Petzl Tikka Plus Headlamp Review
Review by Dan James
- Product:
- Petzl Tikka PLus (company site)
- What's Good:
- Battery Life, Multiple Settings, Adjustable Angle, Weight
- What's Bad:
- Not as bright as newer high power LEDs
I bought my Tikka Plus Headlamp back in 2004, since then it has been my sole headlamp for camping and backpacking trips. The headlamp is considered by most to be in the lightweight category. While I haven’t owned a plethora of headlamps it certainly is much lighter than my old monster black diamond halogen.
The Tikka Plus has become somewhat of cult favourite amongst hikers and backpackers, and rightfully so. The Tikka Plus, with its four LEDs, is much brighter than its predecessors. Illuminating LEDs also requires less power so instead of the usual three AA batteries the Tikka Plus gets by with three AAA batteries. With only three light AAA batteries of weight to hold up the Tikka Plus puts everything out in front. With a simple headband to hold it up the Tikka Plus houses the LEDs, batteries, and control all in one small unit that fits snugly on your forehead.
The Tikka Plus has one button. The button is located on the top front of the unit and is recessed so that it won’t accidentally turn on while riding in your pack. The button has some brains in it: press once for the brightest setting, press twice for medium, press three times for low, and press four times for flashing. To get to medium, low, and flashing you need to press the button immediately the correct amount of times. After a while the button resets and the next press will turn it off. This is handy as you’ll probably use the brightest setting the most often and cycling through the other three settings to turn the light off would be annoying.
On bright, and with a fresh set of batteries, the headlamp will last for 100 hours. According to Petzl’s website this will start with 32 meters range and gradually, as your batteries die, gets shorter. The Tikka Plus is also water resistant. I can attest to this. I’ve worn mine through torrential downpours and have had no issues whatsoever with functionality.
Overall the Tikka Plus is a great headlamp that you will be happy with. Recently Petzl release the Tikka XP which is slightly smaller, waterproof up to one meter, and has a handy boost mode that gives you 20 seconds of very powerful light. For ten extra dollars this may very well be worth it.