Backpacking

Petzl Myo 5 Headlamp

Serious hands-free night lighting

I have been using — and buying– headlamps for years, and I have a box full of lamps in the garage to prove it. Petzl is the leader in headlamps these days, and ruled the roost for the last few years with the Petzl Duo. But now Petzl has topped itself with the new Myo line. My favorite is the Petzl Myo 5, a sweet lightweight combo xenon halogen spot with a 5-led area lamp, all powered by 4 AA cells in a compact case attached to the headband. This is enough oomph to run the halogen spot for 4 hours, and the LEDS for 30- 100 hrs, depending on the setting. Note that the Myobelt 5 (accent on “belt”) uses C-cells on a belt pouch and claims 11hrs runtime on halogen, and up to 360 hrs on LED. The Myo’s new design runs rings around the Duo: a much more compact design, with a new switch (the bezel rotates) that unlike the duo can easily be manipulated with gloves on. Even the reflector is better — one session trying the myo and the Duo side by side sent my much-loved Duos to the box of obsolete headlamps in the garage.

-- Paul Saffo 11/17/03

(This model is no longer available. If you are using a more current version of the Petzl Myo 5 or any equivalent headlamp, please let us know. -- SL — editors)

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