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Does/has anyone use pelican lights for caving? I am new to caving but used a pelican headlamp (heads up #2640) on my recent trip with success. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on it. Pros/Cons when it comes to those for caving.
Thanks!

pipewrench wrote:Does/has anyone use pelican lights for caving? I am new to caving but used a pelican headlamp (heads up #2640) on my recent trip with success. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts on it. Pros/Cons when it comes to those for caving.
Thanks!

Cons: 29 Maximum Lumens
Pros: Inexpensive

Have you actually used this light, or are just familiar with its specs? I know it says 29 lumens, but it seems very adequate, I also carried a pocket flashlight in my bag with a rating of 300 lumens. Of course the 300 lumen light was much brighter, but the headlamp seemed to hold its own as well.

I was also concerned about its reliability, it has a lifetime warranty, but that doesn't help you if it breaks underground! Thanks

I have never used the lights personally but I have looked at them before. The main issue I see with them is the fact they are not waterproof. I am not sure how good they would be for some caves but I have used lights with worse specs in dry easy caves as loaners or to save my batteries in my more expensive lights. Any light that is helmet mounted and bright enough will work in a lot of caves but as you get more into caving your choices of caves will likely become more extreme (swimming, sump diving, etc) and you will need more durable lighting. For the price of some of the Pelican lights there are better solutions available.

I also do not see where you all are getting 29 lumens for the 2690, according to the website it is 60 lumens. 60 lumens is bright enough to be used as a primary light in a cave. The older PT Apex was around that same output.

Thanks David for the input, any advice on a suitable headlamp for a beginner? I am going to dive into this equipment forum to get some ideas also.

Mine is also the 2640, which runs off of 4 AA...not the 2690

I mostly cave in dry caves or at least dry enough for my headlamp to not get submerged so I primarily use my PT Apex Pro. Tons of cavers use the Apex or the Petzl Duo. I have seen a few who use stenlights but not many in my area. I have a few good headlamps that I use as primaries but I am always buying hedlamps that ctch my eye at hardware stores and other places. I have quite a collection of <$30 headlamps that I use as backups and loaners.

This is essentially a modernized version of the Petzl Zoom light. Probably just fine for caving in areas where you dont expect a lot of water. A few things to consider.

1) caving with others who are using more powerful modern caving lights will make this light far less effective since your eyes wont adjust to its dimmer beam as well.

2) ALWAYS carry 2 spares (or more). I like the $60 rule. carry a minimum of 3 independent light sources where the total value is at least $60. 3 $10 lights means your only half as prepared as you need to be.

I used an earlier model for a few years. Still do when i visit WNS country. It gave adequate light and was sturdy enough. It dropped down a short pit once and it was fine afterward. Ten years later one of the LEDs has stopped functioning but it remains an adequate back up. It does have a larger profile than many modern LED only lights. I think it would make for a fine caving light (but improve your back ups).

If one of your LEDs stopped working you can mail it back to them. Mine stopped getting an output to the halogen bulb. I paid to ship it to their factory, and they mailed me a new headlamp for free. Super friendly people to deal with.