Review by C. J. Tennant:

I was a bit leery ordering this item as it was less expensive than others I had seen and I needed two of them quickly. One was to have been a gift for a friend. I had visions of them arriving late, crushed, cracked, broken or missing pieces…not operable or just generally cheesey in quality and performance. I WAS ASTOUNDED! They arrived quickly. Packaged perfectly. Boxes and lamps all in super condition. They were very easy to assemble and the weight of the batteries did a great job of stableizing the whole thing. As a light source, this little lamp has far exceeded all of my expectations. The 2nd lamp was given the next day and has been praised and commented upon on an almost daily basis since the gifting. I would purchase this Dorcy lamp again and have no qualms recommending it to everyone. It is wonderful when you lose your electricity and it gives me a real sense of security. You can read well by this light and see for a good distance. I’m sure it would be exceptional as an outside light on your picnic table in the summer also! The best quality for the money and greatest gift I’ve purchased in years.

Review by shoulder of orion:

My family and I have used this lantern on camping trips and during power blackouts. It won’t set the tent on fire. It is easy to carry and operate, is a good source of light, and should be part of an emergency kit.

Review by Kenneth R. Shaw:

This is a good light that puts out a nice amount of light and doesn’t kill batteries too fast because of the flourescent light. Good for blackouts and a nice handle.

Review by Jennifer:

I just bought this lantern for camping and it works great. I would highly recommend it. It takes a lot of batteries but it lasts a long time and is very bright. The smaller version takes less batteries but works about the same. I have now added this lantern to my hurricane supplies, as it will come in handy if I lose power this season.

Review by starry_night:

I’ve been stocking up on emergency supplies in case we go through a power outage. A few years ago, our area lost power for over a week because of the hurricanes.

These lanterns are made of plastic, which is what makes them affordable- they are definetly NOT made to hold up to tough conditions, like camping trips, etc..

BUT, they are perfect for emergencies-ie, power outages.

They require 4 AA batteries, and light up pretty good.

I’m VERY pleased with this purchase.

Review by M. RIOS:

Got the lanterns for my friend’s new home. She loves them. They are light and portable and very safe. She keeps one in each of the kids rooms and one in her room. Easy to carry around and do generate lots of bright lighting.

Review by Bargain Finder:

For the ‘under .00 price’ I paid, this is a good choice. The light is fairly bright, and it’s heavy enough (with its 3 D cells in the base), to hold its position when you pivot the head. There’s a similar unit on the market that is twice the price, and I DO have that one also. But this particular model is somewhat brighter.

Review by R. Foster:

This was a great find, and I’m so glad I ordered several at its price under each. I was looking for a good, effective, and practical alternative to flashlights for when we lose power – which always seems to be after dark and before bedtime.

I have started using it as a light to read by late at night in another section of our bedroom so that I can direct the light on a book’s page while not bothering my DH. I can position it so it properly shines over my right shoulder. I’ve never found a booklight that works to my satisfaction. This works really well.

The light can be on full 20 LEDs or at half with only 10 LEDs. It’s mirrored around the LEDs so the light is strengthened.

It can be used as a flashlight as well. It fits my hand much better (ergonomically) better than normal flashlights. The part of the lamp with the LEDs can be adjusted some up or down.

I haven’t tried hanging it. It does have a plastic hook by which it can be hung.

I’m very happy with this item.

Review by Maine Character:

A few years ago I thought to get one of these for hikes, night photography, and simply having a lightweight flashlight in my camera bag or for when the power goes out. I read up on them, found Petzl to be the best, and yet the complaints were that the Petzl model at the time had only one brightness setting, didn’t tilt, wasn’t water resistant, and had no red filter. A year later Petzl came out with this model, and everything had been fixed to perfection.

Needless to say, I got one and loved it. For those new to LED headlamps, what’s great about them is they leave your hands free and you never have to think about aiming the light. If the power’s out, and you’re tying your shoes and then looking under a cupboard and carrying out blankets, the light is always right where you need it.

Also, for walking at night, a flashlight will light up just a pizza-size spot in the middle of the road, but this headlamp casts a wide swath of light completely across a small road, so you don’t have to scan for fallen limbs or porcupines – everything is lit up evenly and it’s much easier finding your way about.

The only downside to having the lamp right over your eyes is when it’s foggy or snowing, since it lights up everything right in front of your face. But simply take it in hand, as a very light flashlight, or attach it to your belt, and all is well again. In fact, it works so that you can press the button in for when you want to check something, and then let it go and it’ll go off. Much better than clicking through the four brightness settings time and again.

So I loved using this headlamp, and then I accidentally dropped it in salt water when kayaking. Not recommended. The directions actually say you can wash it out with fresh water and dry it, but I didn’t get to it for a couple of days, and it had of course corroded.

Well, I had to order a new one, and what do you know – it came with a little sticker on it that says, “New LED Technology, +80%.” What was this about?

I dug out the specs, and sure enough, they boosted the reach from 17m (at Maximum brightness) to 32m. And not only that, but they extended the battery life at Maximum from 80 to 100 hrs. In short, the Maximum setting on my old one is now the Economical setting and lasts twice as long. You can really see the difference – the Maximum setting lights up a yard and the red filter is now bright enough to hike by, when before it was best for reading or up-close work.

Way to go, Petzl.

Review by A Runner:

I’ve only had a chance to use the Tactikka Plus on one 6 mile run. So far I like it very much. It’s very lightweight, comfortable and stays in place. Some of the roads I run on are very well lit while others are almost completely dark. I wanted a light that was bright enough for me to see in the dark places even after my eyes had adjusted to the street-lit areas. The packaging for mine did not have the “80% Brighter” sticker that I have seen on similar new Petzl equipment so I wondered if it was going to work well for me. It did. Even at the low setting it was bright enough for me to see potholes and dips in the road. The light covers a wide area and reaches far enough in front that I don’t “outrun” it. The switch is easy to use. The adjustable angle housing is essential for dialing in exactly where you want the light pointed without having to hold your head at a weird angle.

The headband does soak up sweat and it did take a few hours to dry out. I don’t know if anything can be done to improve this.

Overall, I would recommend it to others. I would also check out the Princeton Tec Quad. It looks to be nearly identical but it is cheaper. It trades the flip up red lens on the Petzl for a waterproof housing.

*** UPDATE ***

I’ve now had this headlamp for 5 months and use it many times per week. Everything I liked about it initially I still like. For no apparent reason the lamp now will not turn off. Instead it goes into an ultra dim mode that you may not notice at first but continues to drain the batteries. I have not dropped or physically damaged the light. I’ve tried new batteries twice. Then I sent the lamp back to Petzl at my expense for their review. Customer service was excellent and prompt. They sent me a new lamp but unfortunately it is a Tactikka instead of a Tactikka Plus which means it only turns on or off. This is a shame because I use the lamp almost exclusively in the low setting.

While my old lamp was being evaluated I used a Princton Tec Fuel. Unfortunately for Petzl even though this lamp has only three LED’s it is an improvement over my Tactikka plus in every way except comfort. It is only slightly less comfortable to wear and the flood pattern is better (it has more of a spotlight in the center with a wider flood light on the sides). I ended up never using the red flip up filter on the Tactikka Plus because I wanted to make sure oncoming traffic could see me easily. I’ll be using the Fuel instead of the Tacktikka now.

Review by R. Jones:

Headlamps have almost made flashlights obsolete. My tween kids take these camping with scouts. Never a problem and auto turn off pays for itself in saved batteries. Now if they just don’t loose them!

Review by Thomas D. Darling:

We went cross country with our two and five year old sons, and they loved these. Easy to use, the battery lasted the entire trip, and the child features (break away strap; 1 hour auto turn-off) were great. The price was perfect, as I feared they would lose it along the way (they didn’t).

For all its strengths, the piece that holds the battery case closed is a cheap piece of plastic that snapped like nothing. I cob-jobbed it for the rest of the trip. It bugged me, so I sent it back. I got a refund because they were out of replacements for the season. When Black Diamond fixes that small flaw I would buy a case and give them out for presents (kids love getting headlamps).