headlamp / headtorch

[jurek]

Hello,

Can anybody advise good headlamp / torch suitable to carry on head strap for wildlife spot-lighting and general purposes?

It should give very strong light (esp. long beam) while remaining comfortable on head.

My old one, which gave me very nice moments with everything from rabbits to leopards just broken down. :(

[Otto McDiesel]

this site is about binoculars. In US, for about $50-70 you can get rainprrof or waterproof lamps with 1 red LED and 4 white LED's. It all depends what is for sale in your part of Europe.

[saluki]

Hello,

Can anybody advise good headlamp / torch suitable to carry on head strap for wildlife spot-lighting and general purposes?

It should give very strong light (esp. long beam) while remaining comfortable on head.

My old one, which gave me very nice moments with everything from rabbits to leopards just broken down. :(Hi Jurek,

Have a look here - about half-way down:

http://www.opticswarehouse.com/acatalog/Torches_and_Lights.html

Also do a search on Deben - you might find something cheaper - they have a good reputation.

Jonathan

[garth]

Hello,

Can anybody advise good headlamp / torch suitable to carry on head strap for wildlife spot-lighting and general purposes?

It should give very strong light (esp. long beam) while remaining comfortable on head.

My old one, which gave me very nice moments with everything from rabbits to leopards just broken down. :(


I'm in the US, so I'm not sure what is available there compared to here.

I use headlamps also, but more for area light than a high beam. We have a great little Princeton Tec EOS ,it's a single strap across the head with superbright LED's.

You probably want something even brighter. These days I'd suggest sticking with LED models for their longevity and battery life. There are some though which use a combo of both Halogen/kripton bulbs with LED's. There are so many good headlamps these days I can't tell where to start other than with the top manufaturers like Petzl, Princeton Tec & Black Diamond. Again, this is in the US, so your choices may vary.

The best thing to do is , like binos, buy from a place with a wide selection and a good return policy if you don't like what you try. If you bring some home, get several at once so you can directly compare them all. Good luck.

-Garth

[Swissboy]

this site is about binoculars. .... It all depends what is for sale in your part of Europe.


I think it was not a bad idea to place the topic here, even though it puzzled me first, too. But these lamps go often with binoculars at night. Though I tend to use flashlights that are not headlamps.
The selection in Europe is certainly much smaller than in the US, and prices are much higher, at least in Switzerland. I have had lights sent to me from the US (with the corresponding costs, of course). One company that I think does it is BrightGuy http://www.brightguy.com/ . He also has a good selection of brands and models.

[Hanno]

LED's are good for brightness and battery life, however eyes will not reflect when using them, making them not so good for spotting wildlife/owls.

[James Eaton]

Look at the Petzl range of headlamps, they are available in most outdoor shops in the UK and will be easy to find online. Good reputation for durability and their new LED range are very compact. However no good if you plan to use them for searching for wildlife, as Hanno states.

Best bet would be to get a headlamp for general purpose but then a seperate spotlight for wildlife searching which is how I do it. I use 3 lamps, headtorch for general purposes, then a 2, 3 or 4-cell Maglite for wildlife spotting, then a million candle light spotlight (rechargeable - poor battery life) once the subject is located.

[saluki]

Look at the Petzl range of headlamps, they are available in most outdoor shops in the UK and will be easy to find online. Good reputation for durability and their new LED range are very compact. However no good if you plan to use them for searching for wildlife, as Hanno states.

Best bet would be to get a headlamp for general purpose but then a seperate spotlight for wildlife searching which is how I do it. I use 3 lamps, headtorch for general purposes, then a 2, 3 or 4-cell Maglite for wildlife spotting, then a million candle light spotlight (rechargeable - poor battery life) once the subject is located.Hi James,

Take a look here:

http://www.deben.com/lightsandlamping/headlights/halogen.htm

It has a LED beam for close range light and a Halogen spotlight.

This one has a red filter too - mammals often ignore a red or amber light, they can be incredibly effective.

http://www.deben.com/lightsandlamping/headlights/varmintpro.htm

Jonathan

[James Eaton]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks, I have a similar headtorch to that too, though the halogen still doesn't allow good coverage for actual wildlife spotting beyond, say, 10 metres, even though the beam goes beyond that.

The most important aspect of night-spotting in my opinion is picking up eye-shine, this requires a good, thin beam to pick up on the shine, a 3 or 4-cell maglite I find ideal.

[jurek]

Thanks, it is lots of useful info!

James - which is your strongest spotlight?

Hanno, are you sure that LED doesn't pick eyeshine? In my opinion any light should do it but only when kept at eye level.

Saluki - I never seen animal scared by light beam. But night animals are usually scared by most minute sounds.

Swissboy, a good Swiss site:
http://www.outdoors-direct.ch/

[Swissboy]

Swissboy, a good Swiss site:
http://www.outdoors-direct.ch/


Thanks, Jurek, for this useful link. I did not know it. I made a quick comparison with Brightguy. The items I compared cost considerably more than twice as much from the Swiss site. However, the US site ships foreign orders only via UPS which makes it prohibitive. What I have done in the past in such cases was to have them ship to a US address and then either pick it up there when visiting anyway, or else to have that person forward it by regular postal service. The only problem then, you need to have someone in the US who does forward it to you. So, in the end, that Swiss price is not that bad, particularly since there will be customs fees as well. (Unless one finds a discounter who does foreign shipping via US postal service.)

[Hanno]

Jurek, I don't know why, but eyes will not reflect light from a LED lamp.

[ceasar]

Cabelas, www.cabelas.com., (if you can get their catalog products in Europe) has a nice selection of headlamps made by Petzl, in addition to their own Alaskan Guide
Series. See page 400 of their 2006 Edition II Fall Master Catalog.

Bob

[James Eaton]

James - which is your strongest spotlight?


A 1 million candle light spotlight. Heavy duty type that only allows for 50 minutes use before requiring a 10 hour recharge, can pick these up for under £20 throughout the world.


Hanno, are you sure that LED doesn't pick eyeshine? In my opinion any light should do it but only when kept at eye level.


LED doesn't pick up eye-shine, I used quite a strong beam LED in Borneo this year (lost my maglite, that was all I could find), and never once did any animal or bird's eyes reflect.


Saluki - I never seen animal scared by light beam. But night animals are usually scared by most minute sounds.


Agree!

[saluki]

Saluki - I never seen animal scared by light beam. But night animals are usually scared by most minute sounds.Hi James and Jurek,

We must have different experiences - mamals in other countries may, for various reasons (less hunting pressure for instance), act differently. I've lamped for thirty years, sometimes five or six nights a week during the winter, up until four or five years ago. This was hunting rather than watching and only applies to the UK, but the principals still apply. Some animals will definately spook when a beam is placed on them, rabbits and hares for instance often 'clap' (shrink down into the ground), deer will usually lift their heads and stare into the beam, most foxes that have been shot at and missed (all too common in the UK unfortunately) are impossible to lamp - all one sees is a shadow racing across the hill with the odd flash of eyes as he glances backwards. Animals often ignore a filtered beam however, I've called foxes in so close that I've not noticed them, as the beam was shining over their heads. As I've put the beam down I've suddenly noticed them a dozen feet away! The filters aren't manufactured for no reason, so someone out there must agree with me!

I would agree with you about noise however. Some noise, such as a car engine, is often ignored (unless one tries to back up in heavily lamped areas - they notice the change in sound and will flee!), whereas the click of a cigarette lighter will spook everything! Windy conditions are best in the UK for lamping, if one always has one's face to the wind you know the animals won't scent you (as bad as noise!), and it will also carry away any noise one might make.

Sorry about the hunting references, I know it offends some people, but it's impossible to talk about my experiences without mentioning that I was hunting.

Jonathan

[James Eaton]

Hi James and Jurek,

We must have different experiences - mamals in other countries may, for various reasons (less hunting pressure for instance), act differently. I've lamped for thirty years, sometimes five or six nights a week during the winter, up until four or five years ago. This was hunting rather than watching and only applies to the UK, but the principals still apply. Some animals will definately spook when a beam is placed on them

Hi Jonathan,

I must admit, I'd tend to agree with you more with the mammals as opposed to birds. I've spent plenty of time in the tropics lamping birds and mammals, most birds pay little attention to the lamp, though noise will spook them the majority of the time.

I tend to find deer, squirrels and elephants and the more commoner mammals pay little attention to a spotlight after the initial 'heads-up', they just carry on feeding. Though with the more elusive mammals (ie Cats) they spook most of the time, though I do think this maybe down to the noise of footsteps rather than the spotlight.

[jurek]

I guess it much depends from the place.

Animals I saw don't notice light at all. Actually light acts as a sort of invisibility cloak and animal doesn't see you behind the light. One exception are owls - they fly away if you shine directly at them but stay if you shine light elsewhere and move light on them. Also, if you shine at something besides animal - your fingers, branches moved by wind etc, they are also afraid.

But animals will hear tiniest sound. I had a roe deer which heard a minute sound of fingers moving along bins from 30 m away. In contrast, it did not see me behind the light until it was 3 m from me! I think, if I spook mammal it is because it hears me, not because of light.