Once when working underground I had the unfortunate experience of both main beam and pilot packing up, it was a case of hands and knees and follow that rail track while trying to remember where the ore pass was. Those old cap lamps were great for drying out a fag paper and baccy when drilling up a raise.

Lozz.

I'm happy enough with my Centurion Miner Helmet and Chinese miners lamp. You could get both of them off Ebay for £50 and still have some change left. If you're going to be doing rope work you'd probably be advised to get a caving helmet.

Surely you should really follow the "rite of passage" and use a proper Oldham with a lead acid battery and ordinary bulb. I still have the one I bought secondhand off ebay several years back when I started which you could purchase for your budget 🙂

It has a new (10 years or so ago) battery that weighs a fair bit less than your average engine block and provides a faint glimmer of light for just long enough to get you well beyond the reach of daylight before finally going out.

I finally traded up and bought a better lamp when on a group trip with other chaps with modern lights I got back to the surface and realised mine had gone out at some point and I hadn't noticed the difference 😞

you must have been rich. i started with a premier King lamp which you carried in a hand. Our sandwiches were bread and dripping.

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Peter I would have thought like me you have started with NiFe lamp or the Edison equivalent!
These were been discarded by the N.C.B. in the late 50's & early 60's because miners were getting burnt with their alkali content!
They were OK if you kept them upright. I remember the late Harry Parker, washing himself down in Claton Deep Adit after one of these burns.
I also used the smaller Premier helmet lamp which needed topping up with water every hour and every 2 hours being recharged with carbide.
Talking of which there is a whole heap of, presumably V.M.miners carbide in the crosscut close to the Rampgill door.

You'll get a Raptor/Chinese Mining Lamp type lamp for the budget you're talking about.

Had one for years and they do the job perfectly well. Can also whack an insert in one at a later stage if you ever want to increase the output.

another vote for this. I have one of these and it serves me fine. I've also used them at work, and as an inspection lamp for my car.. I have no clue about its lumen rating, or a number of other things mentioned here, but it's a reliable lamp at no great cost.

The Oldham is a better product with certification that is actually believeable, and I like to support a British company where possible, but as a cheap and cheerful caplamp for occasional caving the Chinese ones are quite sufficient.

what helmet do you have?

I've got to second that Stuey. Roy's lamps are super value for money and an aftersales service which cannot be beaten by anyone!
I,m using the cheapo - Sorry - entry level workstar pro and it's excellent. I'm hoping to upgrade to the Eco star later this year and looking forward to it. I'll Keep the workstar for spare or guests.
So far in Cornwall, everyone who has seen Roy's lamps in action, can't help being impressed..... once they have recovered from the retinal burns :lol:
Keep up the good work mate! :thumbsup:

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Fancy meeting you here at stupid o clock roy!

Looking at the other-star lamps that you and a few of the others have, they are just right. You have a just right beam and a just right flood.

The other choice is petrol station lego, or Petzl lego, or a chinese caplamp, which is good, but no cigar.

You can lead a horse to water, etc.

Got to recommend Roy's lamps. I've been using an Ecostar for a couple of years now and am very happy with it.

Whilst Roy is (in) famous for his bat roasters his lower powered lamps really cut the mustard.

As a bit of a traditionalist I particularly like the fact that Roy uses the Oldham headshell which is a tried and tested item.

I also liked that fact that I could use my existing Oldham charger.

People seem to get hung up on the number of lumens a lamp can bang out - whilst that is a factor it is the quality of light that is the key. For years I used an Oldham with a very narrow focused beam - with hindight this was not ideal. My current lamp (Ecostar) gives a really nice wash of light, more akin to a carbide lamp which is much more pleasant, adding an extra dimension to the mine experience that I did not get with my trusty (???) Oldham.

When I had a problem with my lamp Roy sorted it out very promptly - a level of service that you just won't get with a chinese mining lamp from ebay.

On the downside I have found that on certain settings my lamp pulsates gently which can get on your wick a bit, although this is by no means a deal breaker.

Whilst there are undoubtably cheaper lamps on the market which will do the job perfectly well one of Roy's offerings such as his Workstar has got to be about the cheapest "serious" lamp on the market.

For me- if your after something run of the mill off the shop shelf that you can find in anywhere from tesco-to a 24/7 petrol station- an energizer 10 quid battery headlamp will suffice until you can find / choose a decent lamp such as roys or oldham/chinese mining lamps.

The energizer led headlamps of which Ive had 3 are extremely cheap to buy 100 % waterproof- tested by myself standing in stupidly wet areas (posing benath underground water falls in rampgill and Bollihope- and take a monumental effort to break even when your trying , they have enough beam to easily see where your going and the surrounding strata-admittedly they wont illuminate a huge welsh slate chamer, But I have seen many original oldhams and petzls still in use which did not come close to the same output as the energizers- they run on AAA or aa off the shelf batteries which is also quite handy and have one hell of a long battery life, (months), I doubt many others will rate them , but for me they are simply the best at such a price and you wont be upset if/when you next accidently leave it behind on a mountainside somewhere.

A quick word of wisdom
When you venture underground you lamp is your main piece of equipment.

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Chris

I agree with you on the energizer lamp. They are what I currently have (well 2 of them) and I run them on rechargeable AAAs. They are ok for seeing where you are going and in lead type mine they are ok (for a <£10 light). I often place one over the caplamp. Didn't really do much in Penarth other than light the floor, but that's all I wanted to use them for. However, I've found that they have a tendency to turn themselves on in my rucksack - just annoying but they last for ages. They probably make a good back-up light for getting out etc.

Looking for something a little more without spending megabucks

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A quick word of wisdom
When you venture underground you lamp is your main piece of equipment.

A vital word of wisdom, that.

Roy's lamps come with full backup in case of problems. They are bright, reliable and do the job perfectly.

If you can't afford one then a CXghinese mining lamp from Miles Mouldridge is a good compromise.

I have both.