Backup Helmet Light(s)?

[randojl]

I see a lot of cavers with two, three or even four lights on their helmets. Maybe this is to provide different light for different circumstances, but I assume it's mostly to provide backups. Now, were I on a rope, I could see some real benefit in just clicking a switch if my main light fails, but otherwise it seems to really stress my old neck injury to carry more helmet stuff than is necessary. Also, my main light might fail because it got hit by a rock, and I see a potential problem if my second light was also mounted on my helmet at the time. For now I'm wearing my Nova 3 and carrying my four backup lights (Princeton Tec [PT] Yukon HL, 2AA minimag with LEDs, PT Scout and PT Eclipse) in my pack where I can easily find them without light, with three of them ready for helmet mounting.

[Steven Johnson]

I see a lot of cavers with two, three or even four lights on their helmets. Maybe this is to provide different light for different circumstances, but I assume it's mostly to provide backups. Now, were I on a rope, I could see some real benefit in just clicking a switch if my main light fails, but otherwise it seems to really stress my old neck injury to carry more helmet stuff than is necessary.

I've had my main light fail while on-rope. No fun. Glad I had helmet backup then.

My concern is more for backup than for different circumstances, but then, in California, there aren't many different circumstances

[claustrophobe]

My old Petzl Mega died on me in the middle of a roped traverse in Virgin Cave. I had a Mini-Mag on a lanyard around my neck for "backup". I VERY CAREFULLY got the 3 C-cells out of the helmet mounted case and replaced them with fresh ones from my pack without dropping anything and Holy Cow! got the polarity right! Mostly by feel.
(Now which was positive, and which was negative?)
A helmet mounted backup would have been REAL handy. Of course, if I hadn't been so preoccupied, I would have changed batteries sooner. My mistake. If you never make a mistake and your gear is perfect, no
backup is necessary.
Lightweight LED lights were in their infancy then. The first one I saw was in Fort Stanton Cave and was a homebuilt rig by Aaron Birenboim of Albuquerque in 1994 or 5. I always wondered how they would play out. Now I know, it's the way to go.
Put one of those lightweight puppies next to your main light for those awkward brownout or lights-out occasions. My two-cents worth.

[John DeLong]

I've been using a Black Diamond Moonlight for the past three years. It's enough light to function on its own and I've tended to leave it on. An advantage of that light for me was as a book light. The head easily rotates down to illuminate the book while the brighter main light is directed at passage details.

It had been very durable, but after three years of in cave use it didn't survive 2 minutes in the hands of a two year old. As such I am interested in other lights I could use in that way.

[pebblepoint]

I use a $7 mini-mag from Target.
don
little egypt grotto

[mgmills]

One thing I was told early on that has served me well was try to actually cave using your back-up light. If you can't actually cave with it the light won't do you much good if you really need it fo a back-up.

Having a handy light available to find your batteried in your pack and change them is another matter.

[Hatch]

On the last two trips I've been on, I unclipped one of the two Princeton Tec Pilots I have on my helmet and held it in my mouth so I could quickly change batteries while everyone else was being typical cavers and haranging me to hurry up. I wouldn't want to cave with just a Pilot, but they're really small and handy to have around and they're only nine bucks.

[Steven Johnson]

Revisiting this thread after a while...

At this point I'm considering splurging and revamping my whole helmet light setup and ditching the Foxfury. It has its nice points, but some annoying points too (not least of which is fellow cavers wincing when I look at them).

Right now I'm thinking about a PT Apex for a main light, and one of these for a backup: PT Quad, PT EOS, or Petzl Tikka XP.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions, especially on the relative merits of the backup lights?

I just re-read the Apex review thread and it seems to well-liked, but I haven't actually seen one in-cave yet.

(Of course, I actually really covet a Stenlight, but am totally unable to justify the cost given my actual needs....)

[BenC]

The thing to remember about having a whole bunch of lights on your helmet is if you lose your helmet down a crack, pit ,etc. Well you lose all your back ups too. Always have one around your neck or in your pack.

[Steven Johnson]

The thing to remember about having a whole bunch of lights on your helmet is if you lose your helmet down a crack, pit ,etc. Well you lose all your back ups too. Always have one around your neck or in your pack.

Done, and done. But thanks for the advice

[cheshire]

The thing to remember about having a whole bunch of lights on your helmet is if you lose your helmet down a crack, pit ,etc. Well you lose all your back ups too. Always have one around your neck or in your pack.

I almost did that on my second "real" caving trip. (I had hard-hat/flashlight caved for years before.) I was sitting near a twenty-foot pit and took off my helmet to change my batteries, and it nearly went over the edge.

Because of problems just like this I usually keep at least one headlamp in my pack.

When I have the choice, though I usually prefer to have a carbide with a lightweight alternative like a Tikka Plus or Princeton Tec's two-LED light. If I'm going all electric I'll often use a Matrix 2 as a backup.

If you're looking to go to all AA, I think the Matrix 2 is a great choice. The problem is, the lamp is discontinued. I'm not sure where you'd find one.

[hewhocaves]

right now i have a Princeton Tec Apex as my primary. I'm using two mini mags with LED bulb replacements on my hemet as my second and third lights. (Surprisingly, they are definately bright enough to use comfortably as a helmet mounted light). Lastly, i have a third mini mag in my pack. (regular at the moment - I'll buy a third LED replacement at some point in the near future).

As an additional bonus, all these light sources use AA batteries, thus allowing me to mix and match if things get desperate.

john

[Wayne Harrison]

It occurred to me (and the strange sense of humor I have) that some newbies might misunderstand the concept of backup helmet lights.

Just to be clear (for those who are reading this thread but haven't been caving yet) -- backup helmet lights are not used for backing up.

[TomJewell]

I have recently tried to use a min-mag on my helmet as a backup light, but the flashlight keeps seperating from the helmet mount. (the little ball thing keeps poping out of the sockety thing) So I think I'll need to try something else.

[karst97]

The thing to remember about having a whole bunch of lights on your helmet is if you lose your helmet down a crack, pit ,etc. Well you lose all your back ups too. Always have one around your neck or in your pack.

And the other thing is, if you are pushing a new lead and leave your pack back with your buddies, it'll be difficult to pull out the spare light...

I just have a high intensity spot beam on my helmet which doubles as a temp backup light, plus a Photon Micro led for another (it's so small it's not really "there").

My "main" backup is stored in my pack in a crushproof container.

Scott