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Head lamps

Show Profile  GeneO Posted: 12 February 2010, 3:03 PM  
Looking for a robust headlamp that i can use for night orienteering an rogaines.

Any for sale?

Where can I get them from? Any good websites?


Show Profile  JD Posted: 13 February 2010, 1:13 PM  
get one at oringen

Show Profile  Greig Posted: 15 February 2010, 2:55 AM  
In NZ
Night Lightning do bright lights that are used for rogaines and night MTBing.
AyUp an Oz brand make something similar but the head unit is smaller and the lighting level isn't adjustable.
http://www.olspecialisten.com/ (the select lampor from the list on the left) is a swedish website/shop which will show you the range available in Sweden. Divide by 5 to get a rough price idea.
Lupine is a German brand I think, very expensive.
Mila seemed to be becoming popular a few years back in Sweden and seemed to be good.
Silva is the original orienteering headlamps, others will be able to comment on these.

Rogaines have different requirements to orienteering lights. In a 24hr rogaine you need a light that will last 10-12hrs so you need something where you can adjust the brightness on the fly otherwise you'll end up carrying lots of heavy batteries. Orienteering, you just need something bright for 1-2hrs.


Show Profile  nick Posted: 15 February 2010, 9:15 AM  
latest AyUps now have high/low/flashing light modes

apparently not THE brightest available, but I think they're the most versatile set-up at that price point, and they're surprisingly light-weight.

you can borrow mine for a test run if you're interested.

Show Profile  marcusd Posted: 15 February 2010, 12:49 PM  
Second Nick's endorsement of the Ay-Ups - great value for money and very light weight. Relegated my Sliva L1 to a back up very quickly a couple of years ago.

Show Profile  Greig Posted: 15 February 2010, 4:27 PM  
I remembered about this http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.30864 as well. Not sure about the quality as I've not used one. Someone was bringing them into NZ and selling on trademe for a bit under $200 a while back, they may still be doing this. The ones on trademe had a NZ plug on the charger. I think they are copies of one of the Lupine ones. It looks like you'd need to buy or make extra batteries if you are doing a 24hr rogaine.

Or if you are really keen you could build your own one. Heaps of webpages/forums with info. It's a bit time consuming but good if you want to make something specific.

Show Profile  Jamie Posted: 17 February 2010, 10:33 AM  
I nearly bought a led lensor H6 the other day, $120 for 60 lumen or something crazy, 75metre beam. Anyone tried one of these? Looks damn light and useful.

Also not quite sure about waterproofness...

Show Profile  mick finn Posted: 18 February 2010, 6:01 AM  
Used to have a small single LED lenser which was great and went for 150 hours. But not as bright as the 1W Silva jobs, and had a more diffuse beam. New ones look a lot brighter though..There's a Led lenser H7 at 160lumens, and a rechargeable H7R, and a H5 but no H6. There are a few imitation brands out there too.

Show Profile  owen Posted: 21 February 2010, 2:23 PM  
Regarding the Ayup's, I'm thinking of getting some (maybe the V4 kit) and wondering which beams to go for. They've got three beam options: narrow, intermediate and medium. As each light is a pair I'd thought that you would be able to mix and match and have two options (eg high and intermediate) per pair but the website doesn't allow you to do that.

Ayup reckon the narrow's good for helmet, intermediate for handlebars and medium for headband.

So, which ones have you guys got and which ones work best for what?



Show Profile  nick Posted: 21 February 2010, 3:06 PM  
I was wondering the same thing before I bought mine, then I read something Dave Sheppard wrote where he suggested the medium beam might have insufficient throw for orienteering... I figured there was a good chance Shep knew a thing or two about orienteering so I went with intermediate (for handlebars/headband) and narrow (helmet).

I used the intermediates on Friday night's rogaine and found I had ample light all night off the 6hr battery. The beam pattern had good throw and width. Also, I found it handy at times to be able to offset the two light heads - one immediately in front, and one further down the trail.

Naturally, I'm daydreaming about rigging up a head strap to hold both intermediate and the narrow units for Katoa Po... if I can make it... I'm day-dreaming about that too...

Show Profile  DennisdM Posted: 21 February 2010, 3:35 PM  
My brother's got a H7 LED Lenser, great light output but doesn't 'throw' very far. Pretty awesome for size and weight though. And can be dimmed to save power.

Show Profile  nick Posted: 21 February 2010, 3:57 PM  
Is that what he was wearing on Friday night? Tiny!

Show Profile  DennisdM Posted: 22 February 2010, 1:30 AM  
Yeah, and it made a huge difference when he actually put fresh batteries in after the coastal section!

Show Profile  DennisdM Posted: 22 February 2010, 1:30 AM  
What was your team name Nick?

Show Profile  owen Posted: 22 February 2010, 2:47 AM  
Thanks Nick, one more (last?) question... what's the narrow beam like to use if you put it on your headband? Do you find it's too narrow and you don't get enough peripheral vision?

The reason I ask is to get an extra headband so we can use both lights on our heads.


Show Profile  marcusd Posted: 22 February 2010, 6:23 AM  
For Ay-Ups I am pretty sure I use the intermediate beam. It has a honeycomb lens which also makes map reading way easier, i.e. you are not blinded when you look at white paper. No issues with insufficient throw either rogaining, AR or night O.


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