Buying a orienteering headlamp in the US

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Mila is a Swedish company that makes halogen headlamps for night orienteering and training. The US distributor for Mila is:

METALITE MARKETING INTERNATIONAL, INC. 2811 CHISHOLM TRAIL SALADO, TEXAS 776572

I have been in contact with Metalite's vice president, David Cone. His email address is: djcone@hal-pc.org

Here are some details from Mr. Cone's last email:

Received your emil and here are the answers to your questions:

Yes it is possible to order one or more lamps and yes the Mila Head Lamp is great for night orienteering.

The typical "sport" uses for the Mila PL 120 S Head Lamp include biking, hiking, walking, sking and skateboarding. The police have also begun using the Mila Head Light in crime scenes where they need a "bright" light. There are also many industrial uses as well as anytime someone needs a bright light with their hands free.

The Pl 120 S retails for $205 with a neoprene battery case and for $230 with a "hand tooled" leather case. The leather cases are especially made for us by one of the finest Custom Leather makers in Texas. Depending on how you want the lamp shipped (FedEx, Regualar Mail) the shipping cost will be added to the cost of the lamp.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

While the cost may seem like a lot of money, the lamps should last a long time. I bought my Silva headlamp in 1989 and it is still running strong. It was definitely a worthwhile investment.

-- Spike (meglin@juno.com), November 22, 1999

Answers

Thanks Spike! I think for many years there has been a problem getting night-o lamps in the U.S. I bet that quite a few people have enquired, become discouraged with the problems, then given up on the possibility of night orienteering in the US, or even training at night with a headlamp. Obviously as an OKer, Dan did not give up and will soon be the proud owner of a new headlamp! If all of those people got together there would be a real "market" for night-o stuff, just as there is a small US market for compasses, o-shoes, o-suits etc. Too bad there aren't more night meets around, but you can't have meets without the orienteers, who need real headlamps to orienteer well at night.

Night o is fun and a productive way to train techniques (or just run during the winter). An area that is too "easy" during daylight can be quite difficult at night. I suspect that Dan will find his headlamp decision a very wise investment and that his headlamp represents the cornerstone to OK's relay efforts in 2000.

There are apparently some people who get quite interested seeing orienteers train at night! I suspect it is something they haven't seen before. I was training on a map in Wyoming, Dale Creek to be exact, when some car pulled up on the roadside perhaps 500+ meters away from me (the map is very open so you can see that far). For some reason, I think it may have been the sherrif, who thought my actions were "suspicious". The individual shined a bright spotlight in my direction and stayed on the road for several minutes. I didn't know whether to be concerned or not, and it was a bit unnerving being observed so closely, but I kept going about my business. It was sort of a funny experience in a way. Another thing that struck me about running at night was that cows have reflective eyes (but you can't easily tell the bulls apart until you're quite close). I never knew cows' eyes were reflective before. At night the cows also become more sluggish, which is also disconcerting if they are in your way and you have to run through a herd.

I am trying to pin down the best date for Late Night. Should it be with Dan or with Mook? Hopefully Dan will be there in any case. It could be held around Lawrence or near western KC. Any preferences?

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), November 22, 1999.


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