Petzl Bindi

[Trial153]

Does anyone have any feedback on this light ? At 1.5 oz very light....
Battery life? Functionality?

 

[fngTony]

Literally just now opened mine. Three thoughts jump out at me. 1. It swivels almost 360, the moving parts feel solid for how small it is. 2. It comes with a micro usb cord. As an iPhone user I’m happy to not have to go buy one to keep in my kit. 3. The string or strap that goes on your head is pretty stout with some grip. Just enough stretch, no slop. I’ll post more by Monday after some use.

 

[fngTony]

Did some testing in my dark basement for some initial thoughts. Red light is good for reading or digging in your pack but I couldn’t even walk down my stairs with it. White light has three levels, the lowest is good for walking while preserving light. Way brighter than I expected on the other settings. Light quality is excellent so far. Nothing looks cheap in materials. Button is easy to operate even with a light glove there is enough feel and a definitive click, although it’s not a loud sound.

I really like the string because it’s just right, not to stiff or sloppy. Does it’s job. For reference it’s almost indentical to what’s used on the R.Y.O. Bino harness. Good job having the cord Y out to keep it balanced. Just a simple cord lock. Very little to fail here.

. Not sure if this can be seen but there is a seem in the housing over the cord, possibly a fail point maybe? However the cord is continuous, not just tied in at each end.

. When charging the red light comes on. Not sure I like this. So far I think this an ultra light lamp with average light output. Not enough for poor visibility but it’s not intended for that. Could definitely be a backup or main light depending on your scenario. It almost disappears in a cargo pocket. Turning it to line up the switch to a lock symbol hopefully prevents unwanted use. We’ll see, not sure this will hold up over time.

 

[104TN]

I've had a Bindi for roughly a month now. I haven't used it a ton (more on why to follow), but I really liked the idea of a light this size optimized for neck wear. I like Black Diamond's Spot a lot (I just sold one still in the box to another board member and still have 3-4 floating around) and often find myself wearing them around my neck instead of on my head. The challenge wearing the Spot in this manner is that the band is relatively short and the strap material fairly think - making it pretty uncomfortable if you wear it around your neck for more than a short period of time. It's also hard to get pointed where you want it without actually holding it...which kind of defeats the purpose of a headlamp.

Given all that, I was really excited to order a Bindi. However, there are some functional issues with the light that were disappointing to me. The first is that the mount the light body sits in has these small detents that in theory are supposed to make it easy to keep the light pointed where you want it. The problem is that the detents are plastic and even with no real field use are starting to lose their hold.

My 2nd beef was/is the real deal breaker. I like red lights for most situations at night. My preference is for red lights to have a decent flood over a wide area (think lighting up a tent/vestibule or making it easy to dig around the back of a truck) and for white lights to have a strong throw for spotlighting targeted areas (think looking down a trail or into the woodline to see what’s making a strange noise). The Spot does these two things amazingly well…which is why I have a bunch of them. The Bindi’s red light has more of a throw than a flood…and not a particularly strong one. Its white light has more of a throw than a flood too (which is fine), but unfortunately it really isn’t any stronger than the red light.

If someone were to combine the Spot’s light with the Bindi’s mount (with stronger detents) it’d be the best headlamp/necklamp on the market in my opinion. For now, I think the Spot is still the better light for my needs. Hope that helps.

 

[Trial153]

Thanks for the reviews, appreciate it. I am trying to save weight and this might be in the cards

 

[mvmnts]

Take a look at the Nitecure NU25 w/ the Litesmith ultralight strap (I just made my own with shockcord I ordered from them).

Nitecore(R) NU25 Triple Output USB Rechargeable Headlamp | Litesmith

It's stupid light, has solid detents, good battery life, auxillery warm white flood lamp, and 3 mode red bulb. The high setting for red has a nice flood. It's also a high CRI CREE LED for color accuracy at night, useful for blood trailing.

 

[fngTony]

Updating my thoughts after a few months of use. Quality is fine, no defects. Really handy that a dim red light indicates a low battery. The cold (single digits) hasn’t sucked the battery down. Charging is quick so that one caveat of having to stop a top it off when needing to use it isn’t a big deal if you make a routine to do so at camp every so often.

I did leave it unused and uncharged at the low battery indication for two weeks. I then turned it on and got about 1.5 hours of dim light.

I really can’t say that it’s an ultra small & light replacement for your main light. The beam just doesn’t go that far. When on easy to moderate terrain, camp chores, breaking down your kill it’s great. The light is bright at a typical flood pattern.

I like it for a 90% light. I was about to buy the elight but other than battery life I don’t see any advantage. The bindi is well worth the weight, cost increase plus if your main light goes out I’d much rather have this.

 

[Trial153]

I got one, used it sparingly so far. I like it.
This is a camp light and back up light. It's not what I want for a primary light or sticky situation
The weight and how easy it is to charge with small cords I already have make this a great addition. I am glad I got it.