Today my wife and boys surprised me for Father's Day and we went to Crystal Cave http://www.acoolcave.com/ in Spring Valley WI. Since I didn't know ahead of time where we were going I didn't have time to plan what lights to bring with on the trip. Fortunately, my wife's Inova T4 http://www.inovalight.com/ was in the van and I decided to bring it on the tour just in case we might need it. The tour was fun and interesting. Shawna, the tour guide, used a 2D MagLight to point out special features. Man was it lame. My Inova T4 light was much better for looking at the caves features than the MagLight. I am just curious, if there are any cavers or spelunkers on this forum, are there any preferred flashlight for the hobby? I realize the one rule of thumb is to always have a minimum of TWO lights for the hobby, but I haven't ever heard of which lights are most suitable for exploring caves.
Caving With an Inova T4
- Thread starter JAS
- Start date
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jtice
Flashaholic
I have the T4 mounted in my truck and love it for that.
Though, I think the lack of spill would bother me in a cave.
I use UK 4AA LED lights as a backup, (10 hour runtime)
and Streamlight 4AA Polymer Luxeons as my main hand lights.
Apex headlamp, or Stenlight headlamp.
I find that the plastic lights hold up better really, you cont see the scratches on them,
no HA can withstand real caving
~John
Though, I think the lack of spill would bother me in a cave.
I use UK 4AA LED lights as a backup, (10 hour runtime)
and Streamlight 4AA Polymer Luxeons as my main hand lights.
Apex headlamp, or Stenlight headlamp.
I find that the plastic lights hold up better really, you cont see the scratches on them,
no HA can withstand real caving
~John
LED_Thrift
Flashlight Enthusiast
For non-tourist caves it is best to have a minimum of three independent lights, meaning you don't have to use a bulb or battery from one to make a backup function. At least one, preferably two should be headlamps or lights that can attach to your helmet. For handhelds, the SL ProPolys, as jtice mentioned, are great. Innovas would be great too because of their durability, water resistance, build quality and generally good runtimes - although they might get scratched up a bit.
I hope to visit either Mystery Cave http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/forestville_mystery_cave/index.html or Niagara Cave http://www.niagaracave.com/default.asp later this year and maybe my Pelican 7060 http://pelican7060.com/ will be here by then and I can bring both of them to compare to one another.
