Princeton Tec Vizz Headlamp

DO NOT BELIEVE THE SPECS! The packaging and the insert have major differences in both distance of illumination and in battery life. Neither is correct but this is still a good headlamp. Please read on...I have a few Princeton Tec EOS headlamps from 2006 and 2008. Their spec was only 50 lumens. My new Vizz says 420 lumens. Oddly enough, the highest beam from each is the SAME BRIGHTNESS. But the EOS is less then half the diameter... so it will illuminate things at the same distance but you can't see as much. PT has fallen into the trap of "fake specs", since the two beams are demonstrably the same brightness but the distance spec somehow magically increased from 55 to 79 meters. Don't expect to see something that far away, but do expect someone that far away can see your light shining at them.Still, it gets 4 stars for a really smooth beam with few artifacts and good color. I'm going to continue using my EOS for backpacking where battery life really matters. Please keep reading...BATTERY LIFE: A TOTALLY FAKE SPEC! The Vizz supposedly lasts longer on the highest power setting (as per the product description). That's nonsense. See my pic: They say it lasts 136 hr on high spot, 108 hr on low spot. Nope. High beam wears out the battery sooner than low beam. They should be embarrassed to publish that, but they're just trying to compete with all the other fake specs out there. "Moonlight brightness" is not the "end of life" for a headlamp battery. How about when it's half the original brightness? No spec on that.BRIGHTNESS: With the same spot-on-the-wall brightness as the EOS, and twice the diameter spot (4 times the beam area) the battery life on the Vizz would not allow using the high beam for cross-country travel. My EOS had a spec of 2 hours regulated high beam, after which it dimmed slowly for the next 4 hours. That regulation is important to me, after watching my friends' headlamps dim slowly from the moment they are turned on. This Vizz (the higher output model), on high spot beam, dimmed slightly (using my old EOS beam as a reference) within 5 minutes. Still almost as bright, but no longer the same as the EOS. After 45 minutes my judgement was that the Vizz beam was half as bright as the fresh EOS beam. 2 hours later the Vizz was almost as dim as the LOWEST setting on my old EOS. That's not regulated! Not even for a little while. The EOS would have kept its full brightness beam that whole time, so except for the first few minutes my old 50 lumen headlamp is BRIGHTER than my new 420 lumen headlamp (but with a far tighter beam). AAAs are not enough battery for the bulb in the high-output Vizz. You want this much light, at least for any significant period of time, you better get a rear-strap-mounted battery pack and take some spares.BUTTONS: Lots of reviews complain about the Vizz buttons. They work almost like my old EOS, and not the way some have complained about. Quick pushes cycle through red/white/spot beams and then it turns off. No flashing strobe. If you stop the quick pushes (as in two pushes to get the white flood beam) and then WAIT A SECOND another quick push will turn it off. Just like the old ones. While it's on, holding the button ramps the brightness up and down (not in discrete increments, just fades back and forth) with a brief no-light pause to let you know you've reached the max or min brightness. Works for me.EOS hack: I cut down the ridges between the batteries and got a Canon NB-5L battery to fit in the EOS compartment. Longer life than standard AAA, the regulator keeps the light output the same, and I could share batteries with my camera. Vizz batteries are not lined up and there's a heat sink in the compartment which means I won't be doing this to my new headlamp.

I love these Made in the USA headlamps. Uses up the batteries pretty quickly. As far as I know these are the only headlamps that are made in the USA. They are very bright, they work as advertised, they are durable, (I have 2 different types). The headband is comfortable and easy to adjust. Battery access is convenient and EZ to replace. This is good because they burn through batteries pretty quickly. Take extra batteries with you if you are going to need to rely on these for light as a sole source in the dark. I would recommend taking twice as many as you think you need.

Head lamp seems good so far. I have not used it long term but initial impressions are good, I wish the red light mode was a little brighter, though most head lamps with red light mode are dimmer than this one. There is no memory on your last used brightness setting in each mode, every time you scroll though the modes it defaults to the brightest. Just two things to take note of. No star deduction there. Here is my biggest gripe with it:The description of this headlamp gives no mention of the fact that if you buy it in one of the semi-transparent colored plastics the entire colored plastic housing illuminates slightly when using any light mode. This is great for people seeing you from the side and even from the front for that matter if your headlight is not pointing at there eyes.The problem is (with the semi-transparent plastic housings ONLY), when its truly dark and your only light is the headlamp, it shines light down onto your face which makes it much harder to see. Its almost like someone has a dim light shining just below your eyes and its reflecting off of your face into your eyes. While you try to look out at the light you are projecting. A lot of eye strain and VERY annoying.Just to check I put a black piece of electrical tape blocking off the bottom half of the front plastic case, and sure enough it was a big difference and much easier on the eyes with no glare coming back on your face and eyes. I had to return the semi transparent orange plastic version for this reason, it was unbearable, and go with the black (which light does NOT go though and glow) The difference was immediate and positive. Although it looks cool and acts like a glowing beacon, the semi-transparent plastic is very annoying to actually use at night.This may sound like a negative review but I really do like my black-non glowing housing headlamp! Pushing the button is firm but thats a good thing so its not overly sensitive. Build quality looks good, very comfortable and light. Easy to change batteries, the screw to open the housing is now captured so you cannot lose it. It has ribs on it for your fingers but also a regular screwdriver slot if needed. Head band is comfortable and easy to adjust. Takes alkaline/lithium and rechargeable batteries-very versatile.I would recommend just buy in solid colors I think only available in tan and black. 1 star removed only because of that glowing housing annoyance!

I am having trouble finding the right headlamp. I would like one that is water tight, light, is bright enough for trail running at night and has a red LED. I also want a headlamp with a regulated output. Many headlamps (like Black Diamond) are unregulated and grossly exaggerate their burn times. A BD headlamp I want to replace advertises 200 hour burn time on high but for me lasts about 3.5 hours on high with significant dimming. Apparently these headlamps will continue to produce a very dim light for many more hours on their high setting though this isn't really useful to me. Also, both my Black Diamond and a Petzl have flooded and failed when I used them during heavy rain. This Princeton Tec is more water tight which I like a lot. However the headlamp is a little heavy and flops slightly while running. The bright LED is regulated which I also like but only seems to work on one setting, high. The two smaller leds are dim-able but don't have a good pattern for seeing things at a distance. I would prefer having one bright LED with multiple regulated settings. This headlamp also has a red led which is useful at night when you don't want to blind other people or affect your night vision. Overall this is an okay light for many uses but could definitely be improved.

I bought this lamp to match the one we had bought for my wife. It is much brighter than any other light we have used and only uses 3 batteries, I will buy this again as I have no found one brighter

Excellent head torch. Red light is very bright.