Mooreshire
Newly Enlightened
^v^ ^v^ ^v^
Caving is a sport undertaken in complete darkness which requires free use of one's hands; so every cave explorer must use a headlamp. In a cave your ability to see is keeping you alive, and caving involves unimaginable conditions and obstacles - so the headlamp you use must be as durable and reliable as possible. This is my attempt at making and maintaining a comprehensive list of proven, bright, and readily available caving appropriate headlamps. I plan to update and maintian the list as the market continues to move forward. Please feel free to share the list elsewhere.
This is the link to the list (in the form of a Google Documents spreadsheet):
http://goo.gl/n3xhD
The guidelines:
- Proven - to be considered for this list multiple cave explorers must report that they happily and regularly use the model in question as their main light.
- Bright - headlamps producing less than 200 lumens will not be considered.
- Available - only non-generic headlamps with proper model identification which are currently readily available on the English language mail-order market will be considered.
The first version of this list was written in October of 2012 and posted on several small caving forums/groups. By the end of November 2012 it had been shared (by me or others) on more than a dozen websites and online groups. I have already received feedback and corrections from explorers, distributors, and manufacturers from as far away as Croatia, New Zealand, England, and Switzerland. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and corrections! (Replying to this thread should be just as effective as emailing me directly.)
This list is not meant to endorse any one lamp or manufacturer, nor does it claim to contain sufficient information for deciding on the best model for you - it is only intended as a starting point for someone researching the current caving headlamp market.
If link-shorteners scare you then this is the full long format link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq_1dPxvBnXUdHZTckszcW1kcXZoSGh0OUhiYWdxX3c
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq_1dPxvBnXUdHZTckszcW1kcXZoSGh0OUhiYWdxX3c
Know of any I've missed? See any errors? Think of a way it could be (realistically) improved? Find anything confusing? Please let me know!
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