Did a little research after Doug suggested that the Princeton Tec headlamps are waterproof. Both the Princeton Tec Solo (2 AA) and Vortec (4 AA) headlamps are waterproof to 500'. The Pelican Heads Up (4 AA) is also waterproof to 500' and while it protrudes a bit more than the PT lamps...has a vertically adjustable head. Guess I ought to buy one or more of the above...and some cable ties! ;) Not sure if I want to night storm paddle....but a helmet is less likely to fall off your head than a headlamp...and is easier to attach cable ties to than my face! Or, I could go low-tech and fasten a chinstrap! Shawn __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Everyone, I hate to continuously be the equipment critic on this list, but the battery compartment of my Princeton Tec Solo leaks, even though it is supposed to be waterproof to a depth of a whole bunch of feet, much deeper than my kayaks ever go. Maybe it is the harsh environment down here is Southern California ;^). Duane Strosaker *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Shawn said: > Did a little research after Doug suggested that the Princeton Tec headlamps are waterproof. Both the Princeton Tec Solo (2 AA) and Vortec (4 AA) headlamps are waterproof to 500'. The Pelican Heads Up (4 AA) is also waterproof to 500' and while it protrudes a bit more than the PT lamps...has a vertically adjustable head.< After my last post I assembled my new Prezl "Zoom" to my red Predator surf helmet. It didn't secure too well with the cable ties. I then ran the whole thing under running water. A quick check revealed moisture in the battery pack, with hints of moisture in the bezel. Come Sunday after church, a calm ocean turned completely ferocious, with hurricane force winds on both straits. I freted for awhile, then unsnipped the Prezl and returned it to the store, replacing it with the waterproof Princeton Tec "vor tec" (4 AA's). They didn't believe me at the store that the "Zoom" leaked. I opened the battery pack (I had to keep the 4.5v pack), and water sprinkled out. Nice way to return a product, eh? "Yes sir, I did some home testing you see!" The Princeton Tec unit has a rubberized pad on the front behind the hard plastic, and along with a few cable ties run through some small holes drilled strategically in the surf helmet, it appeared to be a very secure set-up. It protrudes very little, and once the surf helmet is worn over a friction-fit surf hood, the helmet looses the front-heavy feel. I'm going to leave it permanently mounted on the helmet for evening rough-water paddling; it will also be a back-up headlamp for multiday trips on the open coast -- as I always take the helmet on my back deck. Early evening lee-shore landings and pre-dawn departures should be a little less traumatic for me now with this set-up. I had also looked into the flashlight holders that mount waterproof handhelds to helmets, but they didn't look too effective for easy on-off convenience (switching off, etc) like an up-front headlamp. The Pelican is a bit bulky. Some say it isn't waterproof, but rather water resistant. We will have to see over time how it rates and hold up. It looks like a good use of technology; and the ratchet system would hold the setting in place better than the other products on the market, though the PT headlamps are easy to dial in the tension with a Philips screwdriver occasionaly. I like the rubber banding option, which would stay on helmets a bit better. I'll replace the housing in my Princeton Tec "Solo" with the replacement LED arrangement, which will be great for camp chores and in-tent reading. The regular bulbs leave a disturbing pattern emited on to reading material, and the halogen option just burns-out the battery too fast. I might have done things differently if I had to do it all over again and could only buy one headlamp. Like I said in a previous post, there are high performance headlamps out there. I mentioned NightHawk as one of them. This was an error. I meant to say NightRider. Check it out man. While the cheaper waterproof version is gone from the lineup, the scuba diving units are out of this world: http://www.niterider.com/ While I'd love to get my hands on the NightRider stuff for serious evening padding excursions and beach-finding from the cockpit (and for cycling/mountain biking), the Princeton Tec stuff gives me reasonable performance at a reasonable price. Of course, the NightRider uses high-intensity discharge (HID) bulb technology that produces equivalent light of a conventional 50-watt bulb at a full-spectrum 6,000 color temp which is close to sunlight (the system uses a minature ballast). While nighttime storm paddling might be dangerous, my wife would kill me, for certain, I bought NightRider lights. You also said: >Guess I ought to buy one or more of the above...and some cable ties! ;) Not sure if I want to night storm paddle....but a helmet is less likely to fall off your head than a headlamp...and is easier to attach cable ties to than my face! Or, I could go low-tech and fasten a chinstrap!< Those with rings pierced into their noses, lips, and cute cheeks like yours, would be at an advantage for using cable ties. Also,check out the NightRider accessories. They even have a neo headband and helmet mount: http://www.niteriderdive.com/accessories.htm Then Duane said: >I hate to continuously be the equipment critic on this list, but the battery compartment of my Princeton Tec Solo leaks, even though it is supposed to be waterproof to a depth of a whole bunch of feet, much deeper than my kayaks ever go. Maybe it is the harsh environment down here is Southern California ;^).< I've never had a problem. I do perform occasional maintenance, and I'd remind folks that Princeton Tec guarantees their product for life. YMMV. Maybe Duane drilled a hole in his by accident :-) I do know that the on-mechanism of the PT headlamps get a pit "sticky" after a lot of use, according to my caving buddies. I had said: > night surfing...night-storm paddling... with my headlamp light off,< Bob said: > Doug, All the world is crazy except me and thee and sometimes I wonder about thee.< Well, the Californian who invented the NightRider lights did so in part to extend his evenind board surfing time. As far as turning the headlamp off, if that is the concern, check out my night-storm paddle post. If it is just the fact that night paddling in hazardous circumstances seems crazy, well, you get no arguments from my wife. As far as hazardous is concerned though, just the fact of living in the USA is hazardous enough! :-) Of course, living causes death. Life is terminal. Live large 'till you go. Just remember to carry lots of life insurance. Doug Lloyd Victoria BC Canada - where the only thing dead is our Prime Minister. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ "Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said clearly should not be said at all." Ludwig Wittgenstein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
[Moderator's Note: Content unaltered. Excessive quoting (i.e. headers/footers/sig lines/comments from previous posts, etc.) have been removed. Please edit quoted material in addition to removing header/trailers when replying to posts.] Try any Caving supply depot for direct hands-on comparison/review/purchase. You can also do a Google search and come up with more hits than imaginable, I would imagine. Prices vary widely, so go with cheaper if you trust on-line shopping. Here in BC, we outdoor types get most of our gear from MEI (a co-op retailer) which offers significant savings, and ships cheap -- usually the next day. Perhaps you have something similar in your area. The Pelican Heads Up is harder to get, as stock isn't keeping up with demand in some cases. So, planning to do a little night paddling over to Cuba, or maybe some Gulf night hurricane-paddling :-) Doug Lloyd Victoria BC ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ "Whatever can be said at all can be said clearly and whatever cannot be said clearly should not be said at all." Ludwig Wittgenstein ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Arthur Hebert" <seacajun_at_gs.net> Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Waterproof Headlamps > Does any have any websites re; info /purchase of stated headlamps > Thanks > > > Shawn said: > > > > > Did a little research after Doug suggested that the Princeton Tec > > headlamps are waterproof. Both the Princeton Tec Solo (2 AA) and Vortec > > (4AA) headlamps are waterproof to 500'. The Pelican Heads Up (4 AA) is > also > > waterproof to 500' and while it protrudes a bit more than the PT > lamps...has > > a vertically adjustable head.< *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:32 PDT