What's YOUR helmet light??

[self-deleted_user]

I thought duos were more expensive than $80??? I thought they were like $150 for the light, and then you have to pay for the mod on top of it!

[Marduke]

A used Duo is about $20-40, the upgrades are $45 each for the basic ones, and up to around $65 or so for the more fancy ones.

It's not unreasonable to get a complete light from scratch for about $120 total which will easily compete with $300 lights.

BTW, if anyone has a Duo which they don't want for whatever reason, PM me...

[Herman Miller]

Primary: Sten
Secondary: Duo 14
Backup: Duo 8

It seems as technology progresses my lights slowly get degraded down the list.

[Cody JW]

I thought duos were more expensive than $80??? I thought they were like $150 for the light, and then you have to pay for the mod on top of it!

Amy , I paid around 8o for my Custom Duo insert, mine is the best one they had at the time. I already owned the Duo and the older 14 insert. One advantage I did not mention with the duo over the Apex or Fennix is the ease to reach the switch with a gloved hand. Keep in mind that Custom Duo is in The UK and you will deal with currency fluctuations with the dollar vs The pound. As far as I know Custom Duo is not charging extra for shipping to the USA. By the way my duo I have had since 93 and it has not flickered on me once, all I have done over the years is update bulbs.You can also change bulbs in the cave easily with the duo, try that with a sten, apex or fennix.

[Extremeophile]

Here's my new modest lighting system:

Primary - Scurion 1500
Secondary - Zebralight H51
Auxilliary - Princeton Tech Pilot
Pack - Four Sevens Quark Mini AA S2

Mounted on a HB Carbon Fiber/Dyneema helmet

[self-deleted_user]

I thought duos were more expensive than $80??? I thought they were like $150 for the light, and then you have to pay for the mod on top of it!

Amy , I paid around 8o for my Custom Duo insert, mine is the best one they had at the time. I already owned the Duo and the older 14 insert. One advantage I did not mention with the duo over the Apex or Fennix is the ease to reach the switch with a gloved hand. Keep in mind that Custom Duo is in The UK and you will deal with currency fluctuations with the dollar vs The pound. As far as I know Custom Duo is not charging extra for shipping to the USA. By the way my duo I have had since 93 and it has not flickered on me once, all I have done over the years is update bulbs.You can also change bulbs in the cave easily with the duo, try that with a sten, apex or fennix.

Ah ok. Yes and I am aware they are UK, I was indoctrinated with them when I was there ;) I am pretty sure I met the guy who makes them too? But I met a lot of people. I'll be back over there this summer so ya'all should just pay me to get 'em for you and bring them back ;) I'm going by I remember them being 40-60 pounds so yeah the $80 sounded like they were inserts and no light price in that, hence my surprise. Of course if I can get my hands on an old duo before someone throws theirs away again!!!!!!!

Extremeophile - my word your helmet is snazzy!

Hey at least my apex is purple!!! That's something, right? haha.Actually last weekend peeps assumed I got a special edition Apex that *was* purple, so I must have done a good Sharpie job on it! I should offer to custom color Apexs for like $10 each or so hehe.

[Martin Sluka]

Mounted on a HB Carbon Fiber/Dyneema helmet

Isn't it too clean for a caver? ;)

[NZcaver]

I'm currently running a Fenix Hp-10 as my primary.

I have a no-name LED lamp I got from Costco (In checking the website, it seems they don't sell them anymore, though
Life+Gear flashlights

I attach the no-name with an elastic strap that has two loops on it; one points straight ahead, the other points down at an angle. The Fenix has such great throw, but the spread of the light isn't that great, so I point the secondary at my feet most of the time...

My third is an energizer headlamp I got at Wal-mart a few years ago... great little lamp at a nice price.

I'll post a very non-scientific review of the Hp-10 after this next caving trip.

edit- Sorry for the insanely long link... not sure how to use the URL button to work on a set of words as a link, not the URL itself...

[self-deleted_user]

Code: Select all

[url=http://www.lotsofshithere.com/morewords/evenmorewords/yadayadaboom/hey!/boomdeyadaboomdeyada/ilovethewholeworld]Hey look at me![/url]

[Bumbalawski]

I have a LED "strap on" light, now rivited to my helmet, less the strap. Nothing special but could be brighter. Has great battery life. Bought it at BLowes, I mean Lowes. My helmet is an old fiberglass mining helmet from the 50's-60's in the Pittsburgh Pa area. I have owned the helmet since the late 60's. Nothing like an "oldie but a goodie". Originally had a carbide light on it. Still have the carbide light which I bought in 1964 in Cumberland Md.

[Amazingracer]

Here's my new modest lighting system:

Primary - Scurion 1500

Yea! More US Scurions. How are you liking the 1500?

[Carl Amundson]

Here's my new modest lighting system:

Primary - Scurion 1500

Wow and and I thought my StenLight S7 was expensive.

[Extremeophile]

Here's my new modest lighting system:

Primary - Scurion 1500

Yea! More US Scurions. How are you liking the 1500?

The head is much larger than the Sten, which I don't like, but it's definitely brighter, which has it's advantages. I also like the battery case and customizability of the spot and flood LEDs. Still need to learn the battery life at each brightness setting. I changed the connectors to the Sten type so the batteries are compatible. I already used this in Sharps cave this weekend when one person on the trip had a broken Sten battery cable. I loaned them my second battery and it worked perfectly.

[ohiocaver]

Princeton Tech H20 1M main
Mag light (flashlight on lid)
Mini-Mag (around neck for little jobs or searching in pack)
Idea here is to use only lights that use AA batteries ... which I can share with my digital camera, survey Disto, etc. (or pirate from one place to another if things get worn down).

At times, I still use my TAG II but it is bulky with the battery so it isn't my go-to anymore.
And, when caving with carbide-friendly cavers, I still light up now and then.

[Jon]

I just had a discussion about lights with a caving bud. Wanted a light for caving and biking. There is only one light out there. Yeah the Fennix has great reach but p--- poor spill. Biking needs the throw but not as much spill. Caving unless you like crutches requires spill. Now we all know that multi-purpose things do nothing well. SOOOOOO....buy a Sten.Now before you have a fit think about it. You get both throw and spill from a sten, and at 4 levels. Now think about it, by changing the optic buttons you can change the light, clear on the throw and various levels of frosting on the wide angle for bouncing pits. Light frosting on the throw and heavy on the spill for regular caving. Now if you have access to a glass beader and a little tape and the desire to experiment you can create the perfect light that can be changed prior to a trip or even mid trip in minutes by pulling 6 screws and changing the buttons. Hell you can half frost one, leave a pencil dot in the throw but still pick up some mid to long range spill. Yes they do cost up front but the variations are endless. While not multi purpose it is VERY adaptable and the only real choice. Save your money and buy the only light that lets you customize. If you don't know how to use or have access to a glass beader, you can do pretty much the same thing with steel wool or very fine sandpaper (triminite 600 -1000) . And keep in mind as tech gets better Sten lets you upgrade even if you can't spell LED. As for the battery box, Sten has one in the works but I bent one from an old stop sign, it's light strong and cheap. All you need is a vise, rubber mallet and a drill. And changing bulbs only matters if you use old school filiment types or cheap LED conversions. LED's properly matched to power supplies shouldn't fail unless you hit the lotto and cave 48/12 565. But with that much cash you'd be buying the newest light every couple of months so who cares.

In reality, we all make choices I drink cheap beer, drive plain vehicles but like trick lights. Your choices may vary.