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Backpacker Magazine – October 2011
Gear Review: Princeton Tec Byte
A great headlamp for ultralighters.
Ultra Lights
Four more camp lights
Small enough to fit into a first-aid kit, yet plenty bright to illuminate every camp chore, the Byte is great for ultralighters. The single LED beam runs on two AAAs and creates two concentric circles of white-hued light, which paints a bull’s-eye on objects up to 60 feet out. “I could night-hike short, easy trails with this headlamp,” said one tester after a trip in Colorado’s Front Range, “but after two hours, the high beam dims considerably.” Four more camp lights
Smart: The light cycles from red-to-dim-to-bright, so the headlamp doesn’t destroy night vision when you turn it on.
Nitpick: Even on low, the glare is harsh for reading.
$20
2.2 oz
www.princetontec.com
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READERS COMMENTS
I love the design of this lamp super light and great features. Unfortunately it is flawed. It drains batteries when off in your pack then whe batteries are low it flickers and will not switch off. This is strange behavior for a lamp so you think its broken. Replacing batteries fixes the problem. I bought this to keep in my pack but its battery drain is problematic. Now i store it without batteries. Annoying.
I've used the Fuel for years. Some hold up well, others don't seem to last. They do seem to honor their warantee very well. I've also had a problem with some of the end caps breaking. If you contact them they will send you another no charge. They are easy to replace. For other problems they have sent me new lamps so I'll stick with them just for their customer service.
Check out the ZebraLight headlamps at http://www.zebralight.com
Light, and very dependable.
MtnHkr
I've also run into the won't-turn-off problem. I live in interior Alaska, which means a lot of dark in the winter, which in turn means heavy headlamp use, and I've found that the Princeton Tec line is having pretty serious QA problems the last few years. I've got an Apex that's holding up okay but the Byte didn't last very long before the mentioned problem turned up, and two Fuels both had the end cap break off. I think I'm done with Princeton Tec.
Hey Jordan....Princeton Tec revamped the Byte headlamp so all the current ones are good to go. Super sweet light!
It gave me enough light on the trail, but after a while it wouldn't turn off. So mixed results from this headlamp.
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