The last two laps of my race last weekend (see previous post) required a torch, whereupon we discovered that the mount of one of our headtorches had broken. Not a problem in the context of last weekend’s race (using it as a hand torch was fine), but very much a problem if Mick had found himself needing to use his back-up torch in his race next weekend.
It was Wednesday before I thought to look up whether Alpkit offered a 2 year warranty (purchased 16 July 2021 – so just over 2 years ago by Tuesday, but I would have argued the period between order and receipt). As it happens, Alpkit offers a 3-year warranty. The offending headtorch was duly sent back, but its replacement likely wouldn’t arrive in time for Mick. The answer seemed to be to buy a new one, then return the replacement when it arrived, except that when I read the reviews it seems that the fault we’d incurred is a common one, and either Alpkit’s design or choice of materials is not up to the job.
The result, after much browsing, was to bite the bullet and buy a significant upgrade from a specialist company (from 240 lumen max output to 1400 lumen max output, and from 5hrs run-time at a meaningful light level to 22 hours at double the light level). The new purchase arrived yesterday and it seemed like a good idea to nip out in the dark, firstly to see the difference between old and new, and secondly for Mick to familiarise himself with the controls.
What a difference! All of our old headtorches (we have amassed a collection over the years) are perfectly adequate for backpacking and even the weakest of them has been successfully used for night-hiking, but if we’d known two years ago what we were going to get up to over the next couple of years, it definitely would have been worth investing sooner.
We didn’t venture far through the woods, but it was enough to tell me that the tendons in my left foot still haven’t forgiven me for last weekend. Boo hiss!
Mick’s other panic-purchase this week was a new waterproof, having belatedly discovered delamination on the hood of his old one (a Kit Check failure, if spotted). Having reassured him that this is not a case of ‘goodness, these races don’t half turn out to be expensive’, because he would need a new running waterproof whether he was taking part in an event or not (and his old one hadn’t done badly with >7 years' use), more internet browsing was done, a selection made and an order placed.
Said jacket was ordered on Wednesday and dispatched ten minutes later, with delivery promised the following day. I got the usual suite of progress emails, except for the key: “Your package is ready to collect”. Checking the tracking info on Friday it said it was out for delivery, but again no “ready to collect” message arrived. This was a concern, with time running out to sort out a replacement if it had gone astray, and with the vendor’s FAQ making it clear that we weren’t to contact them until three working days had passed, but which time it would have been too late for it to reach us before we leave home. Another buy-again-send-one-back situation?
First, however, I thought it was probably worth a rummage in the sack of parcels at the pick-up point. We did that on Saturday lunchtime, and there it was, at the bottom of the pile. I’m pretty sure it had been there since Thursday after all and they’d just failed to scan it. Panic over!
Hopefully that’s all the last minute kit panics. Just a few days to go now.
I also have a collection of less than satisfactory head-torches but they all operate on AAA batteries. The latest one now seems to short out draining the battery far too quickly. My need to use one in the outdoors these days is remote. Their main purpose arises with my scale modelling pursuit. When I cut minute plastic parts from the sprue or otherwise manipulate them it can seem like world class tiddlywinks when they jump vast distances and become almost invisible on my carpet, and in some cases never to be seen again.
ReplyDeleteEvery headtorch we've bought has been an improvement on the one before, but they do seem to have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years. It's just a shame that the old ones don't really have a resale value (even really cheap new ones are better than our old ones), as we don't even have the 'hunting for little things on the carpet' task for them.
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