Outdoor Solutions from Petzl and Victorinox
The Petzl Corporation has a niche- providing gear for the ultimate adventurers and leaders in everything from mountaineering to caving. Petzl himself invented the first headlamp, but they haven’t stopped there, and offer a pretty broad range of products. Exhibit A: our latest night-hike and camping pal is the Petzl Tikka Plus 2 Headlamp.
We must point out first that even if you aren’t an arctic explorer, this headlamp comes in handy in multiple situations that you might not first consider. Hiking and camping, of course, but what about keeping in the glove box of your car for emergencies or just plain old reading in the evenings?
We felt the construction of the Tikka Plus 2 lent itself to our various interests, as it weighed almost nothing and felt sturdy and durable. The headband is adjustable and it integrates 2 lights: one high-output white LED and one red LED.
Though three AAA batteries are included, though we would recommend using lithium batteries if you plan on using the device in cold weather temperatures. The light beam was definitely easy to aim and offers a choice of 5 different lighting modes- plenty of options. Three of the modes were for white light; maximum, economic and flashing. The red light had the other two modes of continuous or strobe. The white LED delivers 50 lumens in maximum mode and beams up to 35 meters (be careful that you don’t blind your hiking or camping partners).
In economic mode, it can reach a burn-time of 140 hours which was more than ample for our camping trip. We preferred to use the red light quite a bit as it was not quite as blinding as the white light so therefore it worked wonders in not disturbing others (nor disturbing our own night vision). When nature calls an everyone else is asleep, it’s polite to avoid shining a super-bright lamp in their eyes.
We liked the battery charge indicator, which alerts us when there is only 50% burn-time remaining. The ADAPT system is also compatible with this model and lets you detach the headlamp from the headband and attach easily to a backpack or helmet. You can purchase online from Amazon in 2 colors, each of which is unisex, for $35-$40. The ADAPT system is sold separately and can also be purchased from Amazon for $20.
If you are looking for some added protection on your camping trip, we urge you to consider the Victorinox Pioneer Pocketknife& which is truly a handy tool in the outdoors (as well as the indoors). It not only is a can opener but a small screwdriver, bottle opener, and wire stripper- though no corkscrew, unfortunately. It also doubles as a key ring of course. Nothing says durability like the constructed handles out of black anodized alox a.k.a. aluminum alloy. We found it to be just a bit too small, but it is lightweight and can easily fit into even the smallest pocket.
We were able to purchase from Victorinox for around $37.
