Petzl Myobelt 5?

[Dr_Crash]

I have been looking at the Petzl Myo 5 and the Myobelt 5. I like the idea of the belt package to keep batteries close to my body, but the Myobelt 5's battery pack is made of C batteries. This brings the weight of the lamp and batteries to a whopping 16 ounces! And that's before one even considers bring spare batteries.

 

I have also been thinking of running it with AA batteries (like the regular Myo 5) in battery upsizers such as those: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?T1=161+0385. I think that would work, except of course that I wouldn't get the same long time of light using those but that's fine. Another option would be to get the Myo 5, cut the power cable and reconnect using quick connectors, and then make a home belt pack holding C batteries (and keep the empty AA pack on the head when using it).

 

Or is a belt-powered headlamp overkill for the area's climbs, where one will spend maybe 5 or 6 hours at night needing a lamp, and in most cases the LEDs will be enough?

 

drC

[billcoe]

Another option would be to get wheels for the damn thing, like a hand-truck, so as to make it portable.

 

Seriously, you might check the times on the newer LED's -it's pretty good these days. How about using lithium batteries as well if you feel the need?

[John Frieh]

Doc

Generally the type of climbing you are doing will dictate how much headlamp you need.

 

If you plan on just mountaineering you can probably get by with a pure LED headlamp (Tikka, Ion, etc). I say this as in mtneering the features ones uses to navigate on a route are generally separated by distances that no headlamp could cover. People use their compass, altimeter, map, GPS, etc to navigate a route. The headlamp is more to light up the inside of your pack when you can’t find your watermelon lip balm.

 

If you plan to use it in the alpine realm you will find that you will be using it for route finding during each pitch… ex: climb the left hand crack 50’; exit left to a chimney, etc etc… With an LED one could easily “miss the turn” on a route purely because they didn’t see it as one’s LED didn’t illuminate/cast light far enough. And as you already know the more battery the greater the distance of illumination. The only time I have ever needed illumination at great distances is route finding (either up or down) on alpine rock routes in low light/night conditions. Being able to spot route features and match them to your topo to stay on route is critical so a headlamp that can focus a light at greater distances is highly preferred. To date I have not found a pure LED headlamp that can focus light at greater distances. My experiences with LEDs are that they produce a considerable amount of light for the weight but the type of light is more illumination type or “glow”…. that is they light up everything around you up to 15’ or so but after that the light diffuses to a point that you can’t see much. Because of that on alpine routes I carry a headlamp that has a traditional bulb (there are a number of them on the market… I think it is outside the realm of this discussion though).

 

I think the best thing going is the hybrid model (such as the one you are looking at); I would say purchase the lightest one you can find. I have a Gemini from BD: one led and one normal bulb. I carry it on all alpine routes. Additionally I have a Tikka which use for everything else: mountaineering, trail running, trad routes that might take longer than planned, etc

 

A few other tips for if plan on an alpine route:

 

Only take one “leader” headlamp (traditional bulb). Who ever is leading carry/wear this one. The second (and third if applicable) should share the lightest headlamp you have (tikka, whatever) as they don’t need the illumination power when they second. Less is more!

 

If you expect to finish the route in a day but there is a chance of not making it carry one super light headlamp: rapping in the dark without a headlamp is so suck. Reclimbing a pitch to free your stuck ropes in the dark is even more so suck . If you do end up rapping a route in the dark give the first rapper the headlamp so they can find the next rap anchor; the second should be able to put their rap device on the line and rap without a headlamp.

 

Initially carry extra batteries but try to learn how dim your bulb gets prior to needing a change. Learn to anticipate this so that you can change them prior to a trip (and save yourself the weight of not carrying extra batteries). Do carry an extra bulb (most come with one hidden somewhere on the headlamp. Check that it works prior to each trip.

 

If you want specific model reqs let the board know... Hope this helps!

[Dru]

i have seen an engineer friend make a homemade battery pack for a 4.5 V flat square battery like the petzl zooms used to all take. and hook it up to a tikka. well it runs super bright and he ran it for a month straight 24 hours a day during a test before it dimmed. if you have engineering skills this seems like a good option. if not it would suck to have your headlamp catch fire while on your forehead i guess.

[iain]

A caving friend of mine made a really cool LED headlamp that was brighter than any halogen lamp I've seen. It was a little hot though, and had cooling fins on the circuit board.

 

I see this as an opportunity to wear a bandolier of C batteries. You will look like Chewbacca, and your belayer can cheer you on in difficult spots by yelling "punch it chewie!"

[billcoe]

I see this as an opportunity to wear a bandolier of C batteries. You will look like Chewbacca, and your belayer can cheer you on in difficult spots by yelling "punch it chewie!"

 

That's funny.

 

 

 

Iain, do you have a good recomendation for a headlamp?

[iain]

Not really. I've been using the BD Supernova for quite awhile now. It does the job and has some cool features. It has a halogen bulb for routefinding, and an LED bulb for other stuff, plus various brightness levels for saving batteries. One feature I really like is the second backup circuit in the light, so when the AA batteries die, it switches over to a lithium backup camera battery to power the LED. Nice redundancy for minimal weight. I think you can get them relatively cheaply now, as they are discontinued.

 

One really bad feature is the light starts flashing when it detects a drop in voltage, warning that the battery is dying. In really cold situations, this "feature" can kick in and be really annoying. Other than that, I like it a lot. I think those new "next-generation" LED headlamps are the thing to buy these days though. Princeton Tec has a really nice one that is as bright as my halogen light. I forget the name of it though.

[Rainier_Wolfscastle]

If you are worried about protecting the AA's from the cold, just use AA Lithium batteries instead. They withstand cold much better than Alkaline batteries.