Petzl NAO - high-tech headlamp review.

[HistoryChannel]

Hey HistoryChannel, I'd sure like to see some bigger versions of those panoramas you teased us with above.

On the subject of the NAO I haven't been able to test mine out that much so far since I only recently got one but I'm pretty impressed. I think it's quite neat how the two LEDs can combine their power in different amounts, almost creating the appearance of a single beam that has some focusability.

One thing I will note is that the NAO seems a little confused in Reactive mode in winter when you breathe out and it sees the condensation in your breath, as the puffs of condensation temporarily increase the light reflected back to the sensor.

I'm really looking forward to Petzl's next generation of reactive headlamp, the Tikka RXP, which will be more compact and hopefully a sorts of NAO 2.0.

Hi carrot,

I do have the full versions of the pano pics, dozens actually. But they are 18-20 megapixels and huge files. I used my iPhone with the native pano feature. I can try and post thumbnails linking to full versions.

And I did include in my review also that the Nao does react to breath fog, also in dense natural fog, smoke from fire (campfire, etc). Basically anything that can reflect light and confuse the lamp.

I wrote to Petzl to voice my concern with their choice of battery implementation. That they need to be end user friendly and allow a drop in battery system. If their OEM battery that came with the unit goes bad, we have to buy the whole pack for $50 and basically have a useless original pack.

I got a generic response that batteries by itself are not available and we have to buy the battery and pack together. Insane when quality 18650 batteries are available for less than $20.

 

[jmm244]

Several NAO reviews, here and other places (including mine), have mentioned the winter breath fog dimming thing, but is it really a negative? If you exhale in front of a high power non-reactive headlamp you get a big blast of bounce back in your eyes, which messes up your dark adaptation to a greater extent than with the NAO. The fact that regular headlights DON'T dim when you exhale a big cloud of ice crystals in front of them is the real negative.

 

[TSellers]

you get a big blast of bounce back in your eyes,

Yes, with a highly reflective tint such as something in the 6500K range. Not so much at 4000K. In the below example taken a couple of nights ago, you can see this dynamic illustrated by the near foreground high wavelength flood that is reflecting the falling snowflakes, whereas the neutral white tint of the SX5 mitigates the problem, and that, along with the fact they are RFI shielded, are two of many reasons we selected them for Search and Rescue activities after the NAO was disqualified:

 

[HistoryChannel]

I listed this as a negative because the light is doing something I was not expecting and or wanting the light to do, all on its own.

It is not the fault of the light design or function, but it is doing something on its own. The flicker can be annoying and sometime disorienting that caused me to stop for a second until it stopped flickering. This was a problem when navigating intricate conditions such as slippery rocks and logs over a stream in pitch dark conditions. In those situations I would much rather have the predictable constant on.

I learned to switch from reactive to constant based on situation which solved that problem.

 

[TSellers]

If you exhale in front of a high power non-reactive headlamp you get a big blast of bounce back in your eyes, which messes up your dark adaptation

I've found that when I have a headlamp on high power setting, let's say in the range of 300-500 lumens, my night vision is adapted to that level of ambient lighting because that's the field I'm looking into. In other words I do not have much for night vision adaptation at that point. When the fog from exhalation floats past it does not seem to change anything. Again, it has made me wonder if you have found it does impact your vision in a negative way, perhaps it would be related to the tint. What is the tint on the NAO by the way? I couldn't seem to find that out using Google, could it be high enough to cause this problem? Maybe in future they will bring out some models that offer different tint options.

 

[jmm244]

... it has made me wonder if you have found it does impact your vision in a negative way, perhaps it would be related to the tint. What is the tint on the NAO by the way?...

Maybe you're onto something. The tint of my NAO lies somewhere between the neutral of my Zebralight H600W and my cooler Princeton Tec Apex (an old one), but it's nowhere near as cool as my Petzl Tikkina 2. Some conditions seem to affect some people to a different extent than others, and maybe I'm just over sensitive to a particular tint and/or bounce back, just like I'm apparently NOT very sensitive to the PWM flicker that some people complain about at reduced output levels on some lights. As a matter of fact, my appreciation of auto dimming may have something to do with my age, if my irises can't adjust as fast as they used to be able to. I also remember reading somewhere that as the accident rates start to increase for "advanced aged" drivers, they go up exponentially at night, so maybe there's something else going on that has a bearing on my particular situation. Although YMMV, if I ever run across a "Like Button" for my NAO I'll click it, but can also understand why others may not.

 

[TSellers]

Wow, we headed out tonight for a 14km night ski exercise and while we were driving I was talking to my spouse about the headlights we'd be using and about this post. In fact we just got back a few minutes ago. It was -7c and I noticed my breath had no effect at all even though I had two head mounted lights and one is probably around 5000k, and then I also started to think, this is the Rockies, humidity is real low, I'll bet it's completely different on the coast. My spouse (who is 26 years younger than me) also mused about the effect retinopathy can have with night vision in old farts such as myself (even though she cannot keep up with me), and I remarked I'm glad I recently had my mandatory work medical and eye exam results done so I knew my blood glucose levels were normal, and no cataracts so far to worry about. However, even though I know for now I'm OK on those two fronts, I can tell my night vision is not what it was 20 years ago. But when we assessed lights for S&R work tint was a major factor because it is hard enough to assess patient cyanosis and capillary refill status at the best of times in the dark and trying to see dichotomous purple under a purple tint light is just no joy. I am out a lot at night, and sometimes my work has me a long way from the trailhead carrying a firearm. I'm finding that I can actually 'relax' a lot more with a neutral tint and floody beam than I did with my PT Apex I used for years. This summer my DIY C20 host with the 8*7135 driver and neutral white XM-L emitter is going into the Weaver mount in my firearm when no-one is looking (and ironically has the PWM on medium that drove me nuts tonight).

 

[TSellers]

I just noticed a 1000+ lumen Bluetooth programmable flashlight with unlimited number of programmable modes via free Windows and Android apps is now on the market at the $60.00 price point. Perhaps a similar model of headlamp may be soon to follow for those that have taken a like to the programmable modes of the Nao.

 

[uk_caver]

For twin-beam headlights, there's a lot to be said for having control via a couple of pushbuttons or a 3-position switch, especially for people who want to have real control over the light.

But given that physical interface, it's possible to make a decent UI which gives good direct control and/or which allows reconfigurability without the need for external devices.

 

[wild bill]

nice looking light, but proprietary battery, less lumens than my old Coast HL7 and 4 times the price??? - these Frenchmen must be doing some seriously good drugs - this just needs the word "Gucci" on the label to top it off - lol

 

[HistoryChannel]

nice looking light, but proprietary battery, less lumens than my old Coast HL7 and 4 times the price??? - these Frenchmen must be doing some seriously good drugs - this just needs the word "Gucci" on the label to top it off - lol

Well, it does use a 18650 battery and I did some surgery for about 20 minutes to make the 18650 pop in and out easily. I now use the Orbtronics 3400 mAh. The selling point with the Nao is the virtually infinitely customizable output levels and "Reactive" mode. Its on the expensive side but after using the Reactive mode, I can't go back to manual mode.

This isn't for the casual headlamp user for sure. But heck, my backpack costs me $350 and carry over $1,500 worth of mountaineering equipment anyway.... another $150 for a headlamp isn't gonna kill me. I'm actually about to buy the Petzl Ultra Rush Belt ($500) and strap it to the shoulder strap of my backpack and route the batter into the backpack.

I think it just depends on the person, there is no right or wrong here. Some are fine with a $20 maglite, some like to spend $250 on a Surefire. It's just a matter of needs and taste? My brother in law makes over $200,000/year salary and drives an old 1994 Honda Civic. He says cars are the worst investment and isn't worth it. I only make half as much as he does and drive a $58,000 SUV. Completely different view.

 

[wild bill]

I think your logic assumes that Petzl quality is worlds ahead of other gear, as someone who has used Petzl headlamps since the 1990's, I would say that is only kind of true - they are far better quality than cheap headlamps, for sure, but Petzl has had its own reliability issues from time to time, they are overall good, but certainly not "the Lexus of headlamps", so to speak, reliability-wise, but they sure are priced as such!

 

[uk_caver]

Its on the expensive side but after using the Reactive mode, I can't go back to manual mode.

I can understand that, but while it's decent for a consumer light, the manual operation of the Nao isn't the most powerful way of controlling a twin-beam light.
While acknowledging the configurability, it's still effectively like having a single pushbutton cycling through a list of pre-decided power/blend combinations, something which has a fairly natural limit to how long a sequence can conveniently be.

 

[HistoryChannel]

I think your logic assumes that Petzl quality is worlds ahead of other gear, as someone who has used Petzl headlamps since the 1990's, I would say that is only kind of true - they are far better quality than cheap headlamps, for sure, but Petzl has had its own reliability issues from time to time, they are overall good, but certainly not "the Lexus of headlamps", so to speak, reliability-wise, but they sure are priced as such!

True. I think Petzl definitely makes cheap, less quality headlamps in the $35 range all the way to $500 range. The quality of the Nao is significantly better than the lower priced Petzl lamps. At $175 retail, it's expensive as I mentioned before. But I'm glad there are companies that are willing to push out new ideas.

It's really more of a convenience thing, not a necessity. I've been using manual headlamps for decades and its been fine. I guess kinda like when automatic transmissions came to be in cars... Manual works fine... Auto tranny was just a convenience thing.

Surefire has the new E2DL Ultra 500lm at $265 MSRP. Is it really $200 better than say... A Fenix PD32UE 740lm? Even at 2 modes and an unexciting 500 lumens... It seems like demand is exceeding supply.

 

[Solscud007]

HistoryChannel, got pics and details on how you modded the pack to pop in 18650.

 

[lutgulajn]

I found something that looks like a problem with my NAO, but I am not absolutely sure.


There it is:


It is OFF,
I turn and hold the knob
it turns ON (directly in Constant Mode)
then after exactly 10 seconds it turns OFF by itself




It does that (switching OFF by itself) only if I switch it ON in Constant Mode (turning and holding the knob)
If I turn and release (short pulse) the knob it goes (from OFF) to Reactive Mode, and everything is working fine.
If I choose Constant Mode after it been switched ON in Reactive Mode it works fine...


So can someone check on his NAO is it normal to turns ON directly in Constant Mode? In the manual there is a line: "When turned ON the light goes automatically in Reactive Mode"


And most important - is this normal to turn itself OFF after 10 seconds when switched directly in Constant Mode or this is some kind of malfunction?


NAO is by far the greatest head torch I have ever used (and I have many!) Very glad with it!

 

[HistoryChannel]

HistoryChannel, got pics and details on how you modded the pack to pop in 18650.

The pack already uses 18650 from the factory. The problem was that the electronics that control the charge LED was added to the 18650 (shrink wrapped onto the 18650). I just cut the wires, threw out the OEM 18650 and soldered the wires to metal contact springs. The charge level indicator doesn't work anymore but I really don't care because I use my Xtar VP1 to charge and carry a spare. The 3400 mAh lasts over 6 hours on reactive so not an issue to check battery status for me.

There is someone that cut out the electronic board and made it part of the case so he can still pop in and out the battery and the charge level LED still works.

 

[HistoryChannel]

I found something that looks like a problem with my NAO, but I am not absolutely sure.


There it is:


It is OFF,
I turn and hold the knob
it turns ON (directly in Constant Mode)
then after exactly 10 seconds it turns OFF by itself




It does that (switching OFF by itself) only if I switch it ON in Constant Mode (turning and holding the knob)
If I turn and release (short pulse) the knob it goes (from OFF) to Reactive Mode, and everything is working fine.
If I choose Constant Mode after it been switched ON in Reactive Mode it works fine...


So can someone check on his NAO is it normal to turns ON directly in Constant Mode? In the manual there is a line: "When turned ON the light goes automatically in Reactive Mode"


And most important - is this normal to turn itself OFF after 10 seconds when switched directly in Constant Mode or this is some kind of malfunction?


NAO is by far the greatest head torch I have ever used (and I have many!) Very glad with it!

I'll check mine tonight when I get home.

 

[lutgulajn]

I'll check mine tonight when I get home.

Thanks!

The battery have to be connected for some time. If I connect it right before "the try", nothing happens - everything works fine.
So it has to be something with the electronics in the "head" I think...

Just try to connect the battery (if it was disconnected from the light head) wait 10 minutes, and then try switching it ON with turning and holding the knob (so it goes directly in Constant Mode). It does that strangeness only in Constant Mode.

I already wrote to Petzl to ask them but they just offer me to send the light to them to check. Probably the guys emailing are different than the guys in the service-station and they just do not know if this is a fault or something else...

 

[Szemhazai]

Personally I think that it will be a good thing, normal user is switching on, and holding until the light switch the mode, that is taking less than 2 seconds - if something is causing the knob to be pushed down for more than 10 seconds it cannot be user. Most probably accidental push in the luggage and the light is switching off after 10 seconds. But that's not that - mine is simply going through the modes from constant to reactive mode and so on...