What are the BEST lights (in your opinion) for night hiking!

I am looking for 1 well rouned light. These are the qualifications.

Average or better run time (compared to other lights).
Able to take non-exotic batteries
VERY VERY VERY BRIGHT (for outdoor use)
waterproof is a plus
HAS to look kewl
Not too big (as in not a hassle to lug around on night hikes)
Solid construction
Not a head lamp

I may be missing a few things but those attributes are what first come to mind. I'd like to find a great well rounded light SO HELP ME OUT. I know NOTHING.

If I could get someone to quickly describe the pluses and minuses of LED and NON-LED lights that would be great too. sorry if there's already a similar thread somewhere. I did search...

OKAY NOW LIST YOUR FAVORITE/BEST ALL AROUND LIGHTS!

Re: What are the BEST smaller lights (in your opinion)

What do you mean by non-exotic batteries? Do you consider a CR123a to be an exotic battery?

I think you would need an AA light. In which case I would point you towards the following thread:

www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=141282

Re: What are the BEST smaller lights (in your opinion)

Yah, CR123a is fine. Basically I just want to be able to run the option of using non-rechargeables if possible.

I would have to vote for the Surefire L2

It's a small rugged LED with two brightness settings.

High 100 Lumens for 60 Min's
Low 15 lumens for 18 Hours

I recently undertook a nighttime hike/geocache with trail & off-trail sections, the L2 performed excellently.

100 lumens was great for the off-trail sections the beam profile really gives an
indication of the whole picture ahead & I easily found the cache

On sections with a reasonable trail I switched to low and knew I'd have plenty of time without worrying about battery life.

I don't think I'll buy another light...
OK OK I lied! I will unless I stop reading CPF

Owen

You'd want a headlamp from a common sense point of view. Shines where you look, hands free.

The PT EOS headlamp modded with an IMS 17 reflector would be a good choice for hiking. It's what I use almost every weekend on my hiking and fishing trips. I also carry a SL 4AA propoly as a backup.

Tachyon

My best all-round light is probably my Pila GL4. It has a very bright incan out one end ( for sheer brightness and superior color rendition, especially for outdoor use) and 4 long-running LEDs out the other end for general tasks. It takes either 4xCR123 batteries, or 2x18650 batteries. That said, the WolfEyes M90 13v setup would replace this as my first choice, if I had one of those.

The U2 takes second, because of its 6 levels of bright LED light and its ability to use 18650s or 2xCR123s.

Another light that may fit your criteria is the mini-HID. Either Mac's 4xCR123/17670 versions, or Silverlegacy/UFOKiller's 8AA version. I don't think Mac doesn't make the 4xCR123 versions anymore, and the 8AA versions also aren't made anymore. But they sure are bright and can also be relatively cool looking with grooves and flutes as below, or a great sleeper light if in a plain Mag host. =)


Mac 3x17670/4xCR123 Mini-HID, SF U2, SF A2

The Surefire L1 is marketed by Surefire as being an excellent backpacking or hiking light. In high mode its as brighter or brighter than a 2D Maglite and will run for 2hrs in regulation followed by several hours of useful light. In low mode it will practically run forever. Get an F04 beam shaper and you can have two types of beam characteristics. With the F04 in place you have a smooth flood beam with no hotspot and without it you have a tight focused beam that throws a pretty good ways. The nicest thing of all, it is only 4.5" long and weighs less than 3oz. It only uses 1 cell and has pretty good runtime on that one cell.

For night hiking however, you are best off with a headlamp. Something like a Princeton Tec Quad or EOS, would be excellent. They use cheap and lighweight AAA batteries which are available just about anywhere and have very good runtimes. Headlamps make outdoor activities much easier to do in the dark.

VB-16? With a 18650 you have enough light for from about 5 plus hours at highest to about 5000 hours at lowest level and everything in between. HA3, AR coated glass lens, etc. $55 shipped from waion. I don't have one but I think the optional turbo head generates a slightly wider beam than the regular head, if you prefer.

My primary night hike light is a Petzl Tikka+ headlamp.

For a handheld light my current favorite is a Surefire KL3 (all throw variant) with FM64 beamshaper on a 9V tube. Good flood and good throw with a 7 hour regulated burntime.

kelmo

What Strat said. Headlight plus an L1 plus F04. Even though I have an EOS and really like it, I'd probably go for a headlight with more spill (or mod the EOS with another optic or reflector - easy, I did) and AA for more run time since you may need to use it on at least medium level for hiking. The L1 will be for additional light as needed, though you could use it by itself too. I use my L1 for jogging at night all the time.
If you feel you will need more run time on higher output levels (if you feel you will use high most) try the very effecient new Inova X0 with reflector - 5.5 hours runtime of flat regulation with what many people say is a good general purpose beam. But I still think the L1 would be better with dual output. Milky L1 even better.

Other good lights would be:
VB-16 from CPF member Wit's End - 12 levels.
Streamlight Tasklight 2L - 2 level Lux3.

Make sure to use a lanyard on whatever you use.

My alltime favorites for night time hiking (I do a lot of it) are:

1) A modded light- PING MilkySpit about an Optimator w/ Lux V. I have one with an optic and it puts out an incredible field of light, flood and throw. It is the best light I have for night hiking as it runs for around 2 hours on 2x17500s and has an overwhelming field of light.

2) Surefire L5. It is also a wonderful blend of throw and flood, a close second place. Add a 1-cell extender and run it on 2x17500s for extended runtime too. Add a 2-stage tailcap and you are set for well under $200.

I carry an L2 for all the reasons said and I am sure there will be better cree version along soon. But for me night hiking I find NV with an IR spotting light is a lot more fun.

The G2 is a heck of a hiking light. Very lightweight and won't break the bank if you drop it down a ravine. With the SC1 carrier fully loaded, I was good to go.



The L2 is an awesome backup light I carry when in the woods. Two level long lasting runtime.

I love hiking and I purposely start later in the afternoon for long hikes so I can get in some night hiking. I usually go on 4 hr+ day hikes that can run into darkness.



My girlfriend and I just hiked a heavily wooded mountain this weekend. With the leaves off the trees, the visibility and throw of the flashlights on the trail was good.

Lots of boulders and uneven ground, as well as roots, logs, mud and small streams littered the trail.

The light of the LED seemed to flatten out the landscape, the incan allowed better separation of the different ledges and general unevenness of the terrain.

Holding the light down at your side parallel to the ground creates better depth due to the longer shadows than a headlamp mounted light which flattens everything, especially with LED versions. For around camp the headlamp rules.

Night adapted eyes do not discern small changes in elevation and that dark ankle twisting stump in the deep woods. You can get out of the woods in the dark but a light makes it safer and an incan gets you out even faster.

In predictable, flat, obstruction-free familiar trails in the dark, an LED is fine, but uneven unfamiliar terrain the incan will always rule for me. It took a bit longer for me to decipher changing terrain from the light of the L2 than with the G2.

I don't think the mighty CRE would render better than my lowly G2 in the dark woods.

Of course I have the Arc-P as the backup to the backup.

+1 to the headlamp comments - PT Eos or Petzl Tikka XP for throw, Petzl Tikka Plus for flood.
john

EV_007 said:

...The light of the LED seemed to flatten out the landscape, the incan allowed better separation of the different ledges and general unevenness of the terrain.
...
Night adapted eyes do not discern small changes in elevation and that dark ankle twisting stump in the deep woods. You can get out of the woods in the dark but a light makes it safer and an incan gets you out even faster.

In predictable, flat, obstruction-free familiar trails in the dark, an LED is fine, but uneven unfamiliar terrain the incan will always rule for me. It took a bit longer for me to decipher changing terrain from the light of the L2 than with the G2.

Click to expand...

EV makes a good point that I somehow missed even thoug I recently took steps to counter the LED effect myself. Incans are better than LEDs for depth and more 3 dimensional color perception. Some LEDs are better than others though. I have some LEDs that do better than others, so I checked the bins and warmer (V1 tint) and greener tinted white (X1 tint in mine) LEDs are best, though I prefer V1. When I got an EOS this past summer for camping, I replaced the already slightly warm RWOH Lux1 with an SV1H. The warmer tint helped! Not as good as an incan that throws a wider spectrum of light to be reflected, but not too bad. The blue and very white (cooler) tints make the ground look pale and flat hiding some detail and making it harder to discern depth and features.
My modded EOS (with 15 degree Carclo optic too) was an excellent headlight for walking around the woods. Low was all I needed around camp, but I had upgraded the Lux bin, so that was expected.

I would go with a Gladius.

The Gladius' low is odd for its output. It has enough spill to see by, but it also has a decent sized, relatively bright hotspot that gives you considerable throw, even on the dimmest setting. The bright setting is right there at the flick of a switch. You can have anything in between too.

I take lots of night walks with my Gladius on the farm where I live. My walks take an hour or two and cover meadows, access roads, fields, woods, and riverbanks. I almost never take the light off the lowest setting. I have never found the Gladius lacking. I use the strobe too, to signal my wife back at the house for various reasons.

I actually think the Gladius is best suited as an outdoors light.

Other features:
- waterproof
- easy to operate with cold, wet hands or gloves
- 400+ hrs runtime on low
- tough as nails
- it blinks when it is running low

I think it would be cool to have a polycarbonate Gladius.

Scott

It would help to know your price range. You could get up into the +$200 range quickly with a high-end Surefire light.

And I noticed you bolded NO HEADLAMPS. Ever try one for night hiking? They beat practically any handheld light since you have both hands free, and light everywhere you move your head. Night hiking on uneven ground can prove hazardous, nice to have both hands free in case you fall.

I used to think they were geeky looking, but after using a headlamp on several Grand Canyon treks, they are worth every penny.

it doesn't matter. I said most well rounded (that would mean all terrains) and its all about your opinion!

i too am looking for a good night hiking light is the e1l a good light fot geochaching and night hikeing or would a e1e be better man im in a pickle.