Dan Slater reviews the Petzl Tikka Core headtorch.
"Petzl’s Tikka range has been a mainstay of the head torch category since practically the dawn of the era and has been updated once again for 2023. This latest model boasts 450 lumens on Max Power, or 7 lumens on Max Battery Life (2 hours and 110 hours of runtime respectively).
The functions are childishly easy to operate with the single button, utilising a light tap to a five-second press (to engage lock). The light always starts on the lowest setting first, unless you left it on red, in which case that’s where it will return. A phosphorescent reflector encircles the main LED housing, making it easier to locate in the dark (as long as you have another light source to be reflected).
While the Tikka is merely splash proof at IPX4, this is presumably due to the battery cover, which is where the Tikka meets the Core – Petzl’s unique rechargeable battery. The Core is a 1250mAh Li-ion cell, rechargeable via a micro USB port in its belly.
It performs much better than alkaline batteries at lower temperatures, but having said that you can chuck in three AAAs in an emergency, for instance when you’ve depleted your Core on a long expedition, although your Max Power will then only be 350 lumens."
RRP: $149.95
Website: spelean.com.au