# NEW Reactive Tikka R and RXP



## arizona1 (Jan 23, 2013)

here is a link to new headlamps by petzl.

http://www.petzl.com/us/outdoor/new...m_campaign=new-products-OR2013&utm_content=us


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## välineurheilija (Jan 23, 2013)

Thanks for the link.I hope they are reasonably priced


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## arizona1 (Jan 23, 2013)

välineurheilija said:


> Thanks for the link.I hope they are reasonably priced



No problem. They look interesting, even the headband is different. I like the Tikka RXP. The wait begins


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## jonathanluu2 (Jan 23, 2013)

They have interesting looking headbands. I wonder if they are less springy and eliminated the oft bashed zebralight bounce characteristic. I still cant bring myself to buy a light that requires a "patented" or "proprietary" battery that ends up being way overpriced. 

What if I am in Africa and I drop my spare battery in the river? "Hey Pretzl, can you send me one of your super snazzy batteries to me?...No i dont have an address, somewhere in a small village in Sudan. Can I hack it with some off-brand AA's? the locals use them in their radios and such...No? Okay, guess I am out of luck, thanks...Click." Yes I am being dramatic, but its for effect . Look forward to seeing more in the summer.


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## uk_caver (Jan 23, 2013)

Well, if you were going to Africa, you could buy the extra 3xAAA holder.

It'll certainly be interesting to see how these lights perform, and how well the reactive control works in various situations.


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## tam17 (Feb 1, 2013)

I don't like proprietary batteries and USB charging, my other gear is old-fashioned and I like to be able to buy batteries in any local store if in a pinch. As per Reactive Lighting technology, time will tell.

Cheers


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## MikeAusC (Feb 1, 2013)

jonathanluu2 said:


> . . . . I still cant bring myself to buy a light that requires a "patented" or "proprietary" battery that ends up being way overpriced. . . . .



I agree - with the versatility of modern drivers it's so easy to make a light which will run well with LiIon, NiMH or Alkaline cells.

Which explains why they now offer "

[h=3]Battery pack for TIKKA® R+, TIKKA® RXP[/h]The battery pack, which *holds 3 LR3/AAA batteries*, provides a back-up solution in case the rechargeable battery is accidentally completely discharged. It allows the headlamp to be used in remote areas where the battery can not be recharged."


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## heniekk (Feb 2, 2013)

$ info
"Look for them to hit in the fall"
http://militarytimes.com/blogs/gear...adds-reactive-control-to-tikka-headlamp-line/


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## tam17 (Feb 2, 2013)

MikeAusC said:


> The battery pack, which *holds 3 LR3/AAA batteries*, provides a back-up solution in case the rechargeable battery is accidentally completely discharged. It allows the headlamp to be used in remote areas where the battery can not be recharged."



Sorry, didn't pay attention, thanks for the heads-up. But you still have to pay $$ for main Li-ion battery pack, right?. And keep your fingers crossed that driver keeps going on when alkies are halfway down...

Cheers


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## petersmith6 (Feb 5, 2013)

Halfway up the nothing face of the eiger on a night climb...Smithers ...pass me my laptop ....why.... Need to top up my head lamp...yes the is a aa adaptor....but that should be included as standard....you have mail..


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## AnAppleSnail (Feb 5, 2013)

petersmith6 said:


> Halfway up the nothing face of the eiger on a night climb...Smithers ...pass me my laptop ....why.... Need to top up my head lamp...yes the is a aa adaptor....but that should be included as standard....you have mail..



No product is a match for poor planning.


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## eiger (Jun 12, 2013)

tam17 said:


> I don't like proprietary batteries and USB charging, my other gear is old-fashioned and I like to be able to buy batteries in any local store if in a pinch. As per Reactive Lighting technology, time will tell.
> 
> Cheers



I don't think regular Alkaline batteries are able to power the new generation of LEDs iro power and functionality.


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## uk_caver (Jun 12, 2013)

In a well-designed AA light I'd at the very least expect to be able to get some _useful _life out of alkalines in an emergency, even if I wasn't expecting them to power some ultimate output mode.

As for '_the new generation of LEDs_', even in 2004 there were LEDs which could happily gobble an Amp - a current which would tend to slash the effective capacity of alkaline AAs to something near a third of their nominal ~2800mAh.


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## carrot (Jul 17, 2013)

If the reactive control is anything like the one in the NAO I am on board. The NAO has quickly become my favorite backpacking light because it is so useful! 

I simply set the maximum output level and it automatically ramps up and down the brightness depending on whether or not I am looking close or far away. Works perfectly. It can also be overridden with user-defined presets, so even if you are in conditions that confuse the NAO (dense brush, fog), you can force a certain level of output. This is definitely the future of headlamps.


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## Cereal_Killer (Jul 17, 2013)

The only exp I have with a G-sensor based auto-dimming light is the nitecore SENS series, I hope this works better than the nitecore's did or a lot of people will be dissapointed.


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## carrot (Jul 17, 2013)

Cereal_Killer said:


> The only exp I have with a G-sensor based auto-dimming light is the nitecore SENS series, I hope this works better than the nitecore's did or a lot of people will be dissapointed.



If I understand correctly the Nitecore SENS series dims based on the tilt of the light. Petzl's technology works on a light sensor that measures the amount of bounce-back, dimming or brightening the light accordingly to compensate for the need for more or less light. If you look off into the distance, for instance, there is less bounce-back, so it brightens. If you look at a map, it dims because there is a lot more light coming back from something so close to you. In my experience this system works perfectly. I turn it on and don't need to tweak it at all.


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## Kamerat (Jul 28, 2013)

Here is a videoreview I found (Spanish) http://youtu.be/8xlDz84UuJU


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## beamon (Sep 6, 2013)

It's September. Does anyone know what's happening with these?


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## carrot (Sep 6, 2013)

I spoke to a rep at REI. They're expecting shipments to arrive closer to October.


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## f22shift (Sep 8, 2013)

i have to admit these headlamps are good looking. i have to get one of these sometime just to see how well it works. i think usb charging can be okay. for example, a person might carry a portable usb battery pack to top off their phone and can do the same with the light. then all they have to do is manage that portable battery pack(some do have replaceable batteries,18650's)
if my hands were full all the time, like holding my body on a wall from certain death haha, then this would be awesome. look close, look far, look close. would be beneficial i think.


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## f22shift (Sep 8, 2013)

actually, could you recharge this with a solar panel with a usb socket? that would make it really off the grid. charge in day while hiking and plenty of light at night.


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## beamon (Sep 24, 2013)

I'm seeing the TIKKA® RXP for sale online at places like REI and L.L.Bean for $89.95. Would love to hear from anyone who buys one and is willing to report on experience with it. One thing I'm not clear on is whether the 18650 battery it uses can be swapped out or is embedded.


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## Szemhazai (Sep 24, 2013)

beamon said:


> I'm seeing the TIKKA® RXP for sale online at places like REI and L.L.Bean for $89.95. Would love to hear from anyone who buys one and is willing to report on experience with it. One thing I'm not clear on is whether the 18650 battery it uses can be swapped out or is embedded.



Only NAO uses 18650, Tikka series is using integrated battery similar Petzl Core battery.


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## gravelmonkey (Sep 24, 2013)

Woah, nice looking head-bands! I used to have the same battery hang-up issues with digital cameras, working in the bush it's nice to have a spare set of AA's. Since I upgraded to a li-ion Olympus Tough, I've not looked back. Battery life is much better and it doesn't take any effort to plug it into a laptop (or, when I was in the jungle, a solar panel) at the end of the day. Now for Petzl to try to convince everyone else that they don't need to carry a bag of alkalines around!


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## beamon (Sep 24, 2013)

> Only NAO uses 18650, Tikka series is using integrated battery similar Petzl Core battery.



Thanks for the clarification. With just 2.5 hours' worth of integrated battery time on high reactive mode, it sounds like the big question is how those three AAA batteries perform when used in the separately purchased battery pack that can be used with these lights. Otherwise, the time limit seems awfully short.


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## carrot (Sep 24, 2013)

beamon said:


> Thanks for the clarification. With just 2.5 hours' worth of integrated battery time on high reactive mode, it sounds like the big question is how those three AAA batteries perform when used in the separately purchased battery pack that can be used with these lights. Otherwise, the time limit seems awfully short.



In actual use the NAO turns out to have great battery life. You tilt it down so it can always see the ground at least a little bit and it'll do a fine job of both lighting your way, what's in front, and managing battery life. Finally, you can reprogram it to any way you like, so if the default maximums and brightness thresholds don't work for you, it's easy to change to your tastes.

I'm hoping the exact same for the Tikka RXP, because I'd love to carry something smaller and lighter.


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## carrot (Oct 22, 2013)

REI now has the Tikka RXP in stock. I'll be picking up mine tonight.


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## mntnrnnr (Oct 22, 2013)

carrot said:


> REI now has the Tikka RXP in stock. I'll be picking up mine tonight.



Looking forward to your review... I have one in my shopping cart @ REI dot COM but haven't pulled the trigger...


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## hurricane (Oct 28, 2013)

I just picked-up a Petzl Tikka RXP today. It's charging right now. The Petzl OS doesn't seem to recognize the light when it's plugged into my computer, not sure if the two are compatible yet. There doesn't seem to be any mention of the Tikka RXP on the Petzl OS webpage, just the Naos and CORE.


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## carrot (Oct 28, 2013)

hurricane said:


> I just picked-up a Petzl Tikka RXP today. It's charging right now. The Petzl OS doesn't seem to recognize the light when it's plugged into my computer, not sure if the two are compatible yet. There doesn't seem to be any mention of the Tikka RXP on the Petzl OS webpage, just the Naos and CORE.



I've noticed the same thing. I started an inquiry with Petzl on OS support for the RXP.



mntnrnnr said:


> Looking forward to your review... I have one in my shopping cart @ REI dot COM but haven't pulled the trigger...



Haven't had enough time to really try out the RXP yet but suffice to say so far I'm impressed.

Unlike the NAO, the RXP will not impress white wall hunters. There are a few visual artifacts but easily ignored after a bit of walking. However, I like the new alignment of the beam very much for walking around. The NAO had two beams focused in the exact same direction, seamlessly blending the flood and throw beams. The RXP's flood beam is pointed down just a little bit lower than the throw beam so it creates two distinct beams. 

I think the RXP has more dynamic of a range than the NAO, but I haven't been able to tweak it in the OS software to be sure. When testing it out in my basement I noticed it seemed to make wider swings between high and low than the NAO, but like I said, I haven't been able to apply my custom settings to it yet. 

One thing I noticed with the default settings is that the RXP's auto mode seems to be optimized for outdoors use, whereas the NAO is happy to run either indoors/close range or far. I find myself twiddling with the manual controls of the RXP a lot, as in when I'm indoors I usually turn off auto mode and switch to flood preference (a single tap of the side switch) but outdoors auto mode works great.

Petzl truly has managed to distill the essence of the NAO into a smaller, more easily carried light in the RXP. I still like the NAO very much and I don't think the RXP is necessarily an improvement over it-- rather, a similar offering in a more compact, lighter and less expensive package. 

I'll get to use it a lot this weekend as I'm going to FCW (Flashaholic Camping Weekend) so I'll report back after that.


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## hurricane (Oct 28, 2013)

carrot said:


> I've noticed the same thing. I started an inquiry with Petzl on OS support for the RXP.



Yeah - me too, hopefully they'll shed some light on the situation. It frustrates me when companies release a product too early - I just went through this with SUUNTO and an Ambit2 watch.


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## hurricane (Oct 29, 2013)

Early adopter woes ... 

From Petzl:

"Hi,

Th actuel release v2.8.47 of OS by Petzl is not compatible with Tikka R family.
The next version will be released at the midlle of november, but could be uncompatible with the new version of Mac OSX 10.9.


Tests must done to be sure that OS and Mac OSX 10.9 works correctly.


Counting on your understanding,


Thank you for your collaboration / Merci de votre collaboration,
Best regards / Cordialement,
OS by Petzl Support"

Not sure why they'd release a version that isn't compatible with Mac OS X.9 ...  - doesn't make much sense.


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## Mooreshire (Dec 11, 2013)

Fun little light. These look like CREE XP-G2 diodes to me, but I might be wrong: (I was wrong. Good eye, UK_caver.)


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## uk_caver (Dec 11, 2013)

I'd have said they were XP-E2, since the die is visibly smaller than the dome.
On the XP-G2, at almost any angle/distance the die seems to essentially fill the dome.


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## Mooreshire (Dec 12, 2013)

uk_caver said:


> I'd have said they were XP-E2



Ah, yes, I think you're right about that.


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## Szemhazai (Dec 12, 2013)

It will take me a while to make a proper translation, but if somebody is interested I've already done review in Polish so Google translate version... 

Tikka R & Tikka RXP - @ light-test.info by Google Translate


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## neco (Dec 20, 2013)

Reading the review I noticed they faulted the design of the headband stating it was not removeable. I also thought this was the case and e-mailed Petzl, their response was was the below:

"The best way to wash the headband is by snapping the lamp portion off the bracket that holds it to the headband. The headband can then be washed in warm, soapy (mild) water. It is replaced by replacing the entire headband/bracket setup. Please let me know if you have any other questions. "

I was very happy with the answer as I plan to run with the headlamp at night and the sweat will make the headband unsanitary if it is not able to be cleaned like my previous Tikka XP 2.


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