Petzl e+LITEhttp://www.petzl.com/en/outdoor/headlamps/super-compact/elite
How adjustable is the Zebralight? It looks like all you can do it turn the cylinder up or down in its holder.
Petzyl eLite
For the most part, I don't use my headlight too much, this saves me weight and space, great gear.............night hiking, probably not for too far.
Happy with this, amazingly small and light.
thanks for the advice i just bought one.hope i like itOriginally Posted by bigcranky
Is that a con? I don't know of any headlight that also swivels side to side. I suppose that could be useful if you wanted to put two Zebralights on the same headband.
Fwiw, I don't have a Zebralight, but I intend on getting one before I attempt to thru hike again.
My other headlamps tip outward and down instead of rotating in place. Maybe it doesn't make any difference, I was just wondering.
I use the Tikka Plus 2 and love it but I think you should reconsider what you are seeking. You say you don't want red light or multiple settings. While I don't like the strobe myself and agree that not having it would be fine, at least 2 power settings are extremely useful. A lower setting gives long life on your batteries (+1 on getting AAA batteries unless you have other things using CR123's and carry spares) while there WILL be times you want a burst of power - "what was that noise in that bush over there?...". Also even if you don't want the red light it is extremely annoying to talk to people that have bright white lights shining in your face. A red light doesn't blind you or others and is fine for a midnight tinkle or a late water boil for a hot drink. Numerous of the suggestions above are adequate for the job. Buy the best light that fits your budget. I would recommend sticking with one of the top 2 or 3 brand names. They are popular because they are well built.
I agree with you that red lights are appropriate in shelters but I'm not hiking on the A.T. and won't be staying in any shelters.
If not staying in shelters etc, then from what you are describing as your needs I would suggest a good name brand lightweight but due to it being a bit "industry standard" you will still have most choices using 3 AAA's. A simple 2 power light should suffice for you. I think Mammut have a couple that may suit you at a fair price. I still love my Petzyl though and the Tikka 2 looks a match for you.
I have had headlamps. I selected headlamps with batteries separate from the lamp, so I could keep the battery compartment inside a warm pocket.
That said, I never liked the headband. It feels uncomfortable.
I like the REI LED Trail Cap. There is a summer hat and a colder weather hat version.
I have a Photon X-Light Micro LED for the selection of low-illumination for night calls of nature without lighting up the entire campground.
luv the new black diamond spot .
The thing about the Zebralight is that you can only get 200 lumens for less than an hour before the battery is exhausted.
You can kick it down to 100 lumens and get 2.4 hours out of a AA but to get over 10 hours (10.5) you have to drop to 30 lumens and that's not bright enough (at least for me) to hike with at night.
The 384 hour number is based on 2.5 lumen.... Maybe you could find your food bag in your tent with that..
The Zebralight looks really good, but I don't think it's designed for night hiking given it's short battery life.
How about stop drinking fluids about 7pm... Drain before bed - you will make it.
Honest all good posts.... Recently I found a bright white LED in an aluminum stick and 1 AAA for a key chain... cheap but most important its hard on the AT to find watch batteries in some towns. One townie told me once the nearest hardware store was ten miles away.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
Do any of the other lights here perform better?The thing about the Zebralight is that you can only get 200 lumens for less than an hour before the battery is exhausted.
You can kick it down to 100 lumens and get 2.4 hours out of a AA but to get over 10 hours (10.5) you have to drop to 30 lumens and that's not bright enough (at least for me) to hike with at night.
The 384 hour number is based on 2.5 lumen.... Maybe you could find your food bag in your tent with that..
The Zebralight looks really good, but I don't think it's designed for night hiking given it's short battery life.
The Spot does 200 lumens for 0 hours. 0 seconds. It can't do 200 lumens at all.
Comparing the specs against the Black Diamond Spot for battery life at certain light levels is difficult because they obscure the data, if not outright lie about it. I can't find a technical review about the newest Spot, but there's an illuminating review about a similar light, the Storm.
Using Black Diamond's technical information, at max power the Storm either provides 50 hours or 0 hours of battery life. Which is it? Looking at this review, it's actually 2.78 hours.
Again, comparing against the Spot is more difficult. Instead of the 4 AAA's and 100 lumens that the Storm has, the Spot only has 3 AAA's and 90 lumens. In any case, the Storm puts out 100 lumens for 2.78 hours while the Zebralight H51 puts out 100 lumens for 2.4 hours. Assuming the same efficiency of the LED's and driver, the Spot should get 2.36 hours of battery life. Rounding up that's the same battery as the H51, albeit producing less light than the H51.
The Spot has the same or slightly less battery life at a 10% lower light level (less efficient), has a high level that's 45% of the H51, and weighs slightly more. It is $20 less expensive though. The Spot is only splash resistant, where the H51 is actually waterproof.
Batteries for the Spot weigh more too. A set of AAA lithium batteries will weigh 22.8 grams, where a single AA for the H51 weighs 15 grams.
Also, the 384 hours with the H51 is with 0.2 lumens. Yeah, you might not be able to see much, but that's not the point of the lowest level. That's what higher levels are for. I think the 2.5 lumen level would be best for reading inside a tent/bivy as I find my lights with a lowest level of 8 lumens painfully blinding to read with unless I bounce the light off something else or put something over the lens to reduce the light output. The H51 will last 72 hours at that setting.
It would be nice to see a comparison against the Spot and the Zebralight instead of the Storm and the Zebralight. A headlamp with 3 AAA's and 90 lumen probably has a different profile than one with 100 lumens and 4 AAA's.
It's a slow day at the ranch and I'm just replying to most threads because I'm bored so just to let you know I'm not trying to bust your chops over a Zebralight.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/coast-fl...ts-hp8404.html
opplanet-coast-hp4-led-flashlight.pngYea found this at the hardware store Ace I think, cheap. sealed switch, good reflector. 1oz. the one here is the 2 AAA version of the same thing.
Dogs are excellent judges of character, this fact goes a long way toward explaining why some people don't like being around them.
Woo
I tried finding a review about the new Spot, but could only find reviews about the older DoublePower version.
I'm just trying to lay out the facts.
As far as opinion goes, I hate the way Black Diamond does the spec sheet for their lights. It seems awfully shady. I see it as a marketing trick to dupe people that don't care to really analyze the spec sheet for its flaws or find independent reviews.
I'm not trying to pick on the Spot. It's just the one I saw named the most, so I compared against that. I'd be up for comparing specs of other lights if I can find enough data on them.
I sort of said I wouldn't personally buy the H51. I really like light, so I'd probably go for the 600 lumen H600 unless Zebralight makes a smaller/lighter CR123 version. I spent a month walking with a single AA light earlier this year and never had to change the battery. I still haven't. I did some night hiking and plenty of reading. The flashlight was a Xeno E03. It's a good house light, but for the trail I prefer a light that has a tighter beam and a much lower low.
My typical light usage with any type of light is something like this:
When it first starts getting dark I use a low power setting, ~10 lumens. When my ankles start getting tired I switch to 50 lumens. I don't need more than that to hike. I occasionally switch to 100 or 200 lumens to see things in the distance, whether that be while hiking or in camp. While setting up camp and finding my food bag, I need very little light, and have found that even a coin light works really well. I usually don't hike more than an hour in darkness at night, and half an hour in darkness in the morning, not counting the partial light after sunset and before sunrise. I may read for an hour every night, and need very little light, probably less than 2 lumens.
I find that most lights have highs that are too low, and lows that are too high.
My son and I use photon freedoms.
About 0.3 oz. Carry a set of spare batteries is another 0.25 oz.
My philosophy, is not to use a light. I seldom use it unless looking for something in the dark, and then only for seconds at a time.
Hike in daylight, cook in daylight, make camp in daylight, and go to bed at dark. Get up in morning and repeat.
You dont really need much light at all. I dont see the need for 1/4 lb of light and spare batteries.
+1I dont see the need for 1/4 lb of light and spare batteries.
I find it seldom necessary to use a flash light, headlamp, LED brim hat or LED.
I find it is seldom dark enough to not be able to see well enough. Usually it is fog (at the atitude of the clouds) that gives me trouble.
Fog lights, anyone? I actually wore my headlamp, once, just below my knee. Really.
I actually use my Photon X-Light Micro LED as a flash, not always ON, and with one eye closed so I do not ruin my night vision.
I buy them from Ikea in 10 packs for ridiculously little money and then, since the 10 pack fits in a standard letter envelope and weighs as little as a forever stamp, just have them mailed to me as I need them.
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