Petzl Core battery – where to buy? Alternatives?

"I must be missing something. My Petzl Tikka 2 says 90 hours at 70 lumens. 2.76 oz."

I have this headlamp. It's great. I never said it wasn't. Looks like you'll have a great setup once you receive the core.

I truly hope they re release the core as I'd like to own one someday.

I must be missing something. My Petzl Tikka 2 says 90 hours at 70 lumens. 2.76 oz.

thats not regulated and PETZL lies about the "hours" regardless, as do most manufacturers for their non regulated settings … i own one of the new tikkas, as well as a tikka RXP and 2 fenix hl55 (18650)

read this

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/a/11165/Why-Headlamp-Claims-are-Deceptive

as to "charging", most li-on-co bats will "last" between 300-500 charges till it degrades less than 70% of the original capacity … thats full drains and charges, just add up all the fractional ones

18650 headlamps are the future for all night activities such as night climbing, biking, hiking, etc … at a certain point the weight saving (one 18650 bat = 4 AA eneloops) will be significant

whether you are doing those fun things and waking up snoozing bears is your call

;)

I'm really just balking at the price tag. Not knockin' anyone for spending money on the best!

I also have a several hundred lumen "big guy" that I bring if I know I will be night orienteering. Its great for making everyone else in your party mutter "holy %$# that's bright"

(Shiningbeam with Cree emitter, separate battery tubes for 1AA, 2AA, & CR2, I believe it accepts the 18650 too but I haven't bothered. I think that whole system was $30.)

one thing to be careful about with cheap 18650 lights is that they might not have voltage protection built in … in those cases you would want to use a quality 18650 protected batteries

good name brand one will have such protection that functions reliably, well so we hope anyways

whatever light you use dont skimp on quality 18650 bats and chargers if you go that route … the intrawebz is littered with tales of cheap li-on bats and chargers that went KABOOM !!!

;)

I've had good luck with the Fenix LD01, 14.2 grams. Runs on single AAA.

27 hours @ 3 lumens is good enough for following trail. The 1.5 hours @ 72 lumens leaves something to be desired for orienteering, but even with an extra battery you're still only carrying an ounce.

"quality 18650 bats"

So far I have purchased only Panasonic 18650 batteries that seem trustworthy. There are many batteries with lesser ratings, lesser prices, and poor reviews. Now I've heard of counterfeit Panasonic batteries being sold. I'm trying to figure out how to identify those before purchase.

–B.G.–

"I must be missing something. My Petzl Tikka 2 says 90 hours at 70 lumens. 2.76 oz."

Yes you are missing something.

The manufacturer's claim of burn time on an unregulated light will typically state the time it takes to go from max brightness (the advertised lumens of the highest mode) down to when the light is non-usable. That is the "90 hours" that is listed for your light. At high mode (70 lms?), you will be lucky to get more than 7 hours at that brightness (that's just the way it is with 3 AAA batteries and unregulated lights). If that's all you need then that's great. I like to have a bit in reserve just in case I have to walk out at night.

Ok. I didn't believe that 90-hour stat anyways.
Original question, battery pack for the light I already own, for a thru! haha. I'm carrying a 6,000mAh battery pack to jack the core into (among every other electronic).

"The battery is going to last for thousands of charges."

Is that a stated spec, independent test result, or assumption (WAG)? Many batteries are measured in hundreds of recharge cycles. Like 300. Eneloops are 1500, which is high, and barely "thousands"

Rick,
That's a fair question. This spec is not published on the Bosavi website, but I have corresponded with Bosavi via email, asking them for the particular battery specs for their headlamp. In response, they furnished these specs:

Bosavi Battery:
3.7V/700mAh Li-Poly
80% Capacity Retention After 3 Years or 3000 Cycles

So, that's pretty good in my book.

That is good. When my budget constraints are out of thru-hike mode I'm getting one.

Core battery came (Thanks Diane!). Its a brilliant battery system. Charged from dead in 90mins. Run-down test is at 2hrs (more tomorrow). Since I have a battery pack I'm not that concerned, but I'm expecting it to give me one walking thru the night if needed.

Those discharge cycle claims from
Bosavi look like hot air IMO

As a comparison the current iPhone is rated for 500 discharge cycles till 80%, the samsung galaxy is pretty similar … So somehow bosavi has a special supplier of batts whose chemistry and performance is much higher than the worlds 2 larget producers of phones which uses lithium chemistry (lithium ion/polymer) bats, and samsung is also a major manufacturer of such bats …..

Regardless of whether the are using LiCo or LiPo bats … The current bats are generally rated at 300-500 charge cycles

I REALLY want to know where they get these special "3000" charge cycle bats from

Because apple, samsung, petzl and every other major headlamp/phone manufacturer sure cant get em

;)

I'll be looking into those 18650 batteries. Thanks for the discussion.

FWIW this is my light kit:

The greenish color light is easy on night vision.

Richard,

Does your light stay on? I followed the instructions which was supposed to disable the display mode but it shuts off after a few seconds.

Ian, yes. It was frustrating when I first got it… it took a few minutes to man up and read the instructions. :P

The light has a bunch of great features once you've figured out how to use it–I've only needed the dimmer. The intensity does trail slowly over time and opening it to change batteries can be a PIA if the cap is grimy. But once you know to anticipate those issues then problem solved.

It suits my needs very well.

The talk about the Zebra being able to recharge electronics tickles my fancy and the Bosavi looks well thought through.

"Ian, yes. It was frustrating when I first got it… it took a few minutes to man up and read the instructions. :P"

Heh heh! It's probably a reading comprehension issue on my part. I thought I followed it to the letter but who knows. Maybe I'll get another one and see how it goes.

The only thing missing from my 18650 transition is the headlamp itself which I'll fix later this spring. The battery/miller charger combination works really well.

Rick call an REI and have one of the staff find a store that is sitting on a couple and if you can wait for the next free shipping window you may have found a good deal… but did I read somewhere that the self life of those batteries were not that great ?…

Diane sent me a CORE, which is an awesome little thing. I have 3k miles to test it out.

I love this community, ask and receive.

When money and time are of luxury I will geek out with ya'll, I'm as much an electrical nerd as anyone in this thread. But I'm counting pennies, some of these lights are 2 weeks' trail dollars.