Along the same lines as my DIY concealed belt, I realized that I don’t carry a headlamp with me all the time, but I have come across situations in which a headlamp would have come in useful. Since I already carry nylon cord and a flashlight, I made some DIY headlamp holder plans to help me out in those situations!
1) Take a length of nylon cord / paracord (Of course, longer than the size of your head).
2) On one end, tie a bowline knot.
* In the next step, you will have to tie a loop whose name I have completely forgotten (If you know it, please let me know its name!). It is very similar to the Alpine butterfly, but with one less loop. Here’s a picture demonstrating how to tie it:
a) Loop the string 3 times around your fingers
b) Take the 3rd (right) loop and bring it across to the 1st loop…
c) …and push it under the 2 loops
d) Holding the loop, take the string off your fingers and tighten it
3) Just after the bowline knot, tie two of the above knots consecutively. Your string should now look like this:
4) Take the two loops, and place them around your flashlight, then pull them TIGHT.
5) Take the other untied end of the string, pull it through the bowline loop, and tie a taut-line hitch.
6) You’re done! Place the entire contraption over your head, and slide the taut-line hitch back and forth to adjust the size of the head lamp band. By adjusting the position of the 2 loops, you can, to some extent, change the angle at which the flashlight points. Don’t overdo it though – you may risk having your flashlight fall out from the loops! Additionally, you could probably make 2 more loops on the other side and mount a 2nd flashlight!
Here’s a picture of a CD/DVD container wearing a headlamp (This is my 4Sevens Quark AA flashlight):
And with a smaller flashlight (My Liteflux LF2XT):
I find that smaller flashlights tend to work better as they are lighter. However, there’s no rule against big flashlights! So, how’s a heavily modified Maglite 2D look as a “headlamp”?
Granted, my head started to tilt to one side with that huge behemoth attached!
Now, I don’t consider this to be a permanent solution for a headlamp – a real headlamp which is on the front of the head is still better, and can be angled up and down much more easily. However, if you ever happen to have only a hand-held flashlight and some cord, hopefully this guide comes in useful!
