Small Space Living

[Lily&Me]

I think these are the key words...

"which materially obstructs, obscures, or impairs the driver’s clear view"

Things attached to the windshield are not prohibited, they just cannot materially interfere.


Maggie

[InterBlog]

Our family had an early gift-opening this year due to travel schedules. My favorite Interstate-related gift: a 5-foot Luminoodle. There are a number of different interpretations on the light rope theme out there, but I think this one may be the best.

-- It has integrated magnets, so it could be stuck on the side or rear of the Interstate for temporary light in those areas.

-- It could be stuck under the chassis of the Interstate to assist work being done there.

-- I can put it in its stuff sack and hang it as an area light in the Interstate, similar to the little solar-powered Luci lights.

-- I'm going to test its potential as an under-cabinet light strip in the Interstate galley, because I still haven't found a decent solution to the old plastic fixture we have, which had formerly been fluorescent tube and which we converted to LED but which still is just an old ugly plastic fixture that throws uneven light (same type of fixture that I have already removed two of, to create under-cabinet shelves in the rear).

-- I can wrap it around myself or my dog when we go night jogging.

-- Right now I have it powering off a USB port and tossed behind my computer to fill in the "black hole of Calcutta" behind there , which helps reduce eye strain from severely uneven lighting over short distances (the computer is in a desk cubby which is quite dark).

The best products are designed like this - limited in their usefulness only by your imagination.

[InterBlog]

Speaking of lights, if anyone has had found a HIGH-QUALITY small headlamp, please post the brand/model. As I've noted before, our climate represents something close to hell on earth; if the heat doesn't kill you, the humidity might. I'd like to find a headlamp that I can leave hanging on my magnetic organizer board in our Interstate, but they ALL do the likes of this. All of them - I've had multiple. This kind of break-down will eventually happen with many types of battery-operated devices if the batteries are left sitting long term, but around here it can happen on a timescale of months. Having recently lost two of these this way, yesterday evening found me on the roof repairing our caulk job with a Larry light stuck in my teeth - not a happy camper. And the Larry light doesn't work right any longer, probably for a similar reason - it blinks on and off.


My husband ordered a Night Ize Inova STS headlamp, which is supposed to be waterproof. But looking at the Amazon reviews, I'm not optimistic.

[thiel]

Petzl brand is excellent. Lots of different models with differing features and all are high quality.

[InterBlog]

Sometimes the smallest, simplest things are the most challenging.

The Petzl has the problem of one or more protruding buttons, and the button quality is also not reported to be good. Back when I was a backcountry camper, this was one of the biggest pains in the rear end. Headlamps couldn't be placed inside backpacks because with the natural jostling around, the buttons would get pushed on by accident and the headlamps would drain down before nightfall ever arrived. It was just maddening - I would try to bind them with rubber bands or something to immobilize the buttons so that this wouldn't happen, but it was just a very poor design that was impossible to trust. So when I see reviewers calling out that same flaw today, years later, I'm like, "Uh-huh. Been there, done that, showed up at camp with a dead light." I'm going to hold out for a superior design.

[AIRHEDS]

It's salvageable! You just need to run out to a hardware store and get some simple supplies:

- denatured alcohol (not isopropyl alcohol from your medicine chest)
- acid brushes
- nitrile gloves (like the "Ben Dover" latex gloves at the doc's office)
- eye protection

Use a pair of scissors or a razor blade to cut the bristles down on the acid brushes so they're only about 5/16" to 3/8" long ... shorter if you want stiffer yet. Then use the alcohol liberally and work the acid crust with the alcohol and the brushes. It will all dissolve ... flush it out real good with the alcohol and leave it all open to dry. Easy! And do be sure to keep the denatured alcohol closed/sealed well as it absorbs ambient water from the atmosphere.

Note: batteries explode after they've been depleted and stored too long ... change the batteries every 6 months and you should be just fine. I try to discard mine every year. In fact, I might just go ahead and do that to all of my gadgets/flashlights now while I'm thinking about it before I have a clean-up headache to contend with. And I've had Petzl lights for YEARS without any incidents. I have an abused Petzl Tikka in my tool bag that I have had for a good 15 years ... added a couple of other new Petzl's to the line-up last year. We love them.

Take care,
Rich

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Speaking of lights, if anyone has had found a HIGH-QUALITY small headlamp, please post the brand/model. As I've noted before, our climate represents something close to hell on earth; if the heat doesn't kill you, the humidity might. I'd like to find a headlamp that I can leave hanging on my magnetic organizer board in our Interstate, but they ALL do the likes of this. All of them - I've had multiple. This kind of break-down will eventually happen with many types of battery-operated devices if the batteries are left sitting long term, but around here it can happen on a timescale of months. Having recently lost two of these this way, yesterday evening found me on the roof repairing our caulk job with a Larry light stuck in my teeth - not a happy camper. And the Larry light doesn't work right any longer, probably for a similar reason - it blinks on and off.


My husband ordered a Night Ize Inova STS headlamp, which is supposed to be waterproof. But looking at the Amazon reviews, I'm not optimistic.

[AIRHEDS]

It's salvageable! You just need to run out to a hardware store and get some simple supplies:

- denatured alcohol (not isopropyl from your medicine chest)
- acid brushes
- nitrile gloves (like the "Ben Dover" latex gloves at the doc's office)
- eye protection

Use a pair of scissors or a razor blade to cut the bristles down on the acid brushes so they're only about 5/16" to 3/8" long ... shorter if you want stiffer yet. Then use the alcohol liberally and work the acid crust with the alcohol and the brushes. It will all dissolve ... flush it out really well with the alcohol and leave it all open to dry. Easy! And do be sure to keep the denatured alcohol closed/sealed well as it absorbs ambient water from the atmosphere.

Note: batteries explode after they've been depleted and stored too long ... change the batteries every 6 months and you should be just fine. I try to discard mine every year. In fact, I might just go ahead and do that to all of my gadgets/flashlights now while I'm thinking about it before I have a clean-up headache to contend with.

And one final edit: I don't know why, but I seem to have fewer leakage incidents with Energizer's than I do with Duracell's. Not sure if I'm just suffering from a confirmation bias or if others have observed the same...

Take care,
Rich

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Speaking of lights, if anyone has had found a HIGH-QUALITY small headlamp, please post the brand/model. As I've noted before, our climate represents something close to hell on earth; if the heat doesn't kill you, the humidity might. I'd like to find a headlamp that I can leave hanging on my magnetic organizer board in our Interstate, but they ALL do the likes of this. All of them - I've had multiple. This kind of break-down will eventually happen with many types of battery-operated devices if the batteries are left sitting long term, but around here it can happen on a timescale of months. Having recently lost two of these this way, yesterday evening found me on the roof repairing our caulk job with a Larry light stuck in my teeth - not a happy camper. And the Larry light doesn't work right any longer, probably for a similar reason - it blinks on and off.


My husband ordered a Night Ize Inova STS headlamp, which is supposed to be waterproof. But looking at the Amazon reviews, I'm not optimistic.

[bugsbunny]

Might want to look at Stream light....

I don't have a headlamp by them, but do have a rechargeable flashlight that I love and has been the best flashlight I have owned.

They are not cheap.

[thiel]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Sometimes the smallest, simplest things are the most challenging.



The Petzl has the problem of one or more protruding buttons, and the button quality is also not reported to be good. Back when I was a backcountry camper, this was one of the biggest pains in the rear end. Headlamps couldn't be placed inside backpacks because with the natural jostling around, the buttons would get pushed on by accident and the headlamps would drain down before nightfall ever arrived. It was just maddening - I would try to bind them with rubber bands or something to immobilize the buttons so that this wouldn't happen, but it was just a very poor design that was impossible to trust. So when I see reviewers calling out that same flaw today, years later, I'm like, "Uh-huh. Been there, done that, showed up at camp with a dead light." I'm going to hold out for a superior design.

I've had Petzl lights for many years and have used them in all forms of adventures from backpacking to snowsports to rock climbing to kayaking.

I've never had any problems. (I'm also a designer and to me the Petzl is the superior design of all the serious high quality lamps out there...)

[unifreck]

Interblog--
How about taking batteries out of whatever the light you use and keeping everything in a ziplock bag, putting batteries back in when you use take out when finished. Use free led flashlight from Harbor Freight if it's just a short time need.
I have found BatteryJunction.com to have a great supply of good priced batteries and all types of varying quality flashlights, chargers etc. AEW

I have also had more leakage from Duracell copper tops than any other brand including Kirkland (Costco). I use a charger that puts about 80% charge back into
Alkaline batteries and I recharge them until they won't recharge any more. AEW

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by bugsbunny

Might want to look at Stream light....

I don't have a headlamp by them, but do have a rechargeable flashlight that I love and has been the best flashlight I have owned.

They are not cheap.

Their headset appears to have real potential as it is designed to stand up to abuses such as paint ball games. However by the same token, it is intended for distance seeing rather than close work. So it's too bright for close work and apparently does not adjust downward.

Now that I see these flashlights on the web, I think I found one in Angelina National Forest about a year ago. Someone had apparently dropped it, and it was all beat up with no visible brand name remaining. But I switched it on and sure enough, it still worked. It looks like the same body shape.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by unifreck

Interblog--
How about taking batteries out of whatever the light you use and keeping everything in a ziplock bag, putting batteries back in when you use take out when finished. ...

But I'm a stubborn old cuss who believes that I shouldn't have to baby my equipment.


To the extent possible, I'm trying to identify durable equipment for the Interstate, in which there is so little capacity for redundancy and absolutely no option to run out to Walmart (ideally, depending on where we are traveling). I'd rather work to identify durable equipment for which I have to pay top dollar but then it works when I reach for it. It's not always possible because of the large volume of cheap consumer crap from China that floods our market, but I try.

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by AIRHEDS

It's salvageable! You just need to run out to a hardware store and get some simple supplies:...

Now THAT is the voice of experience, if I ever heard one! Thanks for the tip; I will keep it in mind for the future. I had assumed that the damage was too deep, because if I try to simply wipe the gunk off and insert new batteries, the devices typically don't work.

[AIRHEDS]

Originally Posted by InterBlog

Now THAT is the voice of experience, if I ever heard one! Thanks for the tip; I will keep it in mind for the future. I had assumed that the damage was too deep, because if I try to simply wipe the gunk off and insert new batteries, the devices typically don't work.

InterBlog, we're looking forward to hearing how it went! Just let it dry well. The denatured alcohol will evaporate quickly but pools inside the equipment will take some extra time... Shake the light to listen for sloshing and though it may be excessive, consider giving it a couple of days to be sure it's dry. It would also help to break the light down as much as possible to be sure you got all of the corrosive leakage out.

I have not maintained many of my back-shop avionics systems technician skills but I have called on this one a few too many times. I get upset with myself for trying to push the margin on how long I can let batteries go. Every time I happen across such a leak, I think I'll make time to make a list of all items with batteries so I can replace the batteries. And I never make the list. So I happen across the one item I missed the year before. And being a gadget guy, I have a lot of stuff with batteries. The list would be most helpful.

Finally, unifreck's advice is sound, except that I would not store the batteries in the same bag as the light. I would also write the date I put the batteries in the bag... Not a good idea if you reach for the light often, all year long, but if that's what you need, just replace the batteries every 6 months ... it's tough to do when the item works and all is good, but it's so worth not dealing with the mess...

Good luck...
Rich

[InterBlog]

How funny - it worked! It's a holiday, so the trash men are running late. With moments to spare I dumped out my can and retrieved this baby, following instructions as generously provided.

Re: my previous comments, you can see a big flush-mounted-to-slightly-recessed, rubber depress switch on the top of this Coleman. Not a small protruding switch. That's the whole reason I had bought this one - because it's almost impossible to accidentally switch it on if it bangs around inside of an Interstate or a backpack. Now, if only it were waterproof... but at least it works until I find one that is. Thank you!

[dznf0g]

My Petzl has been on a dozen canoe wilderness trips as well as all my AS trips over a decade. Has been flawless.

[cwf]

For about 6 month intervals for battery swap, how about Thanksgiving/Christmas and July 4th?

I love my Streamlight handheld.... recharged dozens of times over last 5 years... still rocks!

[Troutboy]

I second the petzel, I currently use the Tikka Plus. Take this fishing, hiking, mountaineering, they are awesome. Even outfit young kids with the cheaper versions and they last. You can't go wrong, I use them in all types of situations, Hugh altitude, Deep South humidity, desert dry, Alaska raining, climbing on rock walls in sun, rain, snow....


Thx
Troutboy, aka Rich

[Troutboy]

Also, if looking for solid hand helps of all sizes check out Fenix brand. Links to some of my favorites are below:


I currently have the Tikka XP:

https://www.petzl.com/US/en/Sport/AC...P#.WGr7SMtHahA

The two Fenix flashlights I have (these things are bright!):

A little one smaller than my thumb, easy in pocket at all times and bright:

http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-rc09-led-flashlight/

My main go to when camping:

http://www.fenix-store.com/fenix-tk1...ed-flashlight/

I like tech gear, and believe what you pay for. All of these products have served me well for years.


Thx
Troutboy, aka Rich

[dznf0g]

Originally Posted by Troutboy

I second the petzel, I currently use the Tikka Plus. Take this fishing, hiking, mountaineering, they are awesome. Even outfit young kids with the cheaper versions and they last. You can't go wrong, I use them in all types of situations, Hugh altitude, Deep South humidity, desert dry, Alaska raining, climbing on rock walls in sun, rain, snow....


Thx
Troutboy, aka Rich

I also own a Tikka. They are equally good. I think the trick here is not to buy the entry level price point. They both have their price leaders. Go up scale and you won't be disappointed.