I went camping...

[kelmo]

and once again I agonized over what to bring. I took my Nephew to Pyramid Lake last night for an over nighter. As any flashaholic would do I repacked my lights countless times. At first I thought, dessert, big sky, open water, I need firepower! So the 1st iteration was headlamps, Aeon, KX2C, and the mighty M6 w/MN21. Then at the last minute sanity took hold, I rarely use a very bright light when camping. So I ended up with an Aeon, L1, and the M6 w/MN15. I equipped my Nephew with a headlamp, L2, and an Arc AAA.

There was a half moon that just dazzled and the stars in the high desert away from the big city light pollution were magnificent. We really did not need light for our night hike. In the end I realized that the L1 (Cree version) is a great camp light. It had plenty of runtime and the high really dazzled in the dark. Someone else here had said that survival lights ideally should be one celled as you don't need to worry about having a dud in your spares because there is nothing to mix and match.

My L1 was purchased because I got it cheap when OpticsHQ had a great sale. I really didn't think much of it until last night. It will be my trail light of choice from now on. The TIR optic was a great complement to the floody headlamps I prefer. I was pleasantly suprised by the punch the hibeam had out in nature.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[DaFABRICATA]

Nice story!
Sounds like a good time!

As for mixing cells in the spares carrier...I insert my spent cells "Upside down" so I know what it good and what is bad. :tinfoil:

Last time I attempted to go camping, I took WAY too many lights.
Its just so hard to choose which ones, when you have a decent selection.

 

[Flying Turtle]

Sounds like a great time. You're obviously a good Uncle. I'd love to see some of that non-light polluted desert sky (and litter it with my L1's beam).

Geoff

 

[Big_Ed]

Nice story!
Sounds like a good time!

As for mixing cells in the spares carrier...I insert my spent cells "Upside down" so I know what it good and what is bad. :tinfoil:

That's exactly what I do.

 

[KiwiMark]

I am going to a motorbike rally next weekend - 2 nights. I know what you mean about agonizing over what to take!

I will try to keep the number of lights down to something within reason - definitely under 10, hopefully 8 or less!

I will take:
My new Zebralight H501 - good floody light from headband or pocket clip.
Jetbeam Jet-IIIM - Warm LED and has the lowest low that I have.
One of my Mag2D ROP lights - I like to have 1 bright incan.
My 3 EDC lights - I always have them on me.
Hmmm - wonder if those 6 are enough? :thinking:

I might add both my 2xAA Minimags in case someone needs to borrow a torch - I don't really want to hand over any of my expensive ones. That gives me 4 spare AA cells as well.

That's 8, but I can't guarantee that I wont decide to add a couple more lights to play with.

 

[Databyter]

It's nice to keep most of your night vision intact when camping. Sounds like you had a good combo there.

 

[zven]

I definitely hear you on the L1 for camping. SF's optic on that one almost certainly produces my favorite beam pattern for outdoor use - very wide, bright, throwy spot, with plenty of spill for navigation. I always take my L1 with me for camping, and don't foresee that changing for a long time to come.

My other favorite for the outdoors is a G3 with M60LF. Produces probably the smoothest beam I've ever seen on a flashlight, and yet is quite throwy for a flood light. (Admittedly I haven't tried out the warm version of this module, though.)

And one day I hope to add an A2-YG to my camp-light arsenal. Somehow I suspect this would be a fantastic addition for its color rendition, combination of low flood and high throw, etc.

 

[Cataract]

Wow, reasonable guy... I always end up bringing at least 5 or 6 flashlights on top of a headlamp and a Fenix headband... Well, to be true that is my goal. Last time I still brought a backpack full of lights because we where supposed to do comparisons, but never had the time to.

 

[gsxrac]

This reminds me I need an L1. Ive always thought the L1 was the best looking light ever. And I realize I have a bunch of lights that way out perform its runtime and brightness but Ive always liked the L1 and never owned one. Plus I need to go camping! Its been like 6 months! I got a new headlamp and it should be great for camping also. Has anyone ever organized a flashaholic camping trip?

 

[nbp]

I went camping last week and had the same problem: what lights to bring?!

I took far too many lights..........

SF G2
SF 6PD w/X-RE dropin
SF L4
Fenix P3D Q5
Fenix LD01 SS
Nitecore EX10
(2) Inova X1
Arc AAA
Energizer headlamp

I had to experiment! Plus, I might have had to loan out some lights...

In actuality, I discovered I really only needed like 2 lights. The EX10 and the L4 made a really good combo, and were on me all the time. The low of the EX10 was perfect for snuggling into the tent before bed and lighting up the path to the bathroom without disturbing fellow sleeping campers. And the "wall of light" L4 was my go-to light when I had to sweep the whole site to check for garbage or food outside (there were racoons, skunks and black bears in the area, so food had to be picked up).

These will definitely be with me on my next trip.

 

[Woods Walker]

In actuality, I discovered I really only needed like 2 lights.

Beyond messing around with new gear I mostly use 2 lights. A headlmap and backup flashlight. Too much stuff in the pack is never a good thing.

Edit.

Well not all the time as sometimes I take extra cheap headlamps and loner flashlights in the car if going with friends. I do a gear check before going out for the camp and about 50% of the time someone does not have anything so toss them a loner which is not returned maybe 25% of the time.

 

[kelmo]

The next trip I will take my Tikka+, Aeon (always in my pocket), L1 for my hiking kit, and a stock C3 (you gotta have a good incan).

I have a Maglight white traffic cone that fits perfectly on the L1 or the L2 that I use as a candle. Nice soft white glow.

I sleep with the Aeon in my pocket so I always know where a light is.

When I hike I have the Tikka+ and the L1 w/extra batteries in my torsopak. The Aeon is always in my pocket. I also carry a small 1st aid kit in a water proof container that has an Arc AAA GS and a SOG microknife in matching black.

 

[Crenshaw]

Oh i would be absolutely lost if i want camping. Id want to bring everything, and yet nothing cos i'd be scared to lose something.

Crenshaw

 

[bretti_kivi]

I was really surprised at the summer house to get annoyed at a "too bright" torch. I was trying to read, it's an MJ-LED'd 2AA minimag... I will have to work on getting the head lamp with adjustable output up and running. That will probably be a Fatman + MC-E for power when I want it and low when I need it.

Bret

 

[325addict]

Zven wrote:
"SF's optic on that one almost certainly produces my favorite beam pattern for outdoor use - very wide, bright, throwy spot, with plenty of spill for navigation."

HUH???

I don't know ANY flashlight that produces LESS spill than an L1 LumaMax....
really ANY other flashlight I have, produces more spill. Any Fenix PXD (be it P1D or P3D) produces WAAAYYY more spill. This beam is really far better usable in the woods. Any P90 or incan-module like it also produces way more spill than the L1.
Actually, after a test with 8 flashlights in the woods, the first one I immediately ruled out was the L1....

I think the L1 makes for a great inspection light (for electronics and the like) but it makes for one of the worst camping lights I've ever seen. I simply don't get the point when people say it's so great for camping! Just try something else (I would say ANY other flashlight) and you'll see what I mean....

Timmo.

 

[Blindasabat]

By plenty of spill for navigation, he meant there was enough spill to navigate by. The L1 does have spill, it just lacks the nasty hard cutoff of reflectored lights.

Zven wrote:
"SF's optic on that one almost certainly produces my favorite beam pattern for outdoor use - very wide, bright, throwy spot, with plenty of spill for navigation."

HUH???

I don't know ANY flashlight that produces LESS spill than an L1 LumaMax....
...
I think the L1 makes for a great inspection light (for electronics and the like) but it makes for one of the worst camping lights I've ever seen. I simply don't get the point when people say it's so great for camping! Just try something else (I would say ANY other flashlight) and you'll see what I mean....

Timmo.

I love an L1 for camping too. I have plenty of other flashlights to choose from too. Different folks, different terrain, different needs.

 

[zven]

I don't know ANY flashlight that produces LESS spill than an L1 LumaMax....
really ANY other flashlight I have, produces more spill. Any Fenix PXD (be it P1D or P3D) produces WAAAYYY more spill. This beam is really far better usable in the woods. Any P90 or incan-module like it also produces way more spill than the L1.
Actually, after a test with 8 flashlights in the woods, the first one I immediately ruled out was the L1....

I think the L1 makes for a great inspection light (for electronics and the like) but it makes for one of the worst camping lights I've ever seen. I simply don't get the point when people say it's so great for camping! Just try something else (I would say ANY other flashlight) and you'll see what I mean....

Timmo.

True, many other lights do produce brighter spill than the L1 (and other SF lights with the same optic), but depending on where and how you're using it, as well as your personal preferences, the L1's spill is plenty usable.

Although we would probably agree that the L1's spill is not particularly well suited to, say, navigating indoors (the hotspot at those close distances simply drowns out the spill, which is fairly dim by comparison), I think the L1 excels at distance illumination. For camping (and outdoor use in general), the L1's spot throws a pretty far distance, and the spill is bright enough to illuminate most everything between you and your long distance target, though not so bright as to blind you in the process. Add to that the larger diameter hotspot of the L1, and in my opinion, you have one of the best outdoors lights out there. Granted, when you're camping, and using the light for tasks at arm's length, you again have the spot overpowering the spill, but for those tasks I'd rather be using a headlamp anyway, as it frees up a hand.

Of course, even for the distance illumination, it depends on what you want/need to be doing with the spill. Myself, I like to use the spill for general navigation, and the hotspot for investigating/identifying/etc. things. For this, the L1's spill is plenty bright - and if there's something in the spill beam that I'm going to want to identify, I'm going to want the full light of the hotspot anyway, regardless of whether I'm using the L1 or some other light. That said, if your goal is to be able to use the spill to identify objects and targets, then yeah, there are other lights better suited for this than the L1.

The other advantage (at least to me) of the L1 over reflector lights is that the spill fades gradually at its perimeter, rather than having a harsh cutoff
as with reflectors. I can understand wanting to spread the spill's brightness out a bit further, but I find the distinct cutoff from spill to no more spill with reflector lights distracting. This is, of course, personal opinion and preference, though.

 

[mudman cj]

I think another point worth mentioning is that the new Cree-based L1 has more spill than the older Luxeon-based L1. I used to think that optics were horrible, but I have changed my tune.

 

[kelmo]

When I'm on the trail at night, I use a Tikka+ to light my immediate surroundings and will use the L1 to focus down range. In the past I used a KL3 on a 9P tube, HDS B42XRGT, or Arc6 for that purpose.

My L1 compliments the floody headlamps that I use. If I didn't have a headlamp the L2 would be my hand held of choice.

What really was important was my Nephew had a good time.

 

[325addict]

Well, when your spill is bright enough, you DON'T have to pinpoint things you want to see better every time - just because the spill is bright enough to see ALL things in close range very, very clear.

Because of the dim spill of the L1, you indeed HAVE to swivel your light constantly from the left to the right, in order to see all you want to see.

One hint: just try a Wolf Eyes M90 Rattlesnake. The standard 7.2V setup is already more than bright enough. It was the winner of my test from 8 lights in the woods.
Want even brighter light, spill AND hotspot? Just buy the 13V setup for the M90.

Too big, this M90? Just try the C3 with P90 LA. This one HAS a gradually diminishing hotspot-into-flood, although it has a reflector :thumbsup:
At least already way better than the L1 Lumamax...

and by the way: I have the newer Cree version. So, the predecessor had even less spill? I thought that was quite impossible :thinking:

Not that I don't like the L1... I use it as an inspection light quite often. "Where's that last screw in that Sound Devices 442N?" Just shine the light of an L1 into the beast and that last screw will have to give up its hiding
But as a camping light... not for me. I have better (read: more suitable) stuff for that...


Timmo.