OK, this thread has served a purpose: just checked that little light on my pack and it's finally dead. Time to replace it. My scale says it's 0.2 oz.
I take extra batteries for backup purposes for my headlamp.
Never really had any issues with either my Petzl or BD headlamp outside of needing fresh batteries.
A pinlight on a carabiner for reading a map at dusk maybe.
Getting lost is a way to find yourself.
I'm usually limited on my time off work and family....so it's usually late afternoon by the time I get to the trail... I enjoy hiking at night or anytime.....5 thru hikes I wouldn't bother hiking at night!! I'd be asleepmaybe one day...
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I can't speak for others, but I've had amazing luck with the Photo II over the years. I do not buy the knock-offs...that may or may not having something do with it? I honestly don't know.
On thru-hikes, I'd often get to camp right at twilight. A little easier to set up camp and prepare dinner with a light. Esp when I did the BMT, and there was less daylight, a light was handy.
Needless to say for winter trips where daylight is a premium, a light is very handy.
Last edited by Mags; 10-29-2014 at 11:24.
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
Facebook: pmagsblog
The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
Waterproof matches and a lighter. no backup flashlight for me.
I carry 2 Photon lights, one red and one white, no headlight. I use the red one the most for potty trips, saves your night vision doesn't annoy other hikers if in a shelter.
White. I also have an old orange one that somehow is in my collection (it's my junk drawer now)
Paul "Mags" Magnanti
http://pmags.com
Twitter: @pmagsco
Facebook: pmagsblog
The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau
I'm assuming the flashlight app for our IPhones is that it's just a given, right?
In any event, I will always carry a head lamp so that I can find my real light in the dark. These Fenix lights (and similar) as so amazing here is really no reason why one should cower in their tent at the sound of bird or beast rather than jumping up jacking the critter up. Own the night, I say.
Last edited by rickb; 10-29-2014 at 21:13.
Would like to add a few things to my previous comment.
First off i have to come clean and admit to being a bit of a torch nerd, my collection is pretty basic and cheap compared to some of the custom light fans, but i've pretty much got at least one torch for most likely scenarios.
Next up is the times i've found a torch useful while hiking.
1/ One of the kids took a really nasty turn and was rushed into hospital one night while i was out camping.
It was a off one as i had not had a phone signal all day, yet had one in the exact position i'd pitched my tent.
If i didn't have a good torch/headlamp with me i would probably have waited till the morning before hiking out, as it was i was able to safely hike out and make it to the hospital that night.
Anyone that has kids would know the sort of night it would have been if had no choice but to stay the night.
2/ Several time i have had to re-pitch my tent or hammock during the night.
Fallen trees, ground water rising making the camp spot soaking wet, wind picking up so i needed to move the tent round, there were also times where it was 100% my fault, maybe i was too tired to pitch properly and this caused problems during the night that annoyed me enough to rectify it.
3/ Thunder storm
Have to move down a mountain a few times over the years when a thunder storm rolled in during the night
4/ Kit and bodily maintenance.
Splinter removal, repairing a puncture mat in the night, sorting out kit for the next day, repairing shoes, blister treatment etc etc
5/ Locating kit.
Rats in kit, dogs even read one report of a fox dragging off a rucksack one night.
In my case a good torch with as decent beam was invaluable
6/ Emergency signalling
7/ Camp chores, cleaning pots after your meal, or your mug after your late night hot chocolate, toilet duties, reading, finding your ear plugs after your neighbour starts snoring.
I have a Zebralight H600 i use for night hiking and a H602 as a camp torch and spare.
The H600 has a tighter beam so i prefer that for longer distance stuff like hiking at night, the H602 has a amazing flood type beam so is great for close and camp work.
I have a length of 2mm Dyneema cordage with 2 loops that attaches to the inside of my tent roof, i've then used a small piece of inner tube that my H602 slides into.
This enables me to slide the torch forwards and backwards and tilt it to whatever angle i want, it gives a great spread of light that makes reading or doing anything in the tent very easy.
Talking about and recommending torches is difficult because different people do different activities, some prefer different batteries (both size and chemistry) and want different things from their torches (beams, outputs, tints etc).
Me personally i'm a completely converted to 18650 batteries now.
I have my H600 (129g with 3400mAh battery and head strap) and H602 (43g without battery and no head strap), both 18650 torches.
Plus i also have a battery bank for charging my phone/GPS charger that runs on 4 x 3400mAh 18650's (298g).
So about 470g all in
My battery bank can run on anything from 1 to 4 18650's so if i need more torch power i have the option of removing cells from the battery bank and using those in my torches.
The battery bank gives around 13500mAh, so more than enough for 10 days hiking.
If i use my phone and GPS for datalogging heart rate, GPS etc then i still get over 5 days.
With the H602 on the lower setting that i use around camp i'm getting at least 1 week out of 1 battery.
One good thing is the battery bank also acts as a charger, so i carry a 4-port usb charger (95g) and charge all my batteries at resupply points.
Always, because no doubt someone is going to misplace our lose one. My extra is one of those little ones MD's usually have in their pocket. Light with a very focused beam. One AAA battery. On my 78 hike I also carried a mil spec pinflare gun I picked up in Fayetteville , NC pawnshop , traded it for food about 500 miles in after realising it was just extra weight. Realised the chances of having to signal in a helocoper were zero.
Last edited by lemon b; 10-31-2014 at 08:54.
I've never carried a spare. Back in the days of incandescent lamps, I would carry an extra bulb and extra batteries (and drill myself changing both with eyes closed and wearing gloves--that skill came in handy at least once that I remember). I never carried an extra light.
LEDs have a 100,000 hour lamp life and my headlamp burns 150 hours on 3 AAAs. Amazing. Now I don't even carry spare batteries--I can buy them in a town if the light starts getting dim, which gives me dozens of lamp-hours of warning.
My old Petzl headlamp has about 10,000 trail miles on it in ten years (the Triple Crown plus a few more). All I've done to it is change the batteries every few years. Now the headband elastic is shot and I'll probably need to buy a new one eventually. Obviously, I just don't use a light very much on my three season hikes. The lamp is basically an emergency thing for me, and one seems to be enough for my style of travel.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
I always carry a small backup. You would not believe how many times I ended up in the dark. The Maglight was the worst. Here's the fun: You are walking in the dark to camp and all of a sudden THE LIGHT GOES OUT!!!
Now's the time to start with getting the cap off, getting out the bulb and trying to put in two pins into a small hole. OH NO! I dropped the spring!!!!! I have also had LED's go out on me. Then I usually have to stop right where I am for the night in the dark.
YES, I carry a backup.
Here's what usually has the most problems on the trail in my opinion:
1- flashlights
2-flashlights
3-stoves
4-cell phone
5- water filter
No need for extra light as cell phone flashlight feature serves. My Princeton Tec headlamp uses 2 AAAs. I had been having trouble with it accidentally getting turned on as I packed it up and thus burning thru batteries. Now I simply reverse the position of the batteries and the circuit is interrupted. I can do this in the dark.
+1 for Mags' toolkit. I sent my tiny can opener ahead in my bounce box and found no foil packs of tuna, etc in a couple of the AZT trail towns. I like the idea of combining it with my mini SAK on the same idiot cord.
Handlebar
GA-ME 06; PCT 08; CDT 10,11,12; ALT 11; MSPA 12; CT 13; Sheltowee 14; AZT 14, 15; LT 15;FT 16;NCT-NY&PA 16; GET 17-18
Using a cell phone as a light source just seems wrong, somehow.