My head's hurting with just thinking about all the options I could spend £200 on!! Like the headlite but a mate's not impressed with hers. Do I play safe with a FX3 LED and save some money. Or do I go for a different system altogether? Cave in Derbyshire and Dales. Like BIG caves with lots of pitches. My trusty Oldham is nearing retirement, which I could go for again, though the modern lightweight approach appeals!

Sure SamT will build you one of his specials for the appropriate fee....

What ever you do - keep hold of your oldham head set, its bomb proof and spares will be readily available and cheap for years to come (just think about how many miners there 'were' before thatcher got in and all those now redundant head sets)

As for bulb options - the range just keeps growing. Batteries - they come in all shapes and sizes. At the moment Im using a normal petzl 4.5v flat pack. A 7 led reflecter, with a halogen main beam - all very neat.

However the the batteries will become rarer and more expensive.

The best light Ive seen recently was an oldam head set. The reflector is specialy made. It has a full ring of Leds around the circumference (30 I think) The switch has been modified for 3 settings. 1 single led at the top of the ring gives you like a million hours of light. The full ring gives 35 hours of easily enough light for all round caving. in the middle sits a 6watt halogen that gives 4 hours of a powerful spot for those high avens.
All powered by 3 'D' cells that sit in a petzl zoom battery pack on the back of the helmet. Rechargable the headset with a speleotechics charger that is wired to one of those mounts for charging through the headset. It aint cheap.

Thinking about splashing the cash though. Dont know if the lad is on for making any more though.

I personally still like using my oldham since I dont like the light given off by LED's .I only use my 'special' for trips I know are going to be constantly tight.

Let us know if you want one making up.

Ive been warned before about sniping at speleotechnics stuff - but just check out the old threads on the subject before making your mind up.

Another option to the DIY job: a fellow club member who shall remain nameless but was referred to as "The Prince of Darkness" due to his usual lack of a decent light (even though he spends many weeks caving abroad each year in China, Inida and other places...), usually due to his unwillingness to spend any money, has shocked everybody and built himself a headlight based on an Oldham headset.

After having to lie down in a quiet, dark room for a while after splashing out on a new Speleotechnics 7 LED reflector, he finally recovered and installed this in an old Oldham headset. He then reverted to normal practice and bought a small Tupperware box for £1 which he mounted on the rear of his helmet. In the box he has a set of AA cells to run the light and even has room for a second set. God knows how long that set-up will last before needing fresh batteries - probably weeks!

Sounds very much like a sam special. Except I use a petzl flat pack 4,5 volt jobbie.

Not going to go for Speleo option. What does a Sam special entail and how much?

give us your oldham headset and cable. Petzl zoom battery case - ~ £7. 7 led Reflector ~30 quid,

Is your oldham relfector push fit or screw fit. Either way - a bit of jiggery pokery will get the reflector to fit into the head set.

depends if you want to run it off a 4.5 volt flat pack - or the converter pack that uses 3 * AA. (at 4.2 volts). Or some other derivative.

I'll try and find out about these 3 * D cells that can be charged from the speleotechics charger via the headset.

paul said:

. God knows how long that set-up will last before needing fresh batteries - probably wees!

Click to expand...

friend of mine left his on in the celler (7 LED off a 4.5 flat pack). 1 month later it was still going (only just though).

Should at least give you enough light to wait for a rescue team to be flown in from the otherside of the world. :wink: