[jacksonpt]

I need to get a headlamp. My buddy at EMS (he know's his stuff and is a good friend, so I trust him) recommended the Petzl Myo. I want something with an adjustable beam (long for mtbing, short for camping/cooking, etc.).

Thoughts on this lamp? Other suggestions?

 

[Squeak]

I don't know if that light will be great for MTBing. If this is a backup light, or a quick trip light, I think it would work.

 

[Squeak]

As a side note, I am going to buy a Petzl Tikka in about 30 min.

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

nite rider storm. that is what i use.

some of the fellas at my lbs reccomended making your own metal halide rigs. You can create way more light than a storm for cheaper. sure you will break lots of light bulbs if you wipe out but of course they are also cheap to replace.

 

[Serial Midget]

I don't think that lamp will do you any good at speeds over 5 MPH - it appears to be design for walking, hiking or climbing. I think it's use for bicycle commuting would be limited.

Cyglo make a perfectly serviceable 16 watt rechargeable unit that is cheap at $60.00 - it can mount to you bars or helmet.

Night Rider stuff is very good but also somewhat expensive. I am not shy about spending the dough on good stuff but I find I damage lights and batteries pretty quickly; I try to run stuff that doesn't cost a fortune to replace.

 

[jacksonpt]

Thanks for the info everyone. I guess I should give a little more info about what I'm looking for. I needs to be wearable on my head for camping/hiking, and it needs to fit with/on/under my helmet for biking. I don't ever see the need to use it for more than 90 minutes per night. I'd like to keep it under $50 if possible, and I will not spend more than $75 - I just won't use it often enough to justify that kind of money.

 

[sub6]

In my experience, you get what you pay for. Cheaper lights just don't throw out much candlepower, or last very long on a charge. If you're just looking for a hiking light, pretty much anything will fit the bill.

The Storm is basically like having a stadium light on your head. It's insane how bright that thing is for how long. Definitely would be my first choice if I had the $$$.

I use a NiteRider Classic, older system from a few years back and it's okay, although it's useless if you wanna ride for more than 1.5 hours. And that's pushing it.

 

[Serial Midget]

Well since you are going for duel purpose I would look for a head mounted light meant for bicycling. It will be overkill for hiking but much more usefull overall. Any lamp that uses 6 volts supplied by 4 AA batteries is really a waste of time for bicycling... honest - I have extensive experience with both applications.

The beam of a hiking / climbing lamp will focus about 4 feet in front of you - all you need for 3 to 5 MPH but totally inadequate for bicycling when you need your beams to focus 20 to 50 feet in front of you.

 

[Drunken_Ninja]

Originally posted by Drunken_Ninja
nite rider storm. that is what i use.

some of the fellas at my lbs reccomended making your own metal halide rigs. You can create way more light than a storm for cheaper. sure you will break lots of light bulbs if you wipe out but of course they are also cheap to replace.

basically what I heard of was a homemade system. It should be really easy for anyone to make. They described it as being structured with coathangers and hung over the front of the bike. The water botte mount is where you would likely find the battery. (slice an old water bottle down the side to insert as many as you want)

The intriguing part was they got all of this stuff from their local hardware store and used standard fixtures with metal halide bulbs. (a bit of tin foil to reflect the beams) They were running 3-4 lights at any given time. The bulbs cost like $20-25 in U.S. currency and and would break when ever the rider would wipe out. They had to keep like three or four burning because of this so that when one or two broke they always had at least one going.

Basically it was over 10 times brighter than a storm and lit up the trail like daytime. The local hardware store that these guys went to considered it to be a personal project and did most of the work for the guy except for the coat hangar part. They had to mount it to their own bike.

Overall, even after breaking bulbs they were cheaper to maintain than niterider storm systems. There were some negative references flyiing around about the storm needing expensive replacement parts that wear out fast by comparison.

 

[jacksonpt]

Interesting...

But I really think I need one that I can wear on my head/helmet. The trails I ride are generally VERY twisty, so rarely would I care to see where my bike was pointed. I need to see where trail is going.

 

[splat]

Home made the only way to go!!!

here are 2 different sets of plans.


http://www.crw.org/CheapLights.htm

http://www.bikeclub.org/lightspa.htm

and check here are some pics of my home made system ( and some others on another board .

http://www.nemba.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=297

 

[Serial Midget]

The angle of a bar mount works fine for trials. I use 24.5 watt bar mount and a 16 watt helmet mount when riding. I tend to only night ride in the winter when it's usually foggy and rainy. Helmet lights are not much good if you want to go fast in these conditions - the beam frome above reflects of the fog/rain and creates a wall of light, you could almost see better with no lights at all. When I ride in htese conditions I turn off the helmet lamp and rely solely on the bar mount.

Originally posted by jacksonpt
Interesting...

But I really think I need one that I can wear on my head/helmet. The trails I ride are generally VERY twisty, so rarely would I care to see where my bike was pointed. I need to see where trail is going.

 

[GhostX]

Check Craigslist - I just got lucky and found a brand new Nite Rider Pro 1200 for $380. Bright as the sun, and seems to work great so far.