As someone who lives by the premise that you can never have too many head torches, this Petzl Aria 2 RGB headtorch has been put through its paces for a few weeks of hard graft
I went night sailing and took the Petzl Aria 2 RGB headtorch for a test run across the English Channel
Petzl Aria 2 RGB headtorch
Specifications
Functions: red light, green light, blink light, blue light, white light
battery level indicator
Power source: Petzl Hybrid Concept, comes with 3 AAA batteries, but also compatible with Petzl Core power cell
Luminosity: 350 lumens
Range (max.): 100 m
Burn time (max. Lumen): 100 h
Protection against water: IP67
Weight: 106 g
The Aria 2 RGB headtorch looks quite chunky and looks almost identical to the Aria 2R, just with an all black colour scheme. It does come in an alternative pale green colour too.
The difference with this one though is that it has multiple options for night time illuminations. The red, green and blue give you an option for better vision for not only sailing, but fishing and hunting. It’s easy to toggle through the colour options. I sometimes found it a bit too easy to toggle through the red, green and blue as I often found myself accidentally switching from red to another colour and then had to keep toggling to go back around the cycle of options.
The white light is in three levels or light just like the Petzl Aria 2R, low level for moving around a cabin at night or ambient light, mid level which is a good working light or max power which will illuminate the longest distance, up to about 100m.
The niggles with the Aria 2 RGB are the same as the Aria 2R. I got a bit of an ache in my forehead from where it was pressing. I had to adjust the torch regularly to avoid this becoming more painful. There was a tendency for the head strap to feel a bit snug if I adjusted it to avoid it slipping and it would slip out of position if I backed off the strap a bit to avoid getting a pressure point on my forehead. This wouldn’t be a problem if I was wearing it over a hat. I was also wearing this for up to 7 hours at a time. For a few minutes on deck or even a 2 hours night watch it’s absolutely fine.
The other niggle is that I often picked it up, put it on then realised it was upside down. The power button isn’t as tactile as some other head torches so knowing which was is up requires a visual check rather than just by feel.
Light Modes:
Mode one: White – 7 lumens, 100 hours
Mode two: White – 100 lumens, 7 hours (reserve 2 hours)
Mode three White – 450 lumens, 2 hour
Mode four Red/Green/Blue – 4 lumens, 50 hours
Mode five Red/Green/Blue strobe – visible to 700m for 300 hours
Results of testing:
Battery life and recharging time 5/5
Full beam illumination 5/5
Low level light for reading 2/5
Red light 4/5
Water proofing 5/5
Eco (recyclable packaging and ability to replace head strap) 4/5
Weight and comfort 4.5/5
to read more about other headtorches, there’s my buyers guide with a range of some of the best head torches on the market: Best head torch for sailing – Gear Test