The Little Monkey: a great new caving headlamp!

Yucca Patrol

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Well, here's the first custom cave-worthy headlamp using a Cree R5!

The darn thing looks bulletproof, and it is about time that someone stepped up to the plate and offered a caving headlamp using the brightest and most efficient LED available! :twothumbs

http://littlemonkeycaving.co.uk

I've been in contact with the developer/builder and am incredibly impressed and will be ordering one as soon as all my good stuff sells in the marketplace.
 
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barnefko

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Very nice - but c'mon: 400$ :thinking:

Think thats a little overpriced
 

Ajax517

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Site's down.

Any specs or beamshots?
 

Yucca Patrol

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Very nice - but c'mon: 400$ :thinking:

Think thats a little overpriced

The price seems high, but it is actually on par or cheaper than other custom extremely rugged caving headlamps, especially considering that it is using the newest and best LED available.

You are correct that limited production, custom hand-built, extremely rugged gear costs a lot more than your average chunk of plastic and elastic straps, but this is no ordinarly headlamp and is intended to survive extra-ordinary abuse.

When you are hours into a cave, rappelling down a raging waterfall, you realize your life is worth a lot more than a $40 piece of plastic.
 
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kramer5150

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Very nice - but c'mon: 400$ :thinking:

Think thats a little overpriced


Hardly... when you consider the abuse these guys put all their tools through. Any light thats designed and manufacture warrantied to endure this kind of environment will not be cheap.

OT comment...
You guys have not seen the going rate for dental industry headlamps, $500-$3000 is that price range:eek::broke::mecry:. My wife is a dentist and I FRIEK'd out when she was showing me the price for some of that stuff. Everything in that industry is HEAVILY regulated (understandably so) and certified at the federal, state and in some cases international levels. By the time you add it all up its very $$$.
 
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vali

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Interesting headlamp. No nonsense at all and well thought product (but I am not a caver).

Supports 9v AA batteries

I didnt know those even exist :eek:. The only "drawback" is the need to 6xAA batteries if you plan to use NiMH. I think it would be a bit heavy and 4xAA should be better.
 

Yucca Patrol

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Interesting headlamp. No nonsense at all and well thought product (but I am not a caver).



I didnt know those even exist :eek:. The only "drawback" is the need to 6xAA batteries if you plan to use NiMH. I think it would be a bit heavy and 4xAA should be better.

4xAA wouldn't work because it needs move voltage.
 

uk_caver

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

The 6xAA option is mainly intended for expedition use, etc, rather than everyday caving.
 

cave dave

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

The only "drawback" is the need to 6xAA batteries if you plan to use NiMH. I think it would be a bit heavy and 4xAA should be better.

It's not that heavy if you use Li primaries. I have a 6xAA holder for my Stenlight with Li AA in it. If you have access to a recharger you would use the LiIon pack. If you need to use primaries than Li is the way to go. A 3xCr123 holder option might be nice.
 

rayman

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Looks good, should also work great as bikelight. But it's a little bit overpriced :rolleyes:.

rayman
 

Mark620

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

At that price the cord should be armored.
 

simples

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

I'd be interested in someone qualifying why exactly they think this is expensive, considering what it is and what it's for. It 's not really the sort of thing that gets banged out by the billion in a factory in China, and you can't exactly buy pro cell packs like that at batteryblob dot com :sigh:
 

paulr

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Looks sort of like the machined bike light housings Matthewm has been making in the bike lights / custom section.
 

Yucca Patrol

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

Looks sort of like the machined bike light housings Matthewm has been making in the bike lights / custom section.

High-end bike lights and caving lights share a lot of common traits. Both need to be super bright and very durable and resistant to extremes of weather.

And to make an announcement.. . . . the first Little Monkey in the US is heading across the pond to my doorstep as I type this!
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uk_caver

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

When it comes to machining housings, there are only so many ways to skin that particular cat.

Congratulations on the purchase.
It's a really nice unit, and the maker's a good bloke.
 

Beacon of Light

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

No moon mode on a $400 light? I'll pass.
 

vtunderground

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

So this headlamp runs on a 7.4v Li-Ion battery pack, but only has one LED (with a forward voltage of roughly 3.2v). Does anyone know for certain if the headlamp has circuitry to prevent overdischarge of the batteries? Or does it just rely on the batteries' protection circuits?
 

uk_caver

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Re: Awesome new caving headlamp: Little Monkey

So this headlamp runs on a 7.4v Li-Ion battery pack, but only has one LED (with a forward voltage of roughly 3.2v). Does anyone know for certain if the headlamp has circuitry to prevent overdischarge of the batteries? Or does it just rely on the batteries' protection circuits?
AFAIK, the light progressively locks out higher power levels as the battery flattens, but the ultimate turn-off is via the cell protection circuit.

I'm not sure of the fine details of the cell-pack protection circuit, but if it switches off when either cell goes below a threshold, then unless a theoretical headset-based power-off threshold voltage was set cautiously high (losing some amount of runtime), there'd always be the chance of the cell protection circuit kicking in before the headset, since all the headset can see is the total battery voltage, and there's always the potential for one cell to discharge more or less sooner than the other one.
 
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