Alpkit Gamma Headtorch - Quick
Look
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Price: £12.50
including postange and packing
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Weight: 110 grammes (including 3 AAA
batteries)
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Features:
Multifuncitional LED hadtorch with three 5mm LEDs plus one 1W
LED plus red backlight LED, uses 3 AAA batteries (Duracell
supplied), red and green light options for night vision,
picotable head-unit, adjustable elasticated headband, strobe
mode on all lights plus instand switch off in all modes,
water resistant.
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What's It For?
Well, unlike Alpkit's original Indigo headtorch which was best
saved for campsite and pub voyage purposes, the Gamma is much more of
an all-rounder designed for both close-up casual use and walking /
climbing thanks to a powerful 1-watt main LED spot which should
provide enough light for route finding and even careful night time
running use.
The Techy Bits
Powered by 3 AAA cells - Duracell ones come with the torch - the
Gamma has three smaller 5mm LEDs, which operate individually, one
red, one white and, erm, one green for close-up use and the big fat
central 1-watt spot.
They're all operated from the central orange switch which allows
you to switch them on and off and cycle through the various modes. In
addition there's a separate red LED strip on the back of the battery
box which is operated with its own switch.
That's it really, except to say that LED technology has really
advanced quickly recently giving far more light from LED bulbs than
previously.
How It Performs
One word, BRIGHT! We've also been using the latest Petzl Myo XP
and we were expecting the Gamma to be the poor country cousin next to
the suave French illuminations aristocrat, but not a bit of it.
For brute light output the Petzl does top the Gamma, particularly
once you engage boost mode, but for most of the time there's nothing
much in it - we'd guesstimate a range of around 50 metres or so. In
other words, the Gamma is bright enough for pretty much any walking
or climbing application and also just about up to running over easy
terrain at night too.
The bright 1-watt main beam is only half the story though, hold
the control button down for two seconds and you go into individual
LED mode with a choice of white, red or green beams. The latter are
for burgeoning ninjas and special forces operatives who need to
maintain their carrot-boosted night vision occasionally.
For the rest of us, the smaller LEDs are still suprisingly bright
and more than adequate for cooking and vegging around camp while
saving power and even, with fresh batteriess up to walking use with a
nice, wide pool of light going out to around 15 metres. Finally on
the light front, there's a genius touch with a red LED on the back of
the battery box which is brilliant for running or biking at night, or
just that stroll back to the tent from the pub along country
lanes.
What else? The torch is nice and comfy on your head thanks to a
foam pad on the battery box - Silva take note - and adjustable
elastic headband which will also fit a climbing helmet. The light
unit pivots so you can adjust the angle of illumination to suit and
the two light buttons are easy to use, as is the o-ring sealed
battery box - the torch is water resistant, so wet weather use should be fine too.
We can't comment on battery life yet, we'd expect the Gamma to
have a shorter burn time than something like a Myo with its higher
capacity AA batteries, but that obviously depends on how you use it.
And of course a spare set of AAAs is nice and light.
It's not quite perfect. It would be nice in 5mm LED mode if the
red and green lights came on before the white one in order to
preserve night vision - apparently that's down to a production error. Finally, in really cold weather, the headband
mounted batteries are going to suffer power loss as they cool down
and the internal reactions slow, but that's really being picky.
Both the mates we've shown the Gamma to have gone out and
bought one, which says it all really. For the price it's an
incredible bit of kit that so far has done the job both around camp
and out on the hill - lt's light, comfortable and easy to use and
very bright on its full main beam setting.
Finally the battery box LED is a stroke of genius and really
reassuring if you're ambling down some narrow country lane on the way
back from the pub. And all for £12.50. Great all-round headtorch
at a killer price.
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Bright, light, versatile, comfortable and very
affordable.
Different light
sequence would be more night vision friendly.
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Know more or want to?
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product check out our user review system and post your opinions to
the world. If you have questions you can mail
us direct, ask
Richard Gear or try a posting to our
gear
forum.
David Francis
