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November 2015 Issue
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UCO A-120

UCO A-120

Price:

$84.95

Our Rating:

Simplicity is the most appealing aspect of UCO’s A-120 headlamp. There’s no confusing combination of buttons or modes accessed via a single button pressed within a certain time limit. Just twist the lamp clockwise to turn it on with the more you turn it, the brighter the beam becomes. Twist it anti-clockwise for a night vision-preserving red light.

The light offers 120 lumens and is run by three AAA batteries offering up to 200hr of light in the lowest light output and a beam distance of up to 51m – more than ample for most tasks I needed it for.

UCO promises its neoprene strap to be headache free. It offers a fraction of the stretch found on most other lamp headbands with adjustment coming from a velcro strap that folds onto itself. So while you can over tighten it, which is the cause of headaches, it is more difficult with the A-120 than with straps that are more stretchy and which tend to be over-tightened to compensate.

I really liked the aesthetics of the headlamp. It has a small fabric battery pouch with leather tabs and a leather panel behind the lamp. It all adds up to a bespoke look and feel. The battery pack can be moved around the the headband to customise its position. And though it takes three batteries, it is not bulky in the least – in this it matches the headlamp itself, which is 17mm at its widest. This lack of bulk ensure the A-120 is super light – at 104g.