Survivorman/Man vs Wild

LEDBE
1 day is not much time, a modern multi level flashlight can many run 1 or 2 hours on high, but very often more than 50 hours on low and 50 hours are many days, it may even be a few weeks.

Solar or mechanical rechargeable lights are more interesting when you have to survive weeks or months without any other power.
 
One is none, two is one comes to mind here.With moderate use you can get quite a few nights out of a flashlight with several hours runtime even if it is single mode.Two lights, an EDC capable of 60 lumens or more and a small long running light like a Fenix EO1 or Gerber IU come to mind.Even a Photon Freedom in red can provide quite a bit of runtime at low light levels.In most cases you are probably going to have a campfire if possible so you will have an alternate source of light.
 
I'd hafta' say my L.R.I. Photon Proton Pro.


With an Energizer L91 Lithium cell, this would
be a fine choice.


However, water-proofness would be the key here.


Both of these gentlemen get their gear soaking wet.

A lot !



This is a good question.

Thank you for starting the thread.

:twothumbs
_
 
Well if I were Bear Grylls, I'd just wait until the shoot was over and then go back to the hotel, order up some room service and watch some HBO..

But if I were an actual survivalist, like Les Stroud, a flashlight would be quite the luxury item. Since his jaunts are only a week in length, this means maximum runtime/extra batteries aren't really necessary; in most situations where you already have a fire, you really only need the flashlight for distance spotting and trips to the latrine. Just about any of our flashaholic-grade lights, with their solid and waterproof construction, would be suitable.

A better question is what Les would do with the flashlight *aside from using it for light*. You could probably get a decent fire-starting spark from shorting a 123.. The reflector of a Mag would make a nice funnel for gathering dew.. etc.
 
StarHalo said:
Well if I were Bear Grylls, I'd just wait until the shoot was over and then go back to the hotel, order up some room service and watch some HBO..

But if I were an actual survivalist, like Les Stroud, a flashlight would be quite the luxury item. Since his jaunts are only a week in length, this means maximum runtime/extra batteries aren't really necessary; in most situations where you already have a fire, you really only need the flashlight for distance spotting and trips to the latrine. Just about any of our flashaholic-grade lights, with their solid and waterproof construction, would be suitable.

A better question is what Les would do with the flashlight *aside from using it for light*. You could probably get a decent fire-starting spark from shorting a 123.. The reflector of a Mag would make a nice funnel for gathering dew.. etc.
Click to expand...

Wasn't Bear a member of the British Special Forces? So while a lot of his show is "done up" for TV... one would think the guy does know his survival dos and donts. Strouds excursions are 6-7 days I think, so A Zebralight headlamp and a couple extra Lithium AA cells should suffice. In complete darkness ~10 floody Lumens is plenty. IMHO a Zebralight, signaling mirror, whistle, and fire starter would be more useful than a high power flashlight+backup cells... factoring in weight payload and volume storage capacities.
 
I agree that just about any of the high quality lights we tend to buy here on the forum would be more than good enough. I like to plan for: What if I have to go months without being able to get batteries.
In that event, I have a couple NDIs, Jet 1s, 2XAA tube for NT, and a couple Solar AA Battery Chargers. I also keep a bunch of those battery adapters that go from AA to C, C to D etc.
 
Since they both have knives available to them, could I trade the flashlight for a Swedish Firesteel?
 
StarHalo said:
Well if I were Bear Grylls, I'd just wait until the shoot was over and then go back to the hotel, order up some room service and watch some HBO..

But if I were an actual survivalist, like Les Stroud, a flashlight would be quite the luxury item. Since his jaunts are only a week in length, this means maximum runtime/extra batteries aren't really necessary; in most situations where you already have a fire, you really only need the flashlight for distance spotting and trips to the latrine. Just about any of our flashaholic-grade lights, with their solid and waterproof construction, would be suitable.

A better question is what Les would do with the flashlight *aside from using it for light*. You could probably get a decent fire-starting spark from shorting a 123.. The reflector of a Mag would make a nice funnel for gathering dew.. etc.
Click to expand...

^-- This

On a long enough timeline in a post-apocalyptic survival scenario, pretty much any flashlight is going to be worth only about as much as you can use the parts for. The most effective thing for this situation though I think would be a solar charger with some rechargeable batteries for whatever long-running LED headlamp you can get.

I think your best bet would be pretty much just what Les does, and rely mostly on moonlight or fire light. If you're talking for just a week, then hell an L4 with a 24 pack of batteries will work fine. Too expensive? Back to the LED headlamp and rechargeables then.
 
tzzoooma said:
If you were in a Les or Bear survival situation, what light would be best?

I was thinking a solar rechargeable such as:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00196DWDG/?tag=cpf0b6-20

would be best if you were stranded for more than a day.
your thoughts?
Click to expand...

IMO, both of the shows are about short term survival rather than long term post-apocalyptic survival. The essence of their TV programs is show people how to survive in order to be rescued ASAP. If I'm in that situation a flashlight would not really be a necessity, but I wouldn't mind having it with me. It will my survival a bit easier. I would probably have a NDI, with a couple of spare L91 batteries. NDI has all the features that I need, an ultra low level setting for conserving battery, very small and compact, and a strobe mode for signaling. I would primarily use my light as a signaling device at night.

Now for long term survival the light you posted above would be great.
 
The essence of their TV programs is show people how to survive in order to be rescued ASAP. If I'm in that situation a flashlight would not really be a necessity, but I wouldn't mind having it with me. It will my survival a bit easier... I would primarily use my light as a signaling device at night.
Click to expand...

stitch_paradox said:
did you even read the rest of my post?
Click to expand...


Yes. I'm just emphasizing the importance a flashlight could represent, because I think you down played it a bit. You mentioned that a flashlight would not be a "necessity" to survive, but it would make survival a bit "easier." In my mind, if the intention is to "show people how to survive in order to be rescued ASAP", as you said, then a flashlight won't just make survival a bit "easier", it may very well make survival more likely. To me, that would make it a necessity, rather than just a "wouldn't mind having it" item. If people are out looking for me, I would rather have a flashlight than a weeks worth of food. Just emphasizing, that's all.:kiss:
 
I dunno but that Bear guy is annoying.

He consistently does sensational stunts that would be very risky and unecessary in a real survival situation, or acrobatic stunts that the average person wouldn't be capable of. They should call that show "How to get yourself injured in the wilderness"...

That show is a joke! I like Survivorman better :D

And as for the light, I would like some kind of rechargeable solar light. When I was a kid, my parents bought be a solar flashlight as a gag gift :D The joke was, how can you use a flashlight when you need it, it will be DARK! I think they missed the point that the sunlight is used to charge the batteries, not power the light in real-time.

It was an incan and didn't work so well, but I have been meaning to try a newer more recent model.
 
Turbo DV8 said:
Yes. I'm just emphasizing the importance a flashlight could represent, because I think you down played it a bit. You mentioned that a flashlight would not be a "necessity" to survive, but it would make survival a bit "easier." In my mind, if the intention is to "show people how to survive in order to be rescued ASAP", as you said, then a flashlight won't just make survival a bit "easier", it may very well make survival more likely. To me, that would make it a necessity, rather than just a "wouldn't mind having it" item. If people are out looking for me, I would rather have a flashlight than a weeks worth of food. Just emphasizing, that's all.:kiss:
Click to expand...

From the two programs mentioned by the OP, have you ever seen them use flashlights? I do understand the importance of flashlight in a survival situation, but what I'm saying is for me it's not in my priority list. It would make my survival easier, but I would also survive with out it. For signaling I'd rather have a mirror and a firestarter first. Usually rescue missions are more likely to happen during daylight, so a mirror and a firestarter is better than a flashlight.

Hellbore, you are right some of the antics of Bear are just too absurd. It seems like he is doing survival stuff for the special forces. I like Les' style of survival better.
 
Last edited:
stitch_paradox said:
From the two programs mentioned by the OP, have you ever seen them use flashlights?
Click to expand...

Ummm, no. Why would they use a flashlight to help them "survive" a TV show? --- "Potential rescuer sees flashlight from a distance - rescuer saves poor guy - show over?" It is a TV show after all! It's just better showmanship to strike fires from flint and sip dew collected from curled leaves, and makes it easier to extend, er... "survive" an episode.
 
I enjoy spending time outdoors

You can make do without a flashlight

I rather have some other items such as a firestarter, knife, paracord ,etc.......
 
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