Lights!!

[BLUEBIKE]

Anyone got any ideas how SILVA perform as head lamps compared to Petzl ???
Checking out Silva site and the range is massive with some big headlamps !!!!

Ideas welcome

[Penguin]

i use various headlamps during the colder months as i find my petzl 5 led and main beam headlamp drains fairly quickly..

[wharfeego]

i use various headlamps during the colder months as i find my petzl 5 led and main beam headlamp drains fairly quickly..

Eventually you'll see the light...I Hope

[Stick]

Eventually you'll see the light...I Hope

Let's HOPE our forum friends see the VISION eh Wharfee..

[Ady In Accy]

Did you ever find it Stick?

[Stick]

Did you ever find it Stick?

No......so had to get another.

The sort of mistake you only make once...

...at least, that's what Mrs Stick said to me when I told 'er...

Mind, I do have 2 chargers now so if anyone leaves their charger on top of the car...

[wheezing donkey]

Anyone got any ideas how SILVA perform as head lamps compared to Petzl ???
Checking out Silva site and the range is massive with some big headlamps !!!!

Ideas welcome

BB The big Silva 480/478 quartzhalogen orienteering head torches are good, but even with the 9Ah NiMH battery option on th 10w bulb, you only have 7 or 8 hours of useable light and only half of that if you are on the 20w bulb. Half those figures again if you are on the lightweight/compact 4.5Ah battery. Okay for a typical night orienteering event or evening run, but no good if you are likely to be out all night on 'winter B.G.' support duties! Admittedly at double the price (mainly due to the cutting edge Li-Ion batteries), the new Petzl Ultra will outshine the Silvas and give double or more the useable charge duration. As for the Silva 3 & 5 W hyper-bright LED lamps, one of the Bowland Bats had loads of trouble with his, which I reported on here 12 months ago. 'Joe' reckoned that I was being alarmist, went ahead and bought one. He had exactly the same problem!
Main problem with the Hope headtorches, that the Wharfedale Owls get excited about, is that the beam is too 'tight' despite there being plenty of range; and there is no wide beam option - similar for the Petzl XP's, using the 'diffuser' merely dissipates the light to an almost unuseable level. Once again, with the Hope, the charge duration on the battery prevents it from being an 'all night' light.
I've just bought a Black Diamond 'Icon' - 3w focussed hyper-bright LED 'spotlamp' plus 4x standard super bright LED's. Full whack on either option (each has 3 power settings) allows for 2 full winter nights on 3xAA batts.
R.R.P. is £49.99, Ultimate Outdoors have them at £39.99, and I got 10% off against my 2008 YHA card - £35.99 They would have given me 10% against this year's FRA card, but my 'current' FRA card is dated 2007.
The Princeton Tec 'Apex' is a similar format to the 'Icon'.

[BLUEBIKE]

Cheers for that top resume of all things head torch! The Black Diamond looks likely to me - any probs' with the head mounted battery pack??? head wobble and all??!!

Price not too bad either..

[wheezing donkey]

BB - No more wobble than any of the Petzl 'back of the head' battery packs as on the Myo range. Used it on Leg 5 of Baggins' BG to good effect, 2 weeks ago.

[Britta]

 
Main problem with the Hope headtorches, that the Wharfedale Owls get excited about, is that the beam is too 'tight' despite there being plenty of range

The vision 4 certainly hasn't got a 'tight' beam!! The Ambleside Owls are still testing 3 Hope torches and all three are on various Xmas wish lists already! (I'm in trouble for making folk want to spend money¬)