Going Camping with way to many lights again...

[kelmo]

This weekend I'm headed up to Mt Lassen to hike with my buddies. Male bonding. So naturally I over packed lights. I will be car camping so no big deal. I will have my M6 with both MN20 and MN21 LAs (maybe I'll pack an MN15 too), I've never had the chance to use it in a really dark open environment. I'm bringing my E1e w/KX1. It's got such a nice tint and will be a good midnight toilet run light. Not too bright with a nice cone of light. It will be my hiking light also as it is my smallest hand help torch with great run time. I will bring my trusty Tikka+ for camp duties. My Arc AAA DS on a neck lanyard is always with me.

But my most useful camp light is my L2. The long running low beam with a white Minimag traffic cone makes a great tent light. And the wall of light high beam is still very respectable. The Lux V maybe long in the tooth but I love the "Wall-O-Light."

Thanks for sharing.

 

[bigfoot]

Sounds like a nice setup. Lassen is a nice spot, enjoy your trip!

 

[greenlight]

I usually don't go car camping so I can't take along all of my big lights. I usually have to pare down the number of lights that I take. Sometimes 3 is still too many.

 

[sirahren]

I love car camping cause of how many I can bring. Backpacking, not as much. I hate having to try to decide which light I'll need. You'd think with the (relatively) large selection at my disposal it would be easy to figure out which ones for camping... not so much.

The more important question: How many batteries do i pack?
HOW MANY DID YOU PACK?

:candle:

 

[kelmo]

14 CR123s (2 SC2s and a converted orange match carrier)

3 AAA

1 A23 (for my GloToob)

 

[sirahren]

Thats very reasonable...

I usually bring at least 12, and I dont even have an M6!

 

[ninjaboigt]

i remeber when i went camping, i brought my
G2 with 10 extra CR123A ( had a E2D at the time but didnt wanna bring it and lose it on the trip so i left it at home and went to the store to buy the G2)
Mini mag led 2AA with a pack for 36 AA, because the walky talky's took them too along with other cheap flashlights

 

[:)>]

I will have my M6 with both MN20 and MN21 LAs (maybe I'll pack an MN15 too), I've never had the chance to use it in a really dark open environment.

Man are you in for a treat!

I have limited my lights when backpacking to:

• (1) Ti PD-S
• (1) Ra Twisty
• (1) Arc AAA-P w/GS LED

I bring a Nite Ize headband and use the twisty as my headlamp.

I hike for between 3 and 5 days at a time and I never need more than 2 batteries even still I bring a spare.

 

[adamlau]

I will have my M6 with both MN20 and MN21 LAs...

Dark, open expanses tend to swallow up the M6, even with the MN21.

 

[HoopleHead]

same, going camping soon. ill have a small milky and the big milky optimator, GF will have another small milky and a tiabo A9. and maybe my L0D CE Q4 with microstream clicky, for a strobe party in the tent :naughty:

edit: oh yeah, and a zebralight H30 and H50 for around the campsite!

 

[Lee1959]

Dang, last time I went hunting/camping last winter for a week I took my 2AA MagLED Minimag (because it fits in the belt pouch I bought for my old Minimag) for hunting use and my Brinkman headlamp for around camp. I put in fresh batteries in each and took one set of spares but never used them. Cannot imagine much more room that that set aside in my pack for more light related stuff.

 

[matt_j]

That's a lot of candle power but that's the whole fun. My camp setup is usualy two Glowtoobs, Petzl XP and Kroma. Deep in the pack I have the Petzl E+ as a backup.

 

[CampingLED]

Something to keep in mind:
Most of my lights tend to be too bright lately to use in the middle of the night without disturbing other people and I often shine it through my shirt to get a nice dim light.

 

[kelmo]

The trip was a blast. Lots of snow on Mt Lassen and it made for a very interesting hike.

The M6 was stunning. I now see why people are willing to burn through $12 of batteries in 20 minutes with the MN21. Some chuckleheads across the way were setting up camp and left there headlights on. A couple of quick blasts got the point across. The MN15 was a great complement. But after the 1st night the M6 stayed in the car. It just was way to bright. Highly entertaining, but not very practical.

The KX1 was near perfect. A great illuminator, fantastic endurance, with just the right amount of light to go tooling around without glare washing out your night vision. This is my just incase trail light. KX1/E1e body/McClicky switch and a converted orange match carrier holding 2 extra cells.

I brought my red A2 instead of my L2. This turned out to be the big surprise for me. I was never overly impressed by this light. I bought it because I got it cheap. The red LEDs were perfect for getting up in the middle of the night and not waking my tent mate. I was even able to use them to navigate my way to the bathroom at night. The incan beam had a great combination of flood and throw. I'm just not thrilled with the 45-50 minute constant on runtime. But when not used as a night hiking light the regulated incan is a great "casual" around the camp light. Full throttle until you drop is not a bad thing. Ironically this was my most borrowed light. I know see the A2 light.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[abarth_1200]

That's a lot of candle power but that's the whole fun. My camp setup is usualy two Glowtoobs, Petzl XP and Kroma. Deep in the pack I have the Petzl E+ as a backup.

what exactly is a glow tube, is it one of those lights sticks?

 

[kelmo]

There little dive light mini-beacons. The earlier ones were powered by a A23 cell. The latest variant is powered by a CR123 cell. They have 3 leds and have a number of illumination options.

 

[RGB_LED]

what exactly is a glow tube, is it one of those lights sticks?

Here's a link to the BJ Glo-toob page, one of the stores that sells them.

They are definitely a candidate for replacing any glow-sticks since, as indicated, they run off batteries instead of relying on chemicals. The (somewhat) new 'Glo-Toob Lithium' model runs off a single CR / RCR123 so, if you have a light that uses CR / RCR123's, then it's a great option as you already have the batteries. They come in various colours (blue, red, green, amber, white) and have 11 different modes (SOS, flashing, pulsing, steady-high, steady-low, etc.).

They are light, compact, easy-to-use and all-around fantastic... I have three of them (blue, red, white) and use them for everything from a camping dinner-table light, rear flashing light for my bike, low-light use when sailing at night, etc.

 

[enLIGHTenment]

I usually have to pare down the number of lights that I take. Sometimes 3 is still too many.

Two is one.
One is none.

Three is just right.

 

[KeyGrip]

Three is just right.

And five is really fun!