What People Say About the Action LightTM
| I've used and abused the light and I love it. It's so nice just being able to grab it and go with one small extra battery and know I've got more than enough light for pretty much any trip. I don't have to worry if I remembered to charge up the light from last weekend. It works well for spotting glyphs and such in caves also. |
| Marbry Hardin October 2000 |
| I used an Action Light on the Gunung Buda expedition to Borneo last winter. In general, I was very happy with the light. It was light weight, reliable, and didn't use much in the way of batteries. I had no problem walking over rough ground in 50M x 40M passage.
Some other advantages that are less obvious: The Action Light is non-magnetic enough to act as the primary compass reading light, and the mount provides enough downward tilt to allow compass reading without removing the light from the helmet. (You can also shine it directly on a sketch book.) White LED lights work well for previewing the lighting for cave photography because of their broad, even "beam". (I did a short demo at the photo section last convention.) The color of white LEDs blends in well with strobe lighting in photos. This is in marked contrast to the tight beam of incandescent headlamps, which makes an orange spot. |
| Bill Frantz August 2000 |
| Just a quick note to let you know that I've just got back from 4 weeks caving in the Picos d'Europa (N. Spain) and 3 weeks in the Dachstein (Austria) and that my Action Light worked extremely well. It's absolutely ideal for the type of caving we were doing in Austria (extremely tight all the way) and judging by the green complexion that many of the other expeditioners were developing, I expect you'll likely have several new customers in time for next summers' expedition season. I went camping underground on both expeditions but only had to change batteries twice in the whole summer, so I am very pleased with the battery lifetime. |
| Lev Bishop, England August 2000 |
| Overall rating: very good. Comments: best and brightest...
Conclusions...the HDS Systems Action Light is the hands-down performance winner... |
| Practical Sailor magazine Field Test: LED Flashlights March 2000 issue |
| Belize trip -- Action Light worked good
I acquired one just the day prior to the trip, so had no experience or specific expectations, other than hoping to have a primary source which would not leave me in the dark. Last year we'd had to turn [around] a trip due to light problems with two of the Petzls. This year, I spent 4 days surveying in Barton Creek Cave (wet) and then went on an extended through trip in Stone Sepulchre and a short trip the following day. Also used the lamp around camp in the evenings. Finished the trip still on first lithium "D". |
| John Moses March 2000 |
| On February 12th I visited a medieval mine at Fressnitzkogel near Krieglach (Carinthia, southern Austria) with my friend Christian Auer at 1100m above sea level. This mine was apparently aimed at zinc and lead ors. One thing is special: There is no spot where it is possible to stand upright (passages in between 0.5 and 1.5m high). It is very likely that the passages were made by children's work (which was very usual at this time). Further, non-ore rocks were left in the passage, which is pretty nasty now. Our aim was to collect several samples of different lead/zinc minerals. These appear in mm-small crystals and are usually hard to see. There my Action Light made a great job, because of it's close to the daylight colour and its brightness. A second advantage turned out several days later: My friend e-mailed me that he suffered from some illness since then and that he needs medical treatment (several shots). This was caused by his light's battery (a mine lamp very similar to a wheat lamp) on which he laid for a longer time so that it damaged one of the inner organs. My only souvenir from 6.5 hours crawling was several sore muscles, which had nothing to do with my light. I also appreciated the absence of any cable or hose running down from my hardhat which may have caught at the rock. |
| Gerald Knobloch, Austria February 2000 |
| I took mine underground for the first time this weekend, and found it very good indeed. The low setting would probably have been bright enough for most caving, but both Seedy on Saturday and Steve on Sunday had FX5s and kept dazzling me and making me lose the dark adaptation. In the end I used the medium setting for most of the caving, only resorting to high setting for short bursts, for things like spotting a line to climb up the 20. The beam is very much like that from a carbide set-up, hence it is much more pleasant than caving on electric usually is. The colour of the light is very white, and seems to pick out detail much more nicely than the yellow of an standard electric. Calcite formations look especially nice with this light. The big advantages for me were not having to worry about running out of light (I get paranoid about these things), and not having a waist-pack and cable to catch in the tight bits. |
| Lev Bishop, England January 2000 |
| Yes, I bought one and am EXTREMELY pleased. I used it for about an hour or two in a lava tube on my way back from convention, mostly on the medium setting. However, I realized at one point I was walking around with the thing on low for about 10 minutes and I had no problem. In a light sucking LAVA TUBE!
On the September LEARN survey trip, fully 5 of the 12 people used either Henry's [4] or their own custom [1] LED systems. Everyone who used them was very happy. Let me emphasize this, I USED ONLY 1 BATTERY FOR 7 DAYS IN LECH. It was not just my primary light, it was the only light source I used, with the exception of 3 tea candles in camp. As the sketcher, I had my light on most of the time. The battery was the same one I used in the lava tube. It is still working fine. The battery for these lights, for those who don't know, is a single lithium D. It weighs about the same as an alkaline C cell [3oz for lithium, 4.9oz for alkaline]. The weight savings in spare batteries can be measured in pounds. The light output was great. In the SW branch, I got to see white gypsum, not incandescent yellow. The light was bright enough to see everything I looked at, and I only occasionally used the high beam setting. I would compare the light output on the medium setting to running a Petzl Mega with a standard (non-halogen) bulb. However, it is much better than that. There is no beam, rather it is an area light, making for more useable light than the beam style incandescent lights. |
| Doug Warner October 1999 |
| I am really pleased with my Action Light. I used it for my primary light source in Lechuguilla for an eight day trip to the Far East section and it worked extremely well. I ran it on high almost the entire time and used up about 2 1/2 lithium D's. I added a ceiling burner electric spot for only about 30 minutes the whole week for distance lighting, and only brought in 6, not 32, alkaline C cells with a great savings in weight. The more diffuse lighting is pleasant to the eyes like carbide of old, but much brighter, and the Action Light brings out the blue spectrum in a way not seen with filament lamps. Familiar formations were seen in a whole new light, bringing out their natural beauty for the first time. |
| Lyle Moss October 1999 |
| This past summer I made a return trip to a Hohokam ceremonial site located in a remote cave. In recent years, significant artifact finds had been removed from this site with the aid and permission of the Tohono O'odam Nation, the local land owner, and the Arizona State Museum. We were somewhat surprised to discover what "appeared" to be a portion of a prayer stick - in place. If it was indeed humanly modified it had been missed during previous investigations... The use of "regular" incandescent light sources failed to reveal the true nature of the stick. However, when the [Action Light] was employed, one could plainly see that the stick had been PAINTED a deep red. I must emphasize that ONLY with my [Action Light] could the identification of this wooden object be conclusively and correctly determined.
My personal involvement in the paleontology / archaeology of cave excavations now spans several decades. In my estimation, considerations for the field have ALWAYS demanded attributes of lights that existing products have overlooked or refused to provide. It has now been demonstrated to me by my own usage of this product that compared against the Action Lights's "truer" light capability as well as its durability, long life and many other advantages, there is no other light that equals its utility for scientific field work of this nature. I am confident that this light or its modifications will be considered to be indispensable for those activities from this date forward... Therefore, I am happy to be able to endorse your product. Please feel free to use this statement and/or forward my address and phone number to those who may request it. |
| William Peachey September 1999 |
| I just used an HDS Action Light as my primary light for a 7-day exploration and survey trip in Lechuguilla Cave. It worked essentially flawlessly, and best of all, I never had to change batteries; the single lithium D cell lasted for the whole week that we were camped underground. For trips like this, the remarkable efficiency and reliability provided by the combination of the LED array and the lithium battery is a real winner. It is truly nice not having to drag in and out of the cave all the heavy extra batteries required by conventional caving lights. In fact, of the 12 cavers on this trip, 5 were using LED arrays for main lights (4 HDS [Action] Lights, and one homemade array).
So I am converted - LEDs indeed look to be the wave of the future for cave lighting! |
| Paul Fowler September 1999 |
| After a brutal 4-wheel drive, crossing rivers that would later swell to alarming proportions destroying the engine of our vehicle, we hiked four hours gaining an elevation of 3000' and entered Gargantua Cave on Canada's alpine Crowsnest Pass. Despite the logistics of a long day push, my security was the Action Light System designed by HDS Systems. The wet and cold alpine cave dished out hours of abuse, yet even late that night during our exodus, the Action Light continued consistently with an unprecedented comfortable illumination. Exiting the cave to a snowstorm and rain that nearly blinded our departure, we safely made the long hike down and beyond our stream stranded vehicle to camp around 4:00 A.M. the next morning. Through our epic, on one D-cell Lithium battery, my Action Light performed unfailingly, enabling me to see beyond the normal scope of safety. In fact with reliable lighting it was good fun! |
| Chris Andrews September 1999 |
| I tried the light out this weekend in some lava tubes. The ability to switch brightness levels is really handy in the dark tubes we have over here. Switch to low/medium when crawling or walking in smaller passages, and switch to high to see in big rooms/passages. It works like a charm.
People of course would say "that's too much money" to pay for a light, but when they saw it in the cave they were all wondering when they could get their hands on one! I'm sure your light-only unit (no battery) will sell very well. I may buy another one when that comes out... This was definitely one of the best anniversary gifts my wife bought me (or agreed to buy!). Thanks for bringing out such a wonderful product. |
| Scott Linn August 1999 |
| The most important: The light distribution is incredible! It is almost perfect! I've never seen some parts of the cave so clear. Big flame carbide light blinds you by over lighting the closer environment, spotlights are usually too 'spotty'. I used the normal for about half the time and the low for the rest. The high only for looking down pits and for the right way (and for showing it other cavers). |
| Peter Ludwig, Austria August 1999 |
 In a nut shell, Mark Rosbrook, Jeb Steward and myself made the exotic (extremely decorated) overhung 4 pitch climb above the Temple of Dagon Balcony into a new highly decorated area we named Delilah's Spiral Staircase, climbed in three days. The incredible location spiraled for a mere 200 feet or so before ending in a small bell shaped chamber (The Jewel Box), floored with active limestone, and containing well over 50 columns and unique helictites, of the likes I have never photographed nor ever seen before...
The spiral flowstone floor prior to the Jewel Box was fractured from some ancient seismic activity; along this crack, numerous Helictites were extruded in fanciful array's. Some, weaved like snakes or what we called space noodles, some 2' high before dropping magically back into the pristine floor via a long vertical sodastraw... But, I wanted to rush an email your way to say... that lamp rocks! I mean, beyond all the obvious praise, it really made the climb happen. We rated the climb a wilderness GRADE III, 5.9 A3 (C3, many intense exposed hook moves and several tie offs), setting only four bolts and one rivet... But, I can't help thinking we couldn't have done the climb without the help of your awesome lamp. |
| Chris Andrews August 1999 Delilah's Spiral Staircase, Lechuguilla Carlsbad Caverns National Park |
| I'm a big fan of 95% perfect is good enough and the huge effort required to going better than 3sigma isn't worth it, but the top .5% and 6sigma people are always worth our respect. Here is a 6sigma flashlight. Very impressive. |
| Rob Logan August 1999 |
| I used the light for the first time the last day of Convention. I found that the medium setting worked quite well in the "light sucking" lava. |
| Steve Sprague July 1999 NSS Convention |
| Roughly, hereafter, I would like to give you my personal impressions about your new lighting concept. It is a very good product for caving: lightness, setting light, brightness, low consumption of current, high effectiveness, low power, pretty light to light gypsum or aragonite formations, etc.
... In summary, First battery [82h15]:
|
| Daniel Chailloux, France May 1999 Lechuguilla Mapping Trip Carlsbad Caverns National Park |
| Daniel's light is very nice and seems incredibly efficient: he used only 1.2 batteries for the whole week underground. |
| Peter Bosted May 1999 Lechuguilla Mapping Trip Carlsbad Caverns National Park |