back-up lights

[cob]

Just what I use:

My primary is carbide (either my ceiling burner or my autolite cap lamp),
I have a Minimag bungied to my helmet,
and now an apex for my backup that I keep in my pack.

the way it works: I lose my primary, I reach up and flip on the mini-mag, this gets me to a place where I can dig out my apex and put it on. End of minimag use.

I'm with Scott, your backup should always be as good as your primary, because you never know when it will become your primary. To go cheap just does not make sense. I use to use a duo for my backup, but it failed on me once and I came out on the minimag. I never was able to get it to work again. I hope the Apex is a little stouter.

tom

[fuzzy-hair-man]

I never was able to get it to work again. I hope the Apex is a little stouter.
tom

One thing to watch with the Apex in your pack is the buttons are easily pushed by other stuff in your pack, so I'd either take the batteries out or some how protect the switches from being pushed by other bits of gear. Don't want your spare to have no batteries when you need it.

[wendy]

Well I guess i can have a small backup mounted to my helmet and then keep my curent primary light in my backpack as a back up, its the zoom zora with the halogen bulb in it, good little light.

[potholer]

When it comes to avoiding things getting turned on by accident, one solution is to leave the batteries in place, but break the connection by inserting a small piece of thin plastic sheet between the end of one battery and its contact - it saves havng to have a seperate battery container for removed batteries, and depending on the shape of the plastic piece, could be *fairly* easy to remove in the dark if required.

[Dwight Livingston]

When it comes to avoiding things getting turned on by accident, one solution is to leave the batteries in place, but break the connection by inserting a small piece of thin plastic sheet between the end of one battery and its contact - it saves havng to have a seperate battery container for removed batteries, and depending on the shape of the plastic piece, could be *fairly* easy to remove in the dark if required.

I reverse half the batteries, which works if you have an even number.

Dwight

[dweller]

i have a mini mag with the cheap led and its not to bad it would get me out of the cave if need be. one headlamp i use as backup is the energizer 2 led with one red night vision led ive beat the hell out of that thin and it keeps on goin.had it fully submerged many times for long periods no problem. doent throw as much light as i would like but the burn time for 3 aaas is like 50 hrs.ive now upgraded to the apex after readind all the reviews cant wait . later

[potholer]

Currently, I use a home-made twin LED light (wide/spot) as my main light, with a DIY Luxeon conversion in a 2xAA Maglite as a helmet-mounted backup, and a cheap Tikka lookalike usually carried as a spare in my gear bag. The latter lamp was bought from an 'everything for £1' store, but died within the first few minutes of use, so has also been subjected to a home upgrade.

The Maglite is pretty bright, but has limited runtime at full brightness, whereas the other backup light will last for a long time.

[Dane]

That being the case, would 2 or 3 mini-mags not be sufficient back-up? A velcro mount would not be that difficult to rig so that you could change them out, and they apparently travel better in your pack than a regular helmet-mount light. Plus you have a common battery for all back-up.
It obviously doesn't give the lumens that an Apex does, but it sounds like it is much more likely to work - the #1 thing I'm looking for in a back-up.
Comments?

[JoeyS]

That being the case, would 2 or 3 mini-mags not be sufficient back-up? A velcro mount would not be that difficult to rig so that you could change them out, and they apparently travel better in your pack than a regular helmet-mount light. Plus you have a common battery for all back-up.
It obviously doesn't give the lumens that an Apex does, but it sounds like it is much more likely to work - the #1 thing I'm looking for in a back-up.
Comments?

Sounds good to me. Sticking with a light you are familiar with, such as the minimag, and sticking with one universal battery type (AA) is a fine example of KISS.. Plus, since the majority of lights used for caving use AA's, you can usually find someone with a few spares should you need them. You're more like to get a blank stare if you ask (in the darkness), "hey does anyone have an extra 4.5 volt flat pack I could use..?"

[Dane]

I like you Joey - You're funny!
At least I would be spared the blank stare (in the darkness)!!!!

I carry a cheaper helmet-mount as back-up, as well as a mini-mag, and my intention is to relagate my current light to back-up status when I get an Apex (are you listening Santa??)
Like others, I've found the helmet mounts don't seem to travel very well in a pack w/o some kind of extra precautions.
But there seems to be universal respect for the ruggedness and reliability of the mini-mag.
It was just a thought.

[potholer]

I must say, I'm wondering about carrying extra AAs for my Maglite maybe even instead of the Tikka lookalike, but I've only just done the Maglite conversion so I'd like to play with it for a bit first.
I must say, having a switch on the Maglite tailcap is definitely a big improvement for a helmet-mounted light.
The Tikka lookalike will run for ~30 hours, but in smaller trips there is always the risk that I'll reach into my bag and find I'd just crushed it. A spare pair of AAs would fit easily in my pocket alongside the battery pack for my main light.

You're more like to get a blank stare if you ask (in the darkness), "hey does anyone have an extra 4.5 volt flat pack I could use..?"

I do see your point.
However, for my main light, I went the devious route of selling lights to most of the people I go caving with, so spares are less of a problem. Life is so much easier if people standardise on you.

[JoeyS]

Since we're talking back up lights, Sierra Trading Post has the Princeton Tec Pilot on Sale:

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/produc ... Waterproof

I would not want to rely on one to get me out of a cave, but the seem like a great "sitting and waiting" mood light. Clips onto a standard headlamp strap and angles up and down.

[Caver John]

Minimag are outdated. I use a fenix e21 for my backup/boost lighting. Also have a fenix e05 full flood 1x aaa for proximity/backupbackup.

[LambCaver]

Yeah i'd agree with Caver John. Mag's are outdated. I find using fenix's are way better. They're cheaper and put out good lumen's for the money and size
I personally like the HL 21 on my helmet, the beam is kinda spot'ish but u can add the diffuser to spread things out, my main is a Petzl duo 14 LED so the spot on the HL21 does help at times. And the E21 is great as a back up in the pack! The best thing about this setup is that they all use the same battery size, AA.

[Cody JW]

Yeah i'd agree with Caver John. Mag's are outdated. I find using fenix's are way better. They're cheaper and put out good lumen's for the money and size
I personally like the HL 21 on my helmet, the beam is kinda spot'ish but u can add the diffuser to spread things out, my main is a Petzl duo 14 LED so the spot on the HL21 does help at times. And the E21 is great as a back up in the pack! The best thing about this setup is that they all use the same battery size, AA.

I agree the fennix is better but I am not sure they are cheaper, I have a small 220 lumen fennix backup ( and helmit strap for it) and the old mini mags with LED bulb. I carry both in my pack. I paid 70 bucks for my fennix and have seen others on bright guy and other sites that are less but I have not seen any fennix as cheap as a 8 dollar mini mag with a 5 dollar LED bulb. Am I missing something here?