Adventure race light.

Hello everyone. A friend of mine wants a 'headlamp' for an adventure race he will be taking part in at the end of the year. Most likely, the part of the race he will need the light for will involve trail running/hiking. I will not rule out mountain biking as well. I figure he will need at most 4hrs of light. He, as well as myself (the advisor /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif) prefer LED.

Immediately, the Yukon HL came to mind. Personally, I think it is the perfect light however, most likely, his bicycle helmet will be on all the time and I have no idea if headlamps of any kind will fit problem free on a helmet. I am afraid that even if it fits, with all the motion, it will constantly cause the helmet to tilt off center. No experience here to tell what will happen. Possibly shrubs and/or branches hitting the lamp out of position while moving through the terrain is a problem as well.

There exists the possability of incandescent/LED combinations since these seem to be cheaper. His budget is in the range of TT$400 or about $50US including shipping to a US P.O. BOX! (yeah, I know, the Yukon is a bit more than he is willing to spend but, I am sure I can convince him otherwise. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/naughty.gif) Battery options are straight foward AA. No other choice possible.

I am also thinking of a hand held light such as the Bright Star Responder which is actually avialable here /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wow.gifat a relatively good price of about $30 US. I however, hate the rings and am not too sure how much he will need his hands to hold on to trees, bag, partner, map etc. I will probably lend him my UK 4AA eLED for a week and ask him to check out its performance in the forest arround his house. Great for walking but I doubt that it will be bright enough for running though. With a small hand held light, I can probably try to make some elastic attachment for his helmet and he will have some more options.

Any suggestions? Thank you for any help.

Richard.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/poke2.gif

From what I've seen as an armchair fan of adventure racing, I'm a bit suprised that your friend is considering a light as large as the Yukon HL. It seems like most of these folks go for ultra small and lightweight at the expense of power.

That said, personally, I think the Yukon HL wouldn't be a bad option. The Yukon is well made, and runtime on the LS is decent. I do agree that a light of this size and weight is likely to move around with this type of activity. Of course, this can be dealt with in true adventure racing fashion... Duct tape!

There are a couple of things about the Yukon that I would suggest tho. First, I would use lithium batteries to make it lighter. Second, it turns out that the 3 x 5mm LEDs are not actually low power, so I would consider snipping the power to two of them, or replacing the feeding resistor so they run with less power.

Also note that the Yukon HL isn't particularly bright, so in rough terrain it might be a bit marginal.

Similar to the Yukon HL is the BD Supernova.

Another thought is to contact Henry at HDSSystems.com and see if he could get him one of his Actionlight IIIs. While these are not in production yet, they should be by that time. They are more expensive than you want to spend, but perhaps Henry might look at this as a field beta test. Certainly, it is the type of abuse he is designing the light for and it is probably the single best fitting light for the use. Variable brightness from very low light to light much brighter than the Yukon HL or BD Supernova. Oh, you said AA only. Is that hard and fast? The Actionlight III will initially be 2 x 123A only.

In terms of hand held lights (as an aux to a headlamp), I would consider the SF E2E (small, light, bright). While the SF M2, U2 or L5 might in some ways be better, they are also a fair amount larger for something you are not likely to use a lot. The L4 is smaller, but the broad beam might not be optimal for this use. Again, no 123A is going to hamper you a lot.

If the E2E won't fit in the budget, you could consider the UK 2L. It isn't as bright, and the beam isn't as good, but it is VERY waterproof, VERY rugged, small and light. Again, this is a 2x 123A light.

I've been able to standardize on 123A cells for all my EDC lights. Currently SF M2 + SF L1. Moving towards SF U2 + Firefly V2 (two stage). I have the Firefly already and I think it (with the two stage switch) would make a very good backup light.

Let us know if the AA thing is a hard fast issue, or if we have a little wiggle room...

-john

Hi ee
As an adventure racer myself, another few ideas. First ask him what his team mates will be using. It is good policy to standardize - specifically on battery type! Forget the idea of using the headlamp for cycling - in some AR terrain it is simply to dangerous! We basically use three light types per team. Each person has a personal light/headlamp. We use 1W LS based lights. Since we tend to carry lights in the hand more often than not (Better depth perception, allowing for faster, safer movement over rough terrain) some use Princeton Tec Matrix 2's, two of us splurged and have been using Arc LS's (AA). Then we carry one small powerful light (in our case a Surefire 6P) for night route scouting. Bike lights are dedicated - you can make up a lot of ground at night if you can see well! Think reliability, size, brightness, lifetime. And you must be able to get the batteries anywhere!
For $50 I'd go for the PT Matrix 2. The money left over I'd use for an EverLed and adapt a typical 2 light unit Sigma bike light by replacing the stock spot lamp with the Led and keeping the wide beam.
Hope it helps.

Thank you guys. John, thanks for the suggestions however, 123s are out completely and even Li AAs which are about $8US here a pair are out. Our country is still used to the cheap plastic, incandescent lights where the maglite reigns supreem. Up to recently there have been no LED light available anywhere. Now that cat eye and other bicycle light manufacturers are making white, LED lights, we are finally seeing some of those in the country.

Cost is an issue as a mag 3D can cost us close to $30 US, which is already considered expensive. Anything more pricey than that 'must have some gold in it or something'. Thanks for pointing out the weight issue though.

Nam, it seems like the better option will be to get a hand held light and make some attachment for the bike incase he and his partner (female) has to do some night riding. They rearly do any riding in the dark and to spend money on a proper bike light just wouldn't make sense.

From experience, do you think that a Terra lux adapted maglite will be good enough, or should I stick with Responder or something similar? The EverLED by itself is a rather expensive option which will probably not even be given a second thought. I would much prefer to spend the $40 on a whole LED light instead.

ee
You can easily use zip-ties to fix "most" headlamps to the front of bike handlebars. I would then go for the Matrix 2. Small enough to be comfortably carried in hand, AA, light, waterproof, adequate duration, useable when rapelling. AR organizers love water and tough terrain! I believe I saw Matrixes advertised somewhere for under $30?

Thanks Nam. I may use velcro to hold the light to the bike. Something similar to the staps which hold some pumps to the bike frame.

I agree with the Matrix 2 headlamp. Best of all, the LED bulb can be used in any PR based 2cell light! Yes, it can be found for $26 here.

ee
Test the velcro first before using it in a race - you'd definitely need some rubber gripping area - try some poly-urethane tent seam sealer on the inside area of the velcro. Let it dry well. The handlebar is a pretty bumpy place. Life rapidly gets exciting when your only light suddenly decides to illuminate your front fork instead of the trail! Good luck.

How about Dat2zip's drop in sandwich upgrades for the Mini-mag? You can get them in various outputs so you can customize them for the desired runtime/brightness.

I'm still having a bit of a hard time wrapping my head around this one...

What is max weight/size?
How bright is enough?
You need four hours runtime on how many AA batteries?

Hmm. I wonder why more people haven't responded to this thread.

Thanks,

-john

John
Typically the following:
Waterproof is required, not water resistant (rapelling through a water fall,swimming,kayaking). The Mini-mag is marginal. Runtime: sometimes you can be out 2 nights + 1 day without fresh supplies. So preferably at least 5-6 hours per battery set. Brightness - if you want to cycle - more is bettter. Brightness: so you can move fast, even jog with backpack over rough terrain. Weight: all the kit adds up - multiply 4 extra battery sets x weight x steps/km x 50-80km...
Ideally: a lux 3 intensity Matrix size headlamp, with low medium and high settings, AA, lasting 8 hours at max on one AA set! (I can dream...)

You can decrease weight and probably add runtime by using lithium batteries.

EDIT: Runtime with alkaline batteries would probably be longer than lithium batteries, but lithium batteries will stay bright longer.

Hoghead
True. We used lithiums when we raced in temperatures that reached -11 C. Problem was cost. And we had to import them. Most shops do not carry lithiums as standard.

A question from my side: What does the light output look like when the little side mitting cone on the top of side emitters like the Matrix, EverLed etc gets broken off? I'd like to know but am not willing to break mine!

I don't know /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif I don't want to break mine to find out. I would be surprised if a side emitter put out any light if you broke the top off.

John, Dat2zip's sandwiches are wonderful little gadgets which are however, on the pricy side for most non-flashaholics.
Max weight/size>> Not too big as weight and space is an issue. I figure that a 3 or 4 AA light will be best.

Brightness>> Not too sure about that one. Trail jogging/running through bush and beaten trail is expected. UK eLED may be too dull. My friend must test that for himself. Brightstar Responder will surly be bright enough.

Battery life> I haven't been on a race as yet and assume that 3-4 hrs of usable light should be good enough.

Our level of racing does not involve too dangerous or extreem activities. I doubt they will ever have to rapell down a water fall though, they may be required to swim with the backpack on in the sea. I figure the light should have some water proofness but not necessairly be dive rated. As Nam said, the minimag is marginal.

Nam. True, the handlebar does get very bumpy. That is why I was drifting more to the side of a headlamp. Thanks for the tip about using the poly-urethane. I'll keep that in mind.

Question: Do you think that a headlamp type device attached to the waist/belt will work well? Wouldn't it eliminate the depth perception problem and still keep both hands free? Just wondering.

Nam, do you have any adventure race pictures you are willing to share with me? I'll give you my email to send me some. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I am getting a bit eager to attempt one myself.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

ee
I have tried the belt thing by glueing (RTV)a beltclip to the one side of a matrix. It works on reasonably even terrain. I'll send you a pic of modifying a normal light so you can still use both hands - something along the lines of a flexible Goodman type handle used in scuba.

Some people have excellent night vission and they can operate well with a headlamp when moving. Others not. Your friend should train at night, in all disciplines. And away from ambient town/city lights. Only then would he get an idea of his own light requirements.

Send me your address. I just recently moved to Canada and my belongings should arrive here within the next few weeks. I'll then take photos of photos and send them to you.