Out very soon, the very expensive Ultra plus an upgraded version of the Myo XP...
We're just back from the KORS 2008 outdoors trade show in Kendal,
where Petzl were showing off not just one, but two new head
torches that'll be hitting the shops soon, very soon in the case
of the new Myo RXP and quite soon in the case of the
Ultra.
Petzl Myo RXP
If the white-cased Myo RXP looks familiar, that's because it's the
latest development of the Myo XP headtorch. Earlier this year Petzl
upgraded the LED in the standard XP to give more power and better
battery lifem but the new torch moves things on again.
The 'R' stands for regulated and that means that the clever
electricky bits inside automatically keep the power to the LED
constant over the life span of the battery. That means constant
brightness rather than a light that starts bright, then gets steadily
dimmer as the battery fades.
That's just the start though - because it's regulated, the RXP can
use lithium batteries which give a longer life but also perform far
better in cold conditions, making it a better bet for serious chill
factor outings.
There's more as well. The RXP is programmable, so you can
choose three of eight different brightness settings to cycle through
plus a flash mode, which is also variable - you can set an 'SOS' code
pattern for example, which is kind of neat.
It's also brighter than a standard XP. Some 140 lumens compared to
85 lumens says Petzl, and 160 lumens when boost is used. Bear in mind
though that at the two highest settings, the battery output is no
longer regulated, so you might want to go easy with them unless
you're carrying spare batteries...
Definitely looks interesting and at £75 compared to
£60 for a standard Petzl Myo XP, you're not paying that
much extra for the additional bang.
Petzl Ultra
Also along to an outdoors shop near you soon is the new Petzl
Ultra. Okay, sit down and take a deep breath - the Ultra is going
to retail for a cool £260.
That's an awful lot for a headtorch, even one with a huge head,
but then it's fair to say that it's an awful lot of headtorch.
Starting with the output from the six LEDs, there are three settings
- 43 lumens, 175 lumens and a paint-blistering 350 lumens.
That's very, very bright. As we just mentioned, a standard and
respectably bright Myo XP tops out at around 85 lumens. Adjustment is
made with an easy to use wheel switch with a lock out to avoid
accidental ignition.
Then there's the battery. You get a choice of two sizes and it
uses rechargeable lithium ion technology, for better power to weight
ratios and added convenience. It's all modular too, so you can
increase the length of the power cable for head or belt-mounted use.
To put things in perspective, the battery pack is the equivalent of a
dozen alkaline AAs and even though it's expensive, can be charged and
discharged hundreds of times.
Even at maximum output, you still get two hours of burn time, but
for most normal use, the lower settings should be more than bright
enough.
Just how bright is it? Very, very bright would be our verdict from
a quick indoor try, but we should have one to unleash for real world
testing quite soon. What's it for? Night-running and orienteering,
we'd say, mountain rescue and, once a better bracket becomes
available, nocturnal cycling as well.
It is very expensive and we know that for not that much more, you
can buy a four-LED bike light kicking out a colossal 960 lumens, then
again that's not head mountable in standard form.
More when we have an Ultra to play around with in the near
future.
More Information
More details at www.petzl.com
