Ok I am reording a youth caving trip. In the past I have used those cheap Hi8 camcorders for this, becuase the cheap camcorders seem to be the only ones that have the "night vision" feature, which works very well for this.
I have a GL1 and a XL2. Of course I will not bring my XL2 into the cave, but the GL1 is doable. I have a small pelican box for it and a few extra batteries. My only concern now is light. Has anyone done anything to make your camera record with no light. I can tape a flashlight on top, which is what my plan is, but has anyone tried anything else?

I guess your only two choices are to mount a light on the cam or to shoot with infra-red.

There are miniDV cams that shoot with infra-red. A great value is a used Sony TRV19 or TRV22 from eBay for about $270. I've bought four for my high school video club. I've never been burned on eBay. Just look for 100% positive feedback or check any stray negatives to ensure that they are obviously from crank buyers (which can mar any good seller's rating).

For a mounted light a flashlight is better than nothing, but there are more appropriate options available. 10-20 watt lights that mount on the accessory shoe and carry their own battery pack are examples. Check the catalog at B&H (bhphotovideo.com.) It is a virtual encyclopedia of all things photo, video and audio.

Have you seen these threads?

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=11897
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=45712

Update,

Saturday went very well! We got some great footage, (in color), with the GL1.
later,I will post some pics of the camera set-up I created as well as some screen shots of the video.
I think you guys will be amazed at what a few small lights can do, (we were).

GL1 cave set-up (before clean-up) http://www.freeimagehosting.net/1252c75e38.jpg

GL1 (after Clean-Up) (lights) http://www.freeimagehosting.net/8d20a9d2d8.jpg

Ok here are some of the screen shots from the video, I only had those four lights mounted on my camera and the cavers headlamp for light...the video came out very nice with great color!

Andy 1 http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=andybeneathboulder3ox.jpg
Andy 2 http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=andyinsidemaincavern2zn.jpg
Bobby 1 http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bobbyenteringpettyjohnscave3ux.jpg
Booby2 http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bobbypancake3ue.jpg
Brian 1 http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brianenteringzbend7ze.jpg
Brian2 http://img353.imageshack.us/my.php?image=brianunderboulder8ii.jpg
Kristen1 http://img473.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kristenunderboulder8dg.jpg
Kristen2 http://img473.imageshack.us/my.php?image=kristenupsidedownzbend6jr.jpg
Me http://img432.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thecameraguy9ti.png

chris,

I liked the photos you got, look forward toseeing a video clip!!


gus

any idea where I can post a free video clip?

My god! That poor innocent camera. Where did you take it? Into a muddy cave or something? ;-)

Hey what kind of lights are those? Are they for bike's? I recognize the flashlight, but not the ones around the lens.. Looks great!

the Cave is Petty Johns Cave in LaFayette, GA.
The camera is just fine, nothing a damp cloth could clean up.
Yes the cave was muddy, but most of the dirt was around the hand grip.
The camera did take a 6 foot fall. The only thing that happened was there was a "freeze" in the tape during capture; other than that is camera is bomb proof. I will trade my XL2 for two of these GL1's if anyone is game?

Here are the headlamps

http://www.bdel.com/gear/moonlight.php

I haven't forgot about the caving footage, here is a link to the video:

http://web.mac.com/adventurefilms/iWeb/Adventure%20Films/Home.html

click on the podcast page