by lenslover2003 » Aug 21, 2008 11:46 am
Aubicon,Cave Rat, and others......
With regards to wondering about the Apex and Myo XP, before you buy anything,please take the time to study the Headlamp sub-forum,on the Candle Power Forums. These guys are experts,and several of the regular posters are either industry insiders,or work for people who are close to the industry.
For example,regarding the Apex..... Princeton Tec is supposedly going to put out their new updated version,THIS MONTH,according to the CPF scuttlebutt. I guess we will see,but if you can hold off for awhile,on your next light purchase,you might be really happy you did.
From the pictures of beam shots on CPF,the NEW Myo seems to be much brighter than the old version. Since it uses a vastly improved LED,that's to be expected. The one thing to look for,is to make sure you are buying the grey model,and not the older blue one. I am guessing they would have some lettering on the box,to indicate "new and improved",but you never know. The one thing that puts me off about most Petzl lights,is the lack of regulation. For me,that's a deal breaker.
There are other lights out there that might interest you,but not many. The Dosun headlamp,marketed by Fenix,seems to be a mild disappointment,from what I have read on CPF. It has an adjustable beam pattern,but the maximum lumen output (90) seems a little low,compared to what you might expect. But,in it's defense,it only uses 3 AA batteries,instead of 4,like other models. It looks a lot like a Yukon headlamp.
The other light that looks nice,but will probably fade away, due to lack of exposure,is the Racelight,marketed by Primus. It runs on 4 AA's, and has a maximum output of somewhere around 140 lumens. That's pretty impressive. The bad thing about the light,is that the beam seems to be all "spot",and not much "flood". It would probably be a great light for walking back in the dark,or spotting high leads in caves,but it could use some sort of diffuser. Maybe you could use one from an old Myo?
These are just a few things to keep in mind. To be upfront,I have never actually held any of these new lights,or even seen them. I have only read about them.
Frankly,considering the state of the art in flashlights,I am appalled it has taken this long, to finally get newer LED's in headlamps!
Blessed are the cracked......for they shall let in the light.......