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G4EBT > TECH 12.12.05 12:14l 110 Lines 4713 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 5D1545G4EBT
Read: OE5RCO DL1LCA GUEST OE7FMI
Subj: Re: Windup Torch info
Path: DB0FHN<DB0MRW<DB0WUE<DK0WUE<DB0RES<ON0AR<GB7FCR
Sent: 051212/0855Z @:GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU #:16992 [Blackpool] FBB-7.03a $:5D1545G4
From: G4EBT@GB7FCR.#16.GBR.EU
To : TECH@WW
Harry, M1BYT wrote:-
> I have an 8 LED 'head light' which runs on 4xAA. It is in daily use,
> sometimes left on for hours and the batteries remain good after 12
> months use. It hardly seems worth messing out with wind up torches.
> Whilst very economical, I do find the LED light produced to take some
> getting used to.
Just a guess - Barnsley Rally?
Good aren't they?
Right now, all the DIY stores seem to be selling really cheap rechargeable
lamps that poachers use for "lamping" deer, or hunting foxes etc at night.
They come in different sizes up to several million candle power, and less
than œ20. More a handlamp or even "searchlight" than a torch.
However, being rechargeable, aren't much good to keep in the car for
emergencies, as the batteries soon need re-charging, and unless you keep
them charged, the very time you need it, the darned thing will be dead.
As to "lamping", it's seems to be a growing pastime in the UK. It used
to mainly be professional poachers using Landrovers with roof-mounted
spotlights, but now, it seems to have spread to people who just like
shooting things in the dark, sometimes, with tragic consequences.
In July this year, a marksman admitted killing his teenage stepson when he
mistook him for a fox in a night-time shooting expedition. Philip Rowe,
51, became disorientated while out "lamping" - a practice in which animals
are shot after being mesmerised in the beam of a powerful light, and
didn't realise he was so close to other members of the hunting party.
He fired his high-powered rifle at the "merest glimmer" in the beam of a
torchlight, only to hit and kill his 13-year-old stepson.
The tragedy prompted the British Association for Shooting and Conservation
to redraft its guidelines on lamping, said to be the most common method of
fox control since the hunting ban.
It now insists shooting parties should not split up, and demands that a
whole target, rather than just the eyes, is identified before opening
fire.
Rowe and a gamekeeper were out lamping in pitch darkness on farmland
at Harberton, near Totnes, south Devon, in September last year.
The two men split up from the three teenagers they were with and went
in search of a fox. Rowe had the rifle - the other man had the torch.
But the pair got lost as they skirted around a high hedge and didn't
realise they'd almost returned to the spot where they'd told the three
boys to wait.
The gamekeeper shone a torch into the darkness and as Rowe spotted a glint
he fell to one knee, aimed and shot, hitting and killing his stepson.
At Exeter Crown Court he admitted manslaughter due to gross negligence.
The court was told Rowe admitted manslaughter on the basis of a series
of errors on and before the night of the shoot.
He failed to ensure his rifle was operated safely, to carry out a daylight
reconnaissance of the farm, or to give a safety briefing. He allowed the
party of two adults and three boys aged 13 to 16 to become separated, even
though none of the boys had any experience of night-time shooting parties.
His defence QC, said: "The defendant accepts that the act of pulling the
trigger without having identified a target amounted to gross negligence."
Outside the court, the Police officer who investigated the case, said it
should act as a warning to all those who use firearms. He said: "Rowe's
guilty plea shows this case was not a tragic accident but was a criminal
act of gross negligence which resulted in the unlawful killing of a young
boy, which was totally unnecessary and avoidable."
(It will be interesting to see if the same thing is said in due course
about the police shooting dead an innocent Brazilian dead).
The officer added: "I hope this case will send a message to other people
who engage in lamping or other firearms pursuits that they are under a
duty to take all due care."
The dead boy was the son of a Royal Marines warrant officer, but living
with his mother and his stepfather at the time of his death. He was on
the last few days of his school holiday when the shooting happened.
Shortly after his death, lamping was in the news again when a 12-year-old
boy was shot but not killed on an illegal expedition in West Yorkshire.
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said there had been
no incidents since, but added that the Rowe case was a "salutary lesson".
He said safety standards on such expeditions had to be "impeccable".
73 - David, G4EBT @ GB7FCR
Eddystone User Group Member
G-QRP Club Member No: 1339
QTH: Cottingham, East Yorkshire.
Message timed: 08:54 on 2005-Dec-12
Message sent using WinPack-Telnet V6.70
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