I wanna buy a light...

W

Walrus

Guest
... and I dont want to start a fight... (you know who you are) but which is 'best'?  :confused:

I have a good idea of what I want it to do:

Be bright. It cant be too bright. The brighter the better. I'd like a wide-beam with a long throw but with an option for distance when required.
Its got to be waterproof. i.e. it would survive a prolonged dunking.
Not bovvered if its battery is helmet mounted or a big box round my waist - I'm in the process of making up a big box with some aquired 6v4Ah batteries for my existing el-cheapo light.
...and its got to be affordable! I've seen the Stenlight reviewed - that would be ideal  ::) but its a bit pricey! So what would be a good compromise? I've heard tales of people spending money on all sorts of 'cheap' lights before they spring for a good one and I'm trying to learn from thier mistakes. Say... £100  budget, give or take a bit?

I've been offered an Oldham in exchange for beer(!) but I'd need to do a lot of modifications to get it how I'd like it.

Suggestions please!

 
Mark

Mark

Well-known member
Why modify the oldham lamp, if its working and takes a charge it should be ok,

People have been caving with these things for years, ok they are a bit heavy but just dont run anywhere with it on,

It should be better than a big box with batteries in and you should be ok, put a halogen bulb in with a wattage to suit yourself,

Im not a big fan of the lamps with the wing nuts as they are crap (no names but you know who they are)
 
Mark

Mark

Well-known member
Why cant I edit the above post and take out the words "and you should be ok" I cant see a modify button anyhere
 
W

Walrus

Guest
Its just the lamp - no battery or charger. And from the ones I've seen I want somthing brighter & whiter... maybe a FX3 or a petzl duo.
 
T

twllddu

Guest
Despite earlier misgivings, after two years,  I haven't managed to break one of these yet:

http://www.bisun.co.uk/


 
Piglet

Piglet

Member
darthnoddy said:
nova 3

selection of battries available or homemade battery
Click to expand...

Absolutely Nova 3.  I got one at Hidden Earth and it's absolutely brill.  ;)  Completely waterproof, good beam and plenty of spread too.  The only thing I've seen to beat it is my partner's Stenlite which he ordered from America, but that cost $300 plus (with spare battery and charger).
 
Stupot

Stupot

Active member
Agree with Darthnoddy, the Nova 3 is the top dog.

Pro's

- Exceptional burn time on a 4.6v Duracell - 27 hours +
- Waterproof, although the battery floods at around 2ft, but it carries on working regardless.
- Small and compact
- Bullet Proof
- Cost £80 - £85
- Very bright with good spread
- Adjustable up and down

Con's

LED cover scratches easily
Tends to fall off Petzl bracket a bit to easily

Don't get a 14LED speleoshite  :thumbsdown:

Stu.
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
:-[ sorry andyF

For £100 - I still reckon Andy's lamp is the most viable - battery, charger and all.

I was in giants testing andys lamp, we sat in a chamber and turned all lights out - then compared them one by one. Andys was by far the brightest . My mates duo was pathetic in comparison. A nova headset apparently pretty good. but you've power to worry about, and it aint very versitile, I reckon once its f**ked - its f**ked. At least andys lamp has an oldham style headset. You sound like a tinker'er. If it ever needs a tinker - you can get at it all. Maybe mod it to put the next space age technology in it in 10 years time.

You mentioned bright - you mentioned about a ton, you mentioned not bothered about waist mounted. Its a no brainer for me.

 
bubba

bubba

Administrator
Mark said:
Why cant I edit the above post and take out the words "and you should be ok" I cant see a modify button anyhere
Click to expand...
Sorry, my fault - been messing with the permissions again...
 
francis

francis

New member
Very happy with mine, had the old version (Duo belt) that came before LED's and then upgraded to the 8 LED when that came. The battery case cracked badly after a while and had to be fixed with tape, this worked fine but when the case got squashed in a tight crawl etc the light could turn itself off. This easter, caving in the dales the switch became dodgy in the halogen position so i took it back to the norwegian importer and they gave me a new 14 LED belt version, waterproof to 5m. Have been vey happy with it sofar.

Last week i upgraded the halogen bulb to a 1W luxeon LED from here. The light became brighter and much whiter (even whiter than the standard petzl LED's in the other half of the light). The beam also seems to focus better with less distortion.

I wonder what this light is like compared with Andy's after i upgraded it.

Francis :D
 
SamT

SamT

Moderator
francis said:
Very happy with mine, had the old version (Duo belt) that came before LED's and then upgraded to the 8 LED when that came. The battery case cracked badly after a while and had to be fixed with tape, this worked fine but when the case got squashed in a tight crawl etc the light could turn itself off. This easter, caving in the dales the switch became dodgy in the halogen position so i took it back to the norwegian importer and they gave me a new 14 LED belt version, waterproof to 5m. Have been vey happy with it sofar.

Last week i upgraded the halogen bulb to a 1W luxeon LED from here. The light became brighter and much whiter (even whiter than the standard petzl LED's in the other half of the light). The beam also seems to focus better with less distortion.

I wonder what this light is like compared with Andy's after i upgraded it.

Francis :D
Click to expand...

Tsk tsk tsk

see - always get this type of comment on these topics.

It always starts with - "my petzl/spealo is ace etc" and is nearly always qualifyed with - but the battery case leaked/broke/has dodgy connections/isnt waterproof etc etc.

That says to me "Petzl duo = not tough enough for caving" and is therefore struck off the list.

Ask me if my oldham has ever broken or packed up or flickered annoyingly. No it hasnt, because its tough as old boots. Its been designed for use underground and is reliable.

And surely - if you ask you self what THE most important attribute of a caving lamp is - then its reliablitly. To be reliable it has to be TOUGH.

Andys lamps look tough. (and Im not just pluggin andys lamp cause I know him) I genuinely think it looks like it'll do the job, and do it well. Plus its blindingly bright, and it comes pretty cheap (including a charger).

My only concern is the lifetime of the battery as they've not been around for that long. How many years you would get out of a battery at say weekly use remains to be seen. (But given cost of the whole package - a replacement battery cant be too much)
 
Duncan Price

Duncan Price

Active member
AndyF said:
SamT said:
AndyFs LED caving Lamp.

see www.LEDCavingLamps.co.uk   (y)
Click to expand...

Cheers for the plug Sam  ;) , but the URL is actually:

www.LEDCavingLamp.co.uk
Click to expand...

These are good - I recently bought one so I now have an FX5 surplus to requirements complete with charger etc.

Am selling it to CDG members for £65 and will do the same deal to members of this forum:

see: http://www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/cave-cavern-diving/45056-sale-fx5-complete-charger.html  for spec's.
 
francis

francis

New member
Tsk tsk tsk

see - always get this type of comment on these topics.

It always starts with - "my petzl/spealo is ace etc" and is nearly always qualifyed with - but the battery case leaked/broke/has dodgy connections/isnt waterproof etc etc.
Click to expand...

As i said, it was an old model, the new ones have much better waterproof battery cases.

Francis :D
 
Sewer Rat

Sewer Rat

New member
My nova 3 has a narrow beam .in recent company the SP14 led is a hell of a lot brighter.
with better spread.
I put a new lens cover on Saturday did 3 trips and its scratched 2 buggery
Battery life is pretty good though.
 
nickwilliams

nickwilliams

Well-known member
SamT said:
Andys lamps look tough. (and Im not just pluggin andys lamp cause I know him) I genuinely think it looks like it'll do the job, and do it well. Plus its blindingly bright, and it comes pretty cheap (including a charger).
Click to expand...

Well, mine didn't come from Andy, but it's the same thing, and I've trashed the battery case in less than ten trips. As I said in another thread, I dropped it less than a meter onto the concrete floor of my garage and the top of the battery case just snapped off. From the damage, it was obvious that it was already cracked before I dropped it.

Nick.
 
W

Walrus

Guest
Thanks for all the replies, but I'm still no closer to making a decision! I've got a trip to Box next Saturday so what I'll do is try and do some on-the-spot comparisons with the other people there then decide.

I did raise the possibility of the Stenlight with the SWMBO but I got reminded that I need to service the car, save for Xmas and put somthing aside for our holiday next year (maybe I shouldn't have told her how much it costs!)
 
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