It's hard work being tighter than a crab's arse.
It's hard work being tighter than a crab's arse.
I've got an Led Lenser which has one of those newfangled batteries. I also bought a replacement battery direct from them, which is my spare. Sort of gives you the massively long life, plus the versatility of carrying spare batteries.
A solo head torch blast up Ingleborough last night from home - 5 and a bit miles up and 5 and a bit miles back the same way - with the Horton to Ingleborough track just about as muddy and slick as I've ever seen it. Great fun (with a touch of borderline lethal in places) trying to push it both ways. In the end I was a good 20 minutes slower than my fastest on this route, finishing in 2 hrs 4 minutes, but a brilliant outing all the same
Last edited by Fellbeast; 04-11-2020 at 12:06 PM.
I've never had any enthusiasm for running in the dark, although I do sometimes cycle or walk in the dark when I haven't been able to get out in daylight; and the walking would then be under urban streetlights. But one of my presents from my wife this Christmas was a head torch; just a simple EverReady torch, not the sort of thing any respectable fell-runner would be ever seen wearing. I've just been out for a walk up to the Outwoods, leaving the house just as the rain was starting; it was fine for seeing the mud and puddles, allowing me to walk confidently, but I'm still not intending to start running in the dark.
In his lifetime he suffered from unreality, as do so many Englishmen.
Jorge Luis Borges
My first headtorch was a cheap Coleman one from Go Outdoors... adequate for running round unlit roads, but you do notice the difference between those torches and really good ones when you start trying to move over the fells at night... in fact i've still got the cheap one and my nephew likes to wear it and go on "adventures" round the house with all the lights off...!
I'd much rather run over the fells in the day, but can't deny that there's an interesting feeling being out on the fells on a dark night knowing you're out there completely alone.
My first headtorch was a two piece affair. A light on an elasticated headband, which had two spare filament bulbs attached to it, along with two 18" wires. The second part was a brown, wax covered battery pack which had two brass threaded terminals. It was about 5"x 3" x 1" and weighed around 1lb.
You attached the wires to the terminals and and put the battery in your pocket or rucksac. Not only was the light not very bright there was no on/off switch. A wire had to be disconnected to turn it off which was a right faff so invariably they were left on and went flat very quickly. Another problem was taking your jacket or rucksac off and forgetting about the wires and snapping them which was a common occurrence.
The light was just about good enough to map read or take a bearing and just about lit the ground to a maximum of 4 or 5 feet in front of you. Oh, the fun we had on night exercises!
I currently use a rechargeable Silva which is great but I am tempted to get a Hope, as I've heard they are the bees knees, but need to find someone who has one first so I can try it out.
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
I've got a rechargeable LED Lenser one which i heartily recommend. The battery lasts something like 8-10 hours on high mode. Rather than carrying a spare headtorch, i ordered a 2nd rechargeable battery from LED Lenser, and bring that along for emergencies... only the size of an AA battery.