[incas]

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Has anyone any advice on suitable torches/spotlights/flashlights that are suitable for night birding? I am hoping to go to South Africa and have frequently read about the good use that good lighting can be put to for both birds/animals (nightjars and owls seem particularly good!!) that are only active after dark. Where in the UK can such lighting be bought and what sort of price should I be paying?
Thanks

[infopt2000]

Argos sell (or used to sell) a useful spotlight that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter of your car.

I have to tell you that when I have tried it in England I got shaken down by Old Bill who thought I was poaching deer.

[Quark5]

The night vision devices are coming down in price and are very small. They are non- intrusive and resolution has improved. They are not yet as good as the latest military generation sights but somebody on BF might have tried them.
They are also usually low gain,x3 ish. This might be a problem as if mated to a 20x eye piece, and on its own may not give satisfactory results. Its just a thouight.

[nigelblake]

I use a lamp that was bought at Halfords for £24-99, it is 250,000 candle power and plugs into the car ciggy lighter, I did have a rechargable lamp, it too worked extremely well but had a limited life (about 20 minutes) from full charge, if using in South Africa I would recomend that you get one that is powered from the car cigarette lighter, as I had problems charging the rechargable one when I took it to Botswana and South Africa, mainly because the lodges had generators as opposed to mains electric.

[incas]

Thanks very much. I'll follow your advice and take a trip to Halfords. You actually also raise a usefull point about electricity!!
I am keen on photography but unfortunately will be reliant on being able to recharge my dig camera batteries---how easy is this in SA?
Is it possible to recharge such items in places like Kruger?
Is there anywhere in this country that sells adapters for SA sockets?---They seem to have quite a unique system over there--three round pins of an unusual size? Sorry to ask so many questions!
Many thanks,
AP. Leics.

[incas]

Originally Posted by infopt2000

Argos sell (or used to sell) a useful spotlight that can be plugged into the cigarette lighter of your car.

I have to tell you that when I have tried it in England I got shaken down by Old Bill who thought I was poaching deer.

Thanks very much. I'll take a look at Argos--think they are open today.
Cheers,
AP. Leics.

[incas]

Originally Posted by Quark5

The night vision devices are coming down in price and are very small. They are non- intrusive and resolution has improved. They are not yet as good as the latest military generation sights but somebody on BF might have tried them.
They are also usually low gain,x3 ish. This might be a problem as if mated to a 20x eye piece, and on its own may not give satisfactory results. Its just a thouight.

Thanks a lot. Interesting idea and certaiinly I like the unobtrusive nature of such equipment---finding it, however, may not be so easy.
Cheers,
AP. Leics.

[nigelblake]

You should be able to use an international travel adaptor without any problem at all, but it is worth getting everything on charge by early evening as they do turn generatotors off from about midnight to 6 a.m. at most lodges. I usually take a short four socket extension lead so that I can charge more than 1 item at a time.

[incas]

Thanks a lot. Your advice is really useful (my international adaptor looks to be less than adequate) -- I am very grateful. Hopefully I might get the odd good photo---with a bit of luck!
Cheers,
AP. Leics.