Which is the best EDC light for a cave situation?

I'm not talking about professional cave exploring "National Geographic" type of equipment, just a regular LED (high quality) EDC flashlight, it must be fully waterproof and regulated though. Brigthness and long runtime is also a must. You may also indicated a backup and a primary light.

Ideas?

I'm not talking about professional cave exploring "National Geographic" type of equipment, just a regular LED (high quality) EDC flashlight

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Planning on doing some flashlight caving?

Possibly the HDS EDC series. And they make headlamps. I'm not a caver, not even a spelunker. I'd recommend you check out their site, the articles and about us section as well.

It's my understanding caves can be very dangerous. There was thread on the forums about four people dying in caves. I believe you would need a minimum of three lights! Plus at least one experienced person. I'm not sure if there is a forum for caving or not, but I'd check if I were you and post in there, too.

And of course you will get lots of advice from those who really know here.

I will admit to be being a "fraidy cat" after some of the things I've read over the years, and maybe I'm clausterphobic and don't know it?

Here's one link from the HDS site you might find useful.

http://www.hdssystems.com/ActionLightHistory.html

not a caver, but have gone caving near Grand lake in Okla.

last time we went, took three lights and spare cells & bulbs. all my buddy's lights puked deep into the cave. had to use my backups to get out.

point is any light can and do fail. best protection is use most dependable lights you can get ahold off and take several backups. drives home how dangerous things would become, if all lights failed.

naturally if you can spring for caving specific lights the better. like new Steinlight and upcoming HDS caving light etc.

for most like myself that only cave occasionally, solution would be safety in number of backups.

I would also recomend you carry some of the chemical lights. No batteries, no bulbs. At least a couple of the Ultra Bright, and a few of the 8 hour.

this seems to be popping up alot lately.....

welp, heres my setup...
Stenlight S7 for headlamp http://www.jtice.com/review/lights/stenlight_s7/
Primary hand lights. are Sreamlight 3C and 4AA Luxeons http://www.jtice.com/review/lights/streamlight_propolymer_3c_luxeon/
Backup light is the UK 4AA LED http://www.jtice.com/review/lights/uk_4aa_led/

You probably cant beat the SL 4AA Luxeon for your needs,
easy to get batts, etc, very water tight.

The UK 4AA led is much small and runs 10 hours !,
but is not that bright, Great backup light though.
and you DO need a BACKUP light !!!!!!!

You might want to read over this thread I made also.

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/90140

You should really consider a head lamp of some kind. I am not a very experienced caver (think lower than novice) but it only takes one time to wish that both of your hands were free.

You can just picture the situation I was in - packpack full of stuff, 2 kids, wife, a steep narrow path, and one hand taken up by a light that broke when dropped. The backup light was handy, but a free hand would have been equally useful.

HarryN said:

You should really consider a head lamp of some kind. I am not a very experienced caver (think lower than novice) but it only takes one time to wish that both of your hands were free.

You can just picture the situation I was in - packpack full of stuff, 2 kids, wife, a steep narrow path, and one hand taken up by a light that broke when dropped. The backup light was handy, but a free hand would have been equally useful.

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Excellent point. I wouldn't venture into a cave or on a backpacking trip without a headlamp. It's very convenient to have your hands free and a light aimed at anything you look at.

I'd have a headlamp, a flashlight, a backup flashlight, and a couple of emergency light sticks.

If price was no object I'd have the HDS or Stenlight headlamps. If price is a factor one of the many lower cost headlamps with external battery pack for long run time: http://www.caves.org/imo/lamps.htm

For main flashlight probably an HDS EDC U60 XR, if I didn't care about scratching it up in a cave. At lower output it will last 300+ hrs, which is nice.

A cheaper alternative is the SL PP Lux 4AA with e2 lithium AAs, which gives a regulated run time of 6+ hours. Not variable output, but high quality, tough, and good output.

For a backup flashlight probably something small and with good run time. A Fenix L1P with an e2 lithium AA has a run time of about 4 hours, not bad for ONE AA.

Might also have an Arc AAA or Photon in an inner pocket, in case I fell down and lost my other lights.

Thank you all for your great imput!

I usually don't do extreme (deep) caving exploration, the caves i usually visit are just passages (think about a long tunnel) to get to remote waterfalls, beautiful landscapes and such... But they are VERY dark, moist and with lots of wet spots(creeks, pounds) some are deep, requiring waterproof gear.

I already have a headlamp (Inova 24/7 with headband adapter) which serves me very well with good runtime and multi-level brightness. I really don't think i need specific spelunking gear, since i don't go into deep and unknown caves. The rest of my outdoor camping gear is adequate for most adventures in the wilderness, well, except fot those Everest excursions.

Therefore, i'm only looking for a good compact EDC and a backup, i already have fantastic primary lights, though they are heavy and all incans.

P.S - I'm also into cave diving, but that's a whole different subject. Now this is really something dangerous if you are not qualified to it.

I just got a tritium capsule from litemania, and i think they would be very functional in a cave situation, especially if you dropped your flashlight, or one went out and you are stuck in the dark looking for a flashlight. or you could get some lights with tritium built in. i remember some custom builders putting them in, but not sure how good they would be for caving...

also, just so you know - i have never caved in my life, so take what i say with a grain of salt.

-Melvin

I am not a "caver" nether, but I somewhat surprised no one has suggested that at least some of you lights (even during use) should be attached to your body by some means (like a lanyard).

redduck said:

I am not a "caver" nether, but I somewhat surprised no one has suggested that at least some of you lights (even during use) should be attached to your body by some means (like a lanyard).

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Actually, that's why I recommended a headlamp. Hard to drop or lose one of those while strapped to your head.

Might want to give some thought to a PT EOS headlamp -- variable output and hard to beat for the price.

not a deep hardcore caver but I have gotten into some tricky situations and I have to say a headlamp is a must. There are too many situations, expecially when descending into a dark area where you need to have two hands available. That said I will not go into a cave w/out my Surefire 6P (and lanyard), and extra batteries for backup and most importantly I never go in w/out another person who also has a backup light. The lanyard is important because when your deep into a cave you never know where there might be a crack just big enough for your flashlight to disappear into if dropped. All this talk of caving has got me wanting to go badly but the rain right now makes it impossible. Anyways have fun, and be safe.

barbolight in action

I recently went on a field trip to a cave with my son's 3rd grade class. Had with me an Aleph 3 Pila 168s, HDS Basic 60, 2 Arc AAAs, a Photon Freedom, and a QIII. A little much, but I still have a few freedoms left, and carrying 6 dagnab lights is one of them.

Guide chick had a Mag. My Aleph 3 dusted it of course. Comments from innocent bystanders recognizing my superior lumenosity made it all worthwhile.

I don't think it matters what you have, so long as it is lots of them, with plenty of backups, and lots of batteries.

best regards

Lol, the guide had only a Mag? That's like going up against a grizzly bear with a BB gun!

BlackDecker said:

Lol, the guide had only a Mag? That's like going up against a grizzly bear with a BB gun!

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It'd have been worse if he'd dragged a Polaris, a USL, or a MagHID into the cave with him. It'd look JUST the same, on the outside...

And once you turn it on, the cave turns into a blinding spectacle.