Product Review: Petzl Tikka XP
If you don't have a headlamp yet, you don't really know what you're missing. If you spend any time outdoors, a headlamp is a necessity. Well, let me rephrase that...a GOOD headlamp is a necessity. I say this, because my first headlamp was actually not a headlamp at all, but a maglite with a special strap designed to fit snugly to my head. It actually worked halfway decently, but was quite clumsy. And if you've ever used a mini maglite, its range is limited at best. Is that a bear standing over there or just a bush? If it's just a bush, why did it just move? My second headlamp was a true headlamp, but only in the sense that it was supposed to go on your head. It was made by a popular battery maker. However, even their batteries aren't that good, so the headlamp was even worse. It had just one on/off button on top and you could illuminate almost 5 feet in front of you! It held a couple of c batteries, which should tell you how heavy it was. I felt like a log was attached to my skull. Newton would have been able to use this product very well in his explanation of gravity.
I finally decided to spend a little money and get a decent headlamp. The
Petzl Tikka XP. The Tikka XP is a 1-watt, 35 lumen headlamp capable of shining a spot up to 35 meters. I have no idea what that is in feet. Go find yourself a good conversion site to figure it out. (I really did not pay much attention in grade school when they taught us the metric system.) The Tikka XP has three lighting levels, a boost button that increases the distance to 50 meters (my apologies once again), and a nifty slider that lets you switch from a tight spot beam to a flood light. I use that thing all the time. It also has a light that tells you when the batteries are running out of juice. I think its kind of funny that devices like these turn ON another light when you're running out of battery gas. Like that doesn't waste MORE of the battery! But I digress....The last thing I'll mention is that the light has a tilting mechanism so you can adjust it depending on where you're looking. Let me tell you, whatever headlamp you get, make sure you can adjust the tilt! It's a pain in the rump to crank your head all the way down to see something at your feet if your headlamp isn't adjustable.
The better news is that this headlamp is also one of the most economical in its class. It's regularly $52.99, but for the holiday season, we have them at only $45.99. Do yourself a favor and get one of these pronto! You'll wonder how you ever lived without a headlamp.
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