UKC

I'm a third year design student doing a brief to design lighting for outdoor activities that 'blurs the line between kit and companion'.
I do a lot of walking, skiing, snowboarding and climbing myself but rarely in the conditions where I would need a light. And so my question is...
Is there any situations which you have found yourself in where the light that you had (or didn't have) wasn't quite up to the task or could've been improved in some way? or is there something that you do frequently that could be easier with a light?

If anyone has any suggestions that would amazing!
Erin

In reply to erin_kish:


Does what!!?


Lights often get obvious things wrong, like switches that can be turned on by accident.

In reply to erin_kish:

Agreed, the accidental turn on is the only thing I can think of that hasn't already been designed to death on head-torches.
Not sure how you can prevent this while maintaining the ability to turn the light on or off in thick gloves or mitts though. That said my Petzl XP-something-or-other is already pretty good for this.

If you are interested in general points about things I like about my head-torches:
Low power and high power settings.
Ability to use focused or broad beam.
Rechargeable battery (I use the Petzl Core) but still able to use AAA batteries if needed (so spares can be carried).
Emergency whistle on the headband.

In reply to erin_kish:

Two lasers.

In reply to erin_kish:

Rapid adjustment between helmet and no helmet size?

In reply to erin_kish:

Universal helmet attachment. The military has headlights that can be attached directly to helmets with a simple lock attachment. The headlight can also attach directly to a headband.

I want to see a universal mould that can be standardised throughout all brands. Making the often unless headlight retainers on helmets redundant. Making it easier to attach a headlight to the helmet and also a keeping the headlight unit small so it can fit in a pocket instead of having to be kept in a pack, where it gets cold and drains battery.

For inspiration look at the Team Wendy backcountry helmets and the prinston tec headlights. The downside to these is that the mount is standardised for night vision goggles so is excessively large for a climbing helmet.

If you can create a universal mounting system that all brands can include in a helmet design, whilst headlight manufacturers can include in their models you're on to a winner.

In reply to erin_kish:
The problem I've always found with head torches is when you turn to face someone else. Everyones eyes have probably just got attuned to the low light (even with a big lamp on). Then you face eachother any noone can see toffee. What about a headtorch which recognises when it is pointed directly at another one (give or take 10 degrees) and drops it's output?

Or what about one that changes it's focus depending on where it points? Diffuse low beam when pointed at the ground infront of you, and focussed beam when looking horizontal? Of course that's fine if you are on the flat, but the challenge would be to make it respond to going uphill.

In reply to Pbob:

An excellent idea too a reverse light sensor, don't some models get auto brighter the darker it is? Iirc there is one or two out there. Or am I dreaming that...

Alternatively a switch to a low red light would be even better. Sensor detects bright light I.e. That of your partners, light automatically switches to low red to avoid destroying their night vision. Switches back automatically. For work where light is necessary a push button could disable that system. I like it.

In reply to GarethSL:

Sounds like an alpkit qark to me : https://www.alpkit.com/products/qark

In reply to erin_kish:

So, you posted this in four forums on ukc?

In reply to erin_kish:
surely you need a 50 question, badly written, ill thought out, survey , as is the norm on here ?
(not all I hasten to add , very occasionally some thought seems to have gone in to them)
I would like some reserve battery life , with some kind of indicator that I am now going into reserve and and will now have something like 30 minutes left .

In reply to MG:

haha these aren't my words! that was written in our brief ....

In reply to Stefan Jacobsen:

I'm trying to reach as many people as possible, excuse me for trying to get as much information as possible when I'm not sure who looks at what forums? don't like it report me

In reply to Pbob:

thanks that's really helpful

In reply to GarethSL:

great idea thanks!

In reply to Pbob:


No, no, no, that is a horrible idea. The chance of it actually working in the wild are less than or equal to zero,

Just make sure it works first time, every time, doesn't turn on by itself, puts out a reasonable quantity of light and POSSIBLY can focus for distance and close, a high and low intensity setting. Anything else is going to FAIL and FAIL HORRIBLY AT JUST THE WRONG TIME.

As for dazzling your companions, just get used to not shining it in people's faces.

In reply to Simon4:

I can't be the only one who does the tikka shuffle, dropping my light the moment I look at someone right?

In reply to Simon4:
I have the petzl with the auto adjusted beam initially I though total tosh but now really like it. You don't dazzle yourself with maps so much and your friends aren't quite as blinded. The recharge from USB and a good power remaining meter makes it a pretty successful package. I still dont understand what all the various holes and lights do though....

In reply to Simon4:

Petzl Nao, Tikka RXP, Reactik and LED Lenser SEO series all do this well already. Turn and look at your buddy, and either the reflected light or the light from their torch dims yours (to the point of virtually switching off if their torch is v. bright). Turn away and it ramps back up to full power. I use my Tikka RXP a lot for trail running and dossing around camp / bothies and definitely has resulted in less dazzling of mates! Fringe bonus for hill races is that if you're in the pack, it dims down taking advantage of the torches around you and so uses less battery.

Also works well for looking at maps in waterproof cases and avoids dazzling you when you glance down.

Reaction time is very impressive as well.

Doesn't work well in heavy snow (few torches are any good in this though!) as reflected light tricks the sensor so ends up dimmer than you'd like. Similarly a situation where you need to look towards someone with a torch on doesn't work well as your torch tends to dim whether you want it to or not (e.g. looking over the edge of the crag at your mate climbing or being hauled up).

Cheers!

Stu

In reply to erin_kish:

You'll struggle to come up with anything new in this area I suspect. The market is fairly saturated, esp if you look beyond the normal climbing brands. Might be easier to package up the best features of other torches though.

1) I like the REVOLT idea of being able to charge AAA batteries in the torch housing it's self so no additional battery charger needed and capable of recharge via solar etc whilst still able to use alkaline AAAs if need be.

2) Petzl's work range of torches have fantastic switches for use wearing gloves and mechanical lockouts to prevent accidental use. Also ability to clip directly onto a helmet, or bracket on a headband, so no faffing putting torch onto fiddly helmet clips - it'd be great to see some of that move over into the leisure range.

3) Different batteries. We're fairly stuck in the AA / AAA world, use of alternative batteries could give much better power / life but would need to be easily replaced or charged for longer trips. Running from multiple batter types may help this!

4) Reactive lighting - a great concept that has won me over for a lot of activities despite being initially very cynical of it.

5) Balance between spot and flood lighting with good quality optic beams. Plenty of cheap torches out there with impressive sounding outputs that are badly let down by terrible optics.

6) capable of being comfortably carried / used in your hand. In thick clag / snow / rain having the light source away from your eyes results in less back scatter and so better vis.

Cheers,

Stu