Princeton Tec Fuel

Poor Design and Dodgy Warranty – We have several of these in our family. They came with a user manual which said "WARRANTY - Princeton Tec warrants this product to be free from defects in workmanship and materials under normal use for as long as you own this product." They fit well and work fine but have poorly designed and weak parts (the battery door in particular) which break easily without any misuse. Previously their Australian distributor would supply spare parts for free and I repaired the lights on several occasions. Now it appears there is no Australian supplier and the American headquarters wont supply parts and want me to post the light back to the USA for repair at my cost. They also state their website says the warranty is only for five years and my owners manual with the lifetime warranty is "out of date" I would not recommend this product at all.

Plastic quality questionable – Just like the previous reviewers, I found this to be an excellent headlamp. But the plastic clip holding the battery compartment closed is just too thin and has broken on the 2nd battery change. For such an expensive headlamp, I would consider something else.

Poor materials, poor construction – The materials used for the battery compartment end caps have become brittle after about 30 "camping nights". The clip that holds the battery replacement cover in place has broken and the cover at the other end of the battery compartment has deteriorated and cracked so the electrical connection is unreliable. An unreliable head torch is SO much fun camping. Too expensive as a throw away. Needs a rethink on how the batteries covers are secured, a threaded cap instead of plastic clips maybe. Good amount of light though and a few steps in intensity is selectable.

OK – Was a great torch when it wasn't broken but I've told my family not to buy me another one of them Good battery life Three power settings plus a flashing setting Light weight and packs down small Very powerful beam on the highest setting Fragile and breaks easily. I've had two - both given as presents - and the first cracked in the plastic housing in three places after being dropped on a tile floor (from about one metre) and the second broke sitting in a drawer when the battery compartment flap broke at the hinge. First one lasted about 12 months, second one was only about 2 months