Headlamp review

[Thinker]

It was an old Gemini. The main thing that sold me on the Myo was the focus-able beam. The Gemini has a beam that, well...ok, you can kinda call it focused when you turn the bezel...but the Myo does a radical focus with a quick twist of the bezel....and that's with the incandescent/halogen bulbs, not the LEDs.

 

I only really use the LEDs caving when I'm hanging out waiting or working on something close at hand, so the difference in angle is not a big deal to me. The rest of the time I've got the big gun on.

 

Glacier travel is another story. I'm usually switching back and forth fairly often, using the LEDs to look at the route near my feet and the high-beams to look around while negotiating around crevasses or seracs. If I'm not on lead then I'm on LEDs most of the time. It still don't feel inconvenienced by the difference in angle, though.

 

I've heard that LED technology is really progressing and that within a year or two they'll be marketing headlamps with efficient LEDs that rival the intensity of the current incandescent/halogen bulbs.

 

For what it's worth, the sales guy at Outdoor and More in Seattle that was assisting me noted that he really wished he'd have waited for the Myo to come out instead of purchasing his Gemini.

[HernyG]

Three pages on headlamps?

[erik]

i just scored a new lamp and had the option for the myo and gemini and i picked the gemini. it has less bulk then the myo and has longer battery time.

 

i have like 5 headlamps now, and they all serve different purposes!!

[Cpt.Caveman]

I have only one headlamp works for everything - Ideal

 

There are other ones similar so I am not pushing this product out as a must buy. But when I did buy it it was the only one of it's kind that I could find. Still works fine and is small.

 

 

 

 

 

[lummox]

Cpt.Caveman said:

I have only one headlamp works for everything - Ideal

 

There are other ones similar so I am not pushing this product out as a must buy. But when I did buy it it was the only one of it's kind that I could find. Still works fine and is small.

 

i got one a those. pretty good. but i prefer the old petzl zoom for night-time route finding.

[Cpt.Caveman]

zoom sucks and is too bulky. Batteries die quick and since it's so bulky I'm more inclined to leave it behind.

 

Whatever though if it works for you.

[JoshK]

michael_layton said:

The Petzel Myo series is stupid and $$. Don't buy it. The Gemini by Black Diamond is cheaper, lighter, longer burn time, one less battery. The Myo is slightly brighter in LED mode, and with similar bulbs, the halogens are equally bright (the gemini come with a less bright one attached, w/the brighter one as a spare).

 

Wrong. The Myo is much more expensive, but side by side it just plain works better. The ability to focus makes a world of difference and the higher voltage + more LEDs makes the LED modes much more useful than the gemini, IMHO. I found the gemini's LED (even with 2) good for around the camp and easy trail finding, that was about it. The myo's LEDs could be used for pretty much everything, including easy climbing.

 

I would agree the myo should be lighter. It's too bad it's a bit heavier, but I decided I was willing to live with that for my heavyweight headlamp. I also like the 4 batteries instead of 3. Sounds like a stupid reason, but batteries are bought in even numbers so it's easier to consume them in even numbers.

[Thinker]

That's the thing. No one headlamp is ideal for every activity. If I'm starting up a multipitch sprot route late in the day the little Tikka is cool to throw in a pocket just in case....the Myo or Gemini would probably be too bulky for that and get left. But the Tikka would not be suitable for routefinding on a glacier or alpine route....so the big guns go along for that ride.

 

BD Gemini: 150 grams. Burn Time: 1000 Hours with LED, 7 Hours with Long Life Halogen / 3 AA batteries.

 

Myo3: 137 grams. Burn Time: [Xenon halogen] 4h, [standard] 11h, [LED’s] 180h / 4 AA batteries

 

It's unclear to me whether BD's 'long life halogen' is the same type of bulb as Petzl's 'standard'. My assumption is that it is and the 11 vs 7 burn time is mainly the result of the extra battery.

[Cpt.Caveman]

That's the thing. No one headlamp is ideal for every activity.

 

Mine is for any mountain in the cascades. Depends on how much you whine about light too. Some people need street lights to find their butthole.

[Thinker]

Cpt.Caveman said:

I have only one headlamp works for everything - Ideal

 

There are other ones similar so I am not pushing this product out as a must buy. But when I did buy it it was the only one of it's kind that I could find. Still works fine and is small.

 

 

 

 

 

I really like these BD Moonlights and have bought several as gifts. I like to borrow them back as backup lights for caving.

[Stephen_Ramsey]

This is probably obvious but...

 

For climbs where I expect to have to routefind in the dark, I usually carry the Zoom, and my partner carries a Tikka. Averages out to not much weight per person. The climber with the Zoom can find the route, the one with the Tikka stumbles along behind using the anemic, barely-visible glow from the Tikka.

[fleblebleb]

Thinker said:

Cpt.Caveman said:

I have only one headlamp works for everything - Ideal

 

There are other ones similar so I am not pushing this product out as a must buy. But when I did buy it it was the only one of it's kind that I could find. Still works fine and is small.

 

 

 

 

 

I really like these BD Moonlights and have bought several as gifts. I like to borrow them back as backup lights for caving.

 

I really liked my Moonlight headlamp until the wiring went faulty and it became a strobe light. I took it back to REI and the guy at customer service told me he sees those quite a lot, all with the same wiring-gone-faulty problem. So I bought a Tikka Plus with the refund $$. It seems very nice so far - one trip, ~ 3 hours of headlamping.

[catbirdseat]

I've used my BD Moonlight for a year now on Rainier in winter, in the pouring rain, after dropping in the stream, etc. I bought it after I decided my Petzl Zoom felt like a brick. The BD has never turned on accidentally in my pack. The LEDs dim gradually as the batteries age, giving you fair warning and time to get to a good place to change batteries. The light is bright enough for just about all climbing, including glacier travel. It is much more uniform than any halogen bulb and because of that it doesn't need to be so bright. The features of the ground are easily distinguished and are not confused with the light and shadow cast by the halogens. I'd buy another one any time.

 

The problems with shorting may possibly result from mistreatment. If you wad the thing into a very tight pocket or jam stuff on top of it, it could very well torque the wires and cause them to break. All I can say is mine hasn't shorted after use on a couple dozen climbs.