PETZL Swift RL Headlamp - SS21

Product Information

The SWIFT RL PRO headlamp ensures the right lighting at the right time to provide the brightness you need for small maintenance jobs, for precision when attention to detail is required, or for total discretion when necessary. The SWIFT RL PRO includes a five-level indicator to let you know how much battery power remains when you turn on or turn off your headlamp. We will keep customer information safe and secure and will not distribute or sell this information to a third party. This is not a cheap head torch and I think I’d rather have less technology and a lighter price tag. A possible alternative could be the Petzl IKO Core.

Since then there have been leaps and bounds of development, and we now have more choice of torches than ever before. You can go all out for lumens, or opt for a longer battery life; you can make it simple and lightweight, or dazzle yourself with a plethora of modes and settings; some torches have inbuilt USB-rechargeable batteries, while others even connect to your phone for programmable control. One minor criticism is that the SWIFT battery is a bit awkward to remove, but given that the USB is readily accessible, and I don't actually have a spare battery to replace it with, this hasn't presented a major problem; however, if you were trying to fiddle with it wearing gloves, whilst battling with the elements on a mountainside, it could be quite awkward. Modes and Operation It feels very light on your head, which is definitely helped by the comfortable headband. It doesn’t travel down your forehead even when you are running, so you don’t constantly have to readjust it. Beam OptionsI tried this and I still got confused. Perhaps I am a bit dim or perhaps I need to get more used to the differences but in the end I just switched the beam to standard and got on with my run. I should point out I have used the head torch more than 20 times and in different locations and situations. Minimum burn time of 7 hours in REACTIVE LIGHTING® mode (STANDARD level), built to power through long activities I am told (by the brand representative) that I am very firmly in a minority of people who don’t rave about the Swift and the reactive beam, but there you go. I am simply stating my opinion and how I have found the head torch. I have tested many head torches over the past decade so I feel qualified to say what works and doesn’t work so well.

I have a friend who has a Swift RL, too, and I asked him which settings he uses, to which he replied, “I only use reactive lighting”. He doesn’t do any camping or fishing, just cycling, running, and walking the dog, so that makes sense.The maximum beam distance is about 150 meters in the highest power mode, and on the lowest beam, you get around 12 meters of visibility. In reality, you rarely need to use the high power setting on this headlamp unless you need to see far into the distance for some reason (like looking for your dog). The medium setting or reactive lighting is more than enough for things like jogging and cycling. However, this is all detail – the fact is, the Petzl Swift RL headtorch delivers impressive performance in lighting stuff up when you want it lit up, which is the job at hand. We liked the reactive setting, which does indeed conserve battery power, but it's easy to see how it could be annoying for some applications. Petzl Swift RL head torch review: verdict