Silva Cross Trail 2 vs Petzl Zipka plus headtorch

Comparison review of the Petzl Zipka plus and the Silva Cross Trail 2 headtorches.

Petzl Zipka plus rrp £44.95

Silva Cross Trail 2 rrp £99.95

So I decided to take the plunge and enter the Delamere Forrest Night run, a new experience for me, so  I needed to get a headtorch. First up was the Petzl Zipka, which was kindly loaned to me by a friend, initially I thought great, nice and light, looks like its not going to be a distraction. 

So evening comes and of we go for a training run, Ian and I both wearing Petzl, I had Zipka and he had Tikka.

The obvious difference being that the Tikka had headband, whereas the Zipka had unique retractable cord, with a rubberised pad on the back of the torch to give grip.

During the run initially we started along a paved canal path and for this purpose the light output 80lumens was fine the combined light from both was more than sufficient for this purpose. The run then moved onto an offroad track, with mud, puddles and ruts. The run then became a bit more of a challenge with some concentration really needed to miss the biggest puddles, making running somewhat difficult. Also throughout the run I found it difficult to keep the torch where 

I needed it, with a lot of movement around the forehead.

On the night of the Delamere run, I took the decision to wear a cap underneath the torch, this alleviated the problems of moving the torch throughout the run, allowing me to concentrate more o. The tarrain rather than the torch. On the gravel tracks of the forrest all was fine with vision being sufficient, I did struggle with dark wooded areas with rocks and roots, and heavy mud, having to constantly look at my feet, making the running difficult. A lot of the time I relied on the stronger torches of people around me to illuminate the route ahead. A feature of the torch I didnt require was the red led used for map reading, where it is important to remain underected.

Race complete, I'm bit by the bug, next purchase a stronger headtorch, following recomendationsmby my friends on therunningbug.com I went for the Silva Cross Trail 2 with its 250 lumen output.

In the box came the torch, headband, battery compartment, 4 x AA batteries, plus bonus items I wasnt expecting an attachment to add to my cycle handlebars, and an attachment to fasten the torch to a cycle helmet, as well as a belt to attach the battery pack.

On wearing the torch for the first time, I was,impressed how comfortable the torch was, nice,and light, the battery pack attached to the accompanying belt meant the torch was nicely balanced on the head.

I couldnt wait to get out, so Ian was called out again, we avoided the canal and went straight for the mud and rocks. Instantly we were amazed at the light the torch was kicking out. The torch has 4 modes, high (90m), med (60m), low (40m) and wide beam which has a 20m radius, (all modes are combined with the wide beam to give a view ahead and around your feet which feels great, Silva call it intelligent light).

View on wide beam only. (Similar to zipka full power)

View on max power.

On full power the torch can last upto 5hrs, with advertised lifespan of upto 30hrs on minimum, so plenty of power for those 10k/13 miles training runs, I found that that min mode was more than sufficient for the terrain.

The torch has a big power button, easy to use with gloves on, mode is changed with a simple press of the button, light angle is also easily adjusted with a rotating bezel. Upon turning the torch off, there is also a useful battery indicator by way of a green/amber/red led inicating battery percentage remaining.

Comment by Ian at the end of the run was that he now had lumen envy.

So in summary, both are great torches, however, for running on even suraces I would recomend the tikka rather than the zipka as the hearband made the torch feel much steadier on the head, the zipka I think is more of a walking torch, to be used with hats/helmets. but for the serious offroading, on uneven surfaces for me the Cross Trail 2 is perfect, not too expensive but more than capable of doing the job, easy to use, comfortable and efficient.