When it gets dark at 4pm and you still want to climb outdoor s after work, you have to search for LIGHT! I used to boulder with the good old "gas-lanterns" but they do not omit much light and the "lightening-strumpf" inside tends to be always kaputt. Then there are "fuel-lanterns" which are brighter, but tall and heavy. So what is light, produces a lot of light and works for more then just one hour? I tried some LED-sticks, but their battery is down and I had to look for something new.
During night-bouldering I normally use a Petzl Myo as a headtorch. Its super bright and the light-angle is very wide (important when you don't want to "search" for your holds while climbing). Thats already nice, but if you need more light you need something additional. After some research my girlfriend Angela came up with the ultimate-tool!
Here a little test I did last week in Chironico:
Above: The Einfisch, keinfisch 8A+/B at Chironico with a Myo.
This is the view on the Einfisch boulder with a Petzl Myo (150 lumen, 100 CHF) from ten meters distance. The Myo is great as a headtorch, but to light a boulder from some distance far too weak.
To compare here Bernd Zangerl bouldering with two of the flagships of Petzl headtorches; the Ultra. It sends way more light, but its pretty expensive and works for just 1:30 on full throttle (350lumen, 1:30hrs, 400 CHF)
Above: Bernd bouldering in Brione with two Ultra's.
And now the tool of my choice: The Trailbeamer from Veloplus (1600lumen, 2:30h, 6hrs, 300 CHF). It comes from the bike-scene but can be wonderfully used for bouldering as well. I normally just used it in the 50% mode. Thats already like daylight and then the battery lasts for some 6+hrs - thats gives you already a nice night-session!
Its expansive as well, but you get a lot of light for your money! Its small and light to pack and you don't have to fumble around as with a gas-lantern!!! It's pure Swiss-quality - what else ;)
Above: The Einfisch boulder again. Compare again with the first pic. What a difference! It was like bouldering in daylight! On the right side the boulder is about 5m high... I nearly needed sun-glasses to climb with so much light ;)
Above: To compare the 'Einfisch' boulder at daylight (with a flash from the photographer). Pic by angelawagner.ch
The "Trailbeamer" is just a bit taller then a petzl "myo", so its a very small pack-size and just some 360g with the battery. It needs just for hours to recharge and the battery should last for some 2-4years (depending on how often you recharge). And if the battery goes down, you can get a new battery for 70CHF and you have a new trailbeamer. I wish everybody out there a happy winter and some rad night-bouldering.