good concept, poor result

By Scott in NYC Ranked #145 - Headlamps May 9, 2003

I am a caver, so abusing lights comes with the territory. Most people will just use lights in optimal conditions for short periods of time. But mine was my most expensive light purchase at the time, and I wanted a better light than the Zoom. I like the halogen long distance beam as well as the low setting for saving batteries. But I also abuse it - bang it on cave walls, drag the helmet across gravel in passages too tight to wear a helmet, completely submerge it in water passages. In these cases, the thing failed and I utterly had to disregard it. This happened after only 4 months. It is only water resistant, a failure of ALL Petzl headlamp products (from a caver's perspective). The switch went out and when I opened it up to clean it was not easy to fix and I damaged it further. It's not made to open. Now they have LED upgrades for it and I think the light has a function - just not hardcore caving. However, it is being rendered outdated by newer LED technologies. I now use a $300 26-LED light, so would never go back to a Duo. For milder needs, go with a 3 LED light, maybe even the new Myos.

View Details: Petzl Duo Headlamp - With Standard and Halogen Bulbs

Helpful Votes: 0 Yes | 0 No