Princeton Tec  Byte Headlamp

I bought one of these a year ago, mainly because of its light weight. I used it on a 10 day trip in the High Sierras where it provided everything I needed - minimal light for camping but available for an emergency. My biggest beef with it that it drains batteries when it is sitting unused. During a 2 or 3 week trip I do not want to find that the batteries are dead and I do not want to have to open and close the battery door whenever I use it or finish using it. I need something that I can pick up and use when I need it.

l used this while riding my kick scooter at night. The 1st time l used it, l noticed immediately that it flashed on and off with the vibrations of the road; it also became dimmer as the ride progressed (i.e. the high setting did not produce more light than the low setting. When l stopped and turned it on and off, the high setting worked again.) On the 3rd day, it will not turn on. While the product was strapped to the bars on the scooter, it was not being knocked around, only bouncing up and down with the road. The performance on the first night leads me to conclude that the product does not handle vibrations at all.

I took this headlamp on two extended trips in the boundery waters of Minnesota. Each time I. Had friends who had headlamps made By black diamond and petzl that were twice as expensive but underperformed in comparison. Though only 50 lumens this had the longest visibility. On the other trip since it was longer most of our headlamps got wet. Most of the headlamps that people had stopped working towards the end of the trip due to water damage, most of them were Also more expensive. Mine was submerged multiple times but still worked when I needed it. This is the best headlamp you can buy for the price.

It is light weight and the plastic is tough. I bought this light last year from another store to go in my ultralight hiking bag. I really like the red light option and was one of the main reasons I bought it, that and it's size and weight. It is a great design but it kills my batteries when not in use (turned off). I store it in my wife's craft room (climate controlled) in case I need to work in a tight spot with little or not light around the house. I started using rechargeable batteries with it after I kept going through regular batteries. I finally gave up and started using my old Duracell headlight. I've lost confidence in the light because of the constant battery drain and will not take it hiking. All the great features are useless if it's dead all the time.

The light is easy to use. No heavy and resonable comfortable to ware. My issue with this light is every time I went to use the light the batteries where dead. I discovered the light draws 0.55mA of current even when the light is off. This is unexceptable in my opinion. Therefore you will need to pull the batteries out when not in use. Also I would add that I don't think the light is bright enough to use while hiking. However, it works good for In-camp use and slow moving around. I mostly use this light around the house.

Currently deployed and it's been an incredibly cost efficient lamp for when I need it. I greatly enjoy the red light option as it barely, if at all, affects my vision once it's off. Personally, unless you need to see more than 10-15 feet ahead of you, this won't do you wrong. I see others have commented about the battery life but it says in the specs that it uses 2xAAA's. AAA's don't have great battery life so know what you're getting into. If you need something for constant, hours long use, buy something with bigger batteries? I use mine at least 5-10 minutes twice daily and have used the same batteries for over a month at a time personally. It's also worth noting that this thing is insanely comfortable. I don't wear it over anything and I have actually forgotten it was there a few times. For the price, size and performance, I haven't come across a better headlamp yet.

I'm starting with pros, but really, skip to the cons Pros: - Great fit - All three settings are extremely useful - Nice weight - Prefect size Cons: - Broke on the first camping I took it on. I gave it lite usage for about 4 months, and I can say they fixed the battery issue. I put one set of batteries in this thing, used it regularly for reading at night, then took it on one camping trip. It was in the top of my bag, surrounded by lengths of paracord. I was hammock camping, so my pack was lite, and there was nothing that could have broken it. About 3hrs after sunset, the on/off switch got stuck. The headlamp turned into a dim strobe light mounted squarely on my forward. Luckily, I was only partying. I've sent an email to PTEC, and I may come back to edit after I see how that process goes. For now, I would say this headlamp feels great at first, but YMMV

I purchased this in fall for night winter runs. It was plenty bright but the run time wasn't long enough for a 2 hour run on full power. After about 6 uses it failed to turn on. No abuse, didn't drop it, didn't get wet, just fails to turn on.

This thing is GREAT... except that it won't always work and it eats batteries like crazy! It has a manual "off" switch, and even when off, a new set of batteries will be drained in just a few weeks of NO USE. I love the size, the three modes, the cost. All great.... except I simply can't rely on it. Where is the version of this light that works!?

It does what it should and does it well. Has two brightness settings that will let you accomplish your in-and-around camp duties in the dark. Beam can be directed where you like it. Also has red LED feature. Small and lightweight. You'll forget it's on your head after a few minutes. For the price, I think it's perfect.