Kitchen Panda
Enlightened
My niece texted me this afternoon, wanting to borrow a flashlight for a camping trip today. "Flash...light? I might have something like that."
A million questions came to mind...flood vs. throw? Color temperature? User interface? Orange peel vs. smooth reflector vs. TIR?
She summed up the mission parameters perfectly saying " I need something to find the campground bathroom at night."
I finally sent her on her way with three lights:
- My elderly but still reliable 2AA Quark - this is the one I bought for the Africa trip ten years ago, but it's still dead-on reliable. It's been riding around in my tool bag for away-from-the-bench troubleshooting. I also included two spare charged Eneloops as well as changing the batteries on-board.
- Eveready headlamp ( can't recall the model name) running on three AAAs, with selectable red/white and dimmable white lamp. Also spare batteries for that. I thought it would be useful in case she's doing some setup or something that requires free hands.
-I didn't have a camping lantern, not being a camper myself and relying on tail-standing and ceiling bounce for room lighting. But I'd picked up some surplus GE-branded "enbrighten" cordless motion sensor lamps at Princess Auto. These claim up to 300 lumens at full brightness but can be adjusted down for reasonable battery life. I....don't have enough spare NiMhs....to send a full set of 6 spares for this one, so she's only got the set I loaded into it. But she's only gone two nights at most, so it should stand up.
So, for someone who's last camping experience was a "glamping" trip to a yurt at Spruce Woods Provincial Park (AC power! Locking door! Running water and indoor toilets only a short walk away! Not real camping!), I think I did OK at equipping her for a couple of well-deserved nights of recreation.
I told her specifically that I need all these lights back, but we all know if one doesn't return, it will only be an excuse to go shopping for a replacement.
Bill
( must order more Ni Mh AA's now....)
A million questions came to mind...flood vs. throw? Color temperature? User interface? Orange peel vs. smooth reflector vs. TIR?
She summed up the mission parameters perfectly saying " I need something to find the campground bathroom at night."
I finally sent her on her way with three lights:
- My elderly but still reliable 2AA Quark - this is the one I bought for the Africa trip ten years ago, but it's still dead-on reliable. It's been riding around in my tool bag for away-from-the-bench troubleshooting. I also included two spare charged Eneloops as well as changing the batteries on-board.
- Eveready headlamp ( can't recall the model name) running on three AAAs, with selectable red/white and dimmable white lamp. Also spare batteries for that. I thought it would be useful in case she's doing some setup or something that requires free hands.
-I didn't have a camping lantern, not being a camper myself and relying on tail-standing and ceiling bounce for room lighting. But I'd picked up some surplus GE-branded "enbrighten" cordless motion sensor lamps at Princess Auto. These claim up to 300 lumens at full brightness but can be adjusted down for reasonable battery life. I....don't have enough spare NiMhs....to send a full set of 6 spares for this one, so she's only got the set I loaded into it. But she's only gone two nights at most, so it should stand up.
So, for someone who's last camping experience was a "glamping" trip to a yurt at Spruce Woods Provincial Park (AC power! Locking door! Running water and indoor toilets only a short walk away! Not real camping!), I think I did OK at equipping her for a couple of well-deserved nights of recreation.
I told her specifically that I need all these lights back, but we all know if one doesn't return, it will only be an excuse to go shopping for a replacement.
Bill
( must order more Ni Mh AA's now....)
I guess the secret's out now, but then, she likely already knew!
