Advice Request: Good Compass & Headlight... (& Other Eqpt Recommendations)

[+Mark 42]

I'm looking at one of the Headlamps that has white LEDs with a Krypton incandescent bulb for situations where more brightness is needed ($9.99 at HarborFreight.com).

 

Also, I have a lensatic compass, and a map compass. The map compass seems pretty accurate (I intend to compare accuracies using my GPS as a reference to lay out a couple of direction lines), but I gave it to my wife to use. The lensatic is easier to use (card type vs. needle type), but lately it seems to be sticking or something.

 

Also, I'd like a decent one for in my truck. If ya'll have any brand / source recommendations, I'd appreciate it.

 

And Also, if anyone else want to ask for equipment recommendations, feel free to use this thread for it (maybe not GPS units though... too controversial and lengthy of a discussion).

[+briansnat]

For a headlamp, consider the Petzel MYO. It has a halogen beam as well as LED bulbs. It's a lot more than 9.99, but I'm not sure I'd trust a $9.99 light, when all others in that category are considerably more.

 

"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm

[+Mark 42]

$45 is an awful lot, especially since it has only thre LEDs. I've seen some with 8 or (I think) even 12 on eBay. I think I'd be inclined to get one of the ones on eBay and carry a flashlight at that point (yes, I'm a tightwad).

 

I'm not sure how many LEDs the Harbor Freight one has... I'll have to email them and ask.

 

I have noticed the one's on eBay claim to be similar to the Petzel headlamps, which tells me that the Petzel must be good (and I seriously doubt the quality is even close, but remember, I am pretty cheap).

 

I'll give it some thought.

 

I wonder if I shouldn't just go with the Krypton headlamp and spend the savings on extra batteries (I could steal the batteries out of the kids' powerwheels...)

[+leatherman]

LED in the Sportsmans Guide.

 

POWDER!!!!!!

[gitarmac]

I have the petzel led duo and it seems to work very well although I don't really use it much as it's rather large and most of the time I like my smaller ones. The duo seems to be much like the myo, I think the myo may be a little better designed and a little cheaper than the one I have.

[+Bloencustoms]

If you tend to like the card type compass, this one at US cavalry is the coolest I've ever seen, albiet very pricey.

[+synergicity]

At www.sportsmansguide.com I found this:

 

lensatic compass cheap

[+synergicity]

or this two pack of basic plastic compasses:

 

Two pack of basic plastic compasses

[+Mark 42]

The High Tech Lensatic one is ultra cool!

 

The Cheaper Lensatic looks like it's made of Brass, very elegant.

 

The Clear Plastic ones are exactly like the one I gave my wife...

it works really well, but is a little less intuitive to operate (IMO)

 

I have seen the Brass one at Harbor Freight,

and will have to look at it again to see if I

want to order one (I forgot about it!).

 

I'll post links to the Harbor Freight

headlight and brass compass when I get a chance.

[+Mark 42]

Well, the Harbor Freight Brass Compass is different than the lensatic type (looks similar at a glance though)

 

The LED Headlamp looks like it's usable. I ordered two of them (one for my wife & one for me) for $9.99 each.

 

You can get them cheaper if you use the "Order from a printed catalog" link and order them by the part number 40182-1CTA.

 

Check on eBay too... there are some that have eight LEDs on there.

 

I might have to make my own super-duty headlamp with one of the sealed beam halogen car headlights I have (low beam burned out, but the high beam still works) and a backpack battery... you'll see me coming!

[+woodsters]

Mark I recieved an email the other day on a headlamp that was on sale through them at a pretty considerable discount. I put it on the front page of my site. Click here for a link directly to it.

 

Edit: You might wanna disregard it, I jsut realized it's an ultraviolet light (blacklight)

 

Brian

www.woodsters.com

[Trogdor!]

I think the best products for the money areBlack Diamond. I do Adventure Races that go through the night in addition to a lot of trail running which include Ultra distance (50 to 100 mile) events.

 

Headlamps are OK for when you need hands free lighting, but having a light at around waist high provides a illumination which shows much better trail detail (that is the light casts a shadow on the small stuff commonly tripped or stumbled on). When running through the night on longer events, I prefer a modified LED headlamp (Black Diamond Moonlight) that has been converted to light that straps around my waist. This provides a nice even light up to about 5 feet in front of me. I carry a small hand held light that I use for spot illumination and looking further ahead.

 

When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!

[+Mark 42]

Got any experience with plantar fasciitis?

 

I'm (was) training for Seattle Marathon, and when I added Geocaching in the midst of my training, my Plantar Fascia couldn't take the added miles.

 

Now I'm swimming, and hope to add bicycling to keep some consition until I can resume training.

 

You can email me, or start another thread if you don't want this one to go off on a tangent.

I've read up on it a lot, and tomorrow I go to a Sports Physiologist, but if you have ideas for how not to lose too much training ground while recovering (can't run), I'd love to hear about them.