REASONS TO BUY
Reasonably priced
Very easy to use
Good battery life
Red LED
Durable design
REASONS TO AVOID
Below average trail lighting in spot mode
Average flood lighting
Petzl Tikka Review
A good light but outperformed by the Petzl Tikkina, which costs less, unless you need red LED light
Credit: Abriah Wofford
By RJ Spurrier ⋅ Senior Review Editor ⋅ May 28, 2018
RELATED: The Hunt for the Best Headlamps
Our Verdict
The Petzl Tikka has a lot of what we feel is most important in a light: a quality design that will last for years, super-easy to use, and lighting power that will meet most people's practical needs. At $30 list, and often available for less online, the Tikka is reasonably priced too. The main problem we have with the Tikka, is not the Tikka itself, but it's little brother, the Petzl Tikkina, which performs better overall for 33% lower price. Unless we needed the red LED light offered in the Tikka, which can help as a great nightlight in the tent for younger kids or for astronomy fans who want to preserve their night sky vision, the Tikka just doesn't justify $10 higher price over the Tikkina, which offers nearly identical performance, and is even easier to use, for less money. And, if even if we did need the red LED, and if weight and packed size were concerns, then the Petzl Zipka selling for the same price, but taking up less room in your pack and weighing 24% less, is a better choice. As a result, the Tikka is a bit wedged in between two lights from the same company, that offer compelling offerings.
Our Analysis and Test Results
There is so much to love about the Petzl Tikka that we find it regrettable to confess we feel most people should buy one of the sister products, either the Petzl Tikkina that offers similar performance for 33% lower price (but without the red LED), or Petzl Zipka which sells for the same price and offers the exact same lighting features & performance, for 24% lower weight and smaller packed size.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Trail Finding
The trail finding score was OK in general but pretty poor compared to top-performing lights that also list for $30, such as the Black Diamond Spot.
As you can see in the beam comparison images below The Spot is considerably brighter than the Tikka.
Beam Distance Photos
Petzl Tikka
Black Diamond Spot
Close Proximity
The Tikka is below average in its flood mode lighting, with a score 4 of 10. While it is perfectly functional, it lacks the wide even lighting of the BD Spot.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Battery Life
You are likely to rely on a light like the Tikka primarily for close-proximity flood lighting, and it offers impressive battery life for that application.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Weight
By design, the Tikka is one of the lighter headlamps, although certainly not the lightest.
Ease of Use
The Tikka is quite easy to use and has the same intuitive one button activation as the rest of the Tikka line. However, the string headband makes it hard to use when wearing gloves. The Tikka does attach well to helmets.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Best Applications
The Tikka is well suited for an application like a 3-5 day backpacking trip, where weight and size matter, but so much as to mandate the most ultralight solutions like the Petzl e+LITE. For a weekend backcountry trip, the Petzl Tikkina or BD Spot are a better choice though, since they offer much superior performance as a general-purpose light.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Value
In the current headlamp market, $30 is a price that needs to deliver a lot of performance. The Tikka is kind of a special-purpose solution, in that it is not the light we'd choose for general-purpose use, which means buying it involves a compromise on performance in the long run. The beam power and other lighting metrics are just not that impressive for the price of this light.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Conclusion
We consider the Tikka to be a quality light, but not our pick. The Petzl Tikkina is a strong competitor at a lower price, and the Black Diamond Spot offers better performance for the same price.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Petzl Tikka versus top competing products:
—RJ Spurrier
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