UKC

Today Petzl launch The Nao, a head torch featuring Reactive Lighting technology. Report from the Outdoor Retailer Show, Salt Lake City, Utah.

Report now includes VIDEO.

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=4367

In reply to UKC Gear: Ok very nice but £135! I'd rather buy a alpkit gamma and a stack of new gear.

In reply to gethin_allen:

It would have to be an extremely modest "stack" of gear!

In reply to UKC Gear:

Looks interesting, Petzl have needed to up their game for a while.

In reply to The New NickB:

I agree. For a long while there has been far more powerful headtorches by other manafacturers.

In reply to UKC Gear:

Yeah whatever, but all this gimmickry will count for nothing unless they have produced a battery container which allows the battery to be changed and the container properly closed in the dark while wearing gloves without dropping the batteries or having them fall out when you are a few metres up the next pitch. They havn't got that right since thr original zoom with the big plastic battery tub.

In reply to Robert Durran:

How would you propose they do that without making the battery housing enormous (like the original Zoom)?

In reply to victim of mathematics:

Easy. By using a small version of the tub! (an upright plastic container you drop the batteries into vertically with a simple non-fiddly lid)

In reply to UKC Gear:
With good modern LEDs and high capacity batteries changing batteries on the go should be a rare event. I use a BD icon and although I carry spare batteries i've never swapped them while out on the hill because the lower power beam you get when the batteries are on there way out is normally enough to keep going with.

In reply to UKC Gear: Looks great, but have they solved the reliability issues which plague the (e.g.) myo xp. A torch that doesn't unexpectedly cut out after 3 months of use would be a bigger step forward!

In reply to UKC Gear:

£135. You'd have to be an idiot. Now where's my Arcteryx blazer...

In reply to UKC Gear:

Will it break all the time like the myo I wonder?

In reply to gethin_allen: I agree - I don't need another big headtorch...the new Petzl looks quite large.

On a long trip...A Gamma with me on the hill, a spare Gamma at base for use around the camp and for if the other packs up and a tiny little BD (extremely) lightweight one is always in my pack for emergencies.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Maybe, but when it does happen it is usually because you are having an epic on a route in poor weather and you really do want a bright beam to see what is going on.

In reply to Removed User:

>"Now where's my Arcteryx blazer..."

Should one wear a cravat with that or can one "get away with" a Buff?

In reply to UKC Gear: Considering how much the Ultra costs and how much you can pay for Li-ion head torches didn't think 135 was bad plus all the gadgetry. Not cheap granted. though they need to have the reliability sorted for that or it aint worth a fiver.

In reply to UKC Gear:

I notice it's been named after a (former) denizen of this parish.

In reply to UKC Gear: I reckon that anyone who's done any amount of caving will see that as another 'high st multi activity action man 'I wanna be a bear grylls type ' gadget. Too many technological things to go wrong. I cant see the sensor taking much stick & imagine this will be a major failure point, one of the reviews I have read says " the sensor can be phased by heavy rain or snow", I read its not water proof , , ,go figure???,,

Its advertised as a cavers lamp come multi activity.. I wouldn’t use it even as a backup. I like some Petzl lamps, find the ultrawide to be a bomber workhorse, same as the dou14 . Just my ten pence worth :O)

In reply to Removed User: Had to look that up - $800 for a work jacket - city banker clothing!

Nao looks very interesting. Only £10 more than a 220 lumen LED Lenser H14R that still uses NiMH batteries.

Not needed for walking and camping but if you want to be able to run downhill at race pace in the dark on rough ground £135 is cheaper than enough physio sessions to get over a sprained ankle

In reply to UKC Gear:
A head torch with video? Sounds interesting, any idea what films are available?

In reply to UKC Gear:

If this works reliably then it's quite exciting. If it shits the bed after a day of use then not so much.

In reply to UKC Gear: Call me old fashioned but aren't simpler designs a better idea for reliability and the outdoors?

It all looks really nice and shiiinnneeeeee, something to show off but I'd still like to have control over the amount of light I want to use (without having to boot up a computer to change the settings).

In reply to SFM: There's a manual control as well.

In reply to remus:

Cunning!

In reply to UKC Gear: Looks like a good bit of tech but solving a problem that doesn't really exist.

In reply to UKC Gear: That model is pretty fit though, and she's not bad either.

In reply to moo:

Oi.....

In reply to UKC Gear: I was supprised at how much is being charged for all of the new/bright head torches. So I recentley designed and made my own.
All of the electronics fits inside the headband, with a battery pack on the back. It takes 3 AA batteries and with 2 approx 160deg wide angle LEDs sown into the head band, set one above each eye, gives brightness where ever you look, it also has a light sensor that turns the brightness down in, which is use full for caving/in a tent/or any close space. Lasts for 3 nights of 8 hours before it starts to dim. My friend uses one to cycle through the woods at night. Cost £15 for bits plus however much you want to spend on batteries.
Still working on waterproofing for very wet caving.

In reply to UKC Gear:

saw one the other day at a show.

very cool looking.

but as it took me 5mins to get it back on the styrofoam model head in the warmth of the room, i can imagine what it would be like with gloves, onto a shiny helmet, on a cramped ledge, in the cold, in failing light.

not small when it comes to carrying it either. already i find regular straps a pain in the ass (i use a zipka to minimize), this thing has a whole matrix of straps, coils and bungy to get tangled, caught and adjust.

for work stuff where you leave it attached maybe a good thing, but not for me.

In reply to victorderrickmuckleston:

you marketing these or going to Opensource the plans/circuit ?

In reply to ice.solo:

With a battery life ranging from 4 and a half to 8 hours i wouldn't fancy being on a cold cramped ledge in failing light with only this torch for lighting purposes. Particularly as it may 'decide' you need full power on all the time meaning you pretty much have 4.5 hours to reach safety or else...

In reply to lithos: I was thinking of marketing them, but as I only charge about £20 each , and my eye sight is not what it used to be, I have made and sold 10 , but need to source sports type head bands that dont have a "nike" emblem on them.(dont want to get sued millions for making five quid)
I am also working on overcoming the problem that if 2 people are wearing one each, they will sense each other and one will turn off, as if it were daytime.
The leds are rated at 70 lumens, but I run them at about 50 lumens each, this gives a slightly lower light out put and does not heat up the led, therefore does not waste battery power.
I have to order some more components and make some more of the newer design circuit.
If you are interested I could email you the circuit diagram, it is very simple, I buy all my components off ebay.