This is my Apex after 2 survey trips

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waterproof headlight

Postby boreholio » Aug 6, 2007 10:04 pm

Pelican HeadsUp 2680 is a 1 watt, 4 AA headlight rated submersible to 500 feet. About $55.



http://pelican.com/lights_detail.php?recordID=2680
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Postby bsignorelli » Aug 6, 2007 10:53 pm

Hank,

What seems to be the story about the 14LED DUO? I see a normal headlamp version is now available in the states but I can't find any reviews of it online. Is it like most Petzl headlamps and "almost great" or did they finally make a DUO that's waterproof?
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Postby Jeff Bartlett » Aug 6, 2007 11:18 pm

seeing as we had 2 "water resistant" Petzl lamps outperform the "waterproof" Apexes, i'm inclined to trust their 5M/IXP8 waterproof rating a bit more than PT's figures.

however, i'm a little put off by (A) the use of a halogen instead of a 3W LED and (B) the fact that it costs twice as much as the Apex.
"Although it pains me to say it, in this case Jeff is right. Plan accordingly." --Andy Armstrong
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Postby hank moon » Aug 6, 2007 11:29 pm

JoeyS wrote:Yes, Princeton Tec has a good warranty, but what good is that when you're two miles from the surface?



THAT is the question of the day.


Can insert Petzl, Black Diamond, Gerber, etc. in place of PT - any mass market headlamp mfg.

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Postby hank moon » Aug 6, 2007 11:35 pm

fuzzy-hair-man wrote:Other than that there are dive torches (LED or not) small enough to be zip tied to the side of your helmet and run off AA batteries.


yep. that's a good practical solution...doesn't stroke my elegance nodes, but...works. lots of bomber waterproof flashlights out there by UK, Pelican, others...
Last edited by hank moon on Aug 6, 2007 11:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Postby hank moon » Aug 6, 2007 11:43 pm

bsignorelli wrote:Hank,

What seems to be the story about the 14LED DUO? I see a normal headlamp version is now available in the states but I can't find any reviews of it online. Is it like most Petzl headlamps and "almost great" or did they finally make a DUO that's waterproof?


not sure which one you're talking about. The battery pack on the newer belt-mounted version is waaaay more waterproof than that of the "all on head" version. The head is essentially unchanged, so any probs you've experienced with that are likely to recur.

Yeah, I know. The DUO is a crap shoot. If you get a good one, great. Otherwise, PITA. Fortunately, I have a good one! rub...rub... :-)

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Postby fuzzy-hair-man » Aug 6, 2007 11:44 pm

hank moon wrote:
fuzzy-hair-man wrote:Other than that there are dive torches (LED or not) small enough to be zip tied to the side of your helmet and run off AA batteries.


yep. that's a good practical solution...doesn't stroke my elegance nodes, but...works. lots of bomber waterproof flashlights out there by UK, Pelican, others...


:agree: if you know you are going to get wet well it's not too bad to strap some dive torches on and go, when you know the caves are dry you can cave elegantly :laughing:

PS: where does one find one's elegance nodes? :? :oops: gotta see if I've got some. Great word elegant.
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Postby NZcaver » Aug 7, 2007 12:52 am

xcathodex wrote:seeing as we had 2 "water resistant" Petzl lamps outperform the "waterproof" Apexes, i'm inclined to trust their 5M/IXP8 waterproof rating a bit more than PT's figures.

however, i'm a little put off by (A) the use of a halogen instead of a 3W LED and (B) the fact that it costs twice as much as the Apex.

You could try replacing that almost-useless halogen bulb in the Duo with a 1-watt side emitting screw-in replacement like the one shown here. That's what I did, back when I actually used my Duo. The LED isn't really brighter than the halogen was, but it sure lasts longer. After a few hours using NiMH batteries, I used to switch the halogen and it would dim in 5 seconds. Not so with the LED! If you do go with a Duo, I recommend this modification. It would be nice if someone made a reasonably efficient 3W version of this... but no sign of that on the market yet.
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Postby potholer » Aug 7, 2007 8:59 am

It would be nice if someone made a reasonably efficient 3W version of this... but no sign of that on the market yet.

It'd be even nicer to have one using more cutting-edge LEDs which would be 2x or better in effieciency than regular 1Ws. I dare say that will happen at some point.

What puzzles me about the Apex is why they don't do something to make it less likely to fail if it does leak (spray-on lacquer on the circuit board, etc.)
It seems like water inside often equals almost instant total failure, rather than just being a source of slow corrosion, and I'd *guess* that probably only the odd place in the circuitry would be likely to be so sensitive to a little water.
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Postby NZcaver » Aug 7, 2007 1:04 pm

potholer wrote:
It would be nice if someone made a reasonably efficient 3W version of this... but no sign of that on the market yet.

It'd be even nicer to have one using more cutting-edge LEDs which would be 2x or better in effieciency than regular 1Ws. I dare say that will happen at some point.

The specs on the new Cree LEDs are looking pretty good... even the *perfect* Stenlight could probably benefit from an LED upgrade. :wink:
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Postby potholer » Aug 7, 2007 1:35 pm

The specs on the new Cree LEDs are looking pretty good... even the *perfect* Stenlight could probably benefit from an LED upgrade.


Even more encouragingly, Lumileds are back in the game, with new K2s which pretty much equal the Crees/SSCs - 110lm@350mA, 240lm@1A, and there are whisperings of a 300lm@1A device on the horizon.

Now, it's not just the one-and-a half-horse-race of Cree and Seoul competing on how to package and phosphor-up the Cree die, which did seem the only game going for the last 6 months or so.

Whether it's Cree, SSC or Lumileds, with a 110@350mA device, that's almost as much light as a LuxV typically used to provide when running flat out, at less than a quarter of the power draw, and with maybe an eighth of the waste heat.

Personally, I like the 'softer' nature of the SSCs (the Crees are more directional, which works less well for me), and having competitive K2s around should be excellent.
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Postby JoeyS » Aug 7, 2007 1:39 pm

NZcaver wrote:
potholer wrote:
It would be nice if someone made a reasonably efficient 3W version of this... but no sign of that on the market yet.

It'd be even nicer to have one using more cutting-edge LEDs which would be 2x or better in effieciency than regular 1Ws. I dare say that will happen at some point.

The specs on the new Cree LEDs are looking pretty good... even the *perfect* Stenlight could probably benefit from an LED upgrade. :wink:


It already has, or can be, at least. I have two SSC P4 emitters in place of the old Luxeon 3 watters. The new ones are almost twice as bright.
I think I'm going to stop with what I have now though, I get "the look" or the open hand sometimes from other cavers, letting me know to dim my light. :oops:
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Postby Marbry » Aug 10, 2007 1:27 am

I've killed a number of Princeton Tec and other 'water resistant' headlamps with only moderately wet conditions.

The Duo (which uses the headstrap from a dead PT light) has actually done well so far and I'm carrying that as a backup. I also have a couple of the PT 1W LED 4AA flashlights on my helmet which do really well, but they go diving too.

I'm sticking with my Nova (maybe a Sten soon) or other depth rated lights since that seems to be the only reliable way to go in wet caves. And from what I've seen it may be cheaper in the long run if you go through them like me.
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Postby Jonathan » Aug 10, 2007 10:50 am

PT's customer service is 2nd to none (in my experience)
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Postby Teresa » Aug 10, 2007 1:49 pm

Marbry wrote:I'm sticking with my Nova (maybe a Sten soon) or other depth rated lights since that seems to be the only reliable way to go in wet caves.


Nope. Incandescents. Simple. No electronics. No worries.
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