Best for: Frequent users, off-track tramping.

Plusses: Adaptive lighting, very bright, lightweight, comfortable
Minuses: Power switch could be bigger; can’t use normal batteries

Features: The Swift RL is as smart as it is small and bright. Reactive lighting technology is used to analyse ambient light and automatically adjust the brightness and beam pattern to suit. It’s Petzl’s most powerful compact headlamp, packing 1100 lumens. It weighs 100g and has a 2350 mAh USB-C rechargeable battery (five-hour charge time). The battery is removable and powers a minimum seven hours in standard mode. The lamp has red-light mode with a strobe function, and a five-level battery gauge.

Fit: The headband has plenty of adjustment and will fit those with or without a helmet.

Comfort: It’s the most comfortable and stable headlamp I’ve worn, thanks to a soft padded front fabric and split construction at the back. It’s quick to adjust and stays tight.

In use: Operation is simple, with a single button to switch between Reactive or normal modes (each has three power levels). In the intelligent Reactive mode, a sensor determines the needed light output. This depends on what you’re looking at, and how bright and close the object is. This is not a new feature for Petzl but it has been refined, and while it may sound gimmicky, it works incredibly well. The benefits are that you don’t dazzle yourself switching between subjects, and battery efficiency is improved as the lamp is never brighter than it needs to be. 

The power switch can be long-pressed to prevent the lamp turning on inadvertently – a feature I always look for – but it’s a little fiddly to use with a large glove on. The battery can be charged from a powerbank, but if it goes flat in the field you’ll need a spare as the lamp won’t take regular batteries. And those 1100 lumens shorten battery life when compared with other, less-bright lamps.

Value: It’s expensive, but you get high tech, low weight and lots of lumens for your money.

Verdict: While 1100 lumens will be excessive for some, adventurous trampers, runners and climbers will benefit from this light, bright and responsive headlamp.