ArCaver wrote:NZcaver wrote:So I'm curious - how exactly does using an Apex make a cave look like an industrial warehouse?
Too much light, and of the wrong color. I own two Princeton Tec Coronas and use one when I must but I find the blue cast ruins my night vision and gives false colors. The real problem is when several cavers have the high powered LEDs on at the same time. I'm dreading the day that I go underground to find it's brighter inside than on the surface.
The "white" LEDs are not white, they're blue. Natural sunlight is white for only part of the day, around midday. Mankind has used fire as the only supplemental light until incandescents that we may have evolved to better utilize yellow/red light.
If you have some LEDs that throw out "too much light, and of the wrong color" - I will be happy to help you dispose of them.
That's an interesting opinion - you don't often hear cavers complain about too much light. As for color - yes, most of those white LEDs technically use chips that emit blue light.
From wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode Most "white" LEDs in production today use a LED chip which emits blue light, part of which is efficiently converted to a broad spectrum centered at about 580 nm (yellow). Since yellow light stimulates the red and green receptors of the eye, the resulting mix of blue and yellow light gives the appearance of white, the resulting shade often called "lunar white".
You mentioned owning the older PT Corona headlamps. I haven't specifically used those ones, but I do know that as technology has advanced so-called white LEDs have become "less blue" than they used to be. They're also a lot brighter, for those who find brightness to be an advantage.
When LED lights were first becoming popular for caving, I didn't like them much either. Other people's LED lights blinded me more than usual, and my own one seemed to cause me diminished depth perception. But what can I say? The pros soon outweighed the cons for me, and I've never looked back. (Actually, I was pleasantly surprised to find the Apex on 4 LED mode gives me better depth perception than my previous headlamps. I assume the 2 LED pairs being spaced about the same width apart as the human eyes may have something to do with that. That isn't exactly one of it's listed features, but I find it nice all the same.)
Sure, experiencing a cave by flickering firelight looks cool in Hollywood movies - and on the occasional nostalgic caving trip - but now in the 21st Century it seems most cavers have moved on with their lighting choices. And as I'm sure you're aware, in some caves it's now forbidden to use carbide.