User Review: Mammut Lucido TX1

I am a headlamp addict. I use them all the time, reading, around the house, hiking, hunting, I practically always have one strapped to my head. People make fun of me. I should just change my name to "headlamp".

I gave my Princeton Tec Apex away as a present with the intentions of getting myself another one, one of the new 100 lumen ones. I had read many reviews of the Mammut Lucido TX1. and only a couple negative ones and the hype really looked good.

So I threw the dice on the Mammut instead of another Apex. I should have been suspicious when I could not find how bright it was in lumens, only a beam distance, whatever that means. But almost everyone seemed to like it so I ordered one. I waited with baited breath for my headlamp that was brighter than any headlamp every concieved of, according to the hype. Even if the hype was wrong it surely would at least be just as good as my Apex.

That square beam that everyone yaps about that penetrates for miles - is as narrow as your hand. Great for illuminating a pinecone in the next county, useless for tracking game.

OMG!!! And the floods! Or should I say "what floods". The bright one is just bright enough to read with and I read with a rather dim setting. It also has a dual setting which you would think would be so awesome, and the apex doesn't have a dual setting so this was going to rock, or so I thought.

Well the floods are so dim the dual setting isn't much more than the beam setting. No wonder the batteries last so long.

It does have a few neat features like blinkie lights built into the battery pack. Wish my apex had that. Also the head of the lamp rotates backwards to protect it. And it doesn't glare on my glasses, a real pet peeve of mine.

It seems to be very cheaply made as well, not what I would expect on a headlamp in that price range. The battery cover is merely a thin rubber cover. The lamp housing seems very light and thin with no padding where it touches your head.

I at first thought this was going to be very uncomfortable but actually it was pretty comfy. I haven't worn it long enough to really give it a tryout though. It's just not bright enough to perform any tasks with. Except for that spotlight beam, which is not broad enough to see much except for a pinpoint in front of you.

I compared it with my apex and the beam does indeed seem to be brighter. Not by much though. I compared it to my Petzl Tikka Plus and the Tikka is almost brighter on the lowest setting as the Mammut is on the brightest flood setting. The Mammut does have an amazingly even beam though. Great for reading and I do read in bed with headlamps a lot. I don't need a headlamp with a large battery pack to read with though.

Moving on, the buttons are very hard to press. I wouldn't mind if the thing was actually bright but as it is it's just another negative. The button sequence is different than my Apex, a little confusing but I could get used to it. The battery pack comes off so you can put it in your shirt or something. What I would put in my shirt is a headlamp that can actually illuminate something.

I don't understand all the love for the Mammut!??!? I wonder if those headlamp users have ever tried anything else?

Oh, I finally found the info on lumens in fine print in the little sheet that came with it. 30 FRIGGIN' LUMENS ON HIGH SPOTLIGHT BEAM!!! oneone1111!!!eleventy!!! I think the floods are too dim to be measured my lumens.

What on earth was Backpacker magazine thinking?!? I wish I could return it but I don't think I can as nothing is really wrong with it and I have used it some trying to find a use for it.

It gets dark early here so I wear a headlamp and piddle in the yard. I am planting a garden this year and put my onions in. I have no Apex anymore (poor me) but I still have a Corona and Quad (and others) and both of those worked just fine in my garden.

Last night I wore a headlamp so I wouldn't step in doggie poo when I took out the trash. I was trying out the Mammut. I didn't step in poopie but it was just luck because I had to strain to see turds. Any of my other headlamps and I actually forget it's night.

When I first got it I wore it around the neighborhood and pretended I was tracking a deer. It didn't really work too well. The bright beam is just so narrow it doesn't work at all up close. Neither do the floods unfortunately. It was OK for cooking on the grill but luckily I have patio lights.

I guess if I had never tried a headlamp I would have liked it more but I have an extensive headlamp collection. It just doesn't perform like a headlamp in that price range should perform. If it were 20 bucks I wouldn't call it a deal but I would not feel cheated either.

In summary, the bright beam is too narrow to do much, and the floods to dim. The new Princeton Tec apex had A 130 LUMEN SPOTLIGHT, and is cheaper to boot.

The claims just don't make sense. I don't see what the appeal is to this light. Maybe it's battery longevity but I have never exasted my other headlamps' batteries on a trip.

The blinkie thing is cool but I'm just reaching now because I don't normally give bad reviews.