Petzl Tikka XP2 and Tikka Plus2 LED Headlamp Reviews

Hi Matt,

Flashlight regulation is circuitry that attempts to maintain steady light output as batteries wear. Some headlamps have it, most do not. Those that do not rely on the batteries themselves to supply a form of regulation, which generally speaking lithium and NiMH cells can accomplish and alkaline cells cannot.

The dirty little secret of any regulated light I've tested is that set on high with alkaline cells, the output curves show no sign of effective regulation. Some can pull this feat off in medium and low.

As I noted in this test, the Tikka XP and PT Eos lithium output curves are effectively identical, implying the regulation is provided by the batteries and not the Eos' circuitry. OTOH the Eos with lithiun on medium is a thing of wonder, and I suspect the long, long steady output is a happy marriage of both the batteries and the regulation.

Cheers,

Rick

Thanks guys, that's exactly what I thought it was.

Question to you people that know lux/lumens/regulation stuff: How does the Remington RMHL2AAA-B that Member Keith Selbo just reviewed (in Reader Reviews in January) compare?

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/reviews/display_reviews.html?forum_thread_id=27607

I bought an XP2 based on Rick's review and find his observations to be very accurate. Good job Rick.

I require a diffuser on my headlamp because I always bring something to read when I backpack and the diffuser tames the spot beam enough to prevent going snow blind from bounce back off white paper.

I have an original XP, which I will now sell or give away to a friend, and I much prefer the larger on/off button on the XP2.

Being able to use NiMh batteries, which I plan to do, is a great plus.

I don't like the obvious artifacts when in high spot beam mode. They were so obvious that I returned the light to REI thinking it was a defect, only to discover that the replacement had the exact same thing. They won't affect performance in the field, but you don't expect that in a high end lamp.

I also wish Petzl had retained the medium setting, which I used extensively on my old XP.

For me, overall an improvement over the old XP with a few minor glitches.

"You note inverting the light doesn't help. Does it aim too high when inverted at waist level?"
Rick
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That's exactly what I've found. I can either dig for night crawlers or search the branches for owls.

Since aquiring this lamp I've been using the red LED for navigating while stealth hiking and camping quite a lot (too many people in California=too many rules). It's far superior to trying to mask the white light in dim mode with my hand.
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My stealth partner has noticed that, while the red is much more subtle than the white beam, it can still be easily seen even when not pointed directly at the ranger…er, nocturnal wildlife that you are observing. Consequently, he proposed a diffuser for the red LED to complement the very effective slide up diffuser pane that covers the white LED.
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Curiously, the area of the diffuser pane that covers the red LED is clear so that it has no effect on this light source.
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After experimenting on a scrap of clear acrylic with crosshatched scoring with a knife tip and sanding, I discovered that flipping the pane into diffuser mode, wrapping a small piece of 180 grit wet/dry sandpaper over an unused pencil tip eraser and buffing the area around the red LED created a frosted effect. This mitigates the intensity of the beam and spreads it out from the stock spot beam.
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It is still useful for walking slowly and camp chores, but attracts less attention. If the spot beam is desired, just slide the diffuser pane back into the headlamp housing – the same as with the white beam.

The other problem with the XP2 that my climbing partner has is the tremendous amount of light leakage that is emitted out of the bottom of the lamp. It's not a big problem for me, but as he wears glasses, the lamp illuminates his frames and lenses creating significant distraction.
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I painted the clear housing with black paint with minimal improvement. Then I determined that most of the leakage was coming from a gap in the housing hinge. I cleaned the housing with alcohol and affixed a rectangle of black duct tape across the hinge and beyond it on both sides. I deactivated the adhesive in the center section that touches the actual hinge by applying a thin strip of tape to the center of the rectangle adhesive side to adhesive side. This allows the hinge to operate freely, but blocks the light leakage from hitting the face and glasses.

The light that shines down is from the lip just below the light, its opaque.
If you pop it off and paint the inside of that lip it should fix the problem.
There are 3 retaining clips in the battery compartment one big one at the bottom center
and one on either side of the – &+ of the lowest battery, press against the center bottom one and one side clip, while keeping pressure on the center clip, un-clip the third. The cover pivots over the battery door retaining clip.

Also for the people complaining that they did away with the o-ring, It was moved closer to the circuit where it is needed most, unless you are in salt water or use Li-ion.
I think the water proofing is better than what is rated. You could always take the PCB out and spray it with a conformal coating and never have to worry about it again.

Ok now for my question; What is the maximum voltage that the Tikka Plus2 can handle?
I know it can handle at least 5.4v because lithium's are 1.8v ea.