I need headlamp recommendations

[iGOunderground]

i had used a petzl duo 14 for a while and loved it until my buddy bought a remington head light from lowes and he used it in moses tomb. my duo (on high) wouldnt light the top of the pit from the bottom and his remington did, i went and bought myself one. my duo is now in my pack as my back up. and the remington is only about 40 dollars at lowes. it seems to be fairly waterproof and very dependable. i lead wild tours at Appalachian Caverns so it gets used several times during the week and then on the weekends when i go caving with my friends.

[YuccaPatrol]

Fenix will be offering their new HP-10 headlamp at the end of this month. If it is as waterproof as they claim, this might be the best "off the shelf" headlamp available. It can be very bright (225 lumens) or run at a dim 7 lumens for 210 hours along with several brightness modes in between.

Levels: 7 lumens (210 hrs) >> 50 lumens (22 hrs) >> 120 lumens (7.5 hrs) >> 225 lumens (total 2.5 hrs)
Flash modes: Strobe (5 hrs) >> SOS (50 hrs) >> Warning Flash (44 hrs)

The only thing I don't like are the various strobe/flash modes, but hopefully they are buried deep enough that one will not accidentally activate them while changing brightness levels. . . .

I've already pre-ordered one and will report back once I receive it.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=1774

8% discount and free shipping with the coupon code "CPF8"

[Mudduck]

Thanks for the link . I preordered one myself. If its what they claim I'll get a couple more.

[Steven Johnson]

Yeah, I just preordered one too. I've had a Fenix LD01 as my third light source for a while now and I've been super-happy with it -- *IF* this headlight is anywhere near as good then that's a great price.

[Vertigo]

Zebralight is the best light I've seen for caving as long as one is not trying to look very far down the passage. It is an intense area light, which weighs next to nothing. The Apex has issues, but the light is really nice, and PT has great customer service. I've tried the EOS also, and it is pretty good, but can get annoying since it is a spot beam pattern. I lost a River rock flashlight somewhere in Ellisons, and also lost 2 PT flashlights in other caves, and they were ok for spot beams.

[YuccaPatrol]

As much as I like my 2 Zebralights, I have had problems.

My H-50 fried recently and is being serviced under warranty (been 6 weeks since I sent it to them)

My H-60 that runs 18650 rechargeable lithium batteries is a great caving light for its perfect flood beam, but it is nowhere near as waterproof as claimed. I keep it on my helmet as a backup, but the last time I washed it after caving, water got inside. I rinsed it gently under the kitchen faucet and scrubbed the mud off with with wife's toothbrush

The next day, I noticed condensation in the lens.

Photo here since it is too big to post here: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_s-ymZ6n2HCk/SkrFJ ... G_1279.JPG


I ended up dissassembling the switch and running two batteries through it on the high mode to burn the water out. It works fine, but I am hesitant to bet my life on it. When/if I get my H50 back from Zebralight, I am going to send them my H60 for repair as they claim that they have solved this problem. I would suggest that anybody buying one NOT open it up to switch the black button for the included extra glow in the dark button. At least you will know it is factory sealed and any problems are not because YOU opened it up.

[KENTO]

I have yet to see or hear any mention of the Surefire Saint headlamp , are they too expensive or just have yet to be distributed to the Cave market vendors. Though I have only seen ad copy for this in Outside Magazines 2009 gear issue , I have been hearing buzz about it's development for over a year now.
Specifically to your cause though , Spelemander.... Why don't you shop around for an affordable super bright hand held light that you can more flexibly scan those specific salamander hiding spots for rather than the obscure and likely not to exist characteristics in the price point of headlamps available to all of us.
I hope to see or hear results of your studies someday. I appreciate what you do, Salamanders need friends , too!!

[Cody JW]

Fenix will be offering their new HP-10 headlamp at the end of this month. If it is as waterproof as they claim, this might be the best "off the shelf" headlamp available. It can be very bright (225 lumens) or run at a dim 7 lumens for 210 hours along with several brightness modes in between.

Levels: 7 lumens (210 hrs) >> 50 lumens (22 hrs) >> 120 lumens (7.5 hrs) >> 225 lumens (total 2.5 hrs)
Flash modes: Strobe (5 hrs) >> SOS (50 hrs) >> Warning Flash (44 hrs)

The only thing I don't like are the various strobe/flash modes, but hopefully they are buried deep enough that one will not accidentally activate them while changing brightness levels. . . .

I've already pre-ordered one and will report back once I receive it.

https://www.fenix-store.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=1774

8% discount and free shipping with the coupon code "CPF8"

I own a small fenix handheld light called a p3d special edition ( about 75 bucks) that is 215 lumens. This light is small, waterproof and cave worthy.I left mine in water for a few hours and it was fine after being under about 2 feet of muddy water.If the headlamp is of similar construction it would be cave worthy as well.This would be much less than a sten.I have two diffrent cave buddies that have the sten, one had to have the led replaced after little use and the other just had to have the charger replaced after a couple of trips.I have said before on previous posts about a light being time tested. We are going to see leds get brighter and cheaper, with this in mind I would be hesitant to spend several hundred on what appears to be the best light at the time.

[Mudduck]

Just letting you guys know, I was on the Fenix website a little bit ago and it said there will be a delay in shipping the HP10 until August 18th. It will be worth the wait but I sure was hoping to get it in time to try it out at T Rock on Aug 15th. Oh well.

[chickie hawk]

i have used all types of lights carbide 2 the sternlight blows anything that i have used i dont even use carbide much anymore the battery tucks nice up inside my helment and is light weight with long burn time on low witch by the way is as bright as the tiki is on high now the bad news $$$$$$$$ and more $$$$$ and even more$$$$$$$$$$$