Can't say I've come across the Whaletail descender but it got me thinking about vintage kit.

In the climbing world there is a chap (on Corscia I think) who collects old equipment and is fairly well know.

I guess quite a few of us do that with lamps of one vintage or another. But does anybody remember the Pile Wonder head torch? Definitely not designed for caving or the mine explorer, but it was quite popular with mountaineers. I shall have to dig one out and go mine exploring with it over Christmas :lol:

---

There's an American collector of SRT gear that posts on ukcavingforum from time to time. The photos of his enormous collection all mounted on peg boards, are quite a sight - every varient of every make, including every colour of anodising. A great range of short production run 1970s gear is fully represented. Surely the most complete collection in existence.

Reverting to lamps, I've used candles; assorted hand torches including various bulky high output models; flame safety lamps (Premier and T&W); helmet mounted carbides; large hand held carbides; Premier and Petzl waist-mouted generators; Oldhams R, T, T1 to T4, etc (and maybe W - the oldest date stamp I recall was 1963) including the short production brittle red cells; Ceag; Exide/Chloride; Nife (1948 was the oldest manufacturer's date stamp I recall); Nicad (10ah and 20ah set-ups); Peztl head torches; various home-made set ups.

For sheer output however, a gel-filled lead-acid torque starter and rally car fog lamp knocks anything else I've carried into a cocked hat - especially useful in big slate chambers. Larghe hand-held carbides remains the friendliest though - plenty of heat and a nice soft warm light - but no good in locations with poor air flow.

In my early days for slate mines it was one of the 'poachers' 12 volt plug in handlamps fitted with 120 watt halogen bulb and running of a 12 volt motorcycle battery in a side pack.

I always messed.
I bought old Youles from CS and fitted them with 12 volt "BMW 21 watt high intensity foglamp" bulbs. This was an interesting diversion.

I have to honestly say though, what I produce now beats all of this.

Right Simon L, you have seen it!

---

The joys of vintage kit.

Until very recently the hand jammer I was using was an early 1970s clogger - great bit of kit.

During the early 2000s I was caving using a found in back of shed 1970s homemade wetsuit. I had to be gaffer taped into it every time I wore it. The final straw came when the zip fell off on the wrong side of sump 1 in Swildons and I had to free dive it bare chested.

On the lamp front I am still very much an Oldham man although Roy has tempted me with one of his new fangled gadgets. For a while I was using a homemade ni cad lamp using a beautiful Nife cell case and an Oldham Headset. Also a bit of a carbide enthusiast. A couple of years ago (Tin miners *0th birthday bash) I did a trip with a handheld Premier King. Once had a "stinky" with a dodgy O ring burst into flames on my head.

Trouble with modern kit is that it works - takes all the fun out of things. :lol:

Funny you should mention the old wetsuits Rick.
Years ago you could not buy them made up; you had to make your own. You would have to get the neoprene from where ever you could, cut it into sections and glue together with EvoStick.

In those days EvoStick really stuck, it had not been politically corrected to compensate for loosers who got off on sniffing it.

I think maybe I am talking 1960s.

---

I had a wetsuit like that in the early 1970s

always makes me think of the smell of sweaty wet talc....

done the 'burning stinky' thing too :lol:

---