Headlamps have come a long way in the last few years, giving more bright for less buck, and Princeton Tec seems to have the formula dialed in with the Fuel. At only 2.7oz you'll forget the Fuel is mounted on your brain bucket, but you'll never fail to appreciate the 35 lumens of illumination provided by four LEDs.
The Fuel is low-profile, barely big enough to hold its three AAA batteries (included, no less). Even with such a light light, Princeton didn't skimp on the headband: it's plenty wide and has a soft lining. The feature set is complete, with three brightness levels and a flash mode, ranging from 50 to 160 hours rated runtime and 15 to 35 meters throw, all roughly accurate in testing. Field of view side-to-side is also good.
Usability is great. The clever little hobbitses at Princeton obviously put some thought into the design, even making the plastic buckle double as a tool to release the battery compartment cover. The beam can be adjusted through a full 90 degrees vertically, and the body has a little lip on it that makes adjustments easy even with one gloved hand. Given the features you'd expect to pay a lot more for this little gem of a lamp, but the price is just icing on the cake.
One response to “Princeton Tec Fuel headlamp”
That looks great and at only 2.7 ounces you really would not know it was there.