TIL my old way of checking for cracks was basically useless

I was cleaning a chimney in an old house in Springfield and the homeowner asked to watch. He pointed at a hairline crack I'd missed and said, 'My dad was a mason, he always said to look with the sun behind you.' I'd been using my headlamp straight on for years, which just washes everything out. Now I schedule inspections for early morning or late afternoon whenever I can. How do you guys make sure you don't miss the small stuff in bad light?

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abbyg606mo ago

What if your headlamp is just a cheap one?

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the_eric6mo ago

Oh man, I was totally in that camp for years. I'd buy the five dollar headlamp from the hardware store and wonder why it died so fast. Then I got stuck on a trail after dark when my cheap one just... flickered out. Had to use my phone light to get back. That was it for me. I finally spent a bit more on a decent one and the difference is night and day, no pun intended.

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morgan8986mo ago

My buddy's cheap headlamp died right as a raccoon stared him down from a dumpster. He upgraded to a petzl the next day.

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