Product Description

A version of the Tikka Plus...this ultra-lightweight 4-LED headlamp features a red filter for discrete light and night vision preservation, 3 brightness settings (maximum, optimum, economic) and a blinking mode. It sports battery life of up to to 150 hours on regular settings (up to 400 hours on blinking mode). It's water resistant and comfortable to wear. Red filter for discrete light and preservation of user's night vision. 3 lighting levels (maximum, optimum, economic) and strobe mode, to adapt the light to the activity and at and light duration needs. Adjustable elastic headband for comfort and to secure it in place. Light beam can be easily aimed where desired. Water resistant for all-weather use. Batteries included (3AAA).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #157 in Home Improvement
• Size: One Size
• Color: Black
• Brand: Petzl
• Model: E49P
• Number of items: 1

Features

• LED headlamp with adjustable headband
• Designed for early morning fishing, but also suitable for hiking, climbing, camping
• Three lighting levels and pull-down red filter
• Includes 3 AAA batteries
• 3-year guarantee

Amazon.com Product Review
While this headlamp is designed specifically for night fishing, it could just as easily be used for other purposes, such as night hiking, camping, climbing, or even hunting.

The TacTikka Plus is lightweight (78 g with batteries) and comfortable to wear, which is a good thing, since you're likely to be using it over longer stretches of time. Another great feature of the LED bulbs is that they are much more impact-resistant than incandescents: you're really going to have to smack it hard against something before you lose your illumination. Plus, LEDs are extremely energy-efficient. According to the manufacturer, you'll get functional illumination up to 150 hours on the included batteries, depending on which light levels you operate at.

The TacTikka Plus has three intensity settings, allowing you to customize your lighting to match your needs. The optimum setting illuminates to 23 meters (note that the range will decline slightly over time as you run your batteries down). If you need more vision, you can switch to the maximum setting; if you need to look at a map, use the economic setting. Hunters and fishing enthusiasts will appreciate the pull-down red filter, which renders the light invisible to most game. It even has an emergency strobe if things get ugly.

Overall a handy, well-designed product.--Josh Dettweiler

What's in the Box
Lamp with pull-down red filter, elastic straps, three AAA batteries

Customer Reviews

Even Better Than Before
A few years ago I thought to get one of these for hikes, night photography, and simply having a lightweight flashlight in my camera bag or for when the power goes out. I read up on them, found Petzl to be the best, and yet the complaints were that the Petzl model at the time had only one brightness setting, didn't tilt, wasn't water resistant, and had no red filter. A year later Petzl came out with this model, and everything had been fixed to perfection.

Needless to say, I got one and loved it. For those new to LED headlamps, what's great about them is they leave your hands free and you never have to think about aiming the light. If the power's out, and you're tying your shoes and then looking under a cupboard and carrying out blankets, the light is always right where you need it.

Also, for walking at night, a flashlight will light up just a pizza-size spot in the middle of the road, but this headlamp casts a wide swath of light completely across a small road, so you don't have to scan for fallen limbs or porcupines - everything is lit up evenly and it's much easier finding your way about.

The only downside to having the lamp right over your eyes is when it's foggy or snowing, since it lights up everything right in front of your face. But simply take it in hand, as a very light flashlight, or attach it to your belt, and all is well again. In fact, it works so that you can press the button in for when you want to check something, and then let it go and it'll go off. Much better than clicking through the four brightness settings time and again.

So I loved using this headlamp, and then I accidentally dropped it in salt water when kayaking. Not recommended. The directions actually say you can wash it out with fresh water and dry it, but I didn't get to it for a couple of days, and it had of course corroded.

Well, I had to order a new one, and what do you know - it came with a little sticker on it that says, "New LED Technology, +80%." What was this about?

I dug out the specs, and sure enough, they boosted the reach from 17m (at Maximum brightness) to 32m. And not only that, but they extended the battery life at Maximum from 80 to 100 hrs. In short, the Maximum setting on my old one is now the Economical setting and lasts twice as long. You can really see the difference - the Maximum setting lights up a yard and the red filter is now bright enough to hike by, when before it was best for reading or up-close work.

Way to go, Petzl.

Is it Good for Runners?
I've only had a chance to use the Tactikka Plus on one 6 mile run. So far I like it very much. It's very lightweight, comfortable and stays in place. Some of the roads I run on are very well lit while others are almost completely dark. I wanted a light that was bright enough for me to see in the dark places even after my eyes had adjusted to the street-lit areas. The packaging for mine did not have the "80% Brighter" sticker that I have seen on similar new Petzl equipment so I wondered if it was going to work well for me. It did. Even at the low setting it was bright enough for me to see potholes and dips in the road. The light covers a wide area and reaches far enough in front that I don't "outrun" it. The switch is easy to use. The adjustable angle housing is essential for dialing in exactly where you want the light pointed without having to hold your head at a weird angle.

The headband does soak up sweat and it did take a few hours to dry out. I don't know if anything can be done to improve this.

Overall, I would recommend it to others. I would also check out the Princeton Tec Quad. It looks to be nearly identical but it is cheaper. It trades the flip up red lens on the Petzl for a waterproof housing.

*** UPDATE ***
I've now had this headlamp for 5 months and use it many times per week. Everything I liked about it initially I still like. For no apparent reason the lamp now will not turn off. Instead it goes into an ultra dim mode that you may not notice at first but continues to drain the batteries. I have not dropped or physically damaged the light. I've tried new batteries twice. Then I sent the lamp back to Petzl at my expense for their review. Customer service was excellent and prompt. They sent me a new lamp but unfortunately it is a Tactikka instead of a Tactikka Plus which means it only turns on or off. This is a shame because I use the lamp almost exclusively in the low setting.

While my old lamp was being evaluated I used a Princton Tec Fuel. Unfortunately for Petzl even though this lamp has only three LED's it is an improvement over my Tactikka plus in every way except comfort. It is only slightly less comfortable to wear and the flood pattern is better (it has more of a spotlight in the center with a wider flood light on the sides). I ended up never using the red flip up filter on the Tactikka Plus because I wanted to make sure oncoming traffic could see me easily. I'll be using the Fuel instead of the Tacktikka now.

Exceeded my expectations
I bought this headlight to use on a 11 day yacht delivery ocean sail. I used it to get around the cabin at night when others were sleeping and I had to get up for my watch or was returning from my watch. I also used it on deck at night to shine on the sails, etc.
I found the Petzl to be very durable. Over the course of the 11 days it got sprayed and soaked with salt water regularly and it constantly got banged around when I was moving about in the cabin. It withstood the abuse without any problems and it was clearly the best headlamp among the ones used by my crewmates.
The redlight filter was crucial and very easy to use and the white light was strong enough to go pretty far when used on deck. The different levels of light intensity also came in very handy when trying to do something below deck without waking up everybody else which required only minimal visibility.