Woods Walker
The Wood is cut, The Bacon is cooked, Now it’s tim
Here is something I started last winter and just got to finishing now. We all know that LEDs have for the most part replaced incandescent lights for many applications. The reasons are straightforward. More efficient and no filament to break. Everyone likes longer runtimes right! Of course but was something lost? The LED should be far more reliable and it is but then again I had an occasional LED light just die and was irrecoverable. I was always able to get an incandescent light working again by cleaning the contacts or just replacing the bulb. The light emitted from many LEDs often resembles an alien abduction. So blue and sterile. Take me to your leader.....
The reddish haze in the middle of all the ice blue was the light from my wood stove. There must have been 500 lumens worth of cool white LED lanterns running inside my tent. That was from last winter. Ok so what to do? Then again does anything really need to be done at all? I guess the breaking LED issue would need to be addressed. Seems if the electronics are potted in epoxy that adds some impact resistance to the mix. That said a quality LED flashlight rarely break for no reason or at last that's been my experience. Still it has happened to me. There are also warmer LEDs to counter the alien abduction angry blue syndrome but first I did a retro incandescent hike to clear my mind.
Late winter of 2015 and it was an ugly winter at that.
We are going to roll with a Surefire 6p and M@g Solitaire. All incandescent wonders from the past. Extra batteries are going to be needed. On a side note that double walled canteen ended up in a hotel refrigerator some months later and is MIA. I still got that wonderful knife so it wasn't an entirely bad year after all.
It's a go! 03/15!
And it works.....
Some melting in a few areas.
Deeper snow in others.
The brooks were flowing good.
And the batteries ran down. That's just how it rolls. Gosh I just burned through a set of primaries walking around the woods for less than an hour. Dang....... But this issue is simply the nature of the beast and well known by all. Then again how many years have LEDs become predominant? Maybe some kids never actually seen a hotwire flashlight?
Held the Solitaire in my mouth to actually see what I was doing to replace the 2XCR123 batteries. Soon I was back in action!
I was able to make it out on the second set of batteries proving the old ways still had some sway over the dark woods.
So let's fast forward to 12/15. We will be using the same type of host, a Surefire 6p but this time with a Malkoff M61WL. The M61WL installed was tested throughout the year. American made with potted electronics. Simple one mode with little to go wrong though anything made of human hands surely can fail but odds are this combo is about as foolproof as reasonably possible all things considered IMHO.
So it's a go! We will be using the lights on the left but brought them all together for a family reunion. I didn't have a Solitaire in LED so the Leatherman/Fenix E01 with clicky would have to substitute for the 1XAAA backup in keeping with the LED comparison theme.
Same pack as well. I guess the primary differences this time were no snow and I lost a bunch of weight over the year. I am even on the same trail though entering it from another trailhead.
The E01 is the essence of the funky LED alien abduction tint. Comparison to the M61WL is stark thought as stated the E01 (in this case with a clicky) really has the angry blue crazy purple tint down to a science.
Just some sight seeing. To be honest was taking more video than pics.
I did the flash trick to bring out the tint as was done with the Incan P60.
I planned on doing at least 8 miles but the wind picked up so decided to turn back finishing only 7 though did run the last 2.5 miles for da win! Naturally the LEDs never dimmed and the warm glow of the M61WL is rather nice psychologically however light is light. Gear that works, being both reliable and durable are more important considerations for me than other factors. I think the head on that E01 is also potted so odds are it would survive a mishap as well. So was this comparision 10 years too late as for many this issue has already been decided? Maybe yes or maybe no. Just depends on what factors are viewed as important and the needs of the individual. Here is a video of both hikes for those with too much time on their hands or have abandoned cable TV and need entertainment.
Thanks for watching.
The reddish haze in the middle of all the ice blue was the light from my wood stove. There must have been 500 lumens worth of cool white LED lanterns running inside my tent. That was from last winter. Ok so what to do? Then again does anything really need to be done at all? I guess the breaking LED issue would need to be addressed. Seems if the electronics are potted in epoxy that adds some impact resistance to the mix. That said a quality LED flashlight rarely break for no reason or at last that's been my experience. Still it has happened to me. There are also warmer LEDs to counter the alien abduction angry blue syndrome but first I did a retro incandescent hike to clear my mind.
Late winter of 2015 and it was an ugly winter at that.
We are going to roll with a Surefire 6p and M@g Solitaire. All incandescent wonders from the past. Extra batteries are going to be needed. On a side note that double walled canteen ended up in a hotel refrigerator some months later and is MIA. I still got that wonderful knife so it wasn't an entirely bad year after all.
It's a go! 03/15!
And it works.....
Some melting in a few areas.
Deeper snow in others.
The brooks were flowing good.
And the batteries ran down. That's just how it rolls. Gosh I just burned through a set of primaries walking around the woods for less than an hour. Dang....... But this issue is simply the nature of the beast and well known by all. Then again how many years have LEDs become predominant? Maybe some kids never actually seen a hotwire flashlight?
Held the Solitaire in my mouth to actually see what I was doing to replace the 2XCR123 batteries. Soon I was back in action!
I was able to make it out on the second set of batteries proving the old ways still had some sway over the dark woods.
So let's fast forward to 12/15. We will be using the same type of host, a Surefire 6p but this time with a Malkoff M61WL. The M61WL installed was tested throughout the year. American made with potted electronics. Simple one mode with little to go wrong though anything made of human hands surely can fail but odds are this combo is about as foolproof as reasonably possible all things considered IMHO.
So it's a go! We will be using the lights on the left but brought them all together for a family reunion. I didn't have a Solitaire in LED so the Leatherman/Fenix E01 with clicky would have to substitute for the 1XAAA backup in keeping with the LED comparison theme.
Same pack as well. I guess the primary differences this time were no snow and I lost a bunch of weight over the year. I am even on the same trail though entering it from another trailhead.
The E01 is the essence of the funky LED alien abduction tint. Comparison to the M61WL is stark thought as stated the E01 (in this case with a clicky) really has the angry blue crazy purple tint down to a science.
Just some sight seeing. To be honest was taking more video than pics.
I did the flash trick to bring out the tint as was done with the Incan P60.
I planned on doing at least 8 miles but the wind picked up so decided to turn back finishing only 7 though did run the last 2.5 miles for da win! Naturally the LEDs never dimmed and the warm glow of the M61WL is rather nice psychologically however light is light. Gear that works, being both reliable and durable are more important considerations for me than other factors. I think the head on that E01 is also potted so odds are it would survive a mishap as well. So was this comparision 10 years too late as for many this issue has already been decided? Maybe yes or maybe no. Just depends on what factors are viewed as important and the needs of the individual. Here is a video of both hikes for those with too much time on their hands or have abandoned cable TV and need entertainment.
Thanks for watching.
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Shipped it wound up being just under $35, a no brainer, so I ordered another one and it showed up today. Just for the nostalgia factor I thought an M61WL or even WLL would be nice...get that incan look with better reliability and run time.
There was no way to get the light going again and I didn't even have a spare for the 'exotic' bulb- had to special order it when I got back to the States. And of course it cost 1/2 as much as the light did ($15 in 1995 money for a light that cost $35).
