Freeing Up Your Hands

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
I'm a former headlamp guy that's moved over to flashlights for their better efficiency, durability, UIs, and of course, EDC portability (the only good light is the one you have with you). However, I often need my hands while I'm using my light and I was just wondering what creative ideas you guys have come up with to use a cylindrical flashlight hands-free, or somewhat close to it, without excessively bulky single purpose implements that are difficult to EDC, and are good for either short or long-term use.

Some of the more common techniques I'm aware of are:
- Ceiling bounce
- Armpit hold
- Clip to a baseball cap
- Hold in mouth

I just found a new favorite hand hold which is a weak-hand, cigar-hold between the ring finger and pinky. This frees up my three primary fingers for holding/doing other things.

BTW, I'm big fan of the Zebralight H series and know the hands-free versatility of their right-angle heads, and also have read the ZL Mod thread. However, I also like traditional cylindrical lights and am looking for ideas to use them in a similar fashion.

So, anyone got any other good ideas?

Thanks for your input.
 

skyfire

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
Messages
1,823
Location
Los Angeles
magnets can come in handy. i have a magnet epoxied to the tailend of one of my zebralight.

alot of times, ill carry my zebralight clipped to my waistband or front shirt pocket. it wells quite well. i just reach over and click it on, and i have light in front of me without ever pulling out the flashlight.
 

AlPal

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Mar 18, 2011
Messages
128
Location
Canada
I used to clip a flashlight on the collar of my T shirt. But I placed it at the shoulder area, under my ear. Also required a light with a reversible clip. It worked OK. Getting the light to point exactly where I wanted it wasn't always easy. Since I purchased a Zebralight with the angled head, I no longer use it. The Zebralight is so much easier and convenient.
 

tolkaze

Enlightened
Joined
Aug 26, 2009
Messages
569
Location
Muswellbrook
Maybe using a standard light with something like the 4sevens prism... effectively turning a standard light into an angle head light. clip to shirt, and off you go.

For hands free though, I like floody headlamps, followed by ceiling bounce, then direct light from a stand or bench etc. It is easier with a floody light though, because if you can't directly aim the light like a headlamp, you have to keep moving the source.
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
Is there any life after Zebralight? :laughing:

Have the 4/7s Prism, but I don't see myself carrying it around as an EDC item and it changes the beam significantly (not for the better). I have tried AlPal's clip-to-the-shirt-collar thing and find it to be a good alternative. I'm rarely near something I can stick a magnet to though.

Thanks folks, any more suggestions out there?
 

TEEJ

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 12, 2012
Messages
7,490
Location
NJ
It depends on what you're doing. My EDC is a Klarus XT11, but I also have an SC600W in my pocket for example.

The XT11 has a very floody beam that throws maybe 3-4X as far as my SC600. The SC is good for a nice flood of light 50-60 yards in front of me, but that's it.

If I'm in a basement, crawlspace, or going room to room, etc, the SC flood effect is like I'd flipped on a light switch....IE: As long as its on, I can see everything around me.

If I need to see further, or make it brighter in an area, I hit the XT11.

I need to aim the XT, I may not NEED to aim the SC.

Are you talking about close up work, or fixing something with your hands, or patrolling, etc?
 

subwoofer

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
May 5, 2010
Messages
2,501
Location
Hove, UK
Why not just have a Nitecore D10 headband or the Niteize Maglite one?

Torch becomes head-torch.
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
Close up task work, something you need your hands for, and may be moving around a bit - campsite tasks, for example. Also, I'm using smaller EDC single-cell lights and so would prefer to conserve runtimes by running lower lumens and aiming, more than painting an area with light.
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
Why not just have a Nitecore D10 headband or the Niteize Maglite one?

Thanks subwoofer, I forgot about that Nitecore headband and will order one. I have several single-banded flashlight headbands that hold the light at the side of your head, but I wear eyeglasses and the light's side spill always seem to catch the edge of my glasses and reflect annoyingly back to me. The top mount of the Nitecore headband would solve that problem.

However, headbands and prism's are still something that's single purpose and bulky to carry for EDC (with out a murse). I do EDC a 8' piece of cord that packs smaller than a finger, and serves several purposes for me. With the right adjustable knots I can make a cross-chest sling to hold a light under my armpit, or on top of my shoulder, or around my neck (with collared shirt) which works reasonably well. The downside of the cord is that takes a couple of minutes to set-up and so is only worthwhile to do for extended use.

Still looking for other ideas from experienced flashlight users.... I find as time goes on, I just keep coming up with different hands-free (or "hands-minimal") ideas and figure some you veterans have too.
 

^Gurthang

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 2, 2009
Messages
1,071
Location
Maine, deep in the Darkness of the North
I've used web strap w/ velcro strips. I can attach the strap to my forearm, upper arm or even my belt, then use 2nd attached velcro strip to position light. I've made longer strap for upper arm for winter shoveling [goes over winter parka]. I've also considered some sort of attachement at top of shoulder, since the closer to center of mass the less the light waves around.
 

davidt1

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
1,907
Yes, small lights can be used hand-free as headlamps, neck lamps, desk lamps, or utility lights with nothing more than a cord, magnets, and duct tape. All these items can be carried discreetly in the pocket of your dress shirt.
 
Last edited:

Mr Bigglow

Enlightened
Joined
Feb 24, 2010
Messages
406
In a similar context here on CPF, someone suggested a winding of Gorilla tape for biting on, because it's extra thick. Hope I thanked them at the time but anyway one of the better suggestions I saw last month.
 

AnAppleSnail

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 21, 2009
Messages
4,200
Location
South Hill, VA
Use elastic, a thin zip-tie, and a button to make a discreet headband that winds around your small EDC for normal use and unwinds for side-of-head headband use.

Attach an angled index card (Clipped into the light's clip, maybe held in place with bread ties, maybe covered in silver tape on one side for less lost throw) to send diffused light forward from a light hanging bezel-down on your neck.
 

shelm

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 8, 2011
Messages
2,047
I do EDC a 8' piece of cord that packs smaller than a finger, and serves several purposes for me.
commercial:


inspired:
snap394small.jpg
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
Attaching to the upper arm, and even beltline, using the cord I carry, is new... I'm going try those out. Having the light as close to your eyes as possible is usually best, but I think these attachment points will be useful for certain purposes/tasks... thanks.

I've rigged up the headband thing with the cord I carry and while does work, it puts a wicked dent in my head, and the side-of-the-head location does tend to reflect off my glasses (as mentioned above).

Attach an angled index card (Clipped into the light's clip, maybe held in place with bread ties, maybe covered in silver tape on one side for less lost throw) to send diffused light forward from a light hanging bezel-down on your neck.

You referring to THIS?.... (yeah, that was my thread :whistle:) I use it this way a lot... but still looking for other ideas.
 

Mag-man

Newly Enlightened
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
122
There methods I know of are:
- the headstraps or "jackstraps" that I have yet to spring for.
- the cigar hold
- the hold it with my mouth that is good for about 10 seconds
- Sometimes I hold it between my jaw and my shoulder
- If it's a long term job, I go grab a headlamp but I don't really like them. They're either too floody or too spotty.
- At any Big Box store, you'll find beltclips that rotate to give you two hands

But I probably need a jackstrap one of these days. But I'd probably get one that holds two flashes, one on each side of my head. So I can be like a car with two spot lights :huh:
 

Echo63

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
1,777
Location
Perth - West Australia
i frequently turn my Aeon (on a lanyard round my neck) on and just let it dangle around my neck, i get enough light bouncing off my shirt to see what im doing
 

reppans

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
4,873
OK folks, I guess the ideas are pretty much exhausted. In addition to what I mentioned above, this is what I think I'll be using for hands-free when I'm not carrying a headband for my light:

Collar Clip:

As AlPal mentioned above, I've also been clipping to my shirt collar, under the ear, weight supported by your shoulder. However, this originally only worked well with collared shirts for me, which I rarely wear in warm weather.

6961795167_051f479ffd_z.jpg


Last night I finally came up with a way to use it securely on T-shirts. First clip (bezel down clip) your light to your collar pointing 3 o'clock down your shoulder, then roll the light slightly and tuck the tail under your collar. The weight of your shirt holds it in place quite well.

6961796191_9c62276fbe_z.jpg


String Sling:

This I'll use for when I'm running my light for hours straight, like camping - sometimes I just don't like wearing a headlamp on my head. You can also wear it around your neck if your using your hands a lot and want to eliminate the arm shadowing - light under your ear again and you need a collared shirt as a snug cord doesn't feel too nice against bare skin. If anyone is interested in a great slip/grip knot, let me know.

6961798773_68f1caa3a6_z.jpg


Finally, there's the business card lantern attachment, which I quite like too (full thread linked to above):

6523054055_1f1fbd25db_z.jpg
 
Top