BEST LED CAPLAMP

[Iain Barker]

OK, I'm going to join the rest of you in the current century and ditch the Oldham Housebrick.

What's the best new-fangled LED lamp out at the moment and where do I get one. And even more importantly - how many beer-tokens will I have to part with?

 

[cap n chris]

Just set yourself a budget; it'll save all the arguments and you can quickly home in on something stella for your moolah.

 

[graham]

Just set yourself a budget; it'll save all the arguments and you can quickly home in on something stella for your moolah.

Good advice.

 

[Lu]

I just bought Fenix PD30 R2 for my backuplight (on the helmet).
Tried it last weekend potholing in Yorkshire.
It's great. On full light the beam really goes a long way.
It's super small, super light and strong, and waterproof.
And it gives you that extra boost of light when you want to take pictures with a not so great camera like mine (Olympus MJU though).
You can also keep it on the suit inside pocket or on the same neck lanyard as your whistle/knife as it is really that small.
So far I'm quite happy with it. It's also perfect if you do any outdoor activites as you can just take it in your pocket.
I bought it on this website, p&p is free and I received it the next day.
http://www.flashaholics.co.uk/fenix/fenix-pd30.html

Nat

 

[ttxela]

OK, I'm going to join the rest of you in the current century and ditch the Oldham Housebrick.

What's the best new-fangled LED lamp out at the moment and where do I get one. And even more importantly - how many beer-tokens will I have to part with?

I was thinking I might do the same when my Oldham kept going out on a trip up Youds the other weekend, however a bit of taking it to bits and bending things soon got a faint glimmer out of it again, so I'll probably keep it a while longer.......

 

[Ship-badger]

My recommendation is to get yourself a Bisun P51; that way you get a great light for a resonable price, AND you can keep your lovely Oldham headset.

Or maybe get one of Biff's LED modules to go in you Oldham headset; I hear they are good too.

 

[Cookie]

My recommendation is to get yourself a Bisun P51; that way you get a great light for a resonable price, AND you can keep your lovely Oldham headset.

Or maybe get one of Biff's LED modules to go in you Oldham headset; I hear they are good too.

www.bisun.co.uk
or
www.littlemonkeycaving.co.uk/CustomDUO.aspx

 

[Duncan Price]

You need a "Gonzo Lite" conversion - ?7.82 details in CSS N/L 52(2) p.21: http://www.chelseaspelaeo.org.uk/Newsletters/Feb10.pdf

 

[SamT]

my vote goes for the Bisun. Pleased with mine.

If you search for Bisun on these forums you get a healthy amount of results - nearly all of which are positive I've found.

 

[graham]

Why can I not find a photo of the Bisun anywhere? 

 

[paul]

Why can I not find a photo of the Bisun anywhere? 

The Bisun website is being updated. See http://ukcaving.com/board/index.php/topic,10009.msg133556.html#msg133556

The Bisuns use Oldham (or Oldham-like) reflectors with the LEDs and electronics mounted in the top half where the pilot bulb would have been in a like-for-like replacement for the reflector in an Oldham headset. So a photo would look like an Oldham headset with a small unit in the top half of the reflector and no main bulb hole.

Potholer, of course, can tell you more.

 

[potholer]

I just stuck a couple of pictures up, of a P51 unit in a headset, and a bare unit.

The photo quality isn't great, but it's extraordinarily hard to take pictures of a reflector that don't end up either virtually blank, or reflecting something else in the room.

I hope to get some 'in use' shots done in the next couple of weekends.

 

[dl]

I must confess that I'm well pleased with my Bisun and it's had a serious amount of abuse over the years.

 

[rsch]

Why can I not find a photo of the Bisun anywhere? 

This is an older model, but you'll get the idea.

 

[Rob]

Bisun looks pretty good, nice and simple. What's the deal with the battery packs? Website seems pretty unclear, apart form stating what voltages it runs on.

 

[graham]

This is an older model, but you'll get the idea.

A bit of the idea, but not all. What's the cable like? The battery box? The connectors? How does the battery box connect to the helmet? Or is it carried on a belt?

 

[paul]

This is an older model, but you'll get the idea.

A bit of the idea, but not all. What's the cable like? The battery box? The connectors? How does the battery box connect to the helmet? Or is it carried on a belt?

Again, Potholer is the best to answer. I think you can get a headset complete with a Bisun fitted but when I bought mine several years ago, you got the reflector with electronics attached and fitting instructions. It's relatively easy to source second-hand Oldhams headsets (at least it used to be from Caving Supplies for example). As to what battery you use, well that was up to you. As long as the voltage is within the required range, which is quite flexible

For example, I already had an old Oldhams headset, so I fitted the swapped the Oldhams reflector with the Bisun unit (very straightforward) and as I also had a Speleotechnics helmet-mounted battery, I bought a short battery lead from Speletechnics and connected this to the Bisun/Oldhams headset. Later I got a Speleotechnics helmet-mounted battery box from Bernies together with an AA cell adaptor and used this instead of the original Speleotechnics battery. This way I have a great light which works on AAs which is useful when caving abroad and also a very compact and light unit to pack.

 

[potholer]

Just added a photo of battery options on the website.

If bought as a complete unit, it comes with a battery box which bolts onto the helmet, and which will take 4.5V alkaline flatpacks, 3xAAs in a supplied holder, or a 3-cell NiMH battery pack.

Alternatively, the bare reflector unit fits into 'Headlite' systems using all battery types (NiCd, NiMH, Alkaline and Lithium), FX3s, or other homemade or commercial setups with 3.6-4.6V power and regular Oldham or CEAG headsets, as long as the power polarity in the headset is the opposite of the regular Oldham layout.

(PS Thanks for comments about what's missing on the website.)

 

[graham]

Thanks, Potholer, that helps quite a lot.

I'm seriously thinking about one of these & being me I'd do it the easy way and buy a complete unit. The one thing that I need to consider is how to transfer the unit from one helmet to another - on a regular basis that is.

 

[exsumper]

I've found the petzl one perfectly adequate and reliable. They seem to have sorted themselves out, since the diabolical efforts they offered in the 90's.