I wanna buy a light...

[AndyF]

This may have posted before but look at Miles's review of the stenlight here:
http://www.mine-explorer.co.uk/reviews/stenlight_s7/default.asp

Wow those comparative shots of the various lamps are very interesting. Doesn't say though which power setting the Stenlight was on though....

 

[paul]

I have been using a Stenlight for over a year now - I bought it last year while on a trip to the States.

God knows why you would want it to be even brighter... It wasn't just the brightness that attracted me but the very sturdy construction and very light weight, including the battery.

I recently replaced the collimators as supplied with refletors which ar being sold separately by a guy in the States and thses are a vast improvement (thanks DarkPlaces for the tip!) with a very uniform, very bright light.

 

[SamT]

Got to admit - the sten light does look like a proper bit of kit.

Just got one of andys chinese lamps and am very happy with it.

in terms of brightness - it must be up (if not better) than sten/nova levels.
(it pisses all over Duo 14 LED).

in terms of price - its a lot cheaper 

Out of interest - do you mount the sten battery on the helmet??

 

[paul]

It has a stick on sort of super-velcro patch which is applied to both the battery and to the helmet. I already had the two holes drilled for Speleotechnics battey and have threaded a cable tie through these and around the battery as a backup. It is such a small battery that you could actually mount it inside the helmet, but I thnk it is safer on the outside.

I like andy's light (see my write-up in Descent a few issues back). Unfortunately I had really got used to not having a cable going from my waist to my helmet after a couple of years and found the cable a pain when I tried it out - just personal preference. The central beam of the chinese light is very brigt admittedly, but in overall spread of brightness, it is nowhere near the Stenlight on High (never mind Turbo).

 

[potholer]

From what I've seen, as might be expected for a reflectored light, the Chinese mining lamps have a narrower beam than a Nova - better throw for distance work despite a lower overall output, but less bright coverage outside the spot.

I like a tight spot for vertical work, route-finding or lead-checking, but it is nice to have a good amount of wide close-up light without having to have a spot running. Having brightened up my spread beam, I reckon I'll likely be using my spot beam less often, except when I leave it running at a low power just so it's there if I need it.

 

[SamT]

Agreed a spot with no spread makes boshing along passage tricky as you cant see your feet.

I like a spot with a bit of a spread - the spot creates shadows - and shadows make things 3d.
The bit of spread ensures I can still see my feet in my periferal vision. Andys lamp seems fine for that.

I find some of the normal LED lamps (speleo 7 and 14 led / duo 14 led etc) create a really 'flat' light. Anyone whos been skiing in 'flat' light might understand what Im getting at.

 

[potholer]

Certainly, a very spready LED light can look a bit dead on grass for surface walks, but that might be partly down to the colour rendition, or the typically low intensity.

Recent experience seems to indicate that on muddy cave floors, etc, what looks like a 'flat' light can be made much less flat simply by boosting the output by changes in optics and LEDs. A flat light will often be fairly low power in any given direction, as demonstrated by its [in]ability to light up things at a distance.

 

[Walrus]

Having recently acquired an FX5 I wondered if I could mount it on the side of my helmet so I can use it alongside my existing Nova.

What could I use for mounting an angled bracket (at about 60 deg to the helmet) to use its existing fitting? Or will I just have to bodge it?

 

[jasonbirder]

Blimey Walrus the extent of your plan is revealed! A Nova and an FX5 - it'll be like daylight going underground with you!

 

[Walrus]

yeah, and I've got an e+lite for the other side of the helmet - to balance it out, you understand... :

 

[andymorgan]

I see in Mine Explorers excellent, well written and thorough review it was noted that the cable appeared to be a bit weak and the burn time a bit low. Every lamp seems to have a flaw 

 

[SamT]

I see in Mine Explorers excellent, well written and thorough review it was noted that the cable appeared to be a bit weak and the burn time a bit low. Every lamp seems to have a flaw 

Not going to stand up to an average years digging in bagshawe then ?? paul - what do you reckon -

Stenlight = fantastic for the usual sporting trips - france etc.
Crap for digging / knarly helmet off general EPC abuse

???

 

[darkplaces]

I see in Mine Explorers excellent, well written and thorough review it was noted that the cable appeared to be a bit weak and the burn time a bit low. Every lamp seems to have a flaw 

Stenlight = fantastic for the usual sporting trips - france etc.
Crap for digging / knarly helmet off general EPC abuse

I dont see why not, the Stenlight is made from (as I understand) a solid peace of metal, and is tiny and doesn't stick out much. The solution to the cable is to re-enforce it if you think it needs it, a good dose of more heat shrink or duct tape and to tuck it under the helmet bring or drill a hole and feed cable though, like they do with the factory fitted Duo. As to the burn time, well you don't need turbo while digging, unless your digging INTO titan!

If I didn't have a Nova 3 and/or wasn't happy with it, my next buy would be a Stenlight, no question, everything else is kiddy crayon level compared. Heck you could mount two of em on your helmet! Only thing missing for us mine explorers is a bigger battery but as miles says that's easy resolved.

 

[andymorgan]

This is the quote I saw on Mine Explorer's website:

The cable into the lamp is not as chunky as Oldham type cables and the grommets are not receptive to being whacked against sharp rocks. Bear in mind this lamp was intended for use with helmet mounted batteries and therefore the cable doesn't need to be as tough as found on an Oldham. The cable is still more than adequate and will not cause you problems if you do not abuse it.

The cable is attached to the battery via small plastic plugs. They push together and will pull apart if sharply tugged, rather than locking and potentially damaging the cable/lamp/battery if you get it caught on a rock whilst abseiling etc.

Like Sam said: what do you think Paul?

 

[AndyF]

Blimey Walrus the extent of your plan is revealed! A Nova and an FX5 - it'll be like daylight going underground with you!

Wouldn't the weight of the FX5 battery make the helmet a bit lop-sided...?? 

 

[SamT]

Not sure you'd fit down many caves with that many lights strapped to your head either.

 

[Walrus]

I've got the FX more for big, dark mines - less tight bits & crawling. The Nova is great for caves except where you need a bit of distance. Thats why I want to try to put it on another clip of some sort - so its removable when I don't want/need it. Plus I can use the FX battery with my voltage converter thing and get >20 hours out of the Nova on full power.

 

[paul]

I see in Mine Explorers excellent, well written and thorough review it was noted that the cable appeared to be a bit weak and the burn time a bit low. Every lamp seems to have a flaw 

Not going to stand up to an average years digging in bagshawe then ?? paul - what do you reckon -

Stenlight = fantastic for the usual sporting trips - france etc.
Crap for digging / knarly helmet off general EPC abuse

???

The light unit itself is very sturdy and tough so would be no problem. The wire is easily protected by drilling a small hole in the front of the helemt and again at the rear and passig the wire through thses and connecting the plug inside - this is what I have done.

The battery could also be placed inside the helmet as it is so small.

 

[paul]

This is the quote I saw on Mine Explorer's website:

The cable into the lamp is not as chunky as Oldham type cables and the grommets are not receptive to being whacked against sharp rocks. Bear in mind this lamp was intended for use with helmet mounted batteries and therefore the cable doesn't need to be as tough as found on an Oldham. The cable is still more than adequate and will not cause you problems if you do not abuse it.

The cable is attached to the battery via small plastic plugs. They push together and will pull apart if sharply tugged, rather than locking and potentially damaging the cable/lamp/battery if you get it caught on a rock whilst abseiling etc.

Like Sam said: what do you think Paul?

See my comments in reply to Sam. With the wire routed inside the helmet from front to rear or even inserted through holes drilled front and back, there's no chance of this happening.

I don't know where the "low burn times" comment came from. The Stenlight has 4 power settings: Low (3 days run time), medium (24 hours), High (8 hours) and Turbo (5 hours). I never run it on Turbo as there is no need. Medium is not far off the brightness of the Nova 3 / 14 LED Speletechnics and High is much brighter. I tend to use Medium most if the time with short bursts of High when in a larger passages.

So, I have a very bright light with a 24 hour burn time.

And these figures are for a constant light output. See http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews/stenlight_s7.htm As power reduces it automaticaly cuts back to the next lower level. Unlike some LED lights which have quoted run times of tens of hours and start of bright then gradally get dimmer and dimmer and dimmer...

 

[andymorgan]

Thanks Paul

I read this bit on ME's review

My only real negative point with the product is the lack of battery options. The Lithium-Ion battery is great but 3 to 5 hours burn time is just not enough - a full days exploring for me can easily run to 12 hours

However earlier in the article it said

It holds 2300mah at 7.2v, or 16.6 watt-hours. This will drive the lamp on full output for between 3 and 5 hours, or 7 to 8 hours on the 2 watt setting. Go down to 0.6 watts and you get over 24 hours of light between recharges. You can of course buy and carry more batteries if you wish.

which I forgot about!

Is it bright enough on the 0.6 watt setting?