I've only ever found myself hiking in the dark once so far. It was the final day of the Inca Trail and we started early, in hope of getting to Intipuncu (The Sun Gate) to watch as the sun's first rays hit Machu Picchu. Of course, as luck would have it, my headlamp battery had gone flat the night before.
Since I was part of a group, this only made things a little tricky, but it did make me think. As a result, I've never taken off on a solo hike without spare batteries since that day. With your average everyday headlamp, spare batteries have got you covered. Not much else can go wrong (unless it has a globe, in which case you'd also bring a spare globe). When gear gets any more technical than that, I start to question whether I should really be relying on it.
Enter the Petzl Nao Headlamp. Soon to be on the market and quite possibly the most complicated torch of any kind that I've ever heard of. The promo video below sells the Nao's features very well but just in case you can't watch it, I'll summarise...
The Nao is a headlamp that senses reflected light and adjusts the shape and power of its beam accordingly. This is not only incredibly useful for hiking or trail running, but it also helps to lengthen battery life, since it's only ever using as much power as necessary.
On top of all that, it has a built-in rechargeable battery that can be charged via USB, mains-power or a car's 12V outlet. While charging via USB you can even use Petzl's software to create custom activity profiles for the Nao, to tailor its settings for specific conditions. I would never have dreamed of a headlamp that does all this (possibly because I've never had the need for one).
As impressive as it is, I can't help but be brought back to what my Dad used to say when we got our first family-car that was equipped with power-windows... "Just another thing to break down and cost me money."
The Petzl Nao Headlamp is due for release in July and will be priced at US$175.
What do you think? Would you buy a headlamp with this much technology inside? If you have anything to say, please leave a comment below.
Are you interested in more from Bushwalking Blog? You can either sign-up for the e-mail newsletter, or get updates via the RSS feed, Facebook or Twitter.
I have been waiting for this feature for years. I can’t wait to try it
out. If you’ve ever tried to work in the dark while both hands are occupied you would be able to see how useful this could be.
Did anyone notice it also has 350 lumens? That is worth $175 by itself!
If you don’t want the advanced technology you can get a cheaper one but I would avoid those cheap chinese headlamps such as most of the black diamonds. Cheap price always means cheap quality with advanced electronics and it doesn’t pay off.
I’m saving up for it right now.
Thanks for your comments Gabriel
The other night I rummaged through my old box of bushwalking stuff and found my original round-body petzl head torch with the batteries in the back of the headband, mused for a bit about the old days and then grabbed my $30 el-cheapo led torch and used that instead.
Being a cynical man, I think this one is a case of petzl trying desperately to find a way to sell torches at their old $100+ price point. New features you didn’t even know you needed! I’m calling over-engineered on this one.
I’ve never actually gone walking in the dark, but I’m a big fan of not using a torch at all and making your way from the tent to the trees and back by moonlight. You’d be surprised how good your night vision can be if you don’t ruin it with the latest release from Petzl. The only time I use a torch when I’m camping is when there’s a chance I might have to sit on one of those bush dunny seats – nobody sane does that in the dark.
Thanks for the comments Brendan. Definitely agree on the over-engineered part!
I’ve done a reasonable amount of walking at night, up and down hills and around rocks and tree roots and so on for many hours at a time… which can be great to get an early start on a Friday night before a weekend trip. Maybe there’s something in it, but it’s hard to know without trying it out and seeing how it goes.
Presently I have a Black Diamond Icon (older model like the one at the top of this), which has a variety of spot and diffuse beams. Something I’ve found is that I don’t personally use a spotlight very much at all for walking at night, which is what the video seems to suggest this torch will do. (Maybe it can be configured?) If I shine the spotlight, I’d either look down at where I’m about to step and see a small bright circle with very dark shadow all sides, and trip… or I’d look straight ahead and see some distance ahead, but nothing where I’m going to put my feet, and trip. I nearly always leave the thing on a diffuse beam for focusing on the 5 to 10 metres in front of me, and very occasionally switch to a powerful spotlight (rarely less powerful) for short moments if I want to see what’s further away.
Battery power’s never been an issue for me with my particular head-torch and the way I use it, so for me at least I don’t think I’d find much benefit in power saving. Granted it uses 3 AA rechargeables (with backups handy just in case) so it’s not the most compact torch, and that leads to other annoyances. It’ll run for about 100 hours continuously on a full charge, maybe a third of that if it’s on full power the entire time. In context, though, for most trips I’ve done I could probably leave it switched on full all night, every night that I’m out, and it still wouldn’t run the batteries down…. it’s hard to know for sure though because I usually make sure they’re fully charged before setting out.
I guess if this torch is smart enough to get the configuration I want, it might be good, but I wouldn’t commit to saying that without seeing it in action. I think I’d rather prioritise getting a torch with a red light or very low light mode, so I can more easily read or get up at night without disturbing others.
Thanks for your comments Mike… I have a low light mode on mine and it is really handy!
It looks intriguing to say the least! Could it be over-engineered for its own good though? For the occasional walk where I’ve finished in the dark I can’t complain about my Petzl Tikka XP (sounds like an Indian dish). Sitting down at the computer to ‘fine tune brightness and burn time’ seems a bit over the top for my needs! I wouldn’t say no if I got one for Christmas, but I don’t think I know anyone who would fork out $150 plus on a headlamp for me though…
Hey Greg,
Yeah, I think my headlamp was about $45 and it does everything I need. While this technology is impressive, it seems a bit OTT. Maybe I’d think differently if I was a trail runner though.
Cheers
Neil