GEO Headtorches

[Cavingteacher]

Yes the Geo one. It wasn't clear was it. Teachers🤣
Trogg shop, they seem ok

 

[ClimbingCaver]

Oh great, thanks for that info.

I have just ordered one, should be here tomorrow so will be testing it out vs my failing Fenix this weekend.... Fingers crossed its good.

 

[Cavingteacher]

You'll really like it. I found them very helpful when I bought my one.

 

[Fjell]

I have had one of the Sofirn torches before and wasn't impressed. The unit failed after a short period of time and the customer service was simply terrible when I tried to get it returned / fixed. A shame because e the unit itself wasn't to bad initially.

I think you can assume there is no customer service at this price. I carry it krabbed inside a tackle bag without any issue to date and it gets wet a lot and thrown about. I think the HS20 model is physically robust at least. I would grease the seals.

Although I think the Petzl Pixa 2 is the best backup light given it’s robustness and constant light. I wanted the Sorfin to use for other outdoor stuff, for which it is fine. Hasn’t corroded around seawater either.

Most of these lights do not have constant current control, so they will decline rapidly in output. The harder you pull them the faster it goes obviously. It’s just the maths. You have a single 18650 battery. They last exactly as long as they should. As I mentioned it can get extremely hot on full power which prob isn’t good for the electronics, so maybe best not to.

 

[Ed]

I've been using Sorfin SP40 - single 18560 cell Zebralite clone, for while now.

Fits nicely with my Phaethon and means I have interchangeable batteries.... I always carry 2 spare batteries. Plus the one in the Sorfin now.

It's stood up to everything including several lake swims

 

[ClimbingCaver]

So here's an update

I ordered the head torch on Tuesday evening and it arrived on Thursday, ace.

I took it out this weekend on two trips, one per day. Saturday entailed a 5 hour round trip and Sunday was a 6 hour trip.

I found that the unit gave ample light on 'medium flood' mode. I used the turbo spot mode to light up larger Chambers when required. Much the same as I would with my old 65R. The battery, I charged overnight on the Saturday lasted flawlesslessly for both trips.

The device came in a nice box, well packaged and with a charging cable as well. The unit feels solid, well made and robust. The head band is a nice black and red with reflective sections as well. The battery charge port has a well fitting bung.

All in all, for the price, I am incredibly happy with the GEO Technical Equipment head torch. Happy days.

 

[TheBitterEnd]

I wonder if there is a bit of astroturfing going on here?

 

[ClimbingCaver]

AstroTurfing?

 

[ClimbingCaver]

Just googled it... If that's what you feel, I will keep my questions and feedback to myself in the future. I was only trying to find out information and then feed back the experience for others to learn from. Is that what forums are for...

Nevermind.

 

[Fjell]

I wonder if there is a bit of astroturfing going on here?

To what end?

When I was a student we could afford little and lower cost items were always attractive. We got stung a few times by stuff that was very cheap for a reason - it was basically unusable, which made us rather sad.

I will spare you the review of my Scurion 1500, but a review of a very useable £30 light might interest people who don’t have a lot of cash to splash.

A few things we bought we wish we hadn’t:

1. A frightening autolock descender made by Kong.
2. Tackle bags that turn into a space hopper when you try to fill them with rope.

 

[ClimbingCaver]

The list of kit I wish I hadn't bought is long, haha. I won't go into the most recent as its all over the forums already for it's now apparent dangerous issues. Big companies saving a few pennies at the risk of lives... Anyway, this is off topic and for another thread all toegther.

 

[tomferry]

I don’t think anyone will be rushing yet, to buy this £30 torch .

We was talking of it, while digging last.

Our words was along the lines of

1 trip a week for 6 months ??? If multiple people do a review in July next year, with a 6 month ish old 1 that would be interesting.

I am confident fenix will still be here in 6 months .

Will the geo last that long ???

Side track :
I am very confident the thrunites I own / no of in use will be here then.

Anyone got a dragon 5 to review ?

 

[ClimbingCaver]

I don’t think anyone will be rushing yet, to buy this £30 torch .

We was talking of it, while digging last.

Our words was along the lines of

1 trip a week for 6 months ??? If multiple people do a review in July next year, with a 6 month ish old 1 that would be interesting.

I am confident fenix will still be here in 6 months .

Will the geo last that long ???

Side track :
I am very confident the thrunites I own / no of in use will be here then.

Anyone got a dragon 5 to review ?

I have no doubt fenix will be here for many years to come, many business use them and will continue to do so. They make some great products after all.

There are many torches out there with verious specs and life expectancy all at verious price tags. Some will last, some will not. Some will exceed expectations, some will not. Some will be the new thing to have, some will fade into the past. After all, let's be honest, it's a head torch, nothing new nothing ground breaking.

Having said that, when yiur in a cave and that device is your only light source (ignoring your backup), these are important and vital bits of kit we use on a regular basis.

 

[Fjell]

You can say that again. My Fenix wouldn't get anywhere near the quoted run times when tested. Even with a higher capacity Panasonic cell installed, nope!

The Fenix data is probably not helpful (the log-log graph is comedy gold), but at the end of the day it is a single 18650 battery as used in many lamps. There is no miracle of physics that will get more light from it, you just get it delivered in different ways.

The problem with all these Fenix type lamps is there is no current control at all - light output plunges with time. When I was building a battery system for a Custom duo I hooked it up to a meter and recorded current on different settings until flat to see how things went (solid 8 hours of light at about 200-300lm for 6Ahr). The Duo insert is programable so you can select the settings you want to use (we use a flood 99% of the time), and the LED’s were available as warm white (3000K). So that gives you some idea what you can get for 3AHr - about half, so 200-300lm for 4 hours. That jives with the Sofin I have.

I was looking at the HM65 (£107), and I have to say the spec is identical to the one I got for £27 from Sofin, and I think the Geo is the same. Up to you how you view that, but I suspect the internals are either identical or a direct copy. Fenix get their kit from China…..

If my Scurion ever breaks I would probably consider the Nora4 headset at £189 and build some 4 cell battery packs at 3.7V instead of 7.4V. If you have a battery box for 18650’s, then this would my recommendation if you want to spend that sort of money. The best value for money is the Duo insert. I have never broken a Duo in 20 years of use from when they were carbide sets, and still have a couple of Ecrins with them on plus another I customised with the larger battery. I even still have a functional generator I used the other day for fun and comparison purposes. It is surprising how much light a carbide can put out even compared to the Scurion.

 

[Pony]

Oh great, thanks for that info.

I have just ordered one, should be here tomorrow so will be testing it out vs my failing Fenix this weekend.... Fingers crossed its good.

How old is your failing Fenix? They've got a 5 year warranty. @Badlad had one 2/3 years old that was playing up,sent back to Fenix and repaired gratis. He had a thread on here about it a while back.