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??
Last edited by wheezing donkey; 23-01-2009 at 12:58 PM.
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.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.
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.
P.S.
And what headtorch were you using in Wednesday night's howling hoolee?
Last edited by wheezing donkey; 23-01-2009 at 09:27 PM.
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.
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.
Last edited by wheezing donkey; 23-01-2009 at 09:43 PM.
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