Duncs

I looked at them side by side at the shot show. Ended up bringing home the Elevation because it had more adjustment ability on the shoulder and waist straps. That side compartment on the contour looks pretty handy but I'd prefer to have it sitting "just right" when out walking so the adjustment ability made the decision easy.

You won't be sorry.

Amen to all of that!

We're still good mate x 4

This one is great. Prices vary a bit so shop around. http://www.hiking.com.au/p/4231449/black-diamond---storm-waterproof-led-headlamp.html I reckon head torch selection is tough to recommend though - weight vs throw vs flood vs price - so many different options and they're all pretty personal. Get a shortlist together and then try them out. In the dark if possible - but that's a big ask.

Thanks for he website mate - I'll be bookmarking that for sure. Again, great job!

You don't need a .204 you just need a shovel and some timing. When a fox gets near that thing, blast them at full volume. That'll stun them so badly that you'll be able to walk over and smash them on the scone with the shovel!! Just so I've got this straight, the mic setup is wireless? And the iPhone connects into the sender end with prerecorded noises? Where'd you get the noises from? The only thing I'd recommend (other than some thought into miniaturization ) is to make sure you fully seal (paint) the MDF, if you havent already. Otherwise it'll suck up water like a dehydrated camel. But that's bloody great thinking mate!! I love home made stuff like this!! It's how Australia was built!

If its not the batteries then I'm out of ideas mate.

Check the connections are clean, then check the batteries. If that fails then check the insides of the switch are screwed in properly. See the two "dots" in the pic below - sometimes the plate they are on unscrews when you remove the switch so check that it doesn't need to be screwed back in again. I just use a ballpoint pen. A dob of lock tight or nail polish will fix it. If its not any of them then you're on your own.

Yeah you're right Chrisso. The Pro1 is a very tightly focussed beam and clearly showed branches in the tree at 150m but the photo doesn't pick that up. The M8 was similarly impressive but with a much wider flood. And that was in suburban Melbourne with light pollution and my pupils being stuffed around when I kept flashing myself in the face. So in a dark paddock I'd expect better performance. If Fenring says they'll show foxes at 250m then I'd trust him.

Yup - straight from the website. Their packaging is rubbish but its cheap and it works! Ships out of honkers so about 2 weeks delivery time.

Ahh good idea. I hadn't thought of using the smaller batteries. I need to buy another belt holster so I might pick up a few of them at the same time. A heads up too - I bought what I thought was a 10 battery holder but got 10 x 2 battery holders! I'll still use them but just not as handy as I'd hoped.

One last photo - the torches lined up. In order from the left they are L2T, M3, Pro1, M8 S1100 The Pro1 is just the head - it shares the body with the M3. Both the M3 and M8 have the battery extension tube so that they can take 2 batteries. Halve the size if you only want to take one battery.

The M8 won the night for sure. The S1100 is bloody good but its so massive in the hand that it really is impractical and while its brighter than the M8, its not by that much. The S1100 comes with a tripod mount so that should give you an idea of its real purpose in life. The Pro1 is very tightly focussed so it'd be very suitable to be mounted on the rifle and then use the M8 as the walk around light. If mounted, I'd want to test it with only one battery rather than 2. I'm not sure how that effects its output though. They'll all get eye shine back at 150m - probably even the L2T - but you probably won't see a body with the L2T or the M3. The others you should give you something to aim for. I only had joggers and bike riders to test on so the rifle stayed in the safe. Is that all what Fangster has already said?

At 150m L2T M3 M8 Pro1 S1100

At 60m L2T M3 M8 Pro1 S1100

At 30m L2T M3 M8 Pro1 S1100

Went down to the local oval and took some pics. There's a bit of light pollution but you'll get the idea. The torches were: - L2T with a LC-XPG globe (one 18650 battery) - M3 (two 18650s) - M8 (two 18650s) - Pro1 (two 18650s) - S1100 (three 18650s) Distances were estimated by eye (forgot the range finder) but they'll be close enough. They were 30m, 60m and 150m. I'll put them together in separate posts at these distances so you get a logical comparison.

Mine too. Can't wait to do a comparo in the dark. The S1100 is a bloody big unit!! Here's the S1100, M8 and a pen. I can only just touch my thumb and finger around the body of the S1100!

ARGH!!! Don't do that!

You're sending me broke, Fenring... Some more goodies in the way for me. Used my M3 spotlighting a couple of nights ago and while everyone was impressed with it, the 20 y/o spotty still beat it for width out at 200m so a S1100 is on the way. Put a M8 in the order "for Sally" as well. Then I needed extra batteries and that battery holder looks pretty handy... Can't wait to play with them! Solarforce is like the online torch version of bunnings. I can't go through it without buying something.

The tech is changing so quickly and new products coming out so often that its bloody hard to keep up. That being said though, the current stuff is still bloody good! Imagine how it'll be in 5 years...

Stupid name for a good idea. http://www.exploroz.com/Shop/Delorme+inReach_Satellite_Communicator.aspx Anyone seen/used one? They seem like the next step up from Spot Messenger.

The Taj at Broken Hill 2 mins ago. Turbo 300 with superfly. The superfly probably added 5 or so mins to the setup time but its only the second time we've used it. Hopefully Tapatalk hasn't done its "random rotation" thing on the pics.