Author Topic: Head torches  (Read 7997 times)

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Head torches
« on: 24 October, 2017, 11:20:21 am »
Are Petzl still the go-to brand for head torches? I have an ancient Tikka that needs replacing and I see the design has changed somewhat since I bought mine.

Intended use will be fixing punctures on dark country lanes, finding stuff in the attic, winter dog walks in the woods etc.

Any recommendations welcome.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Re: Head torches
« Reply #1 on: 24 October, 2017, 11:23:41 am »
I like my Alpkit Gamma, I've had it for years, used it for cycling, general work and camping. Some people have had problems with the battery compartment (which is replaceable). Alpkit also have a lighter and simpler model.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Re: Head torches
« Reply #2 on: 24 October, 2017, 11:27:16 am »
Petzl used be the 'go to' brand for those early morning alpine mountaineering starts with bulbs and bulk.

And then came the LED and a whole tranche of suppliers.

I purchased some LED head torches from Aldi and they do a super job, so good that a friend borrowed both for a cycle trip to China and was so impressed he kept them!

Pop down Great Outdoors or somewhere like that and there should be a good range.

Why even Screwfix and Maplin flog them:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?safe=strict&ei=CBXvWe_GJYuqa_ySkugN&q=led+head+torch+screwfix&oq=led+head+torch+scew&gs_l=mobile-gws-serp.1.0.0i13k1.11556.13148.0.14650.5.5.0.0.0.0.181.686.0j5.5.0....0...1.1.64.mobile-gws-serp..0.5.683...0j0i22i30k1j33i21k1.0.Ph7rm2b05g0

What might be important is beam width etc which is a whole new debate!

Jaded

  • The Codfather
  • Formerly known as Jaded
Re: Head torches
« Reply #3 on: 24 October, 2017, 11:31:03 am »
I've used Zebralights. Not cheap, but very good.
It is simpler than it looks.

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Head torches
« Reply #4 on: 24 October, 2017, 11:33:55 am »
Gamma looks perfect. :thumbsup:

Zebralights also looks very interesting, but instinctively I prefer the look of the Gamma's more compact style.

My Tikka (or it might be a Tikkina) has three LEDs and I've always thought it was pretty good, but I'm well aware from bike lighting that technology has moved on somewhat in the last 12 years. I have already looked at Go Outdoors, funnily enough, but the range is bewildering so personal recommendations would be welcome.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Head torches
« Reply #5 on: 24 October, 2017, 12:58:49 pm »
Petzl and Black Diamond are still going strong, and are a safe bet for the high end stuff.

The main innovation in recent years are the move towards single LED sources and proper optics (as with bike lights) rather than a row of 5mm LEDs.  This isn't just about giving you a powerful spot beam - it's equally applicable to giving you an even flood of diffuse light, which makes a real difference for fettling and reading.

After that, Li+ batteries with USB charging have become common - giving better energy density for the more powerful models and meaning a lot less faffing around with odd numbers of AAA cells for the frequent users.  I use mine regularly for fettling things, and USB charging means I can recharge it at the end of a task and it's always ready to go.  Probably less important if it only gets used for camping trips.

The rest is mostly gimmicks.  I have a Petzl Reactic+, which is an excellent head torch (that seems to have become ludicrously expensive), but the headline features of a beam that reacts to what you're looking at and bluetooth programmability are about 80% marketing guff.  Not to say that the reactive beam isn't useful - it's excellent for doing things like washing-up while camping, where you move from tent through dark field to well-lit wash-block with dirty hands so you can't fiddle with the controls to switch from flood to spot and adjust the brightness - but most of the time I use the beam in static mode.  The bluetooth thing is silly, but it does mean you can program the button sequence to do exactly what you want (I've ranted before about lights that come on full brightness on the first press), and it gives you a numerical battery gauge via the app.  You can turn bluetooth off and safely ignore it.

But if you're less fussed about performance and don't need something that won't let you down halfway up a mountain, the current low-end would have been simply amazing a few years ago.  I'd be inclined to go to Alpkit for the cheaper stuff, on the basis that they'll have tested it enough to determine that it's not complete rubbish, and they seem good at customer service if some design fault does come to light.

One thing I have noticed with head torches is that if you're planning to use them on a bike, you need to be able to point the beam far enough upwards to compensate for the face-to-the-ground-in-front-of-the-wheel position of the average upwrong.  My Petzl is okay for a mountain bike at it's highest position, but you'll have to do weird things with the strap on a road bike if you want to do more than illuminate your handlbars and the patch immediately in front of your wheel.

redshift

  • High Priestess of wires
    • redshift home
Re: Head torches
« Reply #6 on: 24 October, 2017, 02:42:38 pm »
After one of my colleagues watched in horror as a Li+ headtorch battery exploded whilst on charge at work last week, catapulting itself across the bench, and filling the room with acrid smoke, I'd be prepared to spend a little more for reasonable quality control.  Unless you're looking to be able to set buildings on fire, of course.
L
:)
Windcheetah No. 176
The all-round entertainer gets quite arsey,
They won't translate his lame shit into Farsi
Somehow to let it go would be more classy…

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Head torches
« Reply #7 on: 24 October, 2017, 03:16:40 pm »
After that, Li+ batteries with USB charging have become common - giving better energy density for the more powerful models and meaning a lot less faffing around with odd numbers of AAA cells for the frequent users.  I use mine regularly for fettling things, and USB charging means I can recharge it at the end of a task and it's always ready to go.  Probably less important if it only gets used for camping trips.

USB charging is definitely of interest.

Quote
The rest is mostly gimmicks.  I have a Petzl Reactic+, which is an excellent head torch (that seems to have become ludicrously expensive), but the headline features of a beam that reacts to what you're looking at and bluetooth programmability are about 80% marketing guff.

I'm glad you said that - I was just looking at the Reactic and thinking WTF?

Quote
One thing I have noticed with head torches is that if you're planning to use them on a bike, you need to be able to point the beam far enough upwards to compensate for the face-to-the-ground-in-front-of-the-wheel position of the average upwrong.  My Petzl is okay for a mountain bike at it's highest position, but you'll have to do weird things with the strap on a road bike if you want to do more than illuminate your handlbars and the patch immediately in front of your wheel.

True, this is one of the few flaws I've found with my Tikka - good at illuminating handlebars, but you have to crane your neck to shine it on road signs.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Head torches
« Reply #8 on: 24 October, 2017, 03:45:22 pm »
Quote
The rest is mostly gimmicks.  I have a Petzl Reactic+, which is an excellent head torch (that seems to have become ludicrously expensive), but the headline features of a beam that reacts to what you're looking at and bluetooth programmability are about 80% marketing guff.

I'm glad you said that - I was just looking at the Reactic and thinking WTF?

The other good thing about the reactive beam is that if you look at someone wearing a head torch, it responds to their beam and turns the brightness down so you don't blind them too badly.  Not sure how two reactive torches play together in that respect - presumably they find a happy medium.  But it also means you need to use non-reactive mode when there's oncoming traffic (cycling or on foot), otherwise headlights can turn your beam down.

Mostly it's useful when you've got mucky hands and don't want to touch the buttons, though.


The Bluetooth thing... well, it's got a microcontroller so why not, I suppose (the predecessor 'Core' had similar functionality over a USB connection, which was a bit less ridiculous) .  There's a mode where you can control the brightness in realtime from the app, which might be handy in a big tent if you've hung it from something and want to control it without leaving your sleeping bag.  Except that it doesn't actually let you turn it all the way off.

The one time I actually bothered to re-program the Core was to give it super-low brightness for reading documents when I was attending a film festival (I promptly forgot about this and tried to ride through the Netherton Tunnel the following week - Fail).  The Reactic lets you define multiple modes, so I can't really see many cases where you'd want to re-program it, once you've set up a sequence that you like.

They're obviously desperate to come up with features that help sell their product, in a market where anyone can stick CREE's latest between some optics and a battery for awesome brightness.  Build quality alone is hard to compete on, and different beam shapes and colours have been done[1].  So you end up with this sort of marginally-useful rubbish.


Quote
True, this is one of the few flaws I've found with my Tikka - good at illuminating handlebars, but you have to crane your neck to shine it on road signs.

Exactly that.  Possibly not so bad if you're mounting it on a helmet?

It's okay on a mountain bike or recumbent.


[1] A red beam that preserves your night vision and uses hardly any battery is worth having for camping.  Other colours are gimmicks.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Head torches
« Reply #9 on: 24 October, 2017, 03:55:34 pm »
Petzl used be the 'go to' brand for those early morning alpine mountaineering starts with bulbs and bulk.

Why even Screwfix and Maplin flog them:


Even Sainsbury's online flog the low-end ones for buttons.

Re: Head torches
« Reply #10 on: 24 October, 2017, 05:46:46 pm »
I use a Petzl Zipka as my puncture fettling light, on account of not having bulky straps and hence leaving space for tubes in the saddlebag side pocket.

For other stuff, I use a Petzl Myo XP (decent beam, flip up diffuser for nearby work that won't get lost or break off), or a Zebralight (flood version, light levels from excessive to moonlight (4 months+ run time)).
For what I do, a diffuse/flood beam and the ability to vary light over a medium to low brightness are more useful than a far reaching beam (which I'd generally prefer a hand torch anyway).



Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Head torches
« Reply #11 on: 24 October, 2017, 05:49:00 pm »
For what I do, a diffuse/flood beam and the ability to vary light over a medium to low brightness are more useful than a far reaching beam (which I'd generally prefer a hand torch anyway).

Agreed.  The powerful spot beam mostly comes out for comedy off-roading.

IJL

Re: Head torches
« Reply #12 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:23:25 pm »
I have an Alpkit head torch, a viper I think.  it's small, runs for so long on its AAA's that I can't recall if it takes 2 or 3.  Its good for seeing signs at night on an Audax, fixing punctures and dog walking.  My only criticism is that it has 3 modes low, high and flash. I would prefer just on/off.  Petzl used to be the thing to have for head torch's but I think in an effort to innovate they have lost the plot.  You don't need gimmicks just a light on your head.

Re: Head torches
« Reply #13 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:44:57 pm »
I'd quite like a lightweight headtorch for running.   My experience of headtorches is that the beam is pointing at the ground not very far in front of me and that the spread is pretty weak.   I want to see potential hazards to the sides of the track as well as on it.   The manufacturer vids are useless at helping me to figure out if the torch is appropriate. 

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Head torches
« Reply #14 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:45:23 pm »
Have others found that elastic straps fail before other components?

Re: Head torches
« Reply #15 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:51:38 pm »
Cable ties.
Infinitely replaceable.
One size fits all.

Re: Head torches
« Reply #16 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:52:27 pm »
Have others found that elastic straps fail before other components?

Excluding the obvious battery, yes, the straps fail and that is why I binning my old collection of Petzl head torches with bulbs as I consider them obsolescent and not worth keeping with so much LED choice around.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Head torches
« Reply #17 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:53:33 pm »
Have others found that elastic straps fail before other components?

No, but the only failure I've had was of a battery compartment hinge (well-used Petzl Core).

Everything prior to that was rendered laughably obsolete before it got a chance to fail.  Anyone want a halogen head torch that runs on 4.5V lantern batteries?  Thought not.

There's a poundshop-quality 5-LED thing around somewhere.  It's crap by modern standards, but still useful enough for an emergency backup.  Strap seemed okay last time I saw it, but it's a less springy elastic than Petzl's.


hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Head torches
« Reply #18 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:55:53 pm »
I think my LED Petzl went floppy before the batteries needed to be replaced a second time.

Cable ties are no use if you're not wearing a helmet.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Head torches
« Reply #19 on: 24 October, 2017, 06:59:23 pm »
That seems rather poor.  Unless it had been exposed to CHEMICALS, I'd suggest a quality control issue.

Mr Larrington

  • A bit ov a lyv wyr by slof standirds
  • Custard Wallah
    • Mr Larrington's Automatic Diary
Re: Head torches
« Reply #20 on: 24 October, 2017, 07:08:24 pm »
Have others found that elastic straps fail before other components?

The strap on my Petzl is no longer stretchy, thereby rendering it Not Fit For Purpose chiz.
External Transparent Wall Inspection Operative & Mayor of Mortagne-au-Perche
Satisfying the Bloodlust of the Masses in Peacetime

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: Head torches
« Reply #21 on: 24 October, 2017, 07:23:38 pm »
That seems rather poor.  Unless it had been exposed to CHEMICALS, I'd suggest a quality control issue.

No. It just had not been used much. It had mostly sat on a shelf in the kitchen, where little stove top cooking occurs.

I think failure of stretchiness IS a thing. I blame this on the use of Lycra rather than latex as some folk are allergic to latex.
(click to show/hide)


Vince

  • Can't climb; won't climb
Re: Head torches
« Reply #22 on: 24 October, 2017, 07:50:05 pm »
I've been very happy using exceedingly cheap 7 LED head torches of this design
http://www.poundland.co.uk/electrek-7-led-head-torch
They don't have great range, but I only want to use it hands free for fixing stuff.
I actually dislike people using searchlight type head torches as they inevitably dazzle anyone in the local vicinity.
216km from Marsh Gibbon

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: Head torches
« Reply #23 on: 24 October, 2017, 08:48:59 pm »
I've got a Silva something or other and an Alpkit Gamma, or Alpkit something at least. The Silva is great for camping but a bit big for stuffing in a saddlebag just in case. For the saddlebag I prefer something that runs on batteries as it's not only for roadside fettles but potentially as an emergency bike light, in the unlikely event of dynamo light failure. If I'm 100km of dark roads from home with flat batteries, I can get replacements in a 24h garage – ok, at rip off prices, but such is the audax way. Or something – whereas with a flat usb-charged battery, I'm stuck. I'm sure this is full of flaws but so far, and hopefully it will remain this way, I haven't had to test it.
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: Head torches
« Reply #24 on: 24 October, 2017, 10:10:12 pm »
I've been very happy using exceedingly cheap 7 LED head torches of this design
http://www.poundland.co.uk/electrek-7-led-head-torch

*nods*  Those are a special form of cheap & nasty that renders them almost impervious to failure (other than, inevitably, misplacing the battery holder).