So has anyone bought or seen one of these? There were some cheaper torches that looked a bit like Tikkas at the recent German outdoors show, but have you seen any on sale in the UK?

There are a load of them or sale on ebay, I noticed yesterday.

They've been on sale on ebay for at least a few months. A guy I work with found a website selling them as well. They tend to have either four or five LEDs and a flashing option (!?). I've had a look at one and they look a bit cheap in comparison to a Petzl, but there's not much to a Tikka anyway. I think they sell for around 15 pounds. You can also get fake Zipkas.

I had heard about these about 6 months ago so I bought a Petzl Zipka copy from ultraleds.co.uk for £8.

It has 5 LEDs and is brighter than my Petzl version.

Out of the packet the Petzl feels more solid but when you add the batteries they feel quite robust.

The on/off switch is not as stiff as I would like so it is easy to switch it on by accident but you could just reverse a battery when it's in your rucsac.

They do have an option to flash on and off by pushing the on/off switch the opposite way to the normal on position.


On the back where the elastic comes out there is a small magnet which is more useful than you would think.

Over all I'm quite happy with it and for £8 not a major worry if I break it.

Cheers

Andy

Ultraleds was the same place my workmate got one from. Very cheap! The tiny key fob ones for £2.50 might appeal to the ultralight types - Jarl?

Erm..I think I bought a tikka lookylike from the classifieds section on this very site!
To be fair the guy did say it was LIKE a Tikka.
Its been pretty reliable so far and yes the flashing option is very useful indeed (but only for annoying your mother in laws cats).

Have just had a look at the ultraleds website; very interesting. I think this publicity may be about to backfire on Petzl.

Alison, erm, why???

www.ultraleds.com

I guess what Alison is saying is that Petzl has actually drawn attention to the existence of UltraLEDs and similar.

Because I've just ordered the ultraleds one. For £8 I'll take the risk on quality. I've alse ordered the ultraleds keyring light in case the head torch packs up in the middle of the Carnedds.

Just don't send it to the Petzl importers and ask them to fix it ;-)

i'd never erd of em but imagine mi suprize wen i typed it in and up flashed a pop up f personals,,,,got mi sen a new wife n a flashy lamp.
med up tha nos,

They do seem like a bargain, but I like the look of the new Tikka Plus with the directional beam...

Princeton tec do one. It isn't cheaper but is better. In my opinion anyway.

I'm sorry Petzl I was going to buy a new Tikka Plus at £30 but I have bought the Ultraled at £8. That leaves £22.00 I can spend in the pub on Friday night. Whay Hay !! Another Hungover walking day on Saturday but what the hell.

"Ultraleds was the same place my workmate got one from. Very cheap! The tiny key fob ones for £2.50 might appeal to the ultralight types - Jarl?"

I could never buy something that cheap, it's against my principles.. I've already bought the (real) Zipka Plus.

Buy a Princeton photon then Jarl.

Well, the Ultraled has now arrived, and it is certainly very small. The package fitted through the letterbox, so no complications over delivery.
On the down side, I can see that the battery casing is going to let water in, which could be a problem. Other reservations are about not being able to adjust the brightness or beam direction, and will it fit my various different helmets? Nevertheless, for the price I'm delighted. I am looking forward to putting it though its paces over the next year. At the end of the day, I still have my five Petzl Zooms to fall back on.