Myo XP vs. Tikka XP vs EOS for mountaineering?

[David Targan]

A few years ago I climbed 2 volcanoes in the Andes on a single set of batteries in my 3 LED Tikka. Then came the 4 LED Tikka. Now the Tikka XP. Any thoughts on the best pick for alpine starts, climbing, etc., among these top lights?

[paul johnson]

haven’t done any alpine, but have all 5 of the headlamps you mentioned. often finish hikes at night, or begin a day’s hiking in the wee hours (typically 0300-0400 or whenever i wake up – if i’m alone & not too exhausted fr/the prev. day), so use a headlamp quite a bit. however, haven’t used the MyoXP or TikkaXP that much – (i’m still “stuck” on the PT YukonHL. the MyoXP is prob. a better headlamp though, IMHO)

i guess i’d be asking myself, if the org. Tikka worked fine, why am i thinking of possibly taking a diff. headlamp? do i really need more light?

if you want more light, and don’t mind more wt/bulk, then, obviously, the MyoXP would be the choice. haven’t yet gotten a good feel for the batt life yet. this thing is ‘blazing’ on boost mode!!! i should really do a side-by-side cp. w/the PT YukonHL & also cp batt life. Obviously the XP will be brighter, but, practically speaking, does it really make any diff??? don’t know. since it runs on AA & the Tikka’s & EOS run on AAA, batt life should be a better for the MyoXP (just don’t use boost mode much). seems like i can run the MyoXP on one setting lower than the EOS and get similar light output.

want to carry a couple of ounces less of headlamp cp. to the MyoXP, then the Tikka XP followed by the EOS would be the choices – actually can’t go wrong with either, but i slightly prefer the Tikka XP over the EOS. i don’t, however, have many hrs on the Tikka XP, so i don’t know yet about batt. life (i usually, for unregulated output, consider half of a mfr’s claims about batt life to be more accurate – sure the light can function as a task/proximity light for most of the remaining time, but it can’t fulfill any distance lighting function when the batts are in this state of charge). The EOS, which I’ve used quite a bit more than the newer 2 XP Petzl’s, works quite well for nighttime navigation on medium output. Batt. life is a tad short on ‘hi’ output. If you think that you’re going to use it on ‘hi’, then a spare set of batts might be worthwhile bringing along. however, if the org. 3LED Tikka served you fine, then you prob. won’t be using whatever headlamp you decide upon on anything but ‘lo’ and occasionally ‘med’ settings.

if you’re talking just lighting for camp chores, then the Tikka or TikkaPlus is just fine. as you are undoubtedly aware, the “Plus” on maximum is noticeably brighter than the orginal Tikka. However, i find that, unless i’m actually hiking, i prefer to use the TikkaPlus on the lowest (‘economical’ in Petzl-speak) setting. also, the ‘Plus’ on maximum output is sufficient for hiking even indistinct leaf covered trails when the batts are fresh, i.e. during the first 30min of batt life and maybe a bit more, depending upon the trail.

personally, i find that it is easy to get “spoiled” by large amounts of light output. however, it can be comforting, when in/on unfamiliar terrain/trails to have perhaps more light than is really needed. i feel more confident that i haven’t taken a wrong turn.

[David Targan]

Thanks Paul, that’s very helpful. I’ll try all three out this weekend before going climbing next week. Dave

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