New headlamp battery design

[bif]

Well I don't think your light is 'an ugly little thing' . Its clearly taken a lot of time and effort to get it where it is

I notice that you've etched that 'false' name on the top of the lamp. It's a really nice touch. I've seen similar done before but have no idea how its done. Please tell, and save me from death by google trying to figure it out for myself. Laser marking ??

This particular headlamp had a different battery pack, just plasti dipped and covered with a heavy and abrasive heat-shrink tube.

Have I got this right? Do you mean that you have built a hardcase battery but havn't got a photo of it handy, or that it is still conceptial at the moment. I wouldnt be put off building an openable box but you might need to think bigger than the caving market, and if it works for cavers then that could be a massive bonus to us. You obviously have a good deal of knowledge and passion for adventure racing, a massive market, perfect if you're going to invest heavily in you ideas. Please don't think that Im trying to steer you away from the caving market. There is afterall no point in breeding a race horse if you've got noone to race against (sorry I never make much sense before lunch).

Caving is a fairly rubbish market. Its relatively tiny, all of us are super critical experts on everything, and beer is the only thing we're generally comfortable about sticking our hand into our wallet for. We do tend to abuse stuff and many cavers clean their gear infrequently/ never (this is what active stream caves are for). If you are weak and look after your kit you will be laughed at alot, critical kit failure and death would be preferable (Sorry, I just wanted an excuse to use the 'tongue in cheek' avatar) As you're setting about protecting aspects of your design and possibly investing is moulding then I guess you are taking this light building business a wee bit more serious than the 'just cover my costs' chestnut. High end niche market caving lamps are invariably built by folk that are mad crazy about caving and too curious about stuff for their own good. Building a light was an itch that they just couldnt help scratching. Not ending up out of pocket is a challenge in itself. On the flip side, it is a market that typically holds limited interest to the big manufacturers so there is atleast something to go at below the mass manufacturing radar. You can be sure that even Petzl (arguably the finest company on the planet) don't make their money from cavers, were just very fortunate that they accomodate us in many way. I think this might almost qualify as a rant, so I'll shut up now (plus I ought to do something with the day as its not raining for a change).

[potholer]

My new design is going to be a very different to the old ones but due to popular demand, here are some pictures of the older headlamps:

Ah - I'd wondered from the name if it was you - I was always curious about the 'Spike' headband elastic from the pictures on cpf.

...hopefully future versions won't look quite so much like a toilet.

They don't look bad to me, though as I said elsewhere, thinner/less obvious wire can make a significant difference for little effort.

Though given the cosmetics of what I make (definitely lights for looking with rather than looking at), possibly my opinion counts for less than some others.

Regarding the UI, though I can see the point in having a single button, and how that does limit operation, I think one thing that can be useful underground is an augmented flood (flood with a little spot). Many people like caving with a floody light, but sometimes it's handy to be able to spot a route a bit ahead of where a pure flood will reach, and a little added spot can make a huge difference to usable range without necessarily ruining the flood experience. Also, a medium flood with a tiny bit of spot might be a better beam than a brighter flood while using much less power, and more efficient power use -> less need for large battery packs.

[spyke]

The etching is actually a paint, silk screened on after annodising. Though you are right that there is a much nicer version that is done by lazer etching. Even that is not too expensive in quantity.

Yes I have built the hardcase battery. It's nothing fancy. I'll try to get a pic soon.

My primary market really isn't cavers, but most of the issues here are waterproofing, convenience and helmet mounting which are all relevant to my many kayaking customers.

At the moment I really am just trying to cover my costs, but 'my costs' have included many tools and samples of anything that looked useful. So now I have a wonderful shed with shelves and shelves of cool stuff. I'm hoping that eventually I create a product of which I'm properly proud. Then I'll take a few deep breathes, and try to make a real profit. The catch is that even if I bought the parts to make 500 headlights I'd still have to work for months assembling them. I get bored very quickly doing repetitive work, so the dream is to pay somone else to actually make the things. That way I get the joy of designing and experimenting and make enough money to always be buying new toys.

And yes potholer you found me out! I didn't really hide that well. I just didn't want to be seen as a manufacturer trying to drum up business in a forum.

About the flood/throw I should sharpen my language up a bit. What I called 'flood' really isn't pure flood. I use the Lisa2 RS which is the narrowest beam in the range (see http://www.ledil.com/datasheets/DataShe ... Pin-XP.pdf). It gives a great balance of throw and spot for running through bush. Having 2 of them also makes it a very smooth beam.

[spyke]

Poor quality images but you get the idea:

[bif]

Nice, if I was to go for option 3 I'd probably build something along those lines

[Tenzin Beck]

Aha! As soon as I saw the photos, I knew this was the same headlamp I was lusting after on CPF. I made a few inquisitive posts there under the username "Zeroignite".