Head Lamps

[+Skip_]

I just did some looking for caches close to where I work, and found that a night cache has recently been placed. I've been thinking about getting a head lamp to add to my caching equipment for a while anyway, and this seems to be a reasonable excuse. I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on one and would like one with LED's and that's waterproof. I came across this one that seems to fit the bill. Does anyone have any experience with this model, or any other suggestions?

[+Bikebox]

I have a Princeton Tec Scout that I use as a secondary light while cycling and have also used it for night hiking. It's a great little light and I think, for the money, it's a best buy. It's light, bright, etc. It does not have a red lamp, so if you want a red lamp for certain nighttime activities, you'll need to keep looking.

[+briansnat]

Princeton Tech makes good lights. But you will still probably have to bring a regular flashlight with you. These lights provide a warm glow of light to the area, but don't have a focused beam. Nice for walking or reading in your tent, but not great for looking for things in the woods.

[+Miragee]

For a newly-placed night cache, a headlamp like this, plus a flashlight, might be fine.

 

However, we looked for a cache that had been out for more than a year and the firetacks were somewhat faded. Our LED lights didn't have a strong enough beam to make the reflectors show up . . .

 

It was a good thing there were several of us on that hunt with different types of lights with stronger beams.

[+TennesseeFlyBoy]

I just did some looking for caches close to where I work, and found that a night cache has recently been placed. I've been thinking about getting a head lamp to add to my caching equipment for a while anyway, and this seems to be a reasonable excuse. I'm not looking to spend a ton of money on one and would like one with LED's and that's waterproof. I came across this one that seems to fit the bill. Does anyone have any experience with this model, or any other suggestions?

 

Get a carbide lamp. They give off a soft, warm glow. I used to use them when I was an active caver. Good electric headlamps are pretty expensive, but you can find adequate ones at any outdoor shop.

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

You can't go wrong with a good Wheat light. Bought mine when I was about eight years old, it will burn all night long, every night for years as long as you recharge it each day and it has plenty of light to see, walk or even work with.

Of course it's more than you want to spend, and the bayyeries, though they last for years, are expensive, but I thought I'd throw it in.

[+TennesseeFlyBoy]

You can't go wrong with a good Wheat light. Bought mine when I was about eight years old, it will burn all night long, every night for years as long as you recharge it each day and it has plenty of light to see, walk or even work with.

Of course it's more than you want to spend, and the bayyeries, though they last for years, are expensive, but I thought I'd throw it in.

 

Wheat lamps are good lights, but they are expensive. Just Rite makes a miners light that would be okay for geocaching. They use a couple of C batteries.

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

You can't go wrong with a good Wheat light. Bought mine when I was about eight years old, it will burn all night long, every night for years as long as you recharge it each day and it has plenty of light to see, walk or even work with.

Of course it's more than you want to spend, and the bayyeries, though they last for years, are expensive, but I thought I'd throw it in.

 

Wheat lamps are good lights, but they are expensive. Just Rite makes a miners light that would be okay for geocaching. They use a couple of C batteries.

 

THe older ones were darn near perfect, the newer ones are junk [Wheat lights]. Aside from a battery every six or seven years and the occasional bulb burnout I've never had a problem with mine. Dad on the other hand made the mistake of trading his in every few years and each new one was worse the the one before.

I paid $82.00 for mine new, which included the light, battery, helmet, belt and charger, but that was in 1970. Dad and I dug Ginseng all summer long so we could each buy one. Prior to that we used carbide lamps, which I wish we had kept now. They had alot of advantages, but did not really put out much light.

[+TennesseeFlyBoy]

You can't go wrong with a good Wheat light. Bought mine when I was about eight years old, it will burn all night long, every night for years as long as you recharge it each day and it has plenty of light to see, walk or even work with.

Of course it's more than you want to spend, and the bayyeries, though they last for years, are expensive, but I thought I'd throw it in.

 

Wheat lamps are good lights, but they are expensive. Just Rite makes a miners light that would be okay for geocaching. They use a couple of C batteries.

 

THe older ones were darn near perfect, the newer ones are junk [Wheat lights]. Aside from a battery every six or seven years and the occasional bulb burnout I've never had a problem with mine. Dad on the other hand made the mistake of trading his in every few years and each new one was worse the the one before.

I paid $82.00 for mine new, which included the light, battery, helmet, belt and charger, but that was in 1970. Dad and I dug Ginseng all summer long so we could each buy one. Prior to that we used carbide lamps, which I wish we had kept now. They had alot of advantages, but did not really put out much light.

 

The carbide lamps I used put off a pretty good amount of light. It depends on the size of the reflector. There used to be one somewhere around our place that was from back when automobile headlights were carbide lanterns. I gave all of my caving equipment to my kids when I came to Texas and got out of caving.

[+Skip_]

Thanks for all the help so far. Of course I wouldn't go out into the woods after dark without some redundancy in my illumination. At least on a walk where I'd need it. In familiar territory where I'm not looking for something specific I've been known to rely solely on night vision.

 

What are your thoughts on the hybrid types? I'm seeing some with LED/Xenon and Princeton Tec has an LED hybrid with a 1 watt LED that they claim rivals a halogen or xenon bulb for brightness and distance. They're not all that more expensive than the Princeton Tec Scout.

[+GrnXnham]

I have one of the best--the Princeton Tec Apex. Yes, they are pricey at $70 but they are MUCH brighter than the PT Scout and worth more than $70 IMHO. It has a flood light and a spot light. As far as I know, this is the brightest headlight you can get for under $100.

 

You get what you pay for.

[+oldsoldier]

That PT one is the model I use. Works awesome, doesnt weight anything. Several different lighting option (I usually use mine on the lowest setting). PT, IMHO, makes some of the best hiking lamps available.

[+bobbarley]

I found a petzl arctic at a pawn shop for 15 bucks. Big and clunky, not that bright and uses funny batteries.

But that fact that I got it a steal of a price makes it better that all of yours.

[+Bikebox]

I found a petzl arctic at a pawn shop for 15 bucks. Big and clunky, not that bright and uses funny batteries.

But that fact that I got it a steal of a price makes it better that all of yours.

 

Don't be so sure! The Scout is $19 bucks, is ultra light, brighter than a lot of these posts give it credit for, uses standard watch batteries, has a few lighting options and is easily worn on its strap or clipped to the bill of a cap. I'd say yours wasn't much of a steal at all!!!

Edited May 30, 2006 by Bikebox

[uber_bike_geek]

I've got a Petzl Tikka Plus... I've had it for (If I'm remembering correctly...) more than two years, and I have yet to have a complaint with it... A friend of mine has a PT Scout, and I spent a couple weeks in the woods with him, and we both noticed that my Tikka had better battery life, and it was brighter than his Scout.

 

Happy Caching!

Jeff

[+bobbarley]

I found a petzl arctic at a pawn shop for 15 bucks. Big and clunky, not that bright and uses funny batteries.

But that fact that I got it a steal of a price makes it better that all of yours.

 

Don't be so sure! The Scout is $19 bucks, is ultra light, brighter than a lot of these posts give it credit for, uses standard watch batteries, has a few lighting options and is easily worn on its strap or clipped to the bill of a cap. I'd say yours wasn't much of a steal at all!!!

 

Did I mention the battery is apart from the light and gets all twisted often but then you can put it in your jacket to keep it warm up here in cold Canada! (was that a run-on sentence?)

[+JohnnyVegas]

Princeton Tech makes good lights. But you will still probably have to bring a regular flashlight with you. These lights provide a warm glow of light to the area, but don't have a focused beam. Nice for walking or reading in your tent, but not great for looking for things in the woods.

Princeton tec does make several flashlights that do not uses LEDs. I have their Tec 40, it uses 4AAs and puts out about 24 lumens, it is a very bright light. A also own there Solo head lamp, it use 2 AAa and is not as bright as the tec 40

 

I am not a real big fan of LED lights, they just do not measure up to a good Halogen or Xenon light.

THe LED head lamp I use is mostly used for reading while camping.

[+JohnnyVegas]

For a newly-placed night cache, a headlamp like this, plus a flashlight, might be fine.

 

However, we looked for a cache that had been out for more than a year and the firetacks were somewhat faded. Our LED lights didn't have a strong enough beam to make the reflectors show up . . .

 

It was a good thing there were several of us on that hunt with different types of lights with stronger beams.

I have place two night caches with Fire aTacks. I have never seen a fire tack that has faded. LED light are not good enought for doing night caches, they do not provide enough light. I tried to use and LED light when I place my first night cache, these were new Fire Tacks, the LED light was not bright enough.

 

When I set my second nite cache I made sure the Fire tacks were to far apart for and LED light to work.

 

The DNFs I have seen have been from people using the over rated LED flash lights.

[+CENT5]

I've never found an LED headlamp to do an adequate job. As previously stated they glow but you don't get much distance or penetration.

 

I've used this HEADLAMP for 15 years in the nastiest duck hunting conditions possible. I had to put the original out to pasture last fall as the salt water finally took it's toll. It will do anything you want and is plenty bright. I use hi intensity halogen bulbs as the bulbs that came in it aren't worth a toot. I have 3 of them still in the packaging as I had trouble finding them at one point and when I did find them I grabbed a couple extras. They aren't fancy, a bit heavy with the 4 AAA's and no over the head strap but they are tough and reliable and best of all BRIGHT!!!!

[+GrnXnham]

Several of you seem to think that LED's aren't very good. I used to think the same thing until I purchased a flashlight with a Luxeon LED. These are much brighter and have better throw than the old LED lights. The Luxeon LED on my Princeton Tec Apex (headlamp) has light output approximately equivalent to a 4D Maglight but with a much longer runtime!

[+Ambrosia]

It must be late. I thought the title of this thread was "Head Llamas".

[+JohnnyVegas]

Several of you seem to think that LED's aren't very good. I used to think the same thing until I purchased a flashlight with a Luxeon LED. These are much brighter and have better throw than the old LED lights. The Luxeon LED on my Princeton Tec Apex (headlamp) has light output approximately equivalent to a 4D Maglight but with a much longer runtime!

The Apex put out 3 watts, the Tec 40 puts out 4 watts

the Apex is about $65.00, the Tec 40 is about $17.00

Of course the Tec 40 is a flashlight rather than a headlamp, it will still take the Tec 40 or the Apex. I can buy a lot of batteries for $48.00

[+GrnXnham]

Several of you seem to think that LED's aren't very good. I used to think the same thing until I purchased a flashlight with a Luxeon LED. These are much brighter and have better throw than the old LED lights. The Luxeon LED on my Princeton Tec Apex (headlamp) has light output approximately equivalent to a 4D Maglight but with a much longer runtime!

The Apex put out 3 watts, the Tec 40 puts out 4 watts

the Apex is about $65.00, the Tec 40 is about $17.00

Of course the Tec 40 is a flashlight rather than a headlamp, it will still take the Tec 40 or the Apex. I can buy a lot of batteries for $48.00

 

Neither of these lights "puts out" any wattage. Watts is a measure of power consumed, not light output. The Apex is actually slightly brighter than the Tec 40. The Tec 40 has slightly better throw.

 

But it's really comparing apples and oranges anyway. These two lights are very different from each other. But if you really want to compare...

 

The Tec 40 is a hand-held light. The Apex is a headlight. You end up paying extra to have a hands-free light. Personally, I like to search for caches in the dark with two hands, not one. I'll pay extra for that convenience. The Apex is also regulated for constant brightness. The Tec 40 is not.

The Apex has a battery level indicator. The Tec 40 does not.

The Apex has 5 different lighting options. The Tec 40 has one.

The Apex bulbs will never burn out or "blow" when the light is dropped. The Tec 40 is an incandescent, so the bulb will fail (usually at a bad time).

 

So while I do think the Tec 40 is a good light for the money, it just doesn't have some of the features that the Apex has, and yes you do have to pay for those features.

 

So why not just go down to Walmart and get one of their 99 cent flashlights (batteries included!) instead of the Tec 40? I could spend the extra $16 on a lot of batteries?

Edited May 31, 2006 by GrnXnham

[+fox-and-the-hound]

Like any product, you get what you pay for. If you plan on spending any time in the dark you should probably try out a variety of headlamps which you can do at a local hiking equipment shop. Take a good look at Petzl products ( http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesAccueil ) for good headlamps with a wide range of functions and cost. A number of them work with the rechargable batteries we're already using in our GPSr units and I've been very happy with mine. I think it ran about 25 or so and it's very well made.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Like I Said $65.00 for a headlamp, not for me, But I will sell you one, we sell them were I work.

As far as the 5 settings. As far as one of my night caches, unless someone runs full power you will never find it.

 

I like reading the logs for the DNFs when I ask them what kind of lites they use I chuckle when I here and LED lite.

 

Most people will not spend more than $20.00 for a flashlite, that is just the way it is. I know I have been selling them for many years.

[+Sean Connery]

Went to REI and and turned on and compared all their headlamps. Bought the Princeton Tec Quad. Has 4 ultrabright leds that offer 3 power/illumination levels plus a flashing dtrobe mode. Haven't used for night caching yet but I do look forward to doing so soon. Paid about $30 for it.

[+NoLemon]

I've been using a Princeton Tec EOS headlamp for about a year now and have found roughly 125 caches in the dark with it. Some of those have been true night caches and the rest is just plain ol' caching at night. I've not yet had a problem lighting up the firetacks at a reasonable distance. Of course, it doesn't match the beam of my 4 D-cell maglight, but on the high setting it produces a narrow beam that travels at least 150'.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Several of you seem to think that LED's aren't very good. I used to think the same thing until I purchased a flashlight with a Luxeon LED. These are much brighter and have better throw than the old LED lights. The Luxeon LED on my Princeton Tec Apex (headlamp) has light output approximately equivalent to a 4D Maglight but with a much longer runtime!

The Apex put out 3 watts, the Tec 40 puts out 4 watts

the Apex is about $65.00, the Tec 40 is about $17.00

Of course the Tec 40 is a flashlight rather than a headlamp, it will still take the Tec 40 or the Apex. I can buy a lot of batteries for $48.00

 

Neither of these lights "puts out" any wattage. Watts is a measure of power consumed, not light output. The Apex is actually slightly brighter than the Tec 40. The Tec 40 has slightly better throw.

 

But it's really comparing apples and oranges anyway. These two lights are very different from each other. But if you really want to compare...

 

The Tec 40 is a hand-held light. The Apex is a headlight. You end up paying extra to have a hands-free light. Personally, I like to search for caches in the dark with two hands, not one. I'll pay extra for that convenience. The Apex is also regulated for constant brightness. The Tec 40 is not.

The Apex has a battery level indicator. The Tec 40 does not.

The Apex has 5 different lighting options. The Tec 40 has one.

The Apex bulbs will never burn out or "blow" when the light is dropped. The Tec 40 is an incandescent, so the bulb will fail (usually at a bad time).

 

So while I do think the Tec 40 is a good light for the money, it just doesn't have some of the features that the Apex has, and yes you do have to pay for those features.

 

So why not just go down to Walmart and get one of their 99 cent flashlights (batteries included!) instead of the Tec 40? I could spend the extra $16 on a lot of batteries?

Beause the cheap wallmart light will fail once you put batteries into it

[+BiT]

I've got about 25 night caches under my belt, don't know the exact number because I never really counted. Night caches are my favorite. I use a $12.00-$14.00 head light that I got at my local big box store (begins with the initials WM). It has a spot light, flood light, spot and flood combo, and red light features. I also carry a 500,000 candle power light of any tough rugged areas. I don't use it on the trails because it only has about 30 minutes of run time. This seems to work well for me.