Back Packing Light

What would be a great light combination (eg. walking, reading, and area) for a 2+ week back packing trip where weight is an issue?

I don't plan on hiking at night, but need the ability to walk about outside of camp to "do business".

I have been thinking about taking an LED head lamp, along with a small florescent area lamp.

If each used "AA" batteries, I could easily carry enough batteries for the trip without weighing down my pack.

Your thoughts people...

Thanks

If you only want to carry one flashlight and "reach" is not a critical issue for you, I'd opt for the Princeton Tec Attitude. It is bright enough for some walking in semi-familiar surroundings. Runtime would be such that extra batteries might not be necessary. If you prefer a flashlight with longer "reach", I suggest a Brinkmann Long Life or Princeton Tec Impact. Between the two, I'd say the Brinkmann due to 2 AA's vs. 4 AA's, thus lighter weight (but not as light as the Attitude. BTW, I personally carry a Mini-mag with Nexstar bulb and lithium AA's and an ARC AAA. One light doesn't cover all bases for me. The Mini-mag with lithiums and upgrade bulb gives decent reach & is light. The ARC is great for task-light duty & weighs practically nothing, even when considering an extra AAA battery or two. Food for thought.

A white infinity with the smoke finish meets most of those requirements for me, but we hightail it up above the tree line, where nights aren't very dark anyway. The Infinity is 1.5 ounces with a lithium battery, and I'll be using the same battery on my next trip that I used last summer. That is unless I switch to a combo of an Arcflashlight ArcAAA-White and a Photon II Turquoise with a 2032 coin cell installed. Of my LED headlights, the Petzel Tikka and Zipka are suberb for backpaking, while the Princton Tec Matrix is far to heavy and bulky.

can some one tell me more about the petzl tikka, any comparisons against incadesant headlamps. I need something when i am working on the car and chainging oil etc.

..there is only the Moonlight Headlamp. Durable, pushbutton on/off switch, quite water resistant (more so than Tikka I'd say) 4 LEDs burn well over 70 hours on 3 aaa batteries. Great beam spread for lighting a path, adjustable angle...
what I would do is modify it to take 3 aa batteries -- (would 3 aa lithiums be too much voltage? Anyone?)
Search for it at http://www.caves.org/imo/frames1.htm

The Illuminator (headlamp) by Lightwave takes AA's... Pretty good light. 4 Recessed LEDs. Advertised battery life of 300 hours (but it's really dim at the end of that 300 hours).

They REALLY coat the bezel threads with grease and it makes the bezel turn a bit too easily for my liking. You may want to clean most of it off to give the bezel-twist-on-off a little more resistance. Review on my site (click graphic below if interested).

I have the Petzl Tikka, and I think it's great. A friend has the Black Diamond Moonlite and did a brief comparison.
-the difference in light output is not much, which is strange knowing that Moonlite has 4 leds and Tikka 3. We also thought the Tikka had a more even beam.
-The design of the Moonlite makes it easier to damage the leds. But the design is also more comfortable for people with glasses.
-Both lights are comfortable to wear.
-The Moonlite seems to be more water resistant.

I decided to buy the Tikka because it cost half the price than Moonlite in Norway. But if the price had been the same......I would probably buy both!

If I was going to go back packing now, (not that I have in a long time), the Attitude seems like a pretty good suggestion. I'm of the less light is better camp, much to the chagrin of some previous partners, and would consider an Infinity in Green or Blue-green plenty of light for most tasks, especially with Lithiums(which will also shave off a few ounces). The Petzl Tikka looks interesting, has gotten rave reviews, and would be a good choice if you wanted a headlamp. I'd consider a Photon or Inova Microlight a good backup that should be somewhere on you, around your neck or something, at all times, especially if the other lights are going to be in a pack.

Though not LED lights, I've found the Princeton Tec Tec20 and Tec40 to be good lights, also.

Joe S.

I am contemplating the use of my EternaLite Xray as a camping light this year. It has some great features. One of the good ones is that you can adjust the light output, from "bright enough to do anything" to "late night, dark-adjusted reading light" to anything in between. Concurrent with that is really solid runtimes, on the order of thousands of hours in the dimmest mode, to dozens of hours in the brightest mode (I'll have to re-check that). It's also waterproof.

My light philosophy camping is: only as much light as needed, no more. However, sometimes a lot of light is needed. Finding a good campsite, setting up camp in the dark, these are examples of things I like to have more light for. Not to mention emergencies: I don't want to be straining my eyes at all in a nighttime medical emergency, say. I think it's foolish to bring just enough light for "normal" use, and end up with not enough for emergency use.

Anyway, with runtimes long enough to last an entire trip easily, and adjustable brightness, the EL seems like a good candidate. The only "problem" is the weird ergonomics.

I usually bring something like a UKE 2L as a super hot backup light. May switch to E2e this year.

Joe

It's interesting that many light lovers here recommended hand held light for backpacking. I can't live without a headlamp for backpacking regardless you carry along with your beloved hand held light.

I guess I am clumsy or I missed something obvious (I'm not sarcastic, really), I need my LED headlamp for cooking, reading in tent, setting up the tent (if I arrive the target site late), fixing my stove (it happened once), doing dishes ... etc. How you guy doing that using hand held?

Alan

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Tesla:
Alan, I can't speak for the others, but I have clips on my Mini-maglite & ARC AAA that allow them to be clipped to my cap brim. This works fully as well as a headlamp, while eliminating the extra weight of the headlamp straps in favor of a cap which has additional use.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I did mount a Mini mag on headband which was designed for mini mag (I got it from REI) on one of my backpakcing trip many years ago. The mini mag swayed up and down when I walk or left and right if I turn.

My eyeballs was still swaying when I returned the product 2 days after the trip

Alan

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Termac:
Recently, the introduction of food canisters has eliminated the toughest night camp task: hanging the food bags.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The bear canister is one hell of invention. You reminded me of those tough time to retrieve food bag.

Alan

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Alan:
I did mount a Mini mag on headband which was designed for mini mag (I got it from REI) on one of my backpakcing trip many years ago. The mini mag swayed up and down when I walk or left and right if I turn.

My eyeballs was still swaying when I returned the product 2 days after the trip

Alan<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I'm not a big fan of the headband holders for the same reason...clipping onto a cap brim normally works better for me, as it steadies the light more & is easier to aim by positioning the bill of the cap

the Illuminator by Lightwave takes 3 aa's, but the light and the battery pack all sit on your forehead - a slightly top heavy arragement, especially with the way the illuminator head sticks out...
I just don't buy the criticism that the Moonlight's 'exposed' LEDs are prone to damage -- they are recessed in a tough little reflecting chamber... I'd say the over- all quality of the Tikka is toy-like compared to the Moonlight ...and that Tikka switch is downright flimsy, any one disagree?...I also find the Moonlight's 'extra' LED makes it substantially brighter than the Tikka...
The Moonlight does have some form of current regulation, different people hear differing things from Black Diamond. I heard it uses a resistor 'to flatten the discharge curve' --
Backpacker magazine reported 140 hours use..BlackD. says 70.

Y'know, I don't really know how I get along with a headlamp. I'm sure if I switched to a headlamp, I'd never go back. I think up 'til now I'd just dealt with holding the light in my hand, or put it in my mouth (not possible w/ the EL), or handed it to someone else to point, or propped it somewhere at the right angle.

Alan, I can't speak for the others, but I have clips on my Mini-maglite & ARC AAA that allow them to be clipped to my cap brim. This works fully as well as a headlamp, while eliminating the extra weight of the headlamp straps in favor of a cap which has additional use.

The Infinity comes with a nice clip and a lanyard. The lanyard can be shortened to make the unit dangle on your forehead in a suprisingly effective way for camp tasks. I've always felt that the more light you use, the more you need. In other words, you can become flashlight dependant. Before, LEDs I would backpack with a Minimag. I'd keep it on a lanyard, either around my neck or hanging in the tent. Ninety percent of the time I'd use it with the reflector removed, making it an electric candle. Recently, the introduction of food canisters has eliminated the toughest night camp task: hanging the food bags. So I no longer have such a need for a stong beam. If I do take power, I take the Rage. But backpacking isn't just about carefully picking quality lightwieght gear; its about leaving things behind.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Termac:
... I've always felt that the more light you use, the more you need. In other words, you can become flashlight dependant.

[backpacking isn't just about carefully picking quality lightwieght gear; its about leaving things behind.]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Very interesting points.

Joe T.,
I think I've got the same worry about headlamps as you !

lightlover

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>the Illuminator by Lightwave takes 3 aa's, but the light and the battery pack all sit on your forehead - a slightly top heavy arragement, especially with the way the illuminator head sticks out...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

True(and not to say anything bad about any other headlamp), but there's no connection wires sticking out that can get snagged/broken/overly flexed. The unit is all self contained and even if the headband breaks it can be easily used as a handheld unit.

I'm very leery about any product that has LEDs that are exposed without being recessed. LEDs can and do get damaged by drops/impacts. I would really prefer not to be without my light when I'm out camping/hiking because I accidentally dropped the thing on a rock.

First, I would highly recommand a headlamp for backpacking trip as u need 2 hands to do camp jobs. As for headlamp, I would suggest the Princeton tech matrix. It have a voltage regulator so the light doesn't fade until the battery is nearly dead. Which means it produces 40+ hr of good light with 2 AA, not the continously fading light of many other models. It's totally waterproof and IMHO tougher then the TIkka and the Moonlight.