Petzl® Tikka Plus 2

While it is a good lamp, there might be better alternatives such as the Black Diamond Byte, or even an Energizer lamp. In fact, Outside Magazine's "Gear of the Year" did not even mention Petzl in their headlamp lineup at all.

Still, the two times I have used this it has served me well. I have used it for both camping in the Rockies and early morning fishing in Tennessee. The four different light modes are nice, but in pitch dark I generally keep it on the brightest setting. For night fishing, I used the red "night" light to be able to see and not scare the fish away. This worked well--I caught several fish.

The light housing seemed to resist water well while tromping through the rain from my tent to the latrine in Colorado. However, cold air killed my batteries fast. This isn't so much a fault of the lamp as it was my batteries. My biggest gripe is the "low battery indicator", that essentially warned me the batteries were low right before they stopped working altogether. Not very useful.

The Tikka Plus 2 is a good lamp and serves its purpose well. But, there might be better, cheaper alternatives on the market that outshine this popular item.

Pros: Lightweight and bright.

Cons: Heavy with regular AAA batteries. Beam is very focused to one point. Low battery indicator didn't give much warning.

Price Paid: $30 USD (Normally $40)