:?:

Kirby Kidney Pack mainly for me

All of the above.

Carbide for expeditions - or very cold digs (nice and warm)
7 leds on flat pack 4.5 for very tight trips.
Oldham for general purpose.
SuperTorch (1million candela thing from halfords) for big caves - titan, eldon hole, etc.

What expeditions

Alas the super-torch has expired....but you can buy double power ones for £20 in homebase

Traditional Oldham with a nice fat bulb for large illumination 8)
Seven LED FX Headlight, dischuffed with this, thinking of putting the reflector in my olham/lazer bat pack combo :evil:
Carbide for expeditions, bloody frustrating at times but lurvly light and de rigour when out and about globally
Sawn off Oldham battery (half the depth) packed with two wet NiCad cells and an Oldham headset for tight, long trips

Oldham. How easy is it to replace the reflector with the 7 led reflector. Not heard of this before.

Not too bad Stu. The :borg: 'Sam T Lab' :borg: has produced at least one he will tell you all about it.

Ah! It's "one of those" types fixes is it?

Currently an old sawn-off Oldham box with 5 NiMH D-cells in it. 14-LED array (gives about 70 hrs, so charging infrequency tells you how little caving you get done...), and a 10W bulb in the middle for 'I can seeeee' moments. Don't use a plastic reflector with these though - it starts to bubble pretty promptly if you leave the bulb on long

When (iff) I get time I'll build a similar helemt-mounted 3 C Cells/7LEDS job. The LED/halogen combo is excellent IMO

I now use a Duo with a 5-LED cluster, and I'm very happy with it for most situations. You do need to change the batteries as soon as you detect the voltage dropping off, and I do have a side-mounted Rage for pitches and avens etc.

I used to use an Oldham, but was never entirely happy with the light output, and I didn't like the battery weight/size/position at all!

I do like the light and warmth given off by acetylene lamps, but airlines don't like carbide, and caving abroad is what got me into Duos in the first place. Besides, more and more British caves are banning carbide, and I certainly don't want to be associated with the clowns who still seem to think it's acceptable to empty their carbide ash underground.

al said:

the clowns who still seem to think it's acceptable to empty their carbide ash underground.

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Yeah, that's one of my pet hates :twisted:

:guns: there solid actually.

Ive made two - one for bog which over the past year had not let him down once.
I know Paz and Jase have got em too and haven't heard of any problems.

7 fits ok - 14 havent tried but dont think it fits.

main problem is that Speleo 7 reflector has nothing to screw your main bulb into.

For mine I butchered my old oldham reflector which had the screw in bit on the back. Then carefully araldited the screw in bit onto the back of the Speleo 7 reflector.

For bogs I discovered a little accessory (from hnh) that screwed into the terminal block (at the bottom of the headset) that spanned over to the middle and allows you to screw a main bulb into it.

What you have to ask yourself is why do I want to change the reflector.
The 7 led ref costs 30 quid.
If you are still going to use your oldham/Raelite/fx3 battery then why not get a 3 Led MES pilot bulb for 18 quid as backup.

If you want to switch to 4.5 v flat packs bolted to the back of your helmet in petzl zoom stylee. You will need to cave mainly on the 7 led's and use the main beam infrequently inorder to get a decent life out of the 4.5v flatpack.
This config is great for using as a backup for carbide. Lightweight and reliable. and used by people on expoditions where charging facilities are not available/ Hence carbide/flatpacks.

I did mine cause I when I started caving, I had 3 decent oldham caplamps in the shed from the 70s. I got a t3 for one, and did this with another.

I only tend to use it when I know its going to be a horrible tight trip - Hypothermia in rowter, or the giants oxlow connection. Or as backup if Im using carbide.

At the end of the day - everyone has their own preference/budget. I like having the option of Oldham T3 with led pilot bulb or Oldham headset 7led/halogen main with 4.5v flatpack on back of helmet.

SamT said:

or the giants oxlow connection

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You done the Chamber now then? How was it?

mudmonkey said:

Currently an old sawn-off Oldham box with 5 NiMH D-cells in it. 14-LED array (gives about 70 hrs, so charging infrequency tells you how little caving you get done...), and a 10W bulb in the middle for 'I can seeeee' moments. When (iff) I get time I'll build a similar helemt-mounted 3 C Cells/7LEDS job. The LED/halogen combo is excellent IMO

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good solution and like you have been busy with a soldering iron :wink:

:?: Ich habe eine frage mein hierr :?:

How do you regulate the voltage to your LED array? I guess that 5 NiMH cells is around seven volts? and how do you charge the batts?

al said:

I do like the light and warmth given off by acetylene lamps, but airlines don't like carbide, and caving abroad is what got me into Duos in the first place. Besides, more and more British caves are banning carbide, and I certainly don't want to be associated with the clowns who still seem to think it's acceptable to empty their carbide ash underground.

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I agree, irresponsible dumping of spent carbide is dispicable :evil:
But dont throw the baby out with the bathwater!
:soapbox:
If used correctly carbide is fine and airlines do not have problems with properly cleaned generators. I would expect them to object to carbide but then again I dont expect to take gas cylinders or petrol for my camping stove on the airoplane.
Whether or not the banning of carbide in certain systems is correct or not is another question, I personnaly think that this descision should be made on a case by case basis and would not support a blanket ban.

The warmth from a carbide genny can be fantastic, I used mine whilst digging at the end of Hypothermia and it came in handy walking over a very frosty Leck Fell the other weekend :soapbox:

bubba said:

You done the Chamber now then? How was it?

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Erm no

I was using it as an example, Looked at the entrance the other night - looks OK, committing but OK. cant be any worse than hypothermia. Next summer.

I use a Speleotechnics FX ION with a 14 LED reflector for my UK caving - very reliable and no complaints there. On recent expeditions I've been powering the LEDs from a 4.5V Duracell flatpack - I find carbide just far too much faff these days.

Rhys

Rhys said:

I find carbide just far too much faff these days.

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I agree carbide can be a right old faff
Sam T, who deserves a meddle for tolerating so many of my tirades, can vouch for how much mine annoyed me on Wed's.
:cuss:
I am only using it as practice for the Cuetzalan Tiger trip, see Expedition thread (PLUG!)
I think that there is something wrong with my pretzle arian, probably the valve that drips water, it didnt seem to be working.
Any similar experiences out there?

I now use carbide for my main illumination, with a Petzl Duo as a backup. Prior to that I used a 7-LED FX3 set-up, which was great. I do prefer my carbide though - the natural light it gives off really enhances my caving experience, makes it look all the more 3-dimensional - I find electric light (particularly LEDs) clinical and flat in comparison.

Carbide lighting also has a useful hand-warming property and, because the generator gets warm you can shove it down the front of your oversuit for extra warmth as well.

What are you going to do when you want to go down a cave where carbide is not allowed. (Peak/speedwell, south wales and mendips.)
since you've sold your electric set up on Ebay.