every little helps, hope you got your club card points.. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
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every little helps, hope you got your club card points.. :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Batteries have gone after 2hrs :mad: Hoping (geddit?) some new Duracells will be better than the cheapo Tesco ones it was supplied withQuote:
Originally Posted by Penguin
Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
I heard that you had been out for over 2 hours for a 5.5 mile race - wtf
Back to efforts round the village for you! :D
I don't think it was quite two hours. To be fair, the route strayed as much as ten yards from the six foot high stone wall that led you to the turning point (and back):rolleyes:. Quite how half the field missed the twenty foot high memorial cross that was the turning point is also up for debate:pQuote:
Originally Posted by magoo
It didn't help that the marshal was lost ;):rolleyes::p
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob
I've got both Derby Tup - you're right the Tesco is brighter but a tighter beam. Only downside is the case is a tight fit and too snug for any of my rechargeable AAs. I use one of these to mount it on the bike http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.8274 Cheap and arrived in 2 or 3 days.Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
That's the downside with the plethora of cheap l.e.d. lighting on offer at non-specialist outlets - they are cheap (and initially appear brighter ) because they do not incorporate any of the sophisticated current limiting circuitry found on the more expensive, cutting edge examples of the genre.:confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
The best option would be to use NiMH re-chargeable cells, otherwise your initial saving will be totally negated by the cost of disposable batteries.
Sure you're right wd! Large part of my problem is I'm not very quick downhill in the light so heaven knows why I think I should be quick in the dark, with a cheap headtorch, invariably with flat batts ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
Maybe dear old magoo was right and I need to go back to my Friday evening road runs :(
Re the tesco torches, if the rechargable batteries don't fit in from the tail end, try taking the front end off and putting them in that way. As regards the battery life, there's a reason they're so bright! The candle that burns twice as bright, burns for half as long. I find them pretty good for cycle commuting, best way to mount it to the bars is one jubilee clip round the bars, and another through this and round the torch. Both protected with a strip of cut up inner tube, very solid.
Lots of mountain bikers are using the P7 torches off dealextreme now, which need the batteries swapping every hour, but are brighter than HID lamps and for much less. Rechargable batteries are a no brainer.
Has anyone tried the Primus Primelite Race?
http://www.lansdaleltd.com/prod.php/prod/PRI366001
seems a lot cheaper than other comparable torches but comparing just using the technical specs is quite hard.
Ey up DT.Just looked at tesco online.Thev,ve got a Silva headtorch half price at £9. Might give one a try as hope to be at Lothersdale!:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Derby Tup
Has anyone got one?
I am looking for a headtorch in the £30 to £40 price range.
The Petzl Tikka Plus, XP and Myolite 3 are all in that range. Any reccomendations from that list?
The XP, the others are no way as bright plus with the diffuser you have more lighting options.Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Head
Don't you get sweat by the headband that holds the torch on the head in warm days?
What's the difference in output between the old & the new Myo XP???
i compared most of the ones mentioned and found the silva l1 to be the brightest also you have the choice to wear the batteries on the headband, in a case that clips to a belt or a elasticated waiste band which i use when running, far more comfortable than having the weight of the batteries on your head
Be careful. One of our Bowland members had a load of trouble with the wiring on his L1. I mentioned it on an earlier thread over 12 months ago. Someone scoffed at the post and bought one. A couple of months later he posted that he too had exactly the same trouble - midway down a steep descent in one of the Welsh night races.Quote:
Originally Posted by fellboy
RH I bought a Black Diamond Icon from Ultimate Outdoors on New Street in Lanacster. RRP is 49.99, UO have them at 39.99, I got 10% off against my current YHA card, they will also give the discount against a current FRA card - thats 35.99. The Icon amounts to a Petzl Myo XP combined with a Petzl Tikka+, a 3W hyperbright L.E.D. "spotlamp" and 4x superbright L.E.D.'s as a "floodlamp".Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard Head
A Tika xp and a hand torch suites me fine , There are some cheap 3watt head torches on the market(ebay) stay clear of them ,Damm near set my head alight after a week, cheap junk( made in china):rolleyes:
Cheers WD, i will have a look next time i am in Lancaster. Only problem is i havn't received a new FRA card since 2007Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
R.H. That's why I used my YHA card in September. A 2009 FRA card came with my new calendar/hand book, earlier this month.
The Icon also comes with 3x Energiser batteries, in the price. Some reckon the Energisers are better than Duracells!
Hey! Lets be really geekie and start a 'What Battery' thread??
Ayup, anyone tried these:
http://www.ayup.com.au/
Be alright for an upside down race me thinks !!!!
Tomsk, being a bit of an headtorch geek - electrical engineer - I have heard of these, and been on the website, about a year ago. I think they were mentioned/linked on one of the earlier headtorch threads. The actual canisters for the light engines look very similar to the 'Lumicycle' lights from down in Bournemouth.
A girl who is not a Bowland member but a work colleague, turned out on a Bat Run from White Coppice up Great Hill. She uses a Lumicycle H.I.D on 24 hour mtb races. She did not use the Lumicycle for the run, but back at the cars she demo'd it. It lit the entire length and width of White Coppice cricket ground - incredible! As is the price!
If you are really serious about running (or biking)on the moors/fells/mountains in the dark the Petzl Myo XP is only adequate. You might want to really splash out on just about the best headtorch out there which is the Petzl Ultra. The Myo XP power is 150 lumens whilst the Ultra is 350 lumens but the cost might well put you off, mine cost me £225.00 whilst the Myo is around £50.00. It all depends on what you want but the Ultra is designed with runners in mind and the lighting performance puts other models in the shade. Battery performance is remarkable with a lithium rechargeable battery and you have a choice of lighting options, it is a bit heavier than the Myo but is a superb/robust piece of kit. (See the write up in the last edition of the Fellrunner mag)
I, like many others, have the Hope Led2 which I've found more than adequate for both running and mountain biking at night even on the lowest power setting. Slightly more technical ground needs the next power level up, but other than going "wow!" I've not had any need to use either of the top two power levels yet.
Not had my hands on a Petzl Ultra but looking at the specs, I'd say that the main difference between it and the Hope unit would be that the Petzl is a headtorch that may be mounted on a bike (but I'm not sure if there is a bike mount available yet) whereas the Hope is a bike light that comes with a headstrap to convert it into a headtorch. This shows in the fact that the Hope isn't particularly comfortable to wear.
Main bugbear with the Hope when on the bike is the narrow beam - it'd be great if one LED could be set to wide beam.
N.B. If I was spending that amount of money, it would be a Hope Vision Four - 960 lumens from 4x 3.5W L.E.D.'s. The Hope gets this by using a finned aluminium housing as a heat sink, thus allowing the L.E.D's to be driven at their maximum. As per usual Petzl have gone for the easy manufacturing option and settled for a moulded plastic case, which means that with no heat sink / dissipation the 6x 3W L.E.D. s have to be throttled back, even on the highest setting. It's not a bad light, but certainly not the best; nor is it good value for money against the Hope range. Even the Hope Vision Two bangs out around something like 480 lumens from 2x 3.5W L.E.D.'s for around £180, albeit a rather narrow beam.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norman Bates
The real cognoscenti appear to go for a Hope lamp on a Petzl head-harness.
Mmmh! Only an aficianado would appreciate the use of a word like cognoscenti on the FRA Forum.Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
i have used my l1 riding 12 miles to work every day all winter in all weather conditions and have had no problems the wiring at all. also all other reviews i read when deciding which to buy gave the l1 a good report.
From you Graham, I take that as a very endearing compliment. Ian.Quote:
Originally Posted by GrahamB
P.S.
And what headtorch were you using in Wednesday night's howling hoolee?
Fairplay Fellboy, you must have got a good 'un. Trouble with most 'professional' reviews is that the kit is new out of the box and the review is usually written within the first month of usage; so it should still be working ok. It's the performance after 10 or 12 months that really counts, especially if you've splashed a fair wedge.Quote:
Originally Posted by fellboy
I know that my clubmate was very peeved when the battery box to lamp unit wiring frayed at the entry point into the lamp unit after about 4 or 5 months ( exactly what happened to the guy on this forum 2 years later), but he got that fixed professionally. The following winter, my mate's control circuitry in the lamp unit failed and it went into melt down on his head. At the time he'd spent around £75 for his.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
I have a Myo XP because I am still treating these events as fun (sort of).
Were I to take them more seriously I would equip my accompanying valet with a Hope searchlight as you advise.
If a Yorkshire gent, such as yourself, were to dig into his pockets that deeply; then I'm certain that my good friend Trundler would volunteer to be your valet, gratis, to carry the said contraption for you.:D
Thanks Wheezo, think I'll stick to the Hope...less technology :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
Cheers
get a hope led there the best for night running :D
I hope your man is considering your carbon footprint. How green is your valet?Quote:
Originally Posted by GrahamB
Very good Colin!Quote:
Originally Posted by Swoop
I haven't run oft' t'ill since I were a lad.....then last night I found myself running off Whernside with an Alpkit Gamma. Hmmmm....
Flood light too weak, and spot beam too narrow. I couldn't get happy with either, and such was my paranoia with the light I kept tripping over those pesky steps made by volunteer path builders....
Mi knees are shot and I'm no fast runner, but I'd like to see where I'm going on the volunteer steps. Quite fancy a Silva L3 (NOT the narrow beam L1 or L2) which has 5 teeny weeny LEDs rather than one whopper.
Anyone used a Silva L3? Personally I think a floody light is better for seeing the ground than a focused beam (which is good for picking out the pub).
I agree that a "floody" light is what you want. My Petzl Duo 14LED is good for this - certainly better than a Myo XP (which I also have - headtorch geek that I am)...
Oi, Mr Donkey, just you mind who you are volunteering my services to..... :mad:Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezing donkey
I have a MyoXP too but the diffuser rather overcooks it. Picked up a Princetontec Fuel last week (head torch geek that I am) which is nice and floody, but I think it will bounce around on mi bonce too much - batteries and all the gubbins are up front, you see, and a rather small headplate for forehead contact induces wobble, even at my speeds. Princetontec's Quad and Petzl's Tikkaplus are also in the frame for nice flood, but similarly they are both bounce-inducing 'all-in-ones'.Quote:
Originally Posted by Trundler
If the Alpkit's three small LEDs were all white, and could all come on together...ah, then we might have the perfect runner, and still with that 1watt beam for finding the pub.... :D