SCblur
Enlightened
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2005
- Messages
- 818
I just got back from hiking Mt. Shasta in Northern California (I grew up there). We hiked it all in one day, and that means starting at 1am and that means bringing FLASHLIGHTS!!! I brought along my L4 w/ McE2s for flood, and my E2e w/ a KL1 for some distance illumination.
There are many spots on the mountain, once you are above the treeline, where it is hard to discern which way to go while in the dark, since you are in the snow and there is no defined path. I found the combination of flood and throw to be very invaluable. I was using the L4 for general illuniation of my immediate surroundings, and the KL1 was abundantly usefull for scanning way out in front, to help figure out which way we needed to be heading.
I can't help but think that if I hadn't had the KL1, we would have had to do some backtracking more than once as a result of having chosen the wrong route.
This adventure was my first personal experience of having substantially benefited from the right lights for the right jobs. I can't think of the mess things would have been if I had taken only my headlamp, like the wife (heck, my friend didn't even bring a light!).
They all make fun of me in jest, for having so many flashlights, but up on that mountain at 3am in the freezing darkness, they were full of comments like: "hey, where are those fancy flashlights of yours, so we can figure out where the heck we're supposed to go"
From now on, when I go anywhere for any length of time, I will always be bringing more than one light. A flooder, a spot , and someting w/ runtime.
There are many spots on the mountain, once you are above the treeline, where it is hard to discern which way to go while in the dark, since you are in the snow and there is no defined path. I found the combination of flood and throw to be very invaluable. I was using the L4 for general illuniation of my immediate surroundings, and the KL1 was abundantly usefull for scanning way out in front, to help figure out which way we needed to be heading.
I can't help but think that if I hadn't had the KL1, we would have had to do some backtracking more than once as a result of having chosen the wrong route.
This adventure was my first personal experience of having substantially benefited from the right lights for the right jobs. I can't think of the mess things would have been if I had taken only my headlamp, like the wife (heck, my friend didn't even bring a light!).
They all make fun of me in jest, for having so many flashlights, but up on that mountain at 3am in the freezing darkness, they were full of comments like: "hey, where are those fancy flashlights of yours, so we can figure out where the heck we're supposed to go"
From now on, when I go anywhere for any length of time, I will always be bringing more than one light. A flooder, a spot , and someting w/ runtime.