Sahalie in Washington state and only gave away three. They are my “main man” when it comes to going “out back” to look in the “greenhouse” ((snort) Our greenhouse is actually a storage shed dear old Dad built to store wood after the 1985 tornadoes in PA). The package with the headlamp special included an LED keychain light.
Piece of gold. Only drawback: look at the batteries in this delighful headlamp. Not rechargeable. But this is by far I think an excellent piece of work.
By the way, I am going to do an Amazon buy of all kinds of stuff that I would normally get in stores (except for the books).
Please add the percentage of sales you get from my purchases to your monthly challenge.
Let me know what you come up short with this month. Maybe I’ll go back and wrestle with Paypal just’s so you keep on keeping on. E
What’s with the xenophobia man … yeah 1970’s chinese imports may have sucked, but its now 2007 … FFS readjust your preconceptions
Anonymous,
What’s with the total ignorance of Chinese fascism, man?
Not wanting to support the diabolical Chinese regime is not xenophobia directed at Chinese people.
Get a clue and report back:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enNZ177&q=site%3Acryptogon.com+china+OR+chinese+fascism
There’s several years worth of material there for you. So get busy, sport.
I don’t take pleasure from decapitating idiots like you in public, it’s typically not worth my time, but re: China, I’ll do it.
I hate it when trolls poison the well.
This is an awesome product. I’ve been camping for decades and have tried just about every kind of flashlight you can imagine. I love this light. It’s small, fits well (even without topstrap which was an original concern of mine) puts out tons of light and sips at batteries. I’ve used mine on weekend and week long trips and carry it in the pocket of my coat, just in case. I can’t say enough about this light. Good call
if you’re suggesting quality camp/survival stuff, I’d look at the msr miniworks filter. I can’t say beyond my experience (which is limitted to north america), but I’ve used and used mine and for one or two people, it ranks right up with the petzl. Feel free to delete this one kevin if it’s wandering off topic or you haven’t messed with it and therefore don’t want to recommend. No hard feelings, cheers!
Hi Eileen,
Thanks for your support! While the Pookie challenge is complete, I always post the Amazon commission total so people know their purchases added to it.
Best,
Kevin
I love these lights. My wife bought them several years ago for our Sierra camping trips and soon began taking them everywhere for power outages, setting up camp at night, walking the dog on dark roads, reading in bed and the inevitable emergencies. One is still running on the original batteries; the other is on the second set after many years. The lamp bulbs are brilliant and seemingly last forever.
Nice recommendation, I was just thinking of getting some of these for late night snow shoe trips and power outages. Bought a few!
Bought a few!? HA! That’s the way to do it. They will seem more valuable than gold when you need them.
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