Petzl Ups Stakes In Lighting Arms Race
Massive light output in a compact package is the promise of the new Petzl Ultra series headtorches.
Posted: 4 August 2008
by Jon
Looks like Petzl is about to up the stakes in the
headtorch arms race with their new Ultra series which,
the company says, 'is designed for extreme activities requiring both
long distance and wide-angle lighting at the same time'.

In other words light and lots of it, in a lightweight package and
aimed at people who need to move fast after dark like runners,
adventure races, orienteers and so on.
We'll tell you more about the new headlamps - two of them, the
Ultra and Ultra Belt - in the near future, but what we do know is
that they use six high-powered LEDs to produce a maximum brightness
of 350 lumens, in a small, head-mounted package. The Ultra mounts the
battery on the headband, while the Ultra Belt has a remote battery
pack for extreme cold weather use and to reduce head-mounted
mass.
The torches have three regulated brightness levels, giving burn
times from the rechargeable battery of between almost 17 hours at the
lowest setting which still has a 40-metre range, through to just 90
minutes or so at the banzai 120-metre maximum level.
The Ultra weighs 345 grammes including battery, while the Ultra
Belt tips the scales at 495 grammes. Power comes from a neat little,
quickly detachable rechargeable battery pack complete with power
level indicator while light levels are adjusted with an easy to use
dial rather than sequential clicking.
Looks like it'll be seriously bright, but with a wide, useable
spread of light as well. More details soon, but you can also check
out the Ultra's own mini-site at en.petzl.com/ultra/
Discuss this story
|