Alpkit Gamma Headtorch - Quick Test

Alpkit Gamma Headtorch - Quick Look

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.

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.

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.

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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