Owner: Thomas
Used since: 2020
Tested by: Thomas
Review by: Thomas
Primary Use: Hiking and Camping, Caving
Review:
I have actually only bought this headlamp because at the time I could not find my Petzl Actik Core headlamp. I thought I had lost it and stumbled across this Swift RL model instead. I have actually not used it much on any hiking and camping trips but from the few occasions I can certainly say - this thing is as bright as it gets. Turning it on max. power is like turning on the high beams of a car - bright as daylight.
The lamp is super comfortable to wear. The many different modes and how to switch between them is a little bit confusing and personally I believe the auto-sensing light adjustment is more a gimmick than anything else. Not really something that personally find very useful as in practice I just click through the different brightness levels until I find the one that suits me for a given situation.
You can only charge it via USB, so there are no external battery option like the Actik has. Also a red light option would be nice. But I guess this headlamp is more for specific purposes such as when you need a really bright light. Comparing it with the Actik, I find that the Swift RL is overkill and less practical for the normal hiking and camping use. You won’t usually need 900 Lumens in these circumstances and doing a 5 day or more hike with it would be a challenge if you can replenish the dead built-in battery with an external AA or AAA battery.
Pros:
- Super comfortable around the head
- Crazy brightness (if that’s what you need)
- Pretty light weight for the power it has
- Rechargable
Cons:
- No red light option
- No option to use external spare batteries
- Too many light modes make it confusing to switch between them
- Auto-sensing light adjustment not really very useful in practice
Comment:
Its a great headlamp from Petzl like they all are, but this is more for a targeted buyer that needs a lot of brightness more than some of the other typical features (such as red light and hybrid battery options). This one would be good for caving and dark areas where a lot of illumination is required but not for an extended period of time since recharging may be difficult over multi-day use (other than buying another Petzl spare battery pack for this model).
Manufacturer Website:
https://www.petzl.com/INT/en/Sport/PERFORMANCE-headlamps/SWIFT-RL