rebelproud
Newly Enlightened
- Joined
- May 23, 2010
- Messages
- 14
This past week, myself and a few friends did some wilderness hiking/camping and it gave me an excellent chance to use a few of my favorite lights and to deploy them for review in a real world scenario. So, I thought I might post some of my observations.
My two favorite lights have been the Kroma and the LX2. The LX2 for brightness in a compact size, and the Kroma for versatility. I generally use the Kroma as a nightstand light, because the low red is perfect for middle of the night tasks such as making my way to the bathroom without blinding myself in the process, and it is nice to have the high beam available just by pushing the tailcap a little further incase I have to investigate a strange noise, or something along those lines. However, I've been a little disappointed with the 50 lumen main beam around the house and yard, which is why I bought the LX2.
So, we hiked out to a small lake in the middle of some small mountains in northern New England. It is a fairly popular destination for hikers like us, and although there is no campground, there are a couple of small shelters in place for hikers/campers that are set up around the lake, and there were a few other people camping there as well. We arrived shortly before sunset, and both the Kroma and the LX2 were still running on batteries that had been used for my last weekend camping experience about a month ago.
The first night I used only the Kroma, and I found some things out about my light that I had not realized from daily tasks/home use. First, the main beam is more than sufficient when you are out in the woods and camping. It has a tight beam up close, but spreads out quite a bit and evens out its artifacts quite nicely at a little bit of a distance. There is a big difference between using the Kroma in the yard or in the neighborhood, and using it in the woods. In the woods, there isn't a lot of space until you hit trees. This is why the main beam was more than enough, and seemed so much brighter without any other light around way out in the dense forest.. Next, the usefulness of the two red LED settings was great. The low red allowed me to perform tasks without drawing much attention to myself, and the high red allowed me to navigate a trail or a path through the woods without disturbing other campers if my light happened to shine on their tent or in their direction, the way a bright high white beam would. I was really happy with the two red settings. Next I tried the Bright blue setting and I was amazed with how much flood seemed to come out of it. It really lit up everything around my. The eye picks up much more in the blue light than the red light, so the difference of the high red and high blue was noticed right away. The high blue was quite nice in this aspect, and it also made certain colors stand out much more like florescent yellows, oranges, greens, and reds. I also felt that the low white setting was also quite useful, and seemed much more bright while using it to navigate a path way out in the woods than using it to walk down the street.
The next night I decided to use the LX2, and was really amazed with the power of this little light. The thin and lightweight LX2 fit quite nicely in the small side pocket of my carpenter style pants, to the point where it is forgotten that it is being worn at all. The low beam of the LX2 seemed every bit as bright as the high beam of the kroma and has a warmer tint to it, which is nice against the colors of the forest. And, the high beam was incredible. It really seemed like I was packing a much bigger light. It throws a nice tight beam and also spills quite a bit of light in the surrounding area. However, the high beam was almost a bit too bright to use after the eyes adjusted to the darkness. When navigating around the forest with the low beam, the light was more than bright enough, and I began to miss the privacy that the red modes of the Kroma had afforded me. I really do like the LX2, but for camping in the deep woods, I do feel that the Kroma is the way to go because of it's versatility.
Throughout the rest of the trip I used both lights about equally. The Kroma finally drained the remainder of its batteries on the last night, and the LX2 is still running on its original batteries after two camping trips and much useage in between. I am equally impressed with the running time of the LX2 as I am with the power of it's two settings. All in all, both great lights, both plenty bright, and both would make great lights to have in a recreational or a survival situation. I must mention that a while back I started to feel a bit of buyers remorse over the Kroma due to the 50 lumen main beam, but I have to say that it is just about perfect for the deep woods/wilderness. More than bright enough, and a real nice beam once it gets out a little bit. The only minor issue that I have with the main beam is that it is a little bit cool in tint compared to the LX2. I do have to say that this is going to be my primary camping light and if I could only bring one it would be the Kroma.
My two favorite lights have been the Kroma and the LX2. The LX2 for brightness in a compact size, and the Kroma for versatility. I generally use the Kroma as a nightstand light, because the low red is perfect for middle of the night tasks such as making my way to the bathroom without blinding myself in the process, and it is nice to have the high beam available just by pushing the tailcap a little further incase I have to investigate a strange noise, or something along those lines. However, I've been a little disappointed with the 50 lumen main beam around the house and yard, which is why I bought the LX2.
So, we hiked out to a small lake in the middle of some small mountains in northern New England. It is a fairly popular destination for hikers like us, and although there is no campground, there are a couple of small shelters in place for hikers/campers that are set up around the lake, and there were a few other people camping there as well. We arrived shortly before sunset, and both the Kroma and the LX2 were still running on batteries that had been used for my last weekend camping experience about a month ago.
The first night I used only the Kroma, and I found some things out about my light that I had not realized from daily tasks/home use. First, the main beam is more than sufficient when you are out in the woods and camping. It has a tight beam up close, but spreads out quite a bit and evens out its artifacts quite nicely at a little bit of a distance. There is a big difference between using the Kroma in the yard or in the neighborhood, and using it in the woods. In the woods, there isn't a lot of space until you hit trees. This is why the main beam was more than enough, and seemed so much brighter without any other light around way out in the dense forest.. Next, the usefulness of the two red LED settings was great. The low red allowed me to perform tasks without drawing much attention to myself, and the high red allowed me to navigate a trail or a path through the woods without disturbing other campers if my light happened to shine on their tent or in their direction, the way a bright high white beam would. I was really happy with the two red settings. Next I tried the Bright blue setting and I was amazed with how much flood seemed to come out of it. It really lit up everything around my. The eye picks up much more in the blue light than the red light, so the difference of the high red and high blue was noticed right away. The high blue was quite nice in this aspect, and it also made certain colors stand out much more like florescent yellows, oranges, greens, and reds. I also felt that the low white setting was also quite useful, and seemed much more bright while using it to navigate a path way out in the woods than using it to walk down the street.
The next night I decided to use the LX2, and was really amazed with the power of this little light. The thin and lightweight LX2 fit quite nicely in the small side pocket of my carpenter style pants, to the point where it is forgotten that it is being worn at all. The low beam of the LX2 seemed every bit as bright as the high beam of the kroma and has a warmer tint to it, which is nice against the colors of the forest. And, the high beam was incredible. It really seemed like I was packing a much bigger light. It throws a nice tight beam and also spills quite a bit of light in the surrounding area. However, the high beam was almost a bit too bright to use after the eyes adjusted to the darkness. When navigating around the forest with the low beam, the light was more than bright enough, and I began to miss the privacy that the red modes of the Kroma had afforded me. I really do like the LX2, but for camping in the deep woods, I do feel that the Kroma is the way to go because of it's versatility.
Throughout the rest of the trip I used both lights about equally. The Kroma finally drained the remainder of its batteries on the last night, and the LX2 is still running on its original batteries after two camping trips and much useage in between. I am equally impressed with the running time of the LX2 as I am with the power of it's two settings. All in all, both great lights, both plenty bright, and both would make great lights to have in a recreational or a survival situation. I must mention that a while back I started to feel a bit of buyers remorse over the Kroma due to the 50 lumen main beam, but I have to say that it is just about perfect for the deep woods/wilderness. More than bright enough, and a real nice beam once it gets out a little bit. The only minor issue that I have with the main beam is that it is a little bit cool in tint compared to the LX2. I do have to say that this is going to be my primary camping light and if I could only bring one it would be the Kroma.
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