So I'm coming full circle right back to the original reason I joined BLF (see the original thread - one of my first threads ever posted here with a link toward the end to the "flashlight testing/analysis thread"). My underground co-worker (hired after the original flashlight analysis and after the original crew broke the NW Jet beam PA40 we got them) came to me the other day telling me he'd like to have better lights for underground use. Since the original thread the company did purchase modern LED "cap lights" (mount on front of a miners hard hat) but they are as pathetic as the original incandescent cap lamps with their 20lb belt batteries. These cap lamps seem to have an 18650 built-in, put out what looks like 100 to 150 lumens of pencil beam (think XR-E or maybe XP-E), cool white, and apparently have over 6 hours runtime. They are "simple-stupid". Users simply turn them on/off and drop them into a dock to charge them. I know the company bought them because they are "safety rated", but the mines we operate in do not currently require "safety rated" lights. My co-worker operates the instrument, so he can't wear these anyway since he has to wear his hardhat backwards (so as to look through the scope without bumping the instrument). His other co-workers do wear them though.
This co-worker (instrument operator) is currently using a Princeton Tec Apex which is cool-white and rated 275 lumens with it's "maxbright" LED (specs say 1hr of regulated/constant brightness on alkalines on high, 11hrs on low on the "maxbright"). This light has been in use a few years (previous co-worker left it for him) and apparently has held up well. I think he uses NiMh's in it, but I'm not sure which LED's (the "maxbright" or the 5mm's) nor which modes he's using to get through a full day's work. I'm making an educated guess that a "full-day" underground is about 6hrs of use. He also still uses the same old 6AA Coleman Max Bubba (pencil beam thrower with really long runtime).
Here's a pic of the instrument man's typical setup (headlamp here is NOT the Princeton Tec, Coleman Max Bubba aimed to floor):
My co-worker has mentioned that he can shine his light up at the roof to look for bad spots and things look fine. Then the client's representative working with them shines a brighter light up, finds bad cracks indicating loose roof, and tells them to stay away. (I take this to mean that the pencil beam is only allowing him to see a very small area and the client's light lit up cracks outside of his hotspot.) No idea what lights any of our clients are using.
I've passed a selection of lights (Li-Ion, single cell) to my co-worker to test out and see what feedback he can provide from their use - i.e. "medium mode of this one is plenty of light, but the beam pattern of this other one is more appropriate". He is underground using them as we speak.
My thought is to get them decent headlamps and then decent "flooder" flashlights (at least lights that favor flood over throw). They also need to get 6hrs use out of a single battery (or battery pack). Lights need good safe drivers with low-voltage protection (thermal protection, esp. for small headlamps, would be a plus too). I would only give them protected batteries/packs with reliable safe chargers. I don't want them to have to swap batteries mid-day due to the risk of them putting a battery in backwards (though protection for that is a huge plus too) in dark/dim conditions. The lights have to be durable (no cheap Chinese headlamps with plastic mounts) and dependable (good quality switches, threads, etc. . .). Whatever they wear/carry has to be fairly light weight or else they'll just sit in the truck (been down that road before). I also think the "6hrs runtime" should be on "medium" mode, with a "high" mode used as a temporary "turbo" as needed. No or at least hidden flashing modes.
The Fenix HL55 (which another non-miner coworker bought on my recommendation, though I had no personal experience with it) seems like a really good "ready to use" solution, although I think it has too many modes and wish "high" was a tad bit higher. Then there's the 4xAA version HP15, but I don't know how it's beam pattern compares to the HL55. I was thinking to go with a biking headlamp as a solution running on a 2S1P pack built with 3500mAh NCR18650GA's with protection circuit tested by ledoman over at MTBR. I should be able to get them a tailored beam pattern (hand selecting LEDDNA optics), tailored output (changing sense resistors), and more output for the 6hr requirement. Problems with this setup is that it requires my time to do some work and requires finding/buying a quality wallwart charger (likely be a MagicShine branded charger like this one). It would also likely require fabricating a mount to the hard hat as well as having cabling that could get snagged.
As far as the handheld flashlights, I still want 6hrs use out of them as well (though they'd likely be used less). A zoom light could be handy (I personally found a zoom light at full flood to be great underground) and could be versatile enough for when they want some throw. I doubt there are zoom lights ready to use with NW LED's and good drivers with LVP though so that's more time & parts I need to invest. Co-worker has a Convoy S2 and an M1 to test out as well as my W-878 and the dealmetric zoom lights. Might need to go 26650 to get 6hrs runtime.
I really should wait and here feedback from my co-worker to get a gauge on what he'd like, but what do you think? What would you recommend that's safe and "simple-stupid"? Choices have sure come a long way since my original post!
Oh and I should mention that I've been out of the loop awhile and not following "the latest offerings" so there may be lights available that I've totally missed as options. AND, I forgot to mention budget. I'm not opposed to spending money I can justify. It doesn't have to be cheap, but it should be "bang for the buck". I think +/- $60 on a Fenix headlamp is justifiable. (I'm sure this is WAY less than what they paid for the "safety rated" cap lamps!)
-Garry
