Marduke
Flashaholic
I am looking for a backup for a miner's headlamp. Too many times has my father been in a distant part of a coal mine and has broken the glass lens on his caplamp. On this style headlamp, the glass holds in the spring loaded bulb, so if the glass breaks, the bulb will simply pop out and fall into the mud. Many times he has held the bulb in with his fingers holding the caplamp in his hands while walking back out to safety. I want get him a backup so this hazard isn't so dangerous. The normal solution is to carry an MSHA approved Pelican if you are often out by yourself, but he's already weighed down with so much else that a 3-C light is a bit much. Plus, being miles out from the work area checking pumps and for methane gas isn't his everyday job (but he has to do it when others aren't doing their jobs) and he isn't issued a backup.
Now, this is what I'm looking for:
-Small pocket-sized LED
-Direct drive (no circuitry to muck up)
-4 hour battery life (only really needs to be 2, but safety factor if being used on old, partially discharged battery)
-brightness not important. you don't need much in complete darkness to see your way out
-waterproof to 8 feet
-can withstand prolonged exposure to emulsified water with excessive particulates (this will disintegrate many o-rings, and lock up most twisties and fine threads)
-MSHA approved a plus, but not necessary (kept in pocket most of it's life, so no one will know about it)
-reasonably impact resistant
-switch that is not easy to activate accidently, as nothing would be worse than to ignore this light for several years, just to find that when you needed it, the battery was drained from being left on in the past. Also has to be very dirt resistant switch, which makes me lean towards switches like on the Nightstar CS, Energizer Hard Case, and Dorcy Gelbrite (all sealed)
-switch also has to be easy enough to use when getting the light out of where you have it stored, removing any attachments that kept it where it was, removing any extra waterproofing, and turning the thing on while blindfolded (yes, I want to have my cake and eat it too!)
-cost not more than $20 ($30 if it's "uber cool" and ultra-durable), because there is a high risk of it falling out of whatever pocket it's kept in and being lost in a mud hole. He goes through about 2 dollar store pairs of reading glasses a month for this reason.
-preferable no bigger than something the size of the Inova X1, all the way down to a fauxton-size light.
-already alluded to, but needs to be a forget-me-light. meaning, load it with lithium AA, AAA, or medical-grade (20 year shelf life) coin cells, and forget about it until needed. no need to check on it for 5 years.
What I have been considering thus far:
-Maglite Solitare with red LED mod, but worried that years of neglect (in a harsh environment) would make the twist head lock up when needed.
-Inova X1, but I've had the tailcap twist or press on in my bags before, so worried about a drained battery.
-a Dorcy keychain light, but I have had this type of plastic head crush and crack on me before.
-a photon or fauxton or Inova Microlight wrapped up in a ziploc bag for waterproofing, then placed in an old mint container for protection, similar to this (sliding lid, small size)
-Fenix E0, but worried about the emulsified water and particulates reeking havoc on the inner workings and locking up the threads. plus, it's a mighty nice light to worry about loosing down a mud hole
Well, I may add other thoughts or criteria as some ideas and opinions come in. Thanks for all the research you guys about to help me do
Now, this is what I'm looking for:
-Small pocket-sized LED
-Direct drive (no circuitry to muck up)
-4 hour battery life (only really needs to be 2, but safety factor if being used on old, partially discharged battery)
-brightness not important. you don't need much in complete darkness to see your way out
-waterproof to 8 feet
-can withstand prolonged exposure to emulsified water with excessive particulates (this will disintegrate many o-rings, and lock up most twisties and fine threads)
-MSHA approved a plus, but not necessary (kept in pocket most of it's life, so no one will know about it)
-reasonably impact resistant
-switch that is not easy to activate accidently, as nothing would be worse than to ignore this light for several years, just to find that when you needed it, the battery was drained from being left on in the past. Also has to be very dirt resistant switch, which makes me lean towards switches like on the Nightstar CS, Energizer Hard Case, and Dorcy Gelbrite (all sealed)
-switch also has to be easy enough to use when getting the light out of where you have it stored, removing any attachments that kept it where it was, removing any extra waterproofing, and turning the thing on while blindfolded (yes, I want to have my cake and eat it too!)
-cost not more than $20 ($30 if it's "uber cool" and ultra-durable), because there is a high risk of it falling out of whatever pocket it's kept in and being lost in a mud hole. He goes through about 2 dollar store pairs of reading glasses a month for this reason.
-preferable no bigger than something the size of the Inova X1, all the way down to a fauxton-size light.
-already alluded to, but needs to be a forget-me-light. meaning, load it with lithium AA, AAA, or medical-grade (20 year shelf life) coin cells, and forget about it until needed. no need to check on it for 5 years.
What I have been considering thus far:
-Maglite Solitare with red LED mod, but worried that years of neglect (in a harsh environment) would make the twist head lock up when needed.
-Inova X1, but I've had the tailcap twist or press on in my bags before, so worried about a drained battery.
-a Dorcy keychain light, but I have had this type of plastic head crush and crack on me before.
-a photon or fauxton or Inova Microlight wrapped up in a ziploc bag for waterproofing, then placed in an old mint container for protection, similar to this (sliding lid, small size)
-Fenix E0, but worried about the emulsified water and particulates reeking havoc on the inner workings and locking up the threads. plus, it's a mighty nice light to worry about loosing down a mud hole
Well, I may add other thoughts or criteria as some ideas and opinions come in. Thanks for all the research you guys about to help me do
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for a second). 
