secondary headlamp shopping

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secondary headlamp shopping

Postby perigrine » May 6, 2014 8:52 pm

I'm looking for a secondary light source for my helmet. I currently have the HP25 as the main light, which uses 4xAA and rates at IPX6.

After doing some research, I'd like the second helmet mounted light to be at least IPX6 (and preferably more, but definitely not less). Not much point having the secondary light shorting out due to the wet. Tasmanian caves are wet.

AA batteries (or 14500) are preferable and possibly housing those in the front, which I understand limits me, but if people can cope with two 4xAA battery packs, please let me know!

Finally, I need to be able to find it in Australia. The online sources for Zebralights (as per the spreadsheet) are all out of stock at the moment.

After looking at the Cave worthy headlamp spreadsheet, and then actually playing around with the Black Diamond headlamps, I'm not sold due to the fiddly little screw - I had trouble opening the case in store, doing it under caving conditions sounds like a nightmare. Since the Princeton Tec ones also close this way, I'm not overly keen on this brand either. That said however, if the experienced ones here who use them don't often need to change the batteries in them, I'd reconsider (not that I expect to be underground for long enough to run through all battery sources). :yikes:

Finally, should the secondary be a 'back up' and used as such (in case of primary light failure), or a secondary primary one? (both equal in light output?)
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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby Telehubis » May 7, 2014 3:44 am

The online sources for Zebralights (as per the spreadsheet) are all out of stock at the moment.


Perhaps a little bit OT, but on the official site it's available with 'back order'.

In my case had the same status and after waiting 6 weeks it finally arrived (was back in January though)

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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby Caving Guru » May 7, 2014 9:51 am

I have the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp and in my opinion it is a very good headlamp. It is easy to open and close the battery case for one, it puts out 200 lumens of light, and you can buy it for a pretty good price of about $20. I had my Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp for several years and then during the Pennsylvania NSS Convention last year I did 3 wetsuit caves which all had duck unders so I submerged the light for these 3 trips. I believe this may have been part of the reason that this headlight soon after died. But I contacted the manufacturer for the headlight and told them my situation and then they shipped a brand new one to me which was a surprise to me because I didn't have to pay anything for it. The Princeton Tec also has a very long battery life. I have almost never had my Princeton Tec headlight die on me in a cave (I often change the batteries before the start of a new trip though). My Princeton Tec headlight also gives a signal when it is low on battery by flashing two times which is handy. Even though my Petzl Ultra is brighter than my Princeton Tec, I use my Princeton Tec as my main headlight since my Petzl Ultra usually doesn't last much longer than 4 hours. I use my Petzl Ultra to light up areas for picture taking and to light up large rooms and passages. And I of course have both of these headlights mounted on my helmet at the same time.
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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby trogman » May 7, 2014 10:39 am

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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby perigrine » May 8, 2014 10:08 pm

Greg Jones wrote:I have the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp and in my opinion it is a very good headlamp. It is easy to open and close the battery case for one, it puts out 200 lumens of light, and you can buy it for a pretty good price of about $20.


Here, in Australia, it is considerably more, retailing at $55. It also has AAA's, which I'd rather avoid, if possible. The specs given at the online store I'd buy from also says it only has 45 lumens.
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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby perigrine » May 8, 2014 10:14 pm



Amazon is great, but not *everything* there can be shipped to Australia, which is why I am looking for Australian suppliers. That particular one also needs and 18650 battery. Yes, I know I can buy them (and a charger) just as easily, but the experts suggest all the same size battery. Although I am looking at the NiteCore HC50 (spreadsheet approved) which comes with 2x 18650 AND charger for an extra $50. The NiteCore HC90 is also looking very nice (again, the one I'm looking comes with a rechargeable 18650), except for the sliding switch.
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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby perigrine » May 8, 2014 10:18 pm

Telehubis wrote:
The online sources for Zebralights (as per the spreadsheet) are all out of stock at the moment.


Perhaps a little bit OT, but on the official site it's available with 'back order'.

In my case had the same status and after waiting 6 weeks it finally arrived (was back in January though)

Hubert


Nice one, the official site also says free shipping worldwide! That's as scarce as hens teeth! Not sure I want to wait 'several months' though. :doh:
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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby Telehubis » May 9, 2014 2:39 am

wait 'several months' though


no, no, no...

It was 6 weeks - I just ordered it at the beginning of January and got it in February.

And once they shipped the lamp, I got it in less then 1 week (5 days or so).

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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby Caving Guru » May 9, 2014 10:52 am

perigrine wrote:
Greg Jones wrote:I have the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp and in my opinion it is a very good headlamp. It is easy to open and close the battery case for one, it puts out 200 lumens of light, and you can buy it for a pretty good price of about $20.


Here, in Australia, it is considerably more, retailing at $55. It also has AAA's, which I'd rather avoid, if possible. The specs given at the online store I'd buy from also says it only has 45 lumens.


Sorry, I guess I was off for the number of lumens. Princeton Tec's website says that it has 78 lumens.
http://www.princetontec.com/quad

So why would you prefer AA batteries over AAA batteries?

And I found the Australian distributor of the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp that you were talking about. The Paddy Pallin website says that the specs are 78 lumens though. And the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp seems relatively inexpensive compared to the other headlights sold on the website. I see that the cheapest headlight is $40. But maybe you know of an Australian website that sells cheaper headlights.
http://www.paddypallin.com.au/princeton ... dlamp.html
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Re: secondary headlamp shopping

Postby perigrine » May 10, 2014 9:55 pm

Greg Jones wrote:
perigrine wrote:
Greg Jones wrote:I have the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp and in my opinion it is a very good headlamp. It is easy to open and close the battery case for one, it puts out 200 lumens of light, and you can buy it for a pretty good price of about $20.


Here, in Australia, it is considerably more, retailing at $55. It also has AAA's, which I'd rather avoid, if possible. The specs given at the online store I'd buy from also says it only has 45 lumens.


Sorry, I guess I was off for the number of lumens. Princeton Tec's website says that it has 78 lumens.
http://www.princetontec.com/quad

So why would you prefer AA batteries over AAA batteries?

And I found the Australian distributor of the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp that you were talking about. The Paddy Pallin website says that the specs are 78 lumens though. And the Princeton Tec Quad Headlamp seems relatively inexpensive compared to the other headlights sold on the website. I see that the cheapest headlight is $40. But maybe you know of an Australian website that sells cheaper headlights.
http://www.paddypallin.com.au/princeton ... dlamp.html


Paddy Pallin is just down the road from me :)

And I want AA's since most authoritative sites suggest all the same size batteries. This sounds sensible to me.

I rechecked my site, and it still says 45 Lumens (I'll admit these aren't infallible) - http://www.wildearth.com.au/buy/princet ... RI00005-bl - that's so weird. Perhaps the Paddy Pallin one is a newer model. The 2014 BD Storm went up from 100lumens (2013 model) to 160.
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