Petzl Bindi Head Torch- Review

An item on the Large Outdoors kit list that often surprises people is the head torch. Unless you are doing one of our mega night walks on Snowdon or taking part in the Dark Skies Festival, you may think it’s a waste of time carrying one.

The fact is on most day walks, it is there in case of emergency. There are a few rare circumstances that may force us to complete the walk in the dark. If that happens though, the 12 mins of light from your iPhone before the battery goes dead isn’t going to cut it!

One the best things about Petzl’s Bindi Head Torch is its tiny size. I could put it behind my back and then hold both hands out so you could pick which one it hides in, like uncle Tony on a wet Sunday afternoon. It’s that small.  

It’s very light at 35g, so I don’t mind carrying it all the time in case of emergency. Because of its light weight, the strap that keeps it on your head is really simple. It’s just an elastic bungee with a cord grip to allow you to adjust the size. This leaves your hands free for balancing, scrambling, map reading or scratching your bum.

It’s rechargeable and uses a standard micro usb connector. The light has 3 different power levels; proximity, standard and max.  As you would expect, the brighter the light the faster it burns through the battery.  Light intensity gets measured in “lumens.” Do you know what a lumen looks like in reality? No, me neither.  So, “Proximity” , 5 lumens,  would allow you to read a book at night. It lasts for 50 hrs on that setting, so a very long night.. perhaps in the arctic circle… in winter… or something?

“Standard” is 100 lumens and this would be good enough to see the path pretty well under your feet as you walked off a hill. It can last for 3hrs on this strength. If ever you are being guided by Ben Henderson, ask him about our jaunt up Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag in the dark, this was the setting I used for that adventure.

“Max” power is 200 lumens and you could see about 35m down the path on this brightness but only for 2 hrs. Useful if you need to look around you when route finding.

You can’t change the focus of the light unlike some torches. It is set to give a fairly wide beam and I find this is set just right for moving quickly. I don’t get the “blinkered” feeling I get with some more focused lights. Cleverly, it also swivels backwards into its own mount when you stow it, and this stops it from accidentally turning itself on in your bag.  

It’s rated at IPX4, which means it is weather proof rather than waterproof. I’ve been out running in the rain with it and it lasted longer out there than I did.

So, this wouldn’t be my choice of torch for a “Snowdon Sunrise” trip because I’d want a bigger safety margin on the burn time, but it would definitely be in my bag as a back-up.  I wouldn’t want it on a search for Mountain Rescue because of the lack of a long throw powerful beam. But as a light for a night run around town, or as a “just in case” back-up this head torch goes in my rucksack every time.  Petzl Bindi Head Torch £32.95