User Review: Petzl MYO XP

Petzl MYO XP
Above: The current MYO XP, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed April 21, 2007 by George C. Benson, Jr

Rating:
Price Paid: $71.95

At first, I thought this could be one of the best all around headlights. It's well made, and is also a nice looking headlamp that looks good on me. I also like the head strap that goes around the head. Three point strap is good when not wanting to wear a hat, but I do wear a hat most of the time when camping, hiking or working at night in wildlife research. Without the three point strap system I can wear the headlight on the outside of my Tilley Hat that I wear 90% of the time, or even when needed, wear it over top of a wool cap. And it's easier to wear a wool cap and pull the back of the cap over the battery pack to keep the batteries warm in cold weather.

However, after getting the light and using it in the field and on few hikes, I was a little disappointed. The light starts off bright, but the lux rating is not very high (Doesn't illuminate distant objects), and it start dimming soon after tuning it on in a slow steady decline meaning the light is not regulated. The lack of regulations is the biggest problem I have with this headlamp. After only about 30 minutes of use with the light set on the High setting, the lights output is down to about 60% of its beginning brightness putting out less light the my Princeton Tec Apex Headlamp in the Low 3 Watt Mode. Then it declines steadily to 50% of its start-out brightness in less then 5 hours. I just can't imagine why Petzl would go through the trouble of making a great looking light such as this, and put such high degree of excellence into most everything else on the light, but then not use a regulator to regulate power/light output throughout the life of the batteries. It's just dumb, just dumb!

Other problems I have with MYO XP is the fact that you can't use Lithium AA batteries for better cold weather performance. With Alkaline AA's after just a few hours in temperatures below 30 degrees F., the batteries are greatly reduced in capacity. After 5 hours below 25 degrees, I turned on the headlamp and the LED just about glowed, and that's all the output I got. So, in cold weather use, you would need to keep the headlamp's battery pack under a pull over cap to keep the batteries warm and the light working good. But if you are not wearing a wool cap, this could be a problem. Also, there is the fact that the headlamp is not very waterproof. I'd call it splash proof at best. And the operations buttons/switches are too small for big hands like mine or anyone wearing gloves.

Compared to my Princeton Tec Apex Headlamp, the Apex is much brighter has better throw and it will take Alkaline, Lithium or Rechargeable NiMH AA's giving more power options, and with Lithium AA's, much better cold weather performance. Not only is the Princeton Tec much bright with better throw, it's also regulated. With Lithium AA's the Apex will run in the High 3 Watt Mode at about 90% of it's start out brightness for about 5 1/2 hours, then it drops out of regulation, and gives a few hours of dim light to find your spare batteries. And it will give you over 24 hours of regulated light on the Low 5 mm LED's setting, giving more then enough light for most tasks in and around camp, in the tent or even walking a paved path. Also, the Apex is completely waterproof so there is no worry regarding wearing it in heavy rain.

If Petzl upgrades the MYO XP by putting in a regulator, allows for use of Lithium AA's, makes the MYO XP water proof and gives it bigger button switches, then they will have one for the best all around headlamps. So, they have some work that needs to be done. As of now, I'd call it a good headlamp, not a great headlamp. I really only wanted to give the MYO XP a 2 Star Rating, but it's a good looking headlamp and only because I'm in a good mood today, I'll give it 3 Stars. But Petzl needs to get moving on this and make these much needed improvements.