Petzl gave me this headlamp It’s a Petzl e+lite. A lot of thru-hikers only carry this headlamp, I like lots of light to night hike with it but it could replace my Photon as my spare light. At .9 ounces(27 grams) batteries included, it’s heavier than a .25 ounce Photon but it packs a lot more features, power, and light:
- It has a strap so you can wear it on your head which is nicer then holding it between your teeth while your drool soaks the light. You can also wear it around your neck so it’s handy.
- It has a clip so you can clip it to your belt or anything else you want.
- It’s waterproof which is a very important feature. My Photon would get wet from rain, sweat, slobber when I held it between my teeth, and sometimes I would accidentally jump in the shower with it on. Once it would get wet, the water makes a connection and the light stays on until it dries out. Usually by then the battery would be dead.
- It’s easy to change the batteries. You can open the battery compartment with a coin. On the Photon you need to find a little tiny screw driver and unscrew three teeny screws.
- It tilts so you can direct the light where you want it.
- It has five different settings:
- Three white LEDs on High
- Three white LEDs on low
- Three white LEDs blinking
- One red LED — really nice if you are trying to read a star chart and don’t want to ruin your night vision, also when you are kayaking at night you are sometimes required to have a red light.
- One red LED blinking.
- It uses two lithium watch batteries that have a reported storage life of 10 years. It says the batteries will last 45 hours, on the low and 35 hours on high.
- It comes with a 10 year guarantee.
For night hikers I would suggest only using this as a backup light and carry a 1 watt LED head lamp for hiking at night.
I hiked with a guy for awhile (until he got sick and I left him to die in the desert alone), who only hiked with this headlight. He loved it–it is a nice little light– but I don’t think he did much night hiking once we parted ways. He commented that he was experiencing some light envy in regards to my 1 watt LED Black Diamond Spot.
Note: The band had “petzl” written 7 times in white lettering on it, so I took a black Sharpie and drew over it. I think it looks better this way. I also think it would look better without the logo on the light–I hate logos on my gear–maybe I’ll get a red sharpie. It comes with a case to loop it on to your belt–I don’t think a person needs a case for their flashlight.
Oh, and that man I abandoned in the desert to die…. he lived and finished the hike. I’m glad I didn’t shoot him.
