Princeton Tec Quest Headlamp
By Dave Loveland

I have to admit, for a long time I thought headlamps were for sissies. I thought that unless you were digging coal 300 feet underground, one needed a headlamp about as much as someone working the night shift in Seattle needed sunscreen.

On a backpacking trip to Wyoming's Wind Rivers, my friend (lets call him Dave to protect the insolent) brought his Princeton headlamp. I had my mini flashlight, the same one I had packed around for years. I made sure he knew I thought he looked like that kid in school that had the full metal headset braces thing. He, setting up his stove in the dark, using both hands, me also using both hands, flashlight clenched in teeth, the way real men do. Except every 4th or 5th breath, I'd have to stop getting dinner ready, get the flashlight out of my mouth, slurp up the slobber, and then back to getting the food ready. He, flyfishing after sunset, using his headlamp to change flies, me, again, slobbering all down my flashlight, and almost dropping it in the lake. I had used the flashlight for years, slobber and all, just figured that was the way it was. But watching him, I started to think that maybe it was time to start looking at headlamps.

The clincher came during a winter trip, (without Dave, we had parted ways - something about him being a sissy and me having too much drool) I was setting my tent up, my hands were cold, and the flashlight slipped-one minute it was there, the next it is pitch black. It took a minute of frantic searching for the light, all the while I am thinking about that guy who freezes to death because he drops his matches in Jack London's To Build a Fire. When I did find the flashlight, my hands were so cold that when put it back in my mouth, I smacked the butt of the flashlight on my chattering front teeth hard enough to make me think I had cracked a tooth or two.

Guess what I got for Christmas that year? My friend Dave had slipped a Princeton Tech Solo headlight under my tree, and it has been with me every trip since. It is a reliable and worry free companion. Don't get me wrong, you have to change batteries and the bulb once in awhile, but I count it as no small miracle that when I am wearing it, what ever I look at lights up.

The fully adjustable headband really will fit anyone, I have had children as young as seven wear it. You get used to having it on, and unlike the headgear for braces, it goes on and comes off your head in just seconds. To turn the light on, you twist the lamp section on, and a reverse twist gets it off. There is no "on/off" button to fumble for or break, and it can be turned on and off with heavy gloves on. You do need to make sure that it is twisted far enough off so that if it gets some pressure on it, say compressed in your back pack, it won't go on by itself and wear out the batteries lighting up the inside of your pack.

The light also adjusts on a hinge that clicks into place. I find that I usually set it in one position for what I am doing and leave it there. For example, when your fishing, you will need it locked at a steep angle so it points at your hands, and when your hiking, you need up positioned up so it points straight ahead.

I have had it soaked several times- building snow caves for example, and setting up a tent in the rain a time or two, and it never even blinked. Princeton claims it is water proof down to 2000 feet. I have no proof of that, but if you're down that deep, light is going to be the least of your worries. I do know that it makes everything from setting up a post sunset camp to reeling in a Cutthroat looking for a midnight snack easier, and eliminates the drool factor.

Summary: Longest time spent with a headlamp on: A six-hour ascent to base camp in a snow storm. Most bizarre activity with headlamp on: trying to fish out a kitten that was born in the attic, and had fallen in the space between the bricks and the plywood. Most common use of headlamp: a tie between flyfishing after dark, setting up camp at night, and reading in my tent at night. This headlamp is very durable, takes up minimal power, and provides trusty light where you want it. It is one of those things that you wonder how you did without it.

David Loveland is a new contributor to GearReview.com specializing in winter backcountry adventure.

For more information, contact:
Princeton Tec
PO BOX 8057
Trenton, NJ 08650
08650