moorhouse
  • moorhouse
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14 years ago
Raptor Pro LED anybody had any experience with these lights, now spelio has gone its hard finding new lights. :bored:
RJV
  • RJV
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14 years ago
A few of the lads who knock about with us use them and they seem a sound, reliable light and plenty bright.
The helmet mounted battery is a little bulky compared to Stenlights and so on but not so much that it would really be a problem.
Price-wise I'm not sure it has a competitor.
Edd
  • Edd
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14 years ago
I have just bought 2 of them from Miles - caving-gear.co.uk and they are excellent lamps very good light and point beam 🙂
'I started reading it with full intention to read it all and then got bored and went and got beer instead!'
rikj
  • rikj
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14 years ago
Been using one for over 18 months now and had no problems. Looking at the marks on the (belt mounted) battery and lamp bezel, it's had a fair bashing and nothing has broken or stopped working. And no scratches on the glass.

Tested it on full beam and it ran for 21+ hours. Also chucked it in a bucket of water for a while and it seemed happy.

As RJV says, hard to beat in terms of bang for bucks.

Vanoord
14 years ago
The Raptor is not a bad bit of kit if you're on a budget, but in terms of output it's somewhat lacking by today's standards. Similarly, I found the beam remarkably tight, with not much spill - relatively useful if you want to see things that are in the middle-distance, but the spill around your feet isn't up to much.

I had some comparison shots from a while back, which I'll try and dig out.

The two that spring to mind would be the Stenlight and the Scurion. Both are more expensive than the Raptor, but the Scurion is eye-wateringly expensive (and very bright).

I use a Stenlight, which seems to be one of the more popular choices as the price is not ridiculous, yet it's still capable of a very decent output (420 lumens iirc). The advantage of the Sten is its relatively compact size and it can be entirely helmet mounted without you realising it's there.

I've not seem many Scurions about, but it's larger than the Stenlight and there's an endless debate about whether or not the lens needs some sort of protective bezel. It's probably the brightest commercially produced headlamp you can buy, but you certainly do pay for that!

Then there's the Viper - I'll admit to not knowing much about it, but a search of the interweb should bring up various specifications. The one thing to note is that the battery is hard to change underground and a spare is certainly not cheap!

Of the above, my - possibly biased - opinion is that the Stenlight offers the best combination of price / light output for most users. I've used one for about two years with no issues and I've not yet felt it's not got enough power for what I actually use it for.

Coming down from that price, there's not a lot to compete with the Raptor if you're going to completely overlook the likes of the Petzl Duo and similar lights.

I suspect that if you're willing to trade a bit of the traditional design that the Raptor employs, you'll be able to get your hands on something that emits more light at a lower price. There will, no doubt, be howls of protest about durability, but all I'd suggest is that you learn not to repeatedly smash your head on the ceiling ;)

At risk of being seen to publicise something that I sell ( ::) ), the Fenix HP20 looks to be a very useful bit of kit - for £80, it's got a remote battery, is IPX8 waterproof (2m) and puts out 230 lumens.

Then there are the homebrew lamps, but I'll leave someone else to cover that...
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
Vanoord
14 years ago
Righty, here we are, a few shots from Glynrhonwy. The tunnel is perhaps 50m long.

EXIF data suggests these were a 4 second exposure on the Nikon 8400 at F2.9.

Stenlight - lowest power setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57070[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57070[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight - second power setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57069[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57069[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight - third power setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57068[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57068[/linkphoto][/link]

Stenlight - top power setting
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57067[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57067[/linkphoto][/link]

Raptor Pro
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57066[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57066[/linkphoto][/link]

Oldham
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57071[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57071[/linkphoto][/link]

Fenix HP 10 - low power
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57072[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57072[/linkphoto][/link]

Fenix HP 10 - medium power
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57073[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57073[/linkphoto][/link]

Fenix HP 10 - high power
🔗Personal-Album-2-Image-57074[linkphoto]Personal-Album-2-Image-57074[/linkphoto][/link]


A couple of notes:
- the Stenlight's lowest power mode is entirely suitable for eating lunch
- the Fenix HP10 effectively uses the head from an LD/PD series lamp and the beam pattern has not been optimised for a headtorch
- yes, the Oldham really does produce light that colour!
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
AR
  • AR
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14 years ago
If you're wanting plenty of light on a budget you may also want to take a look at the Oldham conversions Roy Fellows does - Ttexla had one on the Clayton trip I ran a few months back and in terms of lumens per £, it's hard to top! However, the raptors are pretty reliable, or there's these which are very similarhttp://www.ledcavinglamp.co.uk/  - I've been using one for over two years now and the only problem I've ever had is with forgetting to charge it 😞
Follow the horses, Johnny my laddie, follow the horses canny lad-oh!
droid
  • droid
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14 years ago
A friend used my Raptor Pro down OFD1 a while back, there were no complaints, she reckoned it was at least as useful re spill as the Petzl Duo.

You gets what you pays for. Stenlights might be good, but I could buy a motorbike for the price they're charging.
I'd talk to Roy first... 😉
RJV
  • RJV
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14 years ago
"AR" wrote:

- I've been using one for over two years now and the only problem I've ever had is with forgetting to charge it 😞


I thought that was a problem particular to Stenlights. I frequently find that I have to put mine on charge less than an hour before I go out on a Sunday morning and the lack of idiotproofness in the design is the one major fault I would hold attribute to it.
Vanoord
14 years ago
"AR" wrote:

...or there's these which are very similarhttp://www.ledcavinglamp.co.uk/  - I've been using one for over two years now and the only problem I've ever had is with forgetting to charge it 😞



Probably the same thing - it looks like the TJL / Happy Wong KL6L7M
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
simonrl
  • simonrl
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14 years ago
"Vanoord" wrote:

"AR" wrote:

...or there's these which are very similarhttp://www.ledcavinglamp.co.uk/  - I've been using one for over two years now and the only problem I've ever had is with forgetting to charge it 😞



Probably the same thing - it looks like the TJL / Happy Wong KL6L7M



That's similar I think to the original Raptor. The Raptor Pro is a lot different (side exit cable, helmet mounted battery etc.)

You could (he says in salesman mode) have a look at a Halo H1. It's a bit more expensive than the www.ledcavinglamp.co.uk one, but the quality of the thing is awesome. The issue of the cost of the Sten etc. was one of reasons I went lookabout for something different, and that a) wasn't being sold by anybody else so didn't tread on their toes, and b) was of a quality I felt happy with*. Features like a user-replaceable cable and the quality optic make it worth it IMO.

* was looking at it more from a professional users point of view, where compatibility with old lead-acid Oldham chargers and serviceability were more important than the lack of helmet mounted battery; so it's probably less appealing to explorers

UserPostedImage

The Halo is now marketed by 3M so it's got a huge multinational behind it now. I imported samples from about 5 different manufacturers, and this was the one that stood out.

http://www.caplamps.co.uk/led-miners-caplamps/ 

Shameless commercial plug over :flowers:
my orders are to sit here and watch the world go by
Dark Prince
14 years ago
That reminds me Simon...check your email inbox later tonight for the review i promised you!!.

DP
turbo
  • turbo
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  • Newbie
14 years ago
have been using a raptor pro for a while now ,no complaints as yet. not the best or brightest but i will recomend it to anyone.. :thumbsup:
NeilC
  • NeilC
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14 years ago
Have recently spent many hours researching lamps from all different angles - cost, power (lumens), run times, build quality, Oldham conversions vs off the shelf etc.

Was impressed with Roy Fellows's lamps (ledcaplamps.com) and posted questions regarding them in his Superlamp thread on mine-explorer which may be of interest to you.

Cant fault his customer service and as such have placed an order for 2. Cant wait to play with them!

They suited my needs, if i was more of a 'beam' man then i would certainly have been very interested in Miles's Raptor Pro. Just the beam not right for me, good value for money though.

For what its worth, i know that one of these Raptors sunk to the bottom of a flooded chamber and continued to run for a couple of days. Sometime later it was rescued by a diver, dried out, charged and worked fine.

Hope this helps?
royfellows
14 years ago
Thanks for the plug Neil but dont anyone forget that I have a limited stock of budget range lamps.

These are lamps sold by IEE of Spain, manufactured or designed by Gokang. Although used they are all in good condition, some mint, and have the belt mount battery packs refurbished with 3 new Li Ion cells.
The burn time is now a remarkable 36 hours.

There is a version that uses my WorkStar Pro electronics and gives a powerful beam for about 10 hours.

The price of model #1 is £50 plus an extra fiver for a charger if you want one, and the postage. Model #2 is £75 plus post and will charge off an Oldham charger, as will model #1 if you wish.
I have through the headset chargers for the Pro's in stock as well.

I know not directed at me in particular but the term "home brew" not applicable. I am a commercial manufacturer who has sold 5 lamps this week, I have 1 ready to ship abroad. All lamps are constructed on brand new Oldham GT headsets that have never been underground.
All lamps sold with 12 months gurantee. including the IEE/Gokangs.
All electrical (chargers) using mains input conform to EU Low Voltage regs and carry the correct CE motif. Declaration of Conformity and technical specification sheets available for inspection.

EDIT
In the interest of fair play there is one issue with dealing with me and that is supply. I do have stock from time to time but this tends to evaporate and lead to waiting lists. One gentleman been waiting for a MagnumStar for weeks.

I do my best.


My avatar is a poor likeness.
joydivisionovengloves
14 years ago
i just bought one of roys trigons.£140.ive found it to be really good value for money.for that you gat 4 power setting with the top setteing its over 1000 lums,belive me its bright.
for the extra £40 its well worth considering,trust me.
very impressive :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
royfellows
14 years ago
Sorry all, mistake in my above posting.

IEE/Gokang modified to WorkStar Pro headset is £70 plus p and p, NOT £75. I got mixed up, it happens.

Also, Simon my good friend.
Your Halo looks good, but how much is it?
You dont seem to say anywhere.
My avatar is a poor likeness.
ttxela
  • ttxela
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14 years ago
"AR" wrote:

If you're wanting plenty of light on a budget you may also want to take a look at the Oldham conversions Roy Fellows does - Ttexla had one on the Clayton trip I ran a few months back and in terms of lumens per £, it's hard to top! However, the raptors are pretty reliable, or there's these which are very similarhttp://www.ledcavinglamp.co.uk/  - I've been using one for over two years now and the only problem I've ever had is with forgetting to charge it 😞



Yes, the MagnumStar is most impressive, unfortunately I haven't been underground as much as I'd have liked recently due to work pressures but the little I have done has certainly been well lit :thumbup:

I also have a Raptor Pro which I am very happy with, my daughter tends to use it now and it suits her very well. It is very robust and has been washed in a bucket on more than one occasion. The beam is quite tight but it's not caused either of us any problems.
Vanoord
14 years ago
I believe a certain person's Stenlight has had at least one full cycle through the washing machine with no ill-effects... :lol:
Hello again darkness, my old friend...
royfellows
14 years ago
"Vanoord" wrote:

I believe a certain person's Stenlight has had at least one full cycle through the washing machine with no ill-effects... :lol:



Kinda adds a new meaning to the expression "kit cleaning"

An idea for my lamps.
I will have to ponder this one under the manuals sub heading "Looking after your lamp"
Now what brand of washing powder would I recommend and would I get a 'backhander' off the soap company
:lol:

My avatar is a poor likeness.

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