Tonight's headtorcher

[Llani Boy]

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.

[Graham Breeze]

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.

Hope is to headtorches as...Bianchi is to bikes.

[Llani Boy]

Hope is to headtorches as...Bianchi is to bikes.

Do they come in celeste Graham?

[Graham Breeze]

Do they come in celeste Graham?

Nah. Just black as the night.

I used to do night races. I had a decent Petzl and one night a much slower runner on a very rocky descent from Simon's Seat went past me as if I was standing still as their portable sun lit up the path, after which I was cast back into the outer darkness. Ian Holmes and all the fast guys were running with a Hope and I realised why. Hope are pricy but either you want to race to your ability or you don't. They are not particularly advantageous on climbs (running slower, closer to other runners) - but races are won on descents.

IIRC the people who founded Hope worked at Rolls Royce in Barnoldswick and Hope are engineered to last. I have had mine for around 12 years and I have had one new battery.

Obviously it fits on my bike and I just have to live with the colour clash.

[millipede]

Hope is to headtorches as...Bianchi is to bikes.

I agree. I keep wanting a new one but my original is just still too good to justify it. It must be about thirteen years old.

[Graham Breeze]

I agree. I keep wanting a new one but my original is just still too good to justify it. It must be about thirteen years old.

Mmmh. Thirteen years. I am wondering now if it was you who went past me descending Simon's Seat and lit up my life?