Cheap Petzl E44 PT Zipka 3-LED Headlamp, Traditional Review
What a wonderful headlamp! I used it for a long distance hike in 2006 for occasional night hiking, setting up camp and cooking after dark, reading in my tent and answering nature's call, at least an hour and a half every night, on average. I saw a lot of other lights on that trip, both cheapies from discount stores to other expensive brands like Princeton, as well as different types such as clip-ons, headlamps, and mini and regular hand-helds. It always compared favorably in quality and usefulness. You can buy a cheap light but it won't function as well on any point covered in this review.
The other day, I pulled it out because there was a leak under my kitchen sink and instead of putting it back in storage with my hiking equipment I left it out because it's so handy. I was putting it in a drawer today and decided to write a review of it and was not surprised to see that it has mostly 5 stars.
It's a very bright light and has a good focus length and light pattern but it has lower brightness settings which are useful for in the middle of the night when you don't want a bright light or if there is a bright moon or to conserve the batteries. You don't have to use it as a headlamp, it works fine held in the hand or set down to aim light in a particular direction, but if you have never used a headlamp you will wonder how you ever got along without one. The retractable cord works very well and makes it fast and easy to put on and off and the "button" on the back and the spongy foam do a good job holding it in place.
The on-off switch is rubbery making it easy to use when wearing gloves or when your fingers are cold or wet. It doesn't come on accidentally and run your batteries down. When I bought it I thought cycling through all the settings to turn it off would be a pain but the first click puts it on the brightest setting and when you go to turn it off later it is smart enough to click directly off, you don't have to go through all the settings! (How do it know?)
Something else I like about it for long-distance hiking is that you don't have to carry extra batteries because the light will dim slowly over time giving you fair warning to replace them, saving a bit of weight. They last a long time but I never really kept track. It's a little difficult to insert the batteries and replace the cover but on the other hand when dropped it doesn't open up accidentally. One odd thing about the batteries is that it uses three whereas they usually come in packs of even numbers.
It may be that there have been advances in LED technology since 2006 but my little lamp still works just great and I see no need to replace it at this time. I have used it approximately 200 nights and found it to be effective, comfortable, durable, sufficiently water resistant in rain, reliable, compact and lightweight. It's even attractive-looking. It feels nice in the hand or on the head and overall is just a very nice headlamp.
