But stoves, etc., don't produce both heat and LIGHT to navigate by. With a carbide, you've got both capabilities in one device.
Yes, and when I work on my car I don't use a swiss army knife just because it has all the right tools in one package. If hypothermia is really an issue I'm going to carry something (probably a pellet or gas stove and maybe candles) that has the highest chance of keeping me alive. It will also remain protected in my pack until I need it.
All electrics are vulnerable to water one way or another.
So is carbide. Drop your spare carbide in a pool and you are SOL. At least electric doesn't (usually) go out when splashed.
I've had an electric beltpack battery catch fire
Just curious, what kind? I'm not saying that electric is unbreakable and all powerfull, it isn't. I do think though that electric has made major strides that make it better than carbide in many regards.
I personally agree with potholer that beltpacks are not that great for tight caving and this is where I think technology is making a difference since it's now possible to get a large amount of light without having a heavy backpack.
Canister? What canister? Caplamps don't have canisters,
Sorry, like potholer every carbide caver I've met uses a ceiling burner, guess I'm just missing the secret enclave of caplamp users.
That's great if you can afford a half a dozen spare lights. I can't. That just sounds like excess capacity to me.
Guess out east maybe you can get it cheaper but carbide is expensive enough for me (due to shipping) that over a 5 year period I can buy any number of electric lights with the money I'd spend on carbide. I'm not totally certain what you mean by capacity but on a long trip your cap lamp is going to burn through a larger volume of carbide than all my batteries and spares combined. (oh, I normally carry about 4 lights, six was an example).
But being too quick to dis old technology isn't necessarily a good idea either.
Ok, I agree here. Same thing for new technology though, don't discount it because you've had a bad experience years before.
I just wish LEDs weren't molded in a tilted position; light color of a tube fluorescent, but warmer, and such an irritation to my astigmatic eyes.
I also agree here, light quality and spread is one of my main reasons for still sometimes using carbide.
Oh, before I forget it is certainly true that TAG glop is nastier than most stuff in NM but drop the condescending "If you only do dry caving you probably don't have water issues". I've done a number of good spider sucking swims in and out of NM and I've flooded several headlamps this way (none failed though). I've also run across mud in Mexico bad enough the only way I could clean my lamp was by licking the mud off. (this is incidently one big problem with electric in my mind, it is impossible to clean the lens cover if you are totally covered with mud)
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