Objects Database

Headtorch

Accession Number

1392.2017.1

Object Name

Headtorch

Created

18/04/2017

Creator

Hermione Cooper

Accession Date

18/04/2017

Brief Description

Head lamp and hand torch on elasticated band.

Materials

plastic, nylon, perspex

Dimensions

Hand torch - 12(L) x 6(W) x3.5(H) cms Head lamp - 7(L) x5.5(W) cms

Number Of Objects

2

Inscription Description

On hand torch "SFMF N0 2828 MADE IN HONG KONG UK PATENT NO 1002439"

Colour

green, black

Maker

SFMF

Object Production Place

Hong Kong

Provenance

Early mountaineers used candle lanterns and oil filled lamps to find their way around back in the good old days. Early battery powered torches were not very handy for climbing as you needed a spare hand to carry them. There is a lovely story of a 1960's climber on Ben Nevis finishing a climb in the dark with a torch held in his teeth.
Pile(Peelay) of France were one of the first companies to produce a proper headlamp for climbing, we suspect around 1970 and they also seem to have been one of the first to create/invent a system to plug the headlamp into a handheld torch which could be clamped onto a belt or put in a pocket or rucksack.
As usual with a good idea, there were lots of copies, one of which we have here in the collection. It's a fairly lightweight / cheap version made in Hong Kong and though it sports a UK patent we can't find it on the database. The olive colouring suggests it could have been made for the military.

Acquisition Date

18/04/2017

Condition Check Date

18/04/2017

Rules

Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007

Modified

18/04/2017

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