Fulk said:
Hi Amata, I clicked on your link and it came up with 33 lamps, all looking rather similar; could you be more specific in your recommendation?
The 600 series MkII are currently on sale for $69 each since the MkIII were just released (couple hundred lumen brighter, bit better runtimes).
I'd link you to specific but some people prefer warm and some cool. The cool will have slightly more lumens, and I find cameras have a fine time with them for whitebalance and I dont find them cold, but pretty close to "white". The warm/neutral my SO finds nicer to cave on (warm tints give better visual depth perception) but it fucks up my photos.
So basically...pick:
MkII or MkIII of the 600 series
Cool or Warm
and we get one spot and one flood, run both same time for a combo beam (nice to control them independently easily, saves battery too -ex- in crawls turn off spot and turn flood to low). They also have floody option which isn't as wide a beam as the full flood.
Ex: decide save the money and go MkII, want the cool
http://www.zebralight.com/H600-Mk-II-18650-XM-L2-Headlamp-Cool-White_p_130.html is the spotty
http://www.zebralight.com/H600F-Mk-II-Floody-18650-XM-L2-Headlamp-Cool-White_p_129.html is the floody (90deg)
OR
http://www.zebralight.com/H602-18650-XM-L2-Flood-Headlamp-Cool-White_p_128.html is pure flood (120deg)
We combine typically the spotty with 120deg pure flood.
Ian is correct with his understanding
This is honestly what people have gone to here and have been using for years from the average caver to the project cavers. There are a few arguments for cave proprietary builds like Scurion left, but for vast majority of cavers those arguments dont matter...I mean if your leftover argument is "I dont like changing batteries underground" I'd still rather save $500 for an equivalent light and have to change batteries every 8-ish hours on a standard trip. Zebralights the end unscrews. Unscrew the end, tip your head, grab the battery, slide the next in. There aren't any connections to futz with, helmet never leaves your head.
I have a Rude Nora v2, and with it pumping every last bit out of it, my SO turns on *just* his spot Zebra and it overbrights my Nora. I have more weight on my head and paid 4x as much for less bright. Had these setups for four years, and i think he has changed his batteries 2-3 times on trips (long survey ones in huge rooms so running them on high a lot), I've had to change mine once. Over four years...not really that huge of a deal IMPO. To change battery on my Nora I have to take my helmet off since it has connector for the pack. Takes way longer and it way more futsy than what he has to do!