The Cree feels fairly sturdy but I suspect it's not as waterproof as the Petzl, my tester came with a plug-in car charger so theres a hole in the battery holder at the back of the head to plug it in, the torch uses 2 18650 batteries and has 4 modes. The center bulb unit, the 2 outer bulb units, all three together, and strobe (I'm told some have 8 modes but mine doesn't)
The centre bulb has a larger reflector and throws more of a beam, while the 2 outer bulbs have a more spread beam, with all 3 together you get a good blend, theres no zoom function like the Petzl.
Light output.... well it's impossible to compare them really, the Cree is vastly brighter, 1 T6 gives a really good light, 3 gives a superb amount of light.
Those who have used the Petzl will remember the bright 'hotspot' and bugger all around it, or you zoomed the beam and got bright doughnuts of light, and hardly any forward throw of light, the cree on the other hand has a much bigger 'hotspot', although it's not really a spot but a big bright area, and with the 2 side bulbs on as well a very even huge spread with a long throw in the center.
Would I use it for caving... well I'm not sure it's waterproof enough (without testing) and I suspect battery life could be a problem, with 3 T6 bulbs going and only 2 batteries I would expect it to run out of steam around the 2-3 hours mark, although I haven't had time to test it properly yet, thats just not enough for a proper caving expedition
I can see this being great for night hiking/mountain biking or searching for missing persons etc, something where you need a lot of light for a few hours, but not something where it's your only source of light for days, if it had the lower power modes to get better battery life it would be even better.
These can be had for around £10-15 on ebay, handy to carry in the car for repairs or changing a wheel.
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