Head torch opinions

[royfellows]

Nothing to stop anyone fitting bolts other way round, ie with the head on the inside.

My recommended fitting, cable wise is to run it round the rim and use a cable tie. You can actually mount a good backup (not an aspersion regarding my lamps!) such as a Fenix E11 on the cable. The cable is about 7mm of flexible natural rubber with 2 copper core, maybe a bit heavy for taking inside the helmet. Its also very important not to put any strain on it at the glands. The glands are top quality IP68 5 BAR with cable support, but if anything is put under a strain it will at some time fail.

 

[Keris82]

Hi Roy. My concern is more about drilling my helmet as I'm not sure it's possible due to the foam

 

[mountainpenguin]

I used araldite (other glues are available) to glue the bracket onto one of my helmets.
Was still going strong a few years later.

 

[royfellows]

I use either an Ecrin Roc, or for working, and I do a lot of this, a Petzl Elios fitted with a Dragon and a Fenix E11 attached to the cable to shine forward. Last weekend I was at it 2 days and didn't take a spare power bank, good as gold it went out coming out on the Sunday and I used the E11 to find my way out.

The thought occurred that the place for spare lighting is on the head not a hand held torch. I mean this big time.

Both the helmet types I use have a sort of loose foam band inside that makes it easy to work between this and the helmet shell. I cant really comment on other helmets, I would have to see one. However my intelligence tells me that if a helmet is so constructed that you cant fit one of my lamps, you wont be able to fit anyone else's either unless you plan on sticking your lamp on. I believe that there is a tape product that does this but cant recall the name of it. I have seen a battery pack stuck on with it and the user had to literally tear it off to remove it. I would be dubious though, and not really trust this. I would want to see a lamp bolted on for piece of mind.

 

[Keris82]

Yes I would want to bolt on a lamp rather than glue it for security. I have a black diamond women's half dome helmet. Same as this one http://www.johncrossandsons.co.uk/black-diamond-half-dome-helmet-women-grey-2018-oeaorj-black-diamond-p-3176.html If you take a look at the pics I'm not sure how easy it is to remove the foam and drill it?

 

[royfellows]

I'm not sure either. The foam may pull away enough to allow drilling and bolting, but impossible to say without seeing it. My advice is to contact the helmet manufacturer before you buy any lamp, see my previous comments.

Looks a nice helmet though for the money.

 

[PeteHall]

Yes I would want to bolt on a lamp rather than glue it for security. I have a black diamond women's half dome helmet. Same as this one http://www.johncrossandsons.co.uk/black-diamond-half-dome-helmet-women-grey-2018-oeaorj-black-diamond-p-3176.html If you take a look at the pics I'm not sure how easy it is to remove the foam and drill it?

Without seeing the helmet, it's hard to say, but if it was me, I'd consider drilling a slightly larger diameter hole through the foam from the inside, that the bolt head could be recessed into, then a small hole through the shell for the bolt thread.

Personally, I've never worried about drilling the odd hole in a helmet. It's mostly there to stop you bumping your head on the roof. If something falls on you hard enough to break the helmet, it'll probably break your neck too and if you fall on your head hard enough to break your helmet, you'll probably break too.

I like the idea of the light not being a hard bolted fixture - I've often thought that if the lamphead or battery box sustained a collision the strain on the bolts could possibly foul the helmet.

Seems a reasonable concern with these lightweight flexible shelled climbing helmets, however I would have thought that using a large washer would spread the load and mitigate the problem.

My advice is to contact the helmet manufacturer before you buy any lamp

I wouldn't bother. Almost certainly they will say don't drill it and use the provided fittings for an elastic band type head-torch, which is obvioualy non-ideal for caving. Also, the intended use is stated as "climbing" so perhaps they would just tell you not to use it for caving...

 

[PaulW]

i've drilled them like Pete suggest before

if you remove the 4 red clips shown on the ouside of the helmet then the crable will probably come out, and then the foam

 

[markpot]

As above,drilling will be fine.Another option if your buying one of Roys lamps would be to source a gopro elastic head band.

 

[Fulk]

I fixed my Fenix lamp (a HP 25R) to my helmet using cable ties around the head-band (and similarly for the battery pack at the back of the helmet), which means that there are no bolts projecting into the helmet:

 

[royfellows]

As above,drilling will be fine.Another option if your buying one of Roys lamps would be to source a gopro elastic head band.

To clarify, only Scorpion series is GoPro compatible. I would dearly love to extend this to the Dragon as this lamp neatly fills the gap left by the Stenlight at a reasonable price. However having these made would seriously jack up the price. It is possible to fit a Dragon lamp to a GoPro helmet bracket using some spacer washes, but its a hash up.

Go pro headband, I have just sourced a selection from ?2 a piece. I will probably look for best quality for money and get some stock in. They are on eBay from ?2.99
Having said all this, a rigid mount using bolts would be best option for any lamp.

 

[Commers]

Looking at the attached technical notice for Petzl's bolt on lamp mount for the foam lined Boreo helmet, it indicates that drilling through the foam is acceptable for bolt mounting.

 

[Madness]

The self adhesive Go-Pro mounts with the 3M adhesive pad stick very well. I've got one on my skiing helmet and one on my motorbike fairing. Both are solid.

 

[Mike Hopley]

I'll just note that I tried using Petzl's adhesive mount to fix an Ultra Vario to a Sirocco (and I did sand down the surface a bit). This is not approved by the manufacturer.

It fell off after very little caving. I'm guessing it would have been okay on a hard-shell helmet (which is the intended use).

Then very shortly afterwards, they released a dedicated mount for a Sirocco. FML.

 

[Commers]

Will you go back to the Sirocco now Petzl make a light mount? I'm tall and prone to banging my head so doubt a soft shell helmet would last long for me...

 

[Mike Hopley]

Will you go back to the Sirocco now Petzl make a light mount? I'm tall and prone to banging my head so doubt a soft shell helmet would last long for me...

Yep, I already have the new mount.

The Sirocco is not designed for caving so caveat emptor, but the new version has a hard section on top of the head. I've walloped my head several times and it's not showing any real sign of wear yet. And neither is the helmet.

Mr Seddon described it as "intelligent misuse of equipment", which I think sums it up nicely. Time will tell.

 

[Fulk]

I looked at Petzl's video and it said that it (the Sirocco helmet) has been 'tested in the deepest caves' (whatever that might mean).

 

[JasonC]

.. it said that it (the Sirocco helmet) has been 'tested in the deepest caves' (whatever that might mean).

obviously, the pressure on the helmet increases exponentially with cave depth 

 

[Mike Hopley]

I looked at Petzl's video and it said that it (the Sirocco helmet) has been 'tested in the deepest caves' (whatever that might mean).

Oh yes, I remember that now. That seems a bit odd, given they're not otherwise marketing it as a caving helmet. Maybe they haven't quite decided yet!

 

[royfellows]

I looked at Petzl's video and it said that it (the Sirocco helmet) has been 'tested in the deepest caves' (whatever that might mean).

Written for them by a politician maybe?