Line up for basic woods bumming

CanadianSurvivalCompany

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Hey Folks,

would like to get into what you like to carry and why in terms of woods use. Even weapon lights and that sort of thing. Pictures always welcome of course.

Do you have multiple lights? or prefer one to take care of your needs?

Lastly, with those lights, what are you looking for in terms of beam pattern?

Thanks everyone!
 

terjee

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would like to get into what you like to carry and why in terms of woods use. Even weapon lights and that sort of thing. Pictures always welcome of course.

Do you have multiple lights? or prefer one to take care of your needs?

You mean when being in the woods in general? (hiking/hunting)?

Personally, I'd consider bringing just a single light to be dangerous, even if it's a high quality one with full battery and spares. Unexpectedly loosing all light while deep in the woods can turn dangerous pretty fast.

There are certainly members here that have given this more thought than I have, but my current thinking is:

Three lights pr. person. One headlight (1x 18650 or 2-4x AA), one good flashlight (18650), and one smaller light (AA or AAA). The idea being headlight for walking around, flashlight as backup, and the smaller as an always-on-person backup.

Flow/throw and power of them up to individual taste, and willingness to carry spare batteries.

For the headlight, I'd prefer something with a bit of range, but more important is that it's enough flowy or has enough spill that I don't feel like I'm loosing peripheral vision. At the same time, too much spill can lead to easily shining other members of a group in the eyes, both annoying them and killing their night vision. While range is nice, the light from the headlight can be supplemented by using a more throwy light for the 18650. A momentary on flashlight with a decent holster would be nice for this. Having a bit of flood on the headlight also makes it much more useful for usage around the camp, at lower power. There's always the option of carrying a second headlight for camp-use, but that would bring the total number of lights to four, and as long as some flood is good for walking around as well, it just seems unnecessary.

For the "always on me"-light, I'll swap out my EDC using AAA, for an AA light. That leaves me with just two types of batteries (18650 and AA), and a single four pack of eneloops would be enough for one change of batteries in the GPS, and two in the smaller light.

Still not found the perfect headlight. In addition to being picky about beam, I'd like to be able to both go directly to a medium mode giving 10 hours on a single 18650, yet enough light, and also directly on to low red. Killing a groups night vision when sharing a tent is never popular. ;-)

I might end up with two headlights because of it. That also gives the option of more flood for camp usage, and more range for walking around.

Edit to add; While (IHMO!) the three-light setup is probably good as a generic recommendation, the tradeoffs are a very personal preference-kind of thing. I know people that are very creeped out when they can't see far ahead where they're going, and I know grown men that think it terrifying when they loose peripheral vision and only have a single narrow beam to go by. That makes the flood/beam-tradeoff between headlight and primary flashlight into not exactly a "one solution fits all"-kind of thing. I do however think viewing primary headlight and primary flashlight as a pair, is a very good thing. Floody headlight? Consider a throwy flashlight. And the other way around. For first time buyers, probably good not to get too caught up in having the ultimate range. It's all about utility and balance (IMHO anyway). A 1km range light could be cool and all, but cover what you need first, then what you want. Outdoors is also often a group activity, and it's worthwhile to be considerate of the rest of the group as well.
 
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CanadianSurvivalCompany

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Awesome response Terjee! thats exactly the type of response I was hoping for.

And yes, I use the term "woods bumming" loosly. In reality any and all forms of outdoor activity, but more tailored to the camping(bushcraft)/hunting/exploring side of things.

Thanks again.
 

Cleck

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I tend to carry 2-3 lights when camping, depending on what I think I'll use, but sometimes I just overpack because I'm not going far. For our Colorado trip, I'll probably still bring 3 and an extra set of batteries.

Normally I carry 1 or both of my AA lights, both with li-ion batteries in them, they hold up well. Sometimes, I bring my CR123A light for something bigger with li-ion cells or my 18650 light. I always bring a headlamp, I had an older Princeton Tec one, but it had problems draining batteries, so I bought a new Princeton Tec Vizz recently. Still trying to determine if I should look for some rechargeable li-ion cells, but I heard they're unprotected, so I will probably buy some Eneloops or keep buying the Energizer rechargeables I've been using. So far though, I like it. The red is nice for not blinding people and the high beam has a nice spread and intensity. Can't wait to put this all to use in Colorado soon :)
 

terjee

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Still trying to determine if I should look for some rechargeable li-ion cells, but I heard they're unprotected, so I will probably buy some Eneloops or keep buying the Energizer rechargeables I've been using.

There are protected 14500-cells (AA-sized, more or less). There's a couple of issues to be aware of though, one is that they run at LiIon-voltages (3.7V nominally). Some lights support that, others don't. Despite being roughly the same size as AAs, something they'll fit, other times they won't. Protected ones can be longer for example, which might be an issue.

The point of supporting LiIons in an AA-light is often to allow for a higher output. If you don't need or want that, I'd pick Eneloops to be honest. And if you do need it, it might be better to consider an 18650-light.

LiIons are slightly scarier batteries, and – for me at least – that warrants a bit of thought before I attach them to my head, and especially before I do so while far away from help. It's not huge a problem, but I'd want the wider availability of choice in 18650 batteries for example, so I'd feel confident in being able to get high quality batteries, consider safer chemistries like IMR, and/or good protection circuits, etc.
 

Cleck

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Oh, I meant in my headlamp. I have been having a problem with Energizers rechargeable AAA's, they keep dying. I was thinking of the Eneloops bc I heard li-ion AAA are unprotected. Not sure if I wanna bother, even though I already have a charger that takes em...

My all of my other lights have li-ions in them, for the reasons you mentioned. The output is fantastic.
 

terjee

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Yeah, I got that you meant the headlamp. I was basically just agreeing with you that I'd go with Eneloops, noting that there are protected LiIons in AA-size (that might not fit), and suggesting 18650 headlight if you want LiIon headlight. :)
 

Woods Walker

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I tend to pack a flashlight and headlamp for woods bumming. To be honest the headlamp does the vast majority of the work. The type of either you get is really personal preference but good water resistant is nice and the ability to use lithium primaries helps during winter bumming. Also it helps if both the headlamp and flashlight use the same type of battery. I find single battery lights easier to change out in the dark then say 3XAAA.
 

terjee

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I find single battery lights easier to change out in the dark then say 3XAAA.

Very good point!

Just adding that this is amplified by actually keeping batteries as well. If you want two spare sets of batteries for a single flashlight, that'd be 3 for 18650, or 12 for a quad AA. The two 18650's can live nicely in a cheap waterproof box, but you'd need something more for the AAs. But what happens if you drop them all while changing? Suddenly you can have a mix of 12 different AAs, all in a different state of charge. How would you figure out which are fresh? With 18650, you could quickly test them in the lights and sort them properly. No quite as easy with a pile of AAs.

The only light I have now that takes multiples, is a headlamp with quad AA, but that's probably getting replaced by an 18650 one, probably Zebralight.
 

CanadianSurvivalCompany

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Very good point!

Just adding that this is amplified by actually keeping batteries as well. If you want two spare sets of batteries for a single flashlight, that'd be 3 for 18650, or 12 for a quad AA. The two 18650's can live nicely in a cheap waterproof box, but you'd need something more for the AAs. But what happens if you drop them all while changing? Suddenly you can have a mix of 12 different AAs, all in a different state of charge. How would you figure out which are fresh? With 18650, you could quickly test them in the lights and sort them properly. No quite as easy with a pile of AAs.

The only light I have now that takes multiples, is a headlamp with quad AA, but that's probably getting replaced by an 18650 one, probably Zebralight.
This can be come a serious issue actually. While still in the SAR field many of us were running on a battery pack style headlamp. Most only carried one spare set as the headlamp was backup and general use.

Watch a set of batteries go over a 500 drop. Made for a long night filled with grunts of running into things. [emoji38]
 

terjee

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Made for a long night filled with grunts of running into things. [emoji38]

That sounds like really good motivation to avoid something like that ever happening again. ;-)

It also reminded me of a thing I meant to write, but think I forgot; Light isn't just about comfort and convenience, but there's a certain emergency aspect to it as well. One of the reasons I try to always have a light physically on me when in the woods, even on shorter daytrips, is that you never really know for sure how things will go. Might be you're really capable and avoid all potential accidents, but you could still run into someone else having been in one. If you run into a lone scared hiker with a badly broken leg (young or old, male or female, doesn't matter), how tempting would it be to leave said person, for an 8km roundtrip to pick up a light? No matter what shape you're in, meeting a badly broken leg can make you fairly stationary for a while.

If you've successfully alerted the proper people, and they've arranged for pickup or you're otherwise figured something out, light also quickly can become about communication. I have to admit I've never really done SAR work, but being able to signal where you are in the middle of a dark night seems like a fairly obvious advantage. ;-)

By some standards, I might be overdoing it (the recommendation of minimum 3 lights pr. person for example), but living in Norway, we have parts of the year with less than 6 hours of proper daylight pr day, less further up north. I'm sure Canadians can relate, but I just wanted to add that what's right for me isn't necessarily right for everyone else etc.
 

CanadianSurvivalCompany

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By some standards, I might be overdoing it (the recommendation of minimum 3 lights pr. person for example), but living in Norway, we have parts of the year with less than 6 hours of proper daylight pr day, less further up north. I'm sure Canadians can relate, but I just wanted to add that what's right for me isn't necessarily right for everyone else etc.

I personally think its spot on. From my side of things now, I am in the same boat. How ever I work out of a vehicle for the most part in my activities, so space isn't as much of an issue. When it comes to packing them on my back or in pockets; headlamp, basic camp use light and something able to get attention quick is a bare minimum.

It was stunning actually to see some of the situations people had got them selves into and what they kept with them. Many folks in this area never took the fact that things can and do go wrong, and when they do your walmart brand incandescent is not going to last in -30 or being dropped or handed off multiple times. Was a considerable eye open and why ive gone the way i have instructing the public in terms of safety/awareness.
 
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I guess I'm not an ultralight guy. I tend to have several lights, a few knives and two sidearms. Generally one will be smaller and the other will be set up with a WML. Most of the time I'll have two or three mags/reloads for each gun but if I'm going somewhere remote-ish I might carry a bit more ammo. Very often I'll have a Silky saw in addition to the knives. Most of my lights are CR123a so I'll have fresh batteries in the lights (as a rule) and between 2 and 15 extras along depending on the trip. I always have fire stuff, a small PSK and IFAK, too.
 

CanadianSurvivalCompany

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I guess I'm not an ultralight guy. I tend to have several lights, a few knives and two sidearms. Generally one will be smaller and the other will be set up with a WML. Most of the time I'll have two or three mags/reloads for each gun but if I'm going somewhere remote-ish I might carry a bit more ammo. Very often I'll have a Silky saw in addition to the knives. Most of my lights are CR123a so I'll have fresh batteries in the lights (as a rule) and between 2 and 15 extras along depending on the trip. I always have fire stuff, a small PSK and IFAK, too.
Seems like a decent set-up. Do you mostly work out of a pack?
 

Offgridled

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I've put together a nice solar battery charging system. Granted it does take a few hours to charge an 18650 at 5v but it does work well. More than happy to share this with you guys. Love the national forest and what it still has to offer!
 

tex.proud

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I tend to operate in 3's.

Three knives: Large for major tasks
small for food prep and crafting
a pocket knife on person at all times as a backup.

Three lights:
A floody headlamp - Zebraligt H603w for around camp
A bright handheld - Zebralight SC600 MKIII Hi for walking (along with the headlamp) and seeing what's making all that ruckus on the next ridge.
A long lasting small light as a backup - Zebralight SC32w
All of which have 3 batteries, the one in them and 2 backups in waterproof containers.
 

Woods Walker

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Photos of same battery all the gear in practice.

18650.





2XAA. I prefer single 1X battery format but so long as everyone is playing for the same team it's cool.



See. Everyone here is eating from the same plate.



These two might look like they're not team mates but they are. Have a 1XAA body for that Quark with extra battery and end caps inside the pack.

 
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