Petzl E+Lite — a nice mini headlamp
A nice little headlamp arrived at WildSnow HQ a few days ago. I caught Louie trying to sneak out the door with it, but managed to snag the thing for a once-over.
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| This tiny lamp (quarter in photo for reference) runs on two CR2032 lithium batteries — pricy little buggers at around $5.00 each (though some reports indicate they can be had for as little as ninety cents). Thus, we’ll probably use this more as an emergency headlamp or for summer backpacking when it’s not producing photons for hours on end. That said, if you want to pay for the batteries or find some cheap ones, this thing is bright enough and versatile enough to use for just about anything.
Speaking of emergency use, the packaging claims a 10 year shelf life for the batteries — if that counts while they’re in the unit then here be an excellent rig for storage in a survival kit or some such. Getting on with the features, this has to be one of the easiest headamps to switch modes with I’ve ever seen. Instead of a non-intuitive button, it has an obvious lever with six settings: locked off; econo mode (45 hours); full bright (35 hours); white flashing; red flashing; red night vision saver. As well as a minimal headband, the light has a cool little clip that’ll attach it to a tent flap or hat brim. The E+ comes with a lightweight hardshell carrying case as well (.7 oz, 18 gr). The case is not water sealed but that’s a non issue since this headlamp is rated waterproof to a meter. Weight of the unit (no case) is 1 oz, 28 gr, which is not the lightest tiny lightsource you can get for inclusion in an emergency kit, but it is a heck of a lot more functional than some of those little dim LEDs that don’t even have a headband. |
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| E+ hard case is useful for packing in extreme situations such as an equipment cache or 4×4 toolbox, but at nearly one ounce it weighs too much for core light-packers. The black thing is a rubber o-ring used to secure the lid on the case.
In all, this is a cool mini that has definitely become part of my lamp arsenal. That is, if I can find it… there goes the kid, sneaking off with it. Whatever… thumbs up from WildSnow.com! |
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6 Responses to “Petzl E+Lite — a nice mini headlamp”
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“This tiny lamp (quarter in photo for reference) runs on two CR2032 lithium batteries — pricy little buggers at around $5.00 each.”
- When bought several at a time from various websites, price is around 90 cents each.
“Weight of the unit (no case) is 1 oz, 28 gr, which is not the lightest tiny lightsource you can get for inclusion in an emergency kit…”
- Ditch the headband and just clip it directly to a pack strap, which not only saves weight but also provides an immediately accessible light and nice backup to a regular headlamp in case you need to fiddle with your primary light source, etc.
Jonathan, I priced those here and there and kept coming up with around $5.00, sometimes a bit lower but that was without adding in postage. But .90!? Wow… If you say so, I’ll run with it and edit the post a bit… but share a link for those cheap batteries!
Princeton Tec sells a pack of 4 batteries for the Scout headlamp that are the same size as the two used in the E-lite for about 6.00. That is cheaper than 5.00 a piece. It still isn’t very cheap.
I’ve been using an E-Lite for about a year now. I’m pretty happy with it. I threw out the hard case some time ago, but the lamp itself has replaced my Ion. It’s easier to turn on and off, and it’s easier to read with.
I’m not a gram counter as much as an “efficiency / gram” counter and I’ve been very happy with the thing.
Of note, I’ve had two stolen so far. One was nabbed by my friend Tico –the fellow you met at OR with me– and the other by my climbing partner. So you might consider locking them down…
I just hiked the John Muir Trail – 220 miles in 15 days and never had to change the batteries!
This post gave us a major Brainstorm session of all the possibilities we can utilize on our blog.