New oldham light

[Sewer Rat]

I have mentioned before that for my 1st caving trip, i put the spelotechnics 7 led reflector in an Oldham looking headlight.
i was not impressed with it especially in larger caves.
so I bought an new oldham t6 setup

it came with a prefocused lamp and the beam is so narrow it seems pointless.
ok i havnt been in a cave with it yet,
the narrow beam was from my shed to the house.
I have now ordered a reflector that supposedly disperces the beam better.

My question is should i have gone for a screw type reflector .
Does a large waist surported battery pack really hinder progress.
I want to get my gear right for trip 2 in 2 weeks time in OFD

 

[SamT]

Narrow beams definately suck - its actually quite hard to cave on them. I also agree that if the cave is of reasonalbe size i.e. walking size and bigger, the 7 led reflector dont quite cut it. (especially if its a new cave to you, and you actually want to see it, different matter if you've just got your head down and are boshing along to you regular dig)

You have several options open to you with regards to de-focusing your beam.

If its the one where the brass bezel screws in to fix the bulb in place then you can set the bulb a little deeper in the reflector by using a suitable sized washer to between the reflector and the bulb. suitable size as in slides over the glass - but doesnt prevent the bulb sliding up the hole if you know what I mean - I cut one out of some old inner tube.

or you can get a screw in adapter. dificult to describe but bolts onto the terminal block thats at the bottom of an oldham cap lamp and spans out to the middle of the headset where you can screw in a bulb. then you can adjust the bulb to get the right blend of spread vs throw. (personal preference)

As for whether a waist mounted battery pack slows you down or not is debateable. People moan about their weight. the same people who have wellies full of water, a suit that caked in heavy clay, carrying a bag of 100 m of wet muddy rope. If you want a light weight sport - take up badmington.

I think it helps you learn how to move through caves and squeezes. Sure you'll get it stuck a few times and curse it. but you'll not do it again in that place and soon you'll start predicting where to put it - should it be on my left or right hip for this squeeze - front or back - or do I need it off all together and pushed along infront of me. when your thinking like that - you'll be a good caver, and it wont slow you down.

One think to bear in mind - always be aware of where your battery is when your around decoration - eg Stal . Many a stagmite has fallen to an clumsey oldham wearer.

 

[paul]

I have mentioned before that for my 1st caving trip, i put the spelotechnics 7 led reflector in an Oldham looking headlight.
i was not impressed with it especially in larger caves.
so I bought an new oldham t6 setup

I hear what you are saying about the 7-LED reflector - however I was caving in Thailand last November using this set-up in very, VERY large stream passages (see the latest issue of Descent for a photo) and found the 7-LED more than adequate for moving through the caves.

I have a normal halogen bulb as well in the centre for the occasional long-distance view. The advantage in this case was that I could use AA or flat 4.5v Duracell batteries as we didn't have anywhere to re-charge. I also have a UK Q40 light on the side of my helmet which produces a very good beam, again if I want to see further in the distance.

Don't you have a halogen bulb in the centre on your setup? Surely this would give you the equivalent output of an Oldhams set-up? Evn when using the halogen bulb all the time you should get 5 or 6 hours of light. If you only use it now and then and use the LEDs the rest of the time, you will have a lot longer.

I had an Oldhams a few years ago and tried the diffused refelector as well and found it pretty crap as instead of a bright spot of light surrounded by dimmer light, you just had dimmer light everywhere and no bright spot!

 

[Mine Explorer]

...it came with a prefocused lamp and the beam is so narrow it seems pointless...

I think it's a matter of opinion.

After quite happily using a standard Oldham, a couple of years ago I built myself a helmet mounting system using the 'Headlite' battery and a second hand oldham headset. I use LEDs as the pilot light to save power, but to see distances I wanted a decent beam. To achieve this I increased the power of the main bulb and bought a brand new polished reflector to replace the slightly dull second hand one. When it comes to looking into high roofs, across large chambers or along long passages my light out performs other peoples more diffused lamps. I have to say that when switching from LEDs ANY beam seems tight and highly focused!

 

[SamT]

Keep experimenting SR and you'll end up with something your happy with.

 

[potholer]

>>"I have to say that when switching from LEDs ANY beam seems tight and highly focused!"

That depends on the LEDs - with old 5mm Nichias, any reasonably focussed beam will outperform them for distance work, but with focussed single LEDs, like the ~£20 drop-in bulb replacements using side-emitting Luxeons, or the rather less cheap units I make, it's possible to get a beam that compares pretty well with an FX3.

Strictly speaking, I think that the ideal caving lamp would have a good spot beam, a semi-wide beam such as Nichia arrays provide, and a carbide-like ultra-wide beam for crawls and climbing without the need for head-turning, but I'm not sure that's possible just yet, apart from possibly using a 2-beam headset and a second torch to provide the third type of spread.