a backpacker's question (any reason not to go cree)?

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rorschah

Newly Enlightened
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I wanted to get a light or two for backpacking.

Right now I'm using a Princeton Tec Aurora headlamp for most uses - I like that its a low, diffuse light because I can flick it on for a bit to do campside tasks and not blow my night vision very much.

I'm liking the Fenix E0 that I just got, so I was thinking of getting an L1 or P1 - but the question is, Luxeon or Cree? I mean, efficiency is great, and the longer the run-time, the better, but I'm worried that super-super brightness of the Cree ones will blow out my night vision completely.

Main uses will be: for a few nighttime uses that need high illumination (a tricky bear-bag, looking for a lost knife), and for navigating a tricky or dangerous path.

So what do you folks think? Cree or not?

And any backpackers out there? And what lights do you use?
 
The Fenix EO is a great choice for backpacking. So is the Gerber Infinity Ultra 1xAA. The common denominator is long runtime. I haven't seen anything that challenges either in terms of runtime so far. I don't care for the bluish tint, but it's not that noticeable outside. Personally, I would wait for something better to come along than what's available right now, unless you're willing to sacrifice runtime for a better tint or longer throw, but in the bush at night you don't need a really bright light. That's just my opinion.
 
Get the L1D.

Bloody ripper, the low is a great level for if you need something brighter \ whiter than the E0 but don't want to fry your eyeballs.
And it always turns on in this low mode unless you have the head in turbo mode, in which it comes on at max (useful sometimes)

The runtime on low is something in the range of +20hrs.... absolutely flipping fantastic!
Even longer on primary lithiums too!

Don't bother with the luxeon. The P1D luxeon will be dimmer in low mode than the cree version, but the interface means you'll be turning it on in MEDIUM - and it's an annoying twist off \ on to get it to low...

With the L1D in normal mode, you turn it on and it's in low straight away. I'd definitely recommend this.
It's amazingly bright for it's size in high\turbo mode - and very compact!

Get one ^_^
 
The L1D-CE has competitive if not improved runtime over the E0 - and retains a nice usable hotspot and spill... in white! Not bluey yellow!

L1D-CE is advertised at 25hrs in low. With lithiums this will be extended.
I haven't seen any runtimes for low, but hopefully Quickbeam will enlighten us all :p

(There may have been low runtimes done on the board, but I haven't seen 'em)
 
I use the SF E1E as my primary source of light when hiking. It gives me enough light without totally ruining my night vision. The small size does not add too much weight and size to your already loaded down pack. My E2E comes along as well when I need more punch.

I'm an Incan guy for outdoor illumination, but a CREE based light would be a good LED light as backup to the incans.
 
cree more bluish, puts out more light, get LEVELS for backpacking, the advantage of lots of the new stuff is levels, even cheaper new stuff.
need a low that is around 30-50ma max for tent , and stuff.

for trying to do long range spotting, you (well ME) needs something with ZERO spill, and all spot. cree did not improve spill leakage, but there are some interesting new large size optics that reduce the spill size.

spill out of a reflector is the 40-60% of the light from the emitter, departing the flashlight without touching the reflector, it is an amasing ammount of the light that never gets "concentrated"
"Deep throated" and "scrawney width" reflectors that i saw, did a much better job of forcing the cree light into the reflectors. mod-a-mags quad cree had some really nice reflectors for cree spotting.

the optics will route all of the light through the bending process, but they do not get As spotty, the ones that are almost as spotty AS a reflector, have more spill :-( with the cree thing, a square spill when "tuned".

the aspherical, and magnifying type lenses, like in some dorcies, and some inova lights, will put out a very good spot, with least spill, and potentially could completly change angle (focus) if they would DO THAT, grrrr.
but still aspherical and magnifying did have spill and the ring, with cree.

ahh back to the original question :)
the few reasons for not going "cree" are its not really that far into perfecting it, Blue sucks in stuff like fogs, because it blows back in your face more.
same thing with the spill, when your trying to get THROUGH the bushes stuff 30+ feet away, lighting all the bush around you just blinds you.

on the other hand tight spots with spills, are great for path walking and open air spotting, but focusing GRRRR, would be the real way to do that right.

its been HOW many years after MAG lights were being replaced by leds, and we still dont have FOCUS, 300$ light and still no focus. 20$ mag light Focus ,, nasty doughnut rings, and speckled light, but focus :)
 
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The L1D is a 1xAA light, so it's not a fair comparison to the EO, which is 1xAAA light. The EO has a longer runtime than the LOD 1xAAA, which is a more fair comparison. The L1D 1xAA has an advertised runtime of about 25hrs, compared to the Gerber I.U., which has a real world "usable" runtime of 72+ hrs (do a search here for the threads pertaining to this). I'm all for brighter and whiter, but if it's pitch black and your *** is camped on the backside of nowhere (as mine often is), output runs a distant second to runtime. Again, my advice is to stick with the EO and IU and wait for a decent-output, long-runtime Cree light. I haven't seen one yet that displaces what I already have.
 
I don't have anything against Cree, but at this point, I'm not aware of any stock Cree- or SSC-based lights I'd consider ideal for backpacking. I'd probably think the L2D CE would be about ideal. A decent level of light on low and certainly a lot more power on tap.

I know the trend is towards smaller lights, but I can't imagine a P1D as my primary hiking light. Of course, I've done more 'hiking' than 'backpacking' so maybe I'm not aware of how important weight conservation can be. I'd want something that I could comfortably hold in at least two different positions in each hand, preferably even with gloves. For me, that means 2xAA, 4xAA, 2x123 or possibly 3x123 lights.
 
rorschah said:
So, Vidpro - what do you use backpacking?
Click to expand...

right now its a David-19 with a 3W and a very tight optics, not any where near the Spot, at 15 feet the beam is 7 feet wide :-(. runs with a li-ion.
MOD

and the Fenix 1 AA 2 level, with a luxeeon and lithium primary, much better spotting, at least some level capacity.
STOCK

Headlamp, 6 level li-ion and 3W with optics, head lamp, weighs less than 3 OZ, can change optics for closeup med or wide.
HOME BUILT

little old 5MM photon light

3MM White Led stylus pen (must have for GPS PDA).

modified Quad die 5mm 100ma carbiner (with backup compass)

Gawd, really i am NOT a Flashaholic i SWEAR, , none of them weigh more than a few ounces , really i am not bringing to many lights out there :)

I could lose ONE of the larger lights, if it had levels, and better optical stuff, like a no-spill spot, and a single add on diffuser.

i cant believe how many lights i really take, and i forgot the fake photon on the miniature multitool.
 
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Vidpro.... what is the Cree "more bluish" than??
The Nichie CS in the E0 is about as blue as you can get :p

My L1D has the whitest output of any light I have owned. Fantastic colour rendition.
Low output is night vision friendly if you need more than the E0. I find an E0 or E1 on my front belt loop provides great onhand illumination for most tasks - if I need more then out comes something from a holster \ pocket (eg: L1D!)

The Gerber Infinity Ultra has similar runtime to the L1D on low. About 20hrs or so. Dimmer though, which for a tent light would be better. Then there's the Infinity non ultra which has double the runtime @ ~40hrs. That's dimmer again so as a tent light would be pretty good!

I would personally try to homebrew a single C-cell (with boost circuit) and one underdriven nichia CS (either sanded to diffuse or some kind of diffusing column \ shade) if I wanted a tent light. Not sure what circuit would be best, I'm sure there's one out there though :)
Running an LED @ ~50mA from a ~8000mAh C cell would provide tent illumination for a very nice amount of time!
 
"3MM White Led stylus pen (must have for GPS PDA)."

Ooh! Does that use the 3mm LED *as* the stylus nib? That sounds awesome :D
How big is it? Use AAAA ?
 
Spordin said:
The L1D 1xAA has an advertised runtime of about 25hrs, compared to the Gerber I.U., which has a real world "usable" runtime of 72+ hrs (do a search here for the threads pertaining to this).
Click to expand...

Fair enough. Hard to find the runtimes that go that far allong, most seem to give up when it's viewed as "too dim" by the tester.

At 50-70hrs, what would be the illumination compared to? At what distance could one make out details in darkness?

How long would lithium AA's give you until light output is negligible?

Link to any realworld runtime tests? Cheers :D
 
r0b0r said:
"3MM White Led stylus pen (must have for GPS PDA)."

Ooh! Does that use the 3mm LED *as* the stylus nib? That sounds awesome :D
How big is it? Use AAAA ?
Click to expand...

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-4-in-1-Lase...1QQihZ007QQcategoryZ14954QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

its this thing, they are cheap, and they are cheap, but the dog has to have his laser, and i want a real stylus, to operate the computer, with the inbuilt stylus as a backup.
so the white led comes in handy for momentary low light.
uses them puny hearing aid battereis.
 
None of these are the primary light - primary is and always will be a headlamp. (One - and only one time - did I have to set up a bear hang on a steep slope with a hand-held flashlight. Followed by setting up a tent by myself, in the dark. After that, headlamps.) And yes - weight is an issue. For the week-long Sierra trips, I'm down to cutting every quarter ounce.

Hmmm... packing the Infinity Ultra might be a good idea if I'm planning on doing any reading - it is a lovely diffuse chill light.

Vidpro - what's the "Fenix 1 AA 2-level" - is that the L1P?

-thi
 
How about an l2d-ce.

Supposedly 60+ hours on low ... runs on 2xAA.

Use Eneloops if discharge is an issue. Carry an extra 4 plus the 2 in the light. That's like 180+ hours of usable low.

Plus, you have the flexibility to blast high if you need to ... strobe ... SOS :whistle:
 
Vidpro.... what is the Cree "more bluish" than??

lots of my other stuff, a better way to say it might be, if you ignore the yellow ring :) it is AS blue as any other led i got here, EXCEPT cheap china white high brightness and 4 die leds.

if the right reflector or optic shoved the yellow ring back in, it might not be as bad.

i got a pics here somewhere.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=155040
 
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rorschah said:
Vidpro - what's the "Fenix 1 AA 2-level" - is that the L1P?

-thi
Click to expand...

L1T its 2OZ with a lithium battery IN it, and it works well with a lithium, a bit brighter than alkaline, as the regulation is not perfectally flat.

but if i was buying TODAY i sure wouldnt buy it, i would want more levels, like the cree things have, and for ~20$ you could get 2Level, cheap knockoff of the same basic thing, with cree.
(of course then i will add 30$ of tritium on it, and blow that out my . . )

Aluminum body lights with minimal FLUFF metal on them, are very lightweight.
 
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