The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is the Zebralight H501

[Woods Walker]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

I would definitely agree with that, but you know, you cant have a good flood light AND a thrower AND long runtime all in the 1 compact torch.

1 torch does one job, one torch does another

Even my little LD01 out thows the Zebra no problem.

I also agree with not walking at night if you can help it, but if it was in any sort of combat environment then you can only walk at night. Generally in the bush though, if your just "walking" (ie not looking specifically for firewood or anything) you can do just fine with no torch.

Theres no cliff edges or anything in my AO, but theres dirty big mineshafts!! but even without a torch, so long as there is a bit of a moon, you can still see them.

You have never walked though a hemlock grove. Heck it can be kinda dark in mid day. Dusk comes 1 hour early and night is black as squid ink. It can be just so dark. Heck even 10 lumens seem like a pocket rocket at times. It also depends on the terrain and environment. Putting on the snow shoes for a little nice hike from camp into this powder snow base with negative 20 F and wind blowing is trouble.

Then there is weather. I would never walk into a storm. No I am setting up camp and staying put. When alone I only have myself to depend on. Safety is so important. Something that is not very popular on some action packed survival shows these days.

Last year I used my H50 and L2D-Q5 with lithium batteries. Used the H50 to setup camp when rolling in with the pulk sled late. This year may go with the H501w and TK20. I like the TK20 for the warm tint. Seemed to work better in the fog and mist. I hope the same holds true for snow.:twothumbs

 

[AusKipper]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

I have never walked in snow at all!!

40 degree (C) heat is what is the "extreme" around here. Coldest it ever gets is -4 or 5, and it never really snows at ground level (whatever level I am at)

We do have the Alpine national park that has snow riiight up the top of it in the middle of winter, but thats about it.

 

[M@elstrom]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

I have to admit I'm a little envious of you Woods Walker being able to go camping/adventuring in the snow (sounds insane I know), we did however have freak weather last year & for the first time in my life I drove in snow on regular roads 4WD made it safe though, during the snow storm I couldn't tell exactly where the road was as the lights reflected off the awesome whiteness of it all

After traveling 30 kilometers & sitting overnight I still had heaps of snow on the 4WD :devil:

 

[Woods Walker]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

I have to admit I'm a little envious of you Woods Walker being able to go camping/adventuring in the snow (sounds insane I know), we did however have freak weather last year & for the first time in my life I drove in snow on regular roads 4WD made it safe though, during the snow storm I couldn't tell exactly where the road was as the lights reflected off the awesome whiteness of it all

After traveling 30 kilometers & sitting overnight I still had heaps of snow on the 4WD :devil:

Take a look at this road.

When it comes down to it is all about familiarity with the environment. Heck you guys got those crazy snakes and funnel web whatever spiders. Birds that can and will gut someone. Then there is those nastily crocs. Go to fill up the canteens and maybe some 16 footer will make a surprise entrance. Also I don't know the first thing for survival in a dry blistering hot environment. Sure I wouldn't walk around in the mid day sun but I got nothing for those skills. The only thing I consider dangerous during winter in a sometimes unmanageable way would be an ice storm. In the backcountry every environment has its risks. In many ways there are no cake walks and no one is tougher than the next guy. Around here we have these ticks that infect people with Lyme disease. It is named for a town in my home state. All my family and friends have gotten hit. Some have become very sick. On topic a Zebra light headlamp is great for finding those blood suckers. Pulled a few off me last month with the help of my H501 used for a body tick check before turning in and the faster they are removed the better someone's chances of not getting sick.

 

[AusKipper]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

Heck you guys got those crazy snakes and funnel web whatever spiders. Birds that can and will gut someone. Then there is those nastily crocs. Go to fill up the canteens and maybe some 16 footer will make a surprise entrance. Also I don't know the first thing for survival in a dry blistering hot environment.

Fortunately not all of those things are in the same place!!

In my AO we do have Eastern Brown snakes, which are the most aggressive snakes you have ever seen, and cause the largest amount of casualties of any snake around here. We also have Tiger snakes in my AO, but they dont really attack unless you stand on them by accident or something.

I have seen a couple of tiger snakes, and never had one come at me, every single brown snake I have seen has chased me though. If there is any 1 thing I am scared of in the Aussie bush (in my AO) it accursed brown snakes.

Emu's (the birds that gut people) also dont seem to be particularly aggressive to me.., and are very rare to see in the wild in my AO.

I'm also too far south to have to worry about crocks and funnel webs (thanks god!)

All bushes have their hazards I guess. I cant really think of any bushes where your perfectly safe. Perhaps NZ ? (safe is not including deaths from exposure, dehydration or starvation, i'm only talking about animals/insects here..)

 

[KiwiMark]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

I am heading off tomorrow to do 2 nights camping in one of the colder parts of NZ - I might just get to touch snow for the first time of my life, maybe.

I am trying to limit myself to just 8 lights as that would be more than enough, but there is a good chance that I will end up taking a dozen (most on this site know how it is). Luckily lights don't take up a lot of room, cause I need to take my tent, sleeping bag, bedroll and other stuff and I am travelling by scooter.

I'll take my gas burner & kettle to keep myself in hot drinks and to try out the little burner. I'll be taking the H501 to try that out in a camping situation so I'll see how that goes.

I won't have to worry about extreme survival issues though, I'll have plenty of food & water available. I'll be dressed as warmly as I can and there will be some large fires set up for us (a bonfire for each night). Woohoo - winter time camping, nirvana for the flashaholic!

 

[TorchBoy]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

Woohoo - winter time camping, nirvana for the flashaholic!

Hey, it's spring already. Take extra notes on the H501.

 

[KiwiMark]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

Hey, it's spring already. Take extra notes on the H501.

Sure, it's spring here in Auckland - but I'm heading to Waiouru and they still have plenty of winter left to go down there. It snowed on the desert road today, it's going to be colder than Auckland in mid-winter.

 

[TacticalIndustries]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

What Ray Mears uses and recommends is a SureFire E1L, he also sells it on his website. In Ray Mears goes walkabout, Rockart, he uses his E1L in the caves.

Relax with Ray Mears..

 

[KiwiMark]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

Take extra notes on the H501.

The bike rally went well, except that I could see pretty well without a torch at all - a big bright full moon was doing a reasonable job of providing a decent amount of light. But when walking past other tents you needed a bit more light to ensure you wouldn't trip over anyone's guy ropes. I had my jacket unzipped a little and clipped the H501 to one side of the open zip - it worked well and I could see a short range in front of me pretty well. With ambient light I needed medium or high from the H501, without any other light I am sure that low would have been enough to do most jobs with. Only requiring 1 x AA cell makes it easy to power the light and a 4 pack of AA batteries gives 4 battery changes - that is enough to run the light for a LONG time for minimal weight/size.

I took about a dozen torches and only used 2 - the H501 was a great light source for seeing anything nearby and I could use both hands to eat or whatever while having sufficient light. I complimented the H501 with something a bit stronger and more throw. I didn't really need to worry about running out of batteries on my stronger light because I only used it as necessary and only needed the use of it for 2 nights - so I used my ROP High Maglite 2D with the fivemega V2 2" deep dish reflector. I am pretty sure that Maglite would have been the brightest torch there (there were around 2000 people at the rally I think) and it provided a good WOW! factor.

Inside my little tent there is a plastic ring in the top for hanging a lantern or whatever. If I put the H501 on that ring it hung there with the emitter pointing straight down - easily enough to illuminate the tent even on low or medium.

For lighting my gas cooker (small single burner screwed onto a small butane canister) I took more than one lighter. I don't know if it was the altitude (only around 750M above sea level, not really high altitude) but the bic didn't want to work. For a reasonable but cheap butane lighter my favourite out of what I have tried so far is this one: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19435 and I am going to get a few more of the same brand to try out. I was able to melt a hole in an Aluminium can with that lighter, so the heat output was good, it also lights almost every time (at least 9/10 even at that altitude). The small gas cooker + small kettle worked well to make hot drinks as I wanted them - the cold weather helped to keep my milk cold.

Overall I recommend going camping for testing out your torches/tent/sleeping bag/stove/etc. It is all well and good getting survival equipment to be prepared for an emergency situation, but you need to test how well that equipment works in actual use.

 

[TorchBoy]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

Thanks for that review. I wonder if the cold was affecting your Bic lighter.

 

[AusKipper]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

Thanks for that review. I wonder if the cold was affecting your Bic lighter.

+1, great review.

Someday when I have time i want to go to kiwi land and explore those mountains.. everytime I watch "Lord of the Rings" I want to jump on a plane and go over there!!

Also NZ is just about the last "free" (by my definition) country left in the world, so I want to buy a small block of land over there yadda yadda yadda, but that will have to wait for a few more years I think.

 

[KiwiMark]

Re: The best torch (I own) for nightime bush survival is...

I like the peanut lighters - uses Zippo type fuel or gas or alcohol or just about any flammable liquid, is tiny and uses a flint but unlike Zippo's it doesn't dry up in a week. With it's o-ring seal they will last easily a year or more and are keychain friendly. I got several from CPF member oregon when he introduced them here a while back. Since then I got a stainless steel one from someplace - I think it was countycomm.com - same place that's selling the currently popular AAA Maratac light. And DX has the chrome ones for somewhere around $2 I think.

Today my cheapo DX peanut lighters arrived.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.3734
I bought 5 using the 'bulkrate' option which lowered the cost to $1.65ea (I ordered a bunch of other stuff on the same order).
I think I will EDC one of these little peanut lighters - they would be much smaller and easier to carry than most other firestarting options and a lot easier to carry on me every day than a couple of cotton balls smeared with vaseline. Despite these lighters being cheap to buy I can't see them being unreliable (they are too simple to have much that can go wrong) - the Zippo lighter fluid I used is good stuff, flint is reliable and the O-ring sealed container should do a good job of stopping the fluid evaporating - as well as keeping the lighter dry until you need to use it.
I would highly recommend these as a great backup fire starting tool, the are small & water proof and would store well for up to a year at least. Buy 5 and you can EDC 1 + 2 in your BOB and 2 in your smaller BOB - at the price these are why not?

I am now EDCing 3 torches and 3 lighters as well as a Leatherman Wave & a Victorinox Cybertool. I think that gives me a nice range of tools to cover most everyday situations and that stuff would be useful in an emergency camping situation. But camping without my tent, sleeping bag, bedroll, camp stove, kettle, cup, etc would be much less comfortable than with that stuff.

I have sold my car, so when I go out I am on a scooter wearing a good leather jacket - this gives me some good pockets and a certain amount of warmth & water resistance. I also have a titanium cup & titanium utensils (knife, fork, spoon, spork) in the locked front storage compartment of the scooter. I also have a very small first aid kit under the seat and over 2 litres of spare petrol (which could be used to get a fire going) in 2 camping fuel containers.

I don't really see any easy way of covering every possible emergency situation with what you have available 24/7, so I don't think I will bother trying. But I certainly have a few more options available than most people with the useful stuff I EDC. Food, water & shelter may be tricky - depending on where I am and what I can find around me, this is potentially a serious issue because those 3 things are pretty important.
If a civil emergency happened while I was at home then things wouldn't be so bad. I would almost always have enough petrol available to travel 100+kms and I could quickly load up my camping gear. I have a lot of torches, lighters, batteries, food, water, etc. I would do fine at home for a few days on canned food & bottles of water I keep filled up. I certainly have enough petrol to travel to a source of fresh water. I am not too sure how well I would do foraging for food though.

To keep some of this related to torches:
With a few of my torches and the use of low modes I think I could last for several months before I run out of light. Just for the Zebralight alone I could find at least a dozen fully charged Eneloops right now + at least 4 alkaline cells. Only using the light as needed and using the minimum output as much as possible - I could use that light for months! Using my ROP Low Mag 2D I can have a very strong incan light with plenty of throw for over 2 hours run time, I also have at least 3 fully charged changes of battery - total 8 hours! 8 hours from a bright thrower that I would only use as I needed = at least a couple of weeks use! I think if civilisation & power is not restored by the time my torches are out of power then I would have more problems to worry about than lack of light!

PS
For a non-smoker I now own a huge number of lighters!

Last thoughts:
Carry a can of drink in the car & BOB - if you drink the contents then you could cut the top off the can and use it to boil water in an emergency. An aluminium can could prove to be quite useful.