Petzl Tikka RXP Headlamp

[kwhowell]

I was curious if anyone has had any experience with the Petzl Tikka RXP Headlamp or one of the similar Petzl models?

I ordered one from REI and after a bit of additional post-purchase-pre-delivery research realized that the battery life is extremely short compared to other headlamps on the market. I currently use the Black Diamond Storm and purchased the Petzl purely because the reactive lighting seemed like a must have for upcoming summer night hikes. However, I'm not sure if the purchase is worth it if the battery isn't going to last me the duration of an extended trip without having to be recharged.

The specs say that even on low the average life of the battery pack is 12.5 hours. This just doesn't seem right since so many other models are rated to last much much longer and are considerably less expensive. I'm thinking this is one of those things that varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, like pack dimensions, but even some of the other Petzl lamps have crazy long battery lives.

I also thought the limited battery life may be a result of the rechargeable pack that comes with the lamp. I have zero experience with rechargeable batteries and don't know if they drain faster or not?

Any words of wisdom, opinions, or experiences are much appreciated.

Thanks!

[toejam]

I have an old Tikka XP I've used climbing mountains for hours before dawn, so the light part of it is good, but not nearly as bright as a BD Storm. I don't trust anything rechargeable on backpacking trips. I replace the batteries in my XP about every 8 months - 1 year and never carry spares. So the 12.5 hr battery life would add stress I don't currently deal with.

[Aaron Zagrodnick]

I've used the Tikka XP2, but that looks pretty antiquated compared to the RXP. I've actually had my eye on it - Have you tried to program the light using the OS Petzl software to possibly extend the runtime by chance?

http://www.petzl.com/en/Sport/PERFORMANCE-headlamps/OS-by-Petzl?l=US#.VRxlOfnF9c8

I like rechargeable lights since I can top them off before each trip and am currently using the Zebralight H52w with a rechargeable Eneloop AA battery, (can easily throw in spares if needed, but that's usually just for insurance) but if the RXP's runtime isn't long enough to last a trip it looks like they offer the battery packs as spares and a holder for AAA batteries as well.

Spare: http://www.backcountry.com/petzl-accu-tikka-r-rechargeable-lithium-battery

AAA Holder: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWZOVYK/

However according to Petzl you only get 40% of the light output and only constant lighting using the AAA holder. Other than that, maybe some type of portable recharger or battery pack might be something to check out if you have other items you might need to recharge as well. Besides the runtime at this point how do you like the reactive lighting? What's the beam tint like? I've always found lights with a warmer or neutral tint to be more useful on the trail.