Princeton Tec Helix Backcountry Review

COMPLETE REVIEW

Princeton Tec was founded 40 years ago in, well…Princeton, New Jersey. Ever since, they have been manufacturing quality lighting devices, from waterproof flashlights to scuba diving lights, headlamps and more.

The Helix Backcountry is one of their best-selling camping lantern. It is small, affordable and has a collapsible design, which makes it easy to pack and carry around with you in all your outdoor adventures.

Here are the main specs of the Helix Backcountry:

• Weight: 5.4 oz
• Power: 150 lumens
• Battery life: 24 hours; uses 3 AAA Alkaline batteries
• IPX6 rated
• 2 red, dimmable ultralight LEDs
• 1 dimmable maxbright LED

Design

The Helix Backcountry camping lantern has a collapsible design and is available in several combinations of colors: black and gray, black and green, black and red and olive drab/tan.

It has 4 folding legs and all 4 of them act as hangers, too, so you can hang the lantern in different positions. There is also a larger, metal handle you can use to hang the lantern. The legs can be folded/unfolded independently, depending on how you want to tilt the lantern and where exactly you need the light.

Then there’s the collapsible globe with a unique design and if you want the light to be more focused, you can remove the globe. The Helix Backcountry has a metal base and the collapsible globe is made of silicone. The legs look solid enough without being too heavy. Overall, the lantern looks durable and it is anyway backed by an exceptional 5-year warranty from the manufacturer.

Durable doesn’t necessarily mean heavy and the good news is that the Helix Backcountry fits in your palm and it is really lightweight and small, actually, the smallest lantern produced by the company. The lantern is only 5.5 inches tall. When you compress it down, it measures only 2 inches, which makes it easy to pack in your backpack.

How it works

The Helix Backcountry can put out 150 lumens. It works with 3 AAA batteries or you can opt for the rechargeable version. The lantern and has 3 modes: light mode, red mode and a flashing mode. The first two are both dimmable and you can adjust the light by swiping. There are no knobs or buttons on the Helix Backcountry, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as this way, there are fewer components to break over time. There is a tap strip and you have to swipe your finger to turn the lantern on and off. In order to switch between the 3 modes you have to swipe right or left and 3 times from left to right, to enter the flashing/strobe mode. In order to adjust the level of light you have to tap and hold to dim. This swipe control doesn’t work with gloves, so be aware of that if you are planning to use the lantern during winter.

The Helix Backcountry is IPX6 rated, meaning it is water resistant so you can use it on torrential rain without worrying it will get ruined. The only thing you can’t do is submerge it in water.

In the white LED mode the batteries last around 8 hours on the high setting and up to 24 hours on the low setting.

The red mode goes up to 12 hours on the high setting and 32 hours on low.

The light of the Helix Backcountry is not blinding on the eyes, yet it is powerful enough to allow you to see everything you’re doing. You can easily read in your tent using this lantern and you should actually use the dimming function, otherwise the light will be too bright.

Another cool feature of the Backcountry is the fact that the globe recharges when it’s lit and when you turn the lantern off, the globe will glow in the dark so you can still know where the lantern is.

The Princeton Tec Helix Backcountry is a great little device in every aspect. It is affordable, portable, small, lightweight and versatile.