It's not often that I stumble upon a green gadget that makes me bow down and scream, "we're not worthy!" But I'm doing that very thing to the Petzl CORE rechargeable battery at this moment (seriously, I am).
Who is Petzl?
If you're not a hiker, climber, camper, or night runner you probably have no idea who Petzl is. The short answer is that they're one of the most respected names in outdoor sports. Though most of their gear caters specifically to those outdoor activities of the vertical nature (i.e. climbing, canyoning, ice climbing, etc), they're also a top name in the world of headlamps.
And that's where the CORE battery comes in.
What makes the CORE rechargeable headlamp battery so genius?
It's the perfect marriage of form, function, environmental responsibility, and business.
As anyone who's spent much time with an awesome-looking headlamp strapped across their forehead will tell you, you can burn through some batteries quick, fast, and in a hurry. That means that your love and exploration of the great outdoors results in an ironic and hefty environmental impact.
Petzl's CORE battery eradicates this problem.
Backwards compatibility
Instead of doing something stupid like coming out with a new line of rechargeable headlamps, Petzl engineered a rechargeable battery that could be retrofitted to any of their popular TIKKA2, TIKKA PLUS2, TIKKA XP2, ZIPKA2, ZIPKA PLUS2, and TIKKINA2 headlamps.
That, boys and girls,is evidence of a company that "gets it". They understand that they can still sell a product but without furthering the e-waste dilemma by requiring consumers to ditch their non-rechargeable head lamps in favor of their new CORE headlamps.
Genius.
Before we talk about what makes this rechargeable battery system even more amazing (and useful), check out this product overview video:
Why can't I just use rechargeable AA's or AAA's in my headlamp?
You can. Switching to rechargeable batteries is easier than you think. You could just re-tool your battery arsenal with rechargeable ones and, in addition to using them in your remote controls and other small home electronics, use those for your headlamp.
But the second element of genius I see in Petzl's rechargeable CORE battery is in the free software that you can download with it.
The "OS by Petzl" software (in both mac and PC versions, by the way), allows you to control the power consumption and light brightness from your computer! Yeah, that's brilliant.
You can choose from activity-based presets or set your own customized ones. If you need maximum battery life for an all-night ultra trail run, there's a setting for that. If you want maximum brightness for a dark hot lap at your local mountain bike track, there's a preset for that as well.
Check out this demo of the OS by Petzl software:
Do you see what Petzl has done?
They created a product that:
- reduces disposable battery consumption
- saves you money
- doesn't require you to ditch another product to upgrade to a newer one
- directly combat e-waste
...and they do all of that while pairing it with free software that not only adds even greater functionality, but still makes you want to actually buy the product (rather than just use rechargeable AA's or AAA's).
You can pick up the CORE Rechargeable battery from outdoor retailers everywhere. My store of choice, REI, currently has the battery available for $39.95.
What do you think of the new CORE headlamp battery from Petzl?
Comments
Leave a comment