Here at Keller Farms, the winter marks many hours of no daylight being outside tending to horses or cats or dogs. Anyone who has had to feed or water or check on horses in the dark knows how difficult it is to do it with a flashlight! Having to hold a flashlight takes …anyone, anyone?…a valuable hand to hold it! When you are dealing with chores – especially involving horses – having to hold a flashlight and have the light shine where it needs to be yet having both hands available is not conducive to efficiency.

Years ago in Hawaii when I would be getting ready for a horse show, the daylight time – after work – was spent bathing my horse so by the time I got to braiding her mane, it was dark. Sadly, my mare did not like being tied up in the tack up area on the pavement – that was well lit! – so I had to braid her in her stall…where there were no lights. Many times of trying to buy some sort of flashlight that was of a design lending itself to be tied up was exhaustive and never successful. I finally found the miner’s–style light that would go around your head with elastic with the light on your forehead. The light was on a base so the light could be pulled away and pointed lower than simply straight ahead, thus, could be adjusted to a point. Not great but a huge improvement over a tied up flashlight!

The miner’s light was a good invention and they improved over the years, getting smaller and lighter – sold at places like REI and the like – great for camping, sports, etc. However, they had one serious deficiency…well, two. They were still heavy and made a sore spot on your forehead if you had to wear it too long but, mostly, they precluded the use of a hat!  Put on a ball cap and the light slid down over your eyes! In the rain, if your coat hood did not fit securely, you needed a hat but the miner’s light and the cap were non-compatible. For many years I fed “orphan” animals next door (sheep, donkeys, goats, geese and cats) for an absentee landlord. When it was raining, I either had soaking hair or had to use a conventional flashlight that slowed up the process greatly. I might interject here that, as good as the miner’s lights were, you still needed a powerful flashlight if you needed to see for distance but having one available for when you needed it verses having to use it for everything is a huge difference.

A few years ago I discovered the ball caps with LED lights in the bill! They are wonderful! Incredible! They are made by PowerCap Lighted Hat with Brim Switch
and are the absolute answer for all of us having to be outside at night for light chores – feeding horses, walking the dogs, getting wood for the fireplace. Perfect! There is a light at the tip of the bill for straight ahead…shines where you look – pretty powerful light, too. Clicking a button on the bill  shifts to lights under the bill that shine straight down. There is a  third setting which is a combination of one and two for even more light. My mare hates to have light shined in her eyes and with the old miner’s light, I’d have to turn it off of tilt it totally down, which usually caused the whole thing to slip down on my nose! With the LED cap, I have the #1 light to get me to her pasture, the down setting to feed her and the others, and the combination of the two for in between pastures. Sooo nice!

And, hey, taking the puppies out at night to go potty?  I muck the back yard every day in the late afternoon but that doesn’t mean there are not new additions before bedtime!  Wearing my LED ball cap I don’t step in any “land mines” and my hands are free to deal with puppies or whatever. Further, my light goes ahead of me automatically instead of my having to direct a flashlight. Ok, lazy, maybe, but so what?

And, ladies, good news. If you cannot wear conventional ball caps like me because they look absolutely stupid on you, these LED ball caps are made in the modern style but are sufficient in size for men. My husband and I totally depend on these hats in the winter and whenever necessary. Camping? Excellent for camping! I highly recommend getting one. They will make every day (night) things so much easier you’ll wonder why you didn’t have one a long time ago. My thanks to Panther. There are others but their design of cap is the best. Panther Vision LHB-275496 Lighted Hat with Brim Switch