petzl nao first impressions

Thanks for posting your impressions. I'm looking forward to hearing more peoples experiences with this light!

Hi Serge,

How are you getting in with the Nao? I picked one up recently but have yet to use it in anger.

Cheers,

Stephen

I have a zipka, its a great great great light. I think the weight is right around 2.2 ounces with 3 batteries.

The Nao is 6.5 ouch, thats like 3 zipkas, but if the visibility is worth it I might have to check it out.

The Nao's abilities in the auto-dimming department seem pretty d*mn slick and rather awesome, I'll give it that.

Seriously though, when it comes to lights, I'm fairly certain along with any company's purchase of bulk LEDs comes the idea that you can charge an arm and a leg for your lights. I have a Tikka Plus 2, great light for $30, and suitable to what I've used it for while backpacking, but looking at the prices of some of the super high end Petzl lights gives me pause.

One of these days I'm going to finally getting around to giving a Gemini light a try. Sure it's not ultralight, at least for backpacking, but if you look at the specs, for the same 4+ hrs @350 lumens you get with the Nao, you get 9 hours for the Gemini Xera with the small battery pack (and twice that with the large). Not to mention as you're fleeing in terror cougars you can crank that baby up to 850 lumens and singe it's retinas out!

http://gemini-lights.com/products/xera

That said there's a lot going for the Nao with all the USB/AAA goodness. The Gemini would definitely be a heavier hack to be sure, albeit multi-purpose. Anyways, good to hear the Nao's dimming tech isn't total BS!

I was recently able to talk to a Petzl rep and field test the Nao. Needless to say I was very impressed. Comfortable fit and the auto-dimming works exactly as described. Auto-dimming can set to high or low modes, or disabled. For anyone who does a lot of mileage at night, this is pretty much *the* headlamp, although the Surefire Minimus gives it good competition.

I'm still getting along well with the nao. I mainly pack it if I think that I'll be doing significant night hiking or if I'm doing something that requires a lot of route finding and scrambling. In these two conditions, it more than earns its place in my pack at 6.5 oz. It adds confidence and safety. I also do a fair amount of night hiking/running in the foothills here in Boulder, and its great for that. I'd go through a lot of batteries this way in the past, so I like to think the high cost of the nao will even out since its rechargeable. I can descend down fairly technical terrain at a similar speed that I do in the day, which is about the most you could hope for in a headlamp. Its impressive that the nao has a brain, but besides that the beam feels just right. Its broader, more even and brighter than other headlamps I've used. It also sits really well on the head, stable without feeling too tight.

Two things I'm not crazy about. 1) I wish the battery lasted longer. From my experience, the light will last about 1-1.5 nights if you're not staring off into the distance too much. For most trips, that should be enough, but for certain types of trips (alpinism, endurofests), you might exhaust the battery right when you need it most, so backup AA's or an extra nao lithium might be prudent. I haven't tried enough lights or paid much attention to batt life to compare, but other lights certainly boast longer batt life in their specs.
2) The light is excellent for running, but its also a bit bulkier than I'm used to. On the head this is fine, but if you're leaving in the light and returning in the dark, its just nowhere near pocketable like a zipka is. This isn't a genuine complaint, since we're talking about the natural limitations of a more powerful headlamp like this, but its just one area where I'm not getting along with it so well: indecision at the trailhead with a zipka in one hand and a nao in the other. These are the sorts of 'challenges' that remind me why its good to be a minimalist.

Cheers Serge,

I got a very good discount on mine so that took the sting out of the price.

My one gripe is that trying to put AAA batteries in to the battery compartment is very awkward, I do see that spare Lithium batteries are sold for about 50$ but they come in the USB casing (which can be removed), It would be handy if you just buy the battery by it self.

I have been using Rechargebale Lithiums for a while and have a Led Lenser H7R which has rechargebale batteries.

I alway carry a really small (less than an 1oz) head torch for a round camp and to have light to change the batteries of my main unit if needs be.

I can think of two situation in the last year that the high output of the NAO would have been a major help with route finding on open mountains at night time (in Ireland)

Cheers,

Stephen

I just ordered 2 extra batteries and a remote belt kit for the Nao.