New Headlamp User

[reppans]

Just out of curiosity (as I have recently purchased one on the basis of recommendations here on CPF), what don't you like about the Black Diamond Lantern ?

OK, let's start out with my DIY Lantern for comparison (note you can use Zebralight interchangeably with Quark, I use them both):

- I don't like 360-degree light because it's either annoyingly in front of you and directly in your line of sight, or it's more comfortably off to your side and wasting 50% of the light by projecting where you're not looking.
- When I camp, it's dark, very dark, (Eastern tree canopy) and I'm not doing any technical rock climbing or hiking, just basic camp chores, or sitting with a few drinks BSing with friends. I like to get my eyes into night vision mode and keep them there, that means using the lowest lumen levels when I can to preserve night vision and batteries. 1) the damn BD always comes on in high forcing you to wait the 2-3 seconds to ramp it down to low, and high kills your night vision in the process; 2) the BD's 10 lumen low is not low enough, wasting batts and night vision at the same time, and I've been know to stealth camp from time to time - it gives away my position too easily.
- My Quark @ 4 lumens with the 180-degree bounce card diffuser feels about the same illumination as the BD throwing 10 lumens 360-degrees, but obviously illuminating half the area of the BD (refer to first point). Their runtimes are the *arguably* the same - a regulated 48 hr or unregulated 60hrs. But we're talking 1xAA vs 4xAA. If I take a second battery, I'm certain the Quark will crush the BD at it's low, which I use the most... were not even talking about the 300 hr moonlight option on the Quark. If solo camping, I'll do a lot of reading with moonlight. Moonlight is effectively free light for me, I use it as long as I want without that mental clock tallying how much battery I've used.
- Plastic vs metal - there're several broken plastic headlamps in the above pix.
- Lastly, and most obviously, the size and weight. I have my Quark lantern available on my person 24/7. I'm also into ultra-light camping.... no comparison here.

The BD is OK for RV camping however... when I know I can charge batteries when I want. But even then, I'll still use the Quark as I always seem to have 2 or 3 AAs charged and ready to go... not 8 or 12 :shakehead.

 

[Gregozedobe]

reppans, thanks for that useful info. I can see why it wasn't well suited for your particular application, but my usage is almost the opposite of yours so I think it will be OK for me.

I'll be using mine for RV camping when I want to illuminate a general area for a number of people (usually where there is already a fair amount of light). I have a ZL H501 (and several other lights) for when I want light just for me. Space and weight and multiple spare batteries (eneloops of course) are not an issue (I have a long wheelbase VW Transporter van set up as a basic camper). I definitely agree about preferring lights that start on Lo first, then ramp up to Hi if required - much kinder to dark adapted eyes.