Flashlights and Caves

I see from other threads that there are number of cavers at BLF. But I cannot find any general thread to share our experience and thoughts about using diferent flashlights(serial or custom) in diffrent caves type.

(Headlamps is the most suitable section but of course handheld lights and connected equipment used in caves are not off topic)
So I try to create this thread,may be it would be interested to someone.
Pictures, photos, stories are welcomed)

Here is my caving FW thread. I think it is more relevant here than in the modding category :)
https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/54743

Thanks , didn’t saw this before.
Is it works with two separated drivers?

Oh! Videos are welcomed too)
Video about previous expedition in which I participates. You can also notice headlamps used now and in 80th.



No, it is a single switch, single (5$) driver to control the 2 LEDs.
Since you asked for videos:
www.youtube.com/embed/7s3ymkUXiWc

I’m not into caving, but recently I had the chance to test a caving headlamp from El Speleo, a Croatian caving/diving headlamp brand.

It’s really obvious that the designer of the light does caving. The ruggedness and UI is ideal for operating with gloves and without looking at the light. There’s a big screw on the side for operating the different modes (throw, flood, UV).

This prototype light is powered by two 18650s in parallel and used a white flat for throw and two Luxeon’s for flood. And a 365nm UV as well.

That new el speleo does look good. Also nice to see caving lights now coming out with leds other than standard cool white CREEs. Could never afford them Scurions, El Speleos and Phaethons though. And the lack of proper moonlight mode is also a minus for me. I find very low modes very useful when taking a nap or camping inside the cave. I’ve been rocking a Panda 3R with 3000K SST-20s (primary) and a Thrunite TH10v2 with XHP35 3000K 80CRI (secondary) in recent trips. Although I have a few modded headlamps that also get caving use. I find single bodied tube style lights tend to survive better than consumer headlamps with wires and separate battery packs in wet and muddy caving scenarios. I have a dead fenix hp30r and nitecore hc70 to attest to that.

El speleo is famous manufacturer of specialized caving lamps.
As I remember they use PWM in Gnome early version. Is it true for this model?

Totally agree with that.1*18650/21700 is enough for 1 day work(with out diving), so I dont see any reason to carry more then 1 battery on my head)

Driver is by Dr. Jones and has 16kHz PWM on modes other than max just like his previous designs.

Thanks, 16khz is good.
I was surprised that low frequency PWM is used in such expensive professional light as El speleo or Scurion…


First models of El speleo used Nanjg 105c driver :(

I think it could be interesting to someone.
Hosts for caving headlamps ~150$/pcs (actual during week)

I’m interested. You selling these AEDe?

Answer in PM

more details? Looks interesting.

I used to do a lot of caving when I was younger. I started before the internet was a thing and incandescent was it. Back then, I always used Maglite. They did the job and held up to abuse really well. When LED lights first started showing up on the scene, it was headache city. They were usually brutal cool whites. I stuck with my incandescents until I eventually stopped caving due to some health issues. Now, technology has finally caught up. You can get some nice warmer LED lights and good color rendering, which can be a major plus for the beauty that can be found underground.

I did most of my caving with handheld lights and without what we’d consider proper safety gear by modern standards. If I was going to do it today, I’d look for a good warm headlamp with high CRI. As far as handheld lights, there aren’t really any special restrictions. You’ll want it to be sturdy enough to survive getting dropped or bumped. You’ll want basic water resistance. You’ll want decent battery life. For those who’ve spent extended time in low or no light, you know that starting in low is a must. (You don’t want a surprise blast of ultra-high lumens or tactical strobe down there.) Besides warmth and CRI, I’d avoid PWM if possible. Different people have different sensitivity levels but if you can find a light without it, that’s the best option.

PM send

I’ve been into a fair deal of caves and done my share of wet muddy potholing over the years. I think I still have a carbide light laying around somewhere. Now days I don’t consider myself a caver though. Lately I’ve more or less focused on abandoned mines when venturing underground. For that I don’t really need “caving” lights. For me a caving light is a light that can withstand mud, muck and waterfalls, and I tend to avoid that stuff now days, at least crawling through it (wading pants acceptable, full on caving suite for crawling and I’m not really interested anymore).

I modded a headlamp which I’ve been using, it stands up well to the conditions in mines, and as long as a cave is dry (or at least dry when you have to crawl and squeeze) it will work fine: Project Gemini: Yet another headlamp mod. Not a cheapo this time though.

However, I am somewhat interested in making my own caving headlight. Yuval was kind enough to share some details about his host, I’d like to give it a go but I have so many light projects waiting in line that I don’t know when I’ll take the time.

For handheld lights I really do not see any distinction between a flashlight and a caving light (diving light is a different matter but I’ve never done cave diving). I’ve found that many Convoy hosts, which are not rated in any way, really can stand to be dropped in water and stay there for a while without leaking. That’s all I need really. Then what kind of light I want depends on what I am doing: exploring, photographing, SRT, or just strolling around. My two main works horses are a ZYT08: What did you mod today? - #3884 by Mike_C and a SRK “soup can” light with triple MT-G2s. However, I haven’t put those two through waterfalls or anything like that though. As mentioned, that type of caving is something I’ve somewhat lost interest in. If I did decide to put myself through that again I’d pack my workhorses watertight and hand carry my Convoy S3 triple that can handle getting really wet.

My caving experience dates back to carbide lantern days. I’d like to know how you carry batteries and how many do you carry. It’s been a while since I did any caving but who knows, now that I have some reliable light sources.

In russian there is good term “spelestology/spelestologist”(from speleo and Stollen) for this type of activity to distinguish from “diggers” who visiting not abandoned underground. I actualy dont know if there any analogy of that terms in English language.)

As for me. I alweys carry 2 18650 powered headlamps (main and backup) so I surely can not change batteries during day. If I stay in cave more than a day , than I have UBC (“underground base camp” may be there is more sutable term in english… )with spare batteries in such bags

Usualy I spend 1pcs 18650 per 1-3 days.