For the past year or so, several cavers including myself have posted news of new headlamps on the market. Just yesterday, I posted 2 new headlamps.
As many of us predicted, the perfect headlamp would be on the market in the very near future. Well - it got here sooner than expected. You can now own a caving headlamp that is nearly the perfect headlamp - The Stenlight S7. http://www.stenlight.com/img/stenlight-s7.jpg And it is readily available at Inner Mountain Outfitters. In my opinion, this light is 99.99 percent perfect, as compared with the other top-of-the-line models which are 92 percent perfect. So why is it not perfect: a. The initial cost of the lamp. b. car charging adapter not included. c. battery pack mounting to helmet may need improvement. d. Molex cable connection could possibly be improved. e. In my opinion, there could be another low setting for when you just need enough light to survive. f. variety of extra lens/collimators should be sold by the vendor as accessories. g. I believe a rubber jacket could be placed over the light to better protect it, or to cosmetically make the lamp the color choice of the individual - neon purple for example, or that glow-in-the-dark plastic. h. Why not make the lamp a little longer and add a 3rd bulb? That way you always have 3 sources of light. Right? i. additional battery packs are a whopping $ 50.00. j. a variety of battery packs should be sold as accessories by the vendor - such as a tiny pack, a Tag pack, and a Cheve version. Here is the lamp with optics changed by the owner: http://www.jtice.com/review/lights/stenlight_s7/IMG_1911.JPG Here is the lamps helmet bracket: http://www.jtice.com/review/lights/stenlight_s7/IMG_1888.jpg This headlamp is getting excellent reviews from its owners. If you are still caving with an electric Justrite, it is time to get a new headlamp - The Stenlight S7. One thing unique about this light is that the designers have followed caver input on the internet forums all through the production of this light. I am predicting that cavers will be talking about this lamp for many years to come. All the geeky cavers will be modifiying it and posting articles about improvements. For example: http://www.jtice.com/albums/StenLight/IMG_1776.sized.jpg This is a great moment in the history of caving. And you were there. David Locklear caver in Houston _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list [email protected] http://mail.texascavers.com/mailman/listinfo/texascavers_texascavers.com
