Head Lights

[pierre girard]

I'm really not sure that's what you call them. They are the lights that fit on your head with some kind of an elastic band. Guess I'm more of a candle guy.

My kids, who are more high tech than I am, keep buying these head lights for me for Christmas or my birthday. I use them sometimes. They usually quit working about the third time I try them. Most of them are in the $30 to $50 dollar range. One cost $86 and change. It quit working right away.

I do have one good one. Throws great light and it seems to last forever. I ran it through an industrial dryer (in a coat pocket) and now it is all warped, and I need to wrap a rubber band around it to shut it off. I bought it on the way to a fishing trip when I realized I didn't have a light along and thought we'd be setting up camp at midnight. I bought it at a Walmart in International Falls for $6. Been looking for another one ever since.

Anyone else buy equipment where the cheapest piece of crap seems to work best?

PG

 

[BOD]

Yes. The rubber band on my Opinel. And the Opinel - better than many too too expensive knives

 

[Nemisis]

And the frosts mora or clipper very cheap but almost faultless and steel quality brilliant and all for £10 or less approx $15
Dave.

 

[Spacemonkey]

I have used the Petzl Tikka Plus head light for ages. It's £35 or so, but is truly an excellent bit of kit. I have a £5 special in my work kit, but it is rubbish in comparison.

 

[Kirruth]

Petzl are the choice of champions indeed. Ellis Brigham stock a shedload of them; I think its a good idea to have a head torch which can do both LED (long lasting) and regular bulb lighting (bright).

 

[Carcajou Garou]

I bought one for my son and probably will aquire 2 for my wife and I. So far he is well please with it and it is compact enough to easily fit in his vest pocket while kayaking. CG

 

[C_Claycomb]

Anyone else buy equipment where the cheapest piece of crap seems to work best?

I think Pierre is more interested in this than what everyone thinks is the best head torch...despite the slightly miss-leading thread title

Anyway, I can't think of anything that I have that really falls into the "cheap crap that works better" category. I have aquired plenty of stuff cheaply, but very little of it was originally made to be cheap. I guess the closest would have been some little LED key lights and singleAA multi-LED lights sent me by a friend in Hong Kong. While good, and much better value than the genuine brands, they are not as bright, not as strong, nor run as long as Photons or more expensive lights. So good, cheap, but not better.

Living in the US you probably have something of an advantage...chances are, if it cost $6.00 in Walmart, it would be getting sold for about £10-12 here, ie $17-21!!

 

[Pablo]

I've just got myself a 55l pack from Eurohike (Millets). Costs £23 and one of the best bags I've had (comfort wise). Looks good enough to last but we'll see whether it will stand the test of time. I'll try and do a review soon.

Pablo

 

[Spacemonkey]

I think Pierre is more interested in this than what everyone thinks is the best head torch...despite the slightly miss-leading thread title

Yeah, I know, but my piint (piint? Point surely..) was that my Tikka cost a lot (in comparison) but is worth it's weight in gold whereas the cheaper one i use for looking inside people's necks is rubbish.

So there...

 

[gunnix]

Well for me I think the best cheap stuff is the stuff I found for free:

-rusted Opinel knife on beach which was great after some sandpaper
-swiss army knife on street
-swiss army knife in an abandoned squat
-lots of good woolen clothes in abandoned factories, where they seem to dump trucks full of clothes, which were donated for charity (like for africa) but never got further then a few kilometers (I really doubt anything arrives there except our toxic waste )
-another good knife I found on the street, I think it was a solingen (I lost it again )
-many lighters I get / found for free

And the rest of stuff isn't really bushcrafty so I won't mention it.

But if you ment something which I actually bought I think the Palight I just ordered is going to be great from what I hear, but I haven't received it yet.

 

[RGRBOX]

The Petzl Tikka XP is one of the best headlamps I've ever used. I brought two different headlamps with me on a Bushcraft Course last October. The Petzl Tikka Xp, and a standard Tikka. One of the guys on the course forgot his headlamp, so I lent him my Tikka. I used my Tikka Xp for the week. It work great. Much brighter then the other models. and it didn't use much on the battery side. Infact, I changed batteries the day before the course was finished. I didn't take back the other one.. I let him have it.. anyway, as for the price.. I seen it for $45.95. Here in Switzerland it cost 68.-- Chf. I don't go out side without it. As for knives. The Frost Mora training knife is a good knife, that doesn't cost that much. But it has it's limits, so I carry something a bit better constructed. As for other gear, some id less expencive then others.. I look mostly for the quality then anything else.. price is imprtant, but in the end. If the thing breaks, and your without in the wild, then it doesn't matter how much or how little you spent..

 

[Peter Pan]

The Highlander rucksack is the bizz. Its affordable, tough wearing and value for money. Ive got a 66 litre sack and its great at £40, no fuss and serves a function. Thats all I need, nothing fancy. The outdoor life whether it be walking, exploring, tracking or cycling; I sometimes get the expression at times plays second fiddle to what kit one has rather than getting out there and getting on with it. I suggest one should read about two great explorers the latest being Nicholas Crane and best of all Patrick Leigh Fermor, as to the adventures they had and how simple their kit was.
I would love to read more about peoples tales, the kit they had, the people they met, experiences gained and what they learned. I sure You guys out there must have some great tales to tell on doing things the simple way.

 

[Adam Wilhelm]

I bought a Pezl Tactikka Plus yesterday and so far i´m happy!
On a more serious note so have i used a Petzl Zoom for aprox. 15 years now.
Good kit wich have saved my *ss a couple of times.

 

[hollowdweller]

I've gone thru a bunch of cheap headlamps but I have an Black Diamond Moonlight that has lasted thru pretty much daily use on my farm AND backpacking and music festivals. I don't think the Black Diamond is the most expensive but it's not the cheapest either.

 

[tetra_neon]

I just splashed out on a Princeton Tec (american brand) "Apex" headlight, off ebay from a U.S seller. I read some excellent reviews and after using it myself, all i can say is i recommend it to anyone. After some use in the Peaks in the next few weeks I will put a review up so you can check it out if you'r interested.

p.s http://www.flashlightreviews.com/ is a very informative site for all things illumination

 

[scruff]

I'm gonna have to say the 35ltr Swedish Rucksack! (only 'cos i mentioned how good it was in another thread)

IMHO there's simply NO better rucksack for the money (<£10)

 

[RGRBOX]

I'm gonna have to say the 35ltr Swedish Rucksack! (only 'cos i mentioned how good it was in another thread)

IMHO there's simply NO better rucksack for the money (<£10)

That is a good price... I love Army surplus...