Of Loupes and Lights.
Loupes. I have Designs For Vision 3.5 expanded field loupes and I love em. Love em, love em, love em. I even love the dorky Weezerish frames. I have tried 2.5 and they dont seem all that different from no magnification. I dont say that insult my 2.5x wearing brethren, just a statement from my experience. My advice is, if you are going to drop some dough, spend a little extra and buy the 3.5x. They are enough magnification to blow things up nicely, but not soooo much that you loose the big picture.
Lights. I bought the on the Loupe light for my 3.5s. Man, that got old quick, real quick. That felt like 15 pounds of gear sitting on the bridge of my nose and after a whole day in Operative lab I had a migraine. If that Featherlite had been available, I think I would have just sold my designs for vision light and gotten that instead. My buddies at school here really like it.
Anyways, back to my light journey. So I couldn't take it anymore and told the Designs folks that I wanted the headband light. Same light, just mounted on this comfy foam/neoprene hatstrap thingy. This was nice, but then my buddy Adam noticed that the since the light was coming from a slightly different angle than the Loupe itself, there was some shadowing and stuff going on that kinda messed things up and made him miss his on the louple-light. Well, Adam is smart so what he did (and I followed suit) was to modify the headband assembly so that the light itself hung down and rested where the Loupe would be if it was attached on the light itself. This involved a short piece of metal and some washers with some black paint to make it look nice. Took about an hour, but when we where done we marveled at our handywork. To give credit, Adam invented the thing and should probably design one and patent it. It's really a pretty solid idea and I wonder why no-one else has produced one yet (maybe they have, I just dunno).
There are a few pros/cons of using the headband system for a light. One is that you look like a dork. What can you do? You have a hat/strap thingy, glasses with magnifying lenses in them, a face mask, a blue smock, rubber gloves, and a name badge with pens hanging from it. And the thing is hot. And it ruins your fohawk. However you work it, you are going to look like a spaceman to your patients.
One serious pro for the headband that sets it apart is that you can use the light even when you don't want to wear your loupes, say, just safety goggles. I do this often and it is quite handy. I guess that is only one pro, but it is a good one.
To make a long story short, my advice is: get loupes, get 3.5 expanded field loupes, and get a light on a headband with a composite shield. Loupes and lights go together like peanut butter and jelly. And dont think about the price either, it is a drop in the bucket that will enhance in dramatic fashion every clinical and pre-clinical procedure that you will do. Just shut your eyes, turn away, and hand over your credit card to the Loupe Lady (or dude). You wont regret it.
