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Reviewer's
Impressions:
The Zipka and the Tikka are great general use headlamps
for close area lighting. The Zipka with its retractable
cord is an excellent backup headlamp. It is small to
pack, easy to use, and extremely lightweight. The Tikka
is its more durable big brother which utilizes a conventional
headband. While the Zipka could be susceptible to contaminates
fouling the retracting mechanism for the cord headband,
the Tikka does not suffer from this potential vulnerability.
The body of both the Zipka and the Tikka are made from
an undisclosed plastic. The Zipka body is translucent
clear and blue, allowing the user to observe the headband
retracting mechanism. The Zipka headband is self adjusting,
tightening on the users head as the mechanism attempts
to self retract. When removing the headlamp from the
head it is important to remove the back plate first,
otherwise the hair can become entangled in the mechanism.
The Tikka is opaque blue and gray. It has a fully adjustable
2 point headband which is removable for replacement
or cleaning.
The Zipka headband creates 2 pressure points where
the main parts press against the user's head. To help
avoid any discomfort the front portion is padded with
a foam backing. The Tikka is a touch more comfortable
as the headband applies equal pressure around the user's
head.
Neither headlamp is vertically adjustable.
The bezel is pointed downward at a good angle for general
close tasks and provides a nice flood of light. The
bezel itself is simply a matte silver/gray reflector
that contains 3 white LEDs. In front of the LEDs is
a clear plastic lens which can be replaced. Colored
lenses are available as accessories. For some reason
the Zipka evaluated had much brighter LEDs than the
Tikka evaluated. The Tikka may have simply been old
stock. The LEDs were all color matched very well.
Accessing the battery compartment is very
simple in both headlamps. There is a tab at the top
that is pressed inward using either the cord compartment
of the Zipka or one of the plastic adjusters on the
Tikka headband. Opening the compartment reveals the
3 AAA batteries.
The back separates completely from the
front and the two halves of the clamshell design are
held together by a pair of straps that rest under the
batteries. When reassembling the headlamp it is important
to make sure that the tabs at the base of the back plate
are inserted into the front plate before snapping the
two halves together.
The switches are basic sliders that turn the unit on
and off. Simple and effective.
Water resistance is negligible in both units. They
should work OK when damp/wet inside, but will require
drying.
The Tikka included a pouch for storage. This is available
as an additional accessory.
Photo
courtesy of Petzl - Used with Permission
Overall, good little general use headlamps. The Zipka's
self enclosed, self retracting headband makes it an
excellent candidate for disaster kits, tossing in the
bottom of a pack as a backup, or just general use.
+ + + Pluses: Long battery life, Bright, Easy
battery change, Lightweight, Convenient
- - - Minuses: Not water resistant,
Keep the Zipka self winding mechanism away from mud
and grime, Lamps not vertically adjustable.
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