The Tikka Plus 2 is a great headlamp. It is lightweight and has a bright projection. Thinking about purchasing another one.

I ordered this headlamp for a 3.5 months trekking trip in South America. I wanted a compact and durable headlamp for all sorts of uses, from hiking at night to reading in the tent. This headlamp is exactly what I was looking for. It is very bright, super light, and well built. You can choose between three modes for the white light : bright, low, or flashing, and two modes for the red light : constant or flashing.

The red light is perfect for uses when you don't want to loose your night vision (e.g. quickly checking something at night) or disturb others (e.g. reading in the tent while others are asleep). It is also ideal for animal watching at night, as some animals are less sensitive to red light and thus will be less frightened than with a white light.

The only negative point I have with this headlamp is that I find the way of choosing the mode (bright, low or flashing) a bit complicated : you have to press several time quickly to get to the mode you want, if you wait too long the next press will simply turn the lamp off. Also, it does not remember which mode you were using when you turn it off, only which color.

It must be the style. I can get a very usable LED headlamp for about $10. The Ray-O-Vac I purchased 4 years ago is still working with the original batteries and it also gives me the option to use a krypton lamp for focused distance illumination.
A scout is thrifty, so is unlikely to go camping with a petzl.

When I first ordered the headlamp, I was very worried about the clear case because I read some review saying that it spills out light onto the face and is distracting. I wear glasses, and another review site suggested that it would be a real problem.
I would like to confirm that this is totally not the case. The clear housing of the headlamp does spill out some light, but it is very very minimal. I used my hand to block the bottom of the housing to compare and it really makes no difference. I also have have the Energizer 6 LED headlamp and that one spills out a lot of light onto my glasses making things hard to see.
Overall, I am very happy with the purchase. An upgrade to the Tikka XP 2 can be made for $5 by switching out the LED. Search for SSC P4 (which is the LED installed in Tikka XP 2) in google. Soldering skills are required for the upgrade.

Great buy!

My significant other uses this all the time. He's a mechanic and absolutely loves this. Even if he's working outside on the house and the sun is going down this headlamp comes in extremely handy. Very durable - so far even in light rain. Would definitely recommend this product.