Fitting

Fitting Rude Nora

Fitting Procedure

Fitting Rude Nora is fairly intuative, but just in case.

Rude Nora parts and helmet

Fitting Rude Nora to helmet (in this case a Petzl Ecrin shown) requires 7 holes (4.5 mm dia) to be drilled. When doing this take care not to damage cradle etc on the inside of helmet.

Fitting the lamp bracket requires 3 holes in front of helmet (4.5mm diameter). The central bracket hole is offset and is intended to be above the side holes. The lamp bracket can be used as a template. Obviously this does not apply if you have the stainless steel blade mount bracket.

Orientate lamp and mark position of lamp bracket central fixing hole, drill helmet, and attach bracket to helmet with nuton the outside. M4 stainless steel allen screws & lock nuts are provided for this. Position of lamp bracket is personal preference, in the photo below the bottom of the bracket is 30mm up from the lip of the helmet.

Mark other 2 bracket holes, twist bracket to one side as shown below (or remove completely) and drill helmet.

Fix bracket to helmet as shown, with nuts on outside. The extending arms of the alloy lamp bracket will need to be adjusted to suit lamp and accomodate curved helmet profile. They can be bent carefully by hand as required.

Fitting the battery box requires 4 holes drilled in rear of helmet (4.5mm diameter) in a rectangular pattern. The battery box can be attached with the two releasable cable ties (included) or with suitable shock cord.

Mark out the holes (an indelible marker pen is handy), using the battery box to help orientate these. On a Petzl Ecrin the holes need to be about 46 mm seperation in the vertical plane and no more than about 65mm seperation on the horizontal. If the horizontalseperation is too large then the cable ties or shock cord will not hold the battery box as securely. The bottom pair of holes will generally be about 24-25mm up from the bottom lip of the helmet. Drill holes.

To attach the battery box to the helmet with the releasable cable ties supplied, locate cable ties into drilled holes.

tension up cable ties (pliers handy), and cut off excess.

the battery box is now fitted. to briefly recap, that's 4 holes and 2 cable ties , and it should look something like this!!

Alternatively, to attach the battery box with shock cord, tie an overhand knot in one end of cord and simply thread through helmet holes and battery box fixing recesses as a single continuous length as shown below (or however you fancy).

The lamp can now be fitted to the bracket

but firstly the cable and lamp can be threaded behind the cradle inside the helmet, to route the cable nicely. In at the back and out at the front.

and now the lamp is fitted to the bracket (allen key required) with 2 screws with 3 washers one each. The spring washer and then the wave washer go onto each screw first, and then the nylon washer. The spring and screw washers go on the outside of the bracket and the nylon ones on the inside face of the bracket (ie against the lamp). Orientate lamp to desired angle, lock up both screws and you are almost finished.

Finally, in order to avoid losing your battery box lid, a short length of 40kg kevlar braid is supplied. This can be attached to the battery box lid, under the stainless steel toggle catch plates on either end of the lid, and the other end can be attached behind the box to the cable ties. There are numerous ways to do this; consider it an initiative

test.

Petzl Elios (troublesome helmets) !!

Fitting to most helmets genrally used by cavers is straight forward. There are ofcourse 'problem' helmets, the best example being the Petzl Elios helmet. The Elios is a little bit of a special case as compared to more conventional designs such as the Ecrin.

Fitting to an Elios is however entirely feasible, and the fitted result rather nice pleasing, but there are a couple of thing to consider regarding mounting of the battery box, if you want to get a great result. We've even mounted a number of Noras to the childrens size Elios (for small headed cavers)

Firstly, you only need to drill the bottom two holes as the helmet vents can be used at the top. The bottom holes can be a little closer together than the Ecrin or other conventional helmet designs. We recommend using cable ties.

Secondly, because of the helmet cradle webbing protruding through the back of the Elios, it is necessary to seat the box down on two strips of high tack adhesive 10mm thick foam tape which crush into place when the box is cable tied on. If you have an Elios, we stock the tape. A couple of small cable ties are also useful for fixing cable to helmet.

Examining the worst case scenario, the following photos are of a Nora fitted to a Childrens size Elios, and these helmet are as tiny as they come.

Fitting Battery Pack

Battery connections should be made and battery inserted into battery box in orientated illustrated, with wires down side of box (oppostie side to cable entry).

Battery connector should then be carefully inseted into box.

Take care when fitting battery pack that battery and lamp wires do not get trapped between front / back face of pack and inside front / back face of box. This is bad, and no good will come of it.

The photo below illustrates what not to do. Also be a little careful with how you disconnect the little red connector, they are quite small for obvious reason.

Wrong - Bad

Additional Information

If the cable length is not quite correct for your helmet, it can be adjusted (not generally required) at the battery box. 11mm spanners required. Hold back section of cable glanded in place and undo front section, adjust cable, and re-tighten. The rear section of the gland is bonded in place and should not be disturbed.

If you wish to drill 2 holes in helmet (one front and one at back) to thread cable, then the cable can be removed from the battery box by releasing the gland as above, and removing the little red plug (in the battery box). This is achieved by using a tiny pointy thing to release the two pins while carefully pulling out red / black silicone wires. If removing red plug within battery box from cable then take care to reconnect polarity correctly, to avoid potential damage. Pin 1 is black (negative) and Pin 2 is red (positive). Connector is labelled but you need good eyesight, so double check against photo below.

High viscosity silicone grease can be used on battery box O ring and front window O ring. Front window can be removed with flat blade screwdriver (or suitable allen key for special screw sets).

The switch boot is threaded. The switch boot is removed anti-clockwise with a small pair of pliers, and replacement fitted clockwise. Finger tight, plus no more than quarter turn clockwise with pliers. This should only be done with a degree of care, when it is necessary due to wear / damage.

The Modification of Helmets for Caving and Cave Diving

By necessity helmets have to be modified in order that they can effectively be used for caving or adapted to suit the requirements of a particular task within the caving environment. Invariably holes will need to be drilled in the shell so that lamp brackets or reserve lamps can be fitted. Petzl for example provide a drilling template for mounting the Duo to their helmets. Cavers drill helmets; as they principally use helmet to mount lamps and protect from light bumps. You will ofcourse come across 'helmet wankers' who have a different perspective, and a fairy tale to support their case.

If holes are drilled in sensible positions and kept to a minimum they are unlikely to have an adverse effect on the overall strength or protection offered by the helmet shell but obviously this can't be guaranteed.

Drilling holes into a helmet shell technically invalidates its certification as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and may have an adverse effect on the amount of protection provided by it so anyone who modifies or uses a modified helmet must be aware of, and fully accept, the potential incurred risks of the modification beforehand and during subsequent use.

little monkey

www.littlemonkeycaving.co.uk