Vacation: So Hard to Decide on Which Lights to Bring and Those Left Behind

Sorry long, but pining for my companions:

So I'm sitting here in Kona, HI and missing some of my lights back home. My old faithful Strion modded Y/G A2 on the bedstand along with his friends a McGizmo Al PD and SF 6P with Malkoff drop-in and beautiful Z-59 tailcap. My E2E with E04 LA I love to fondle and blast across the room sits lonely in my home office no doubt crying next to his cousin the E2E Winelight II. Hopefully their roommates, the McClicky Mule EN and recently purchased McGizmo Al PD are recounting tales of brightness in my absence to keep everyone happy. If the mood really gets dim perhaps the Dereelight DBS will light up the room and spread some cheer.

Of course the two lights downstairs, a G2L and 6PL (lovely Z-49 enhanced) must be supporting each other in this time of need talking over their days in the Surefire factory. Lest I forget the two Fenixes in the cold, dank garage surely have experienced some depression but are supporting each other through this difficult time. A P2D RB100 and L2D have a lot in common and I can only pray they can hear each other since the L2D sits in the side pocket of the car. Did I leave the window open? I hope so. I don't want them to have to yell and scare the neighbors.

I had seven lights loaded up to take with me but reconsidered thinking TSA might think I was performing Special Ops. I settled on four of my favorites: my always carry Muyshondt HA Nautilus, the fantastically wonderfully McGizmo Ti PD-S, a Dereelight CL1H with SMO (needed somewhat of a thrower) and the LOD Q4 on my survival key ring. I suppose that's good enough but I miss my other friends.

On the plus side my wife, through my flashaholism, has a few good lights and brings them on the road too. A nice G2L in yellow and her Valentine prize, a pink Muyshondt Nautilus. Oh yeah, my brother is here too so he's packing the camo Arc I gave him for Christmas. I will survive.

Worry not friends. I will return. May your batteries provide you the power you need when I'm not there to care for you.

What do you bring on extended vacations? Tough, ain't it? I won't even start in on batteries and chargers to bring as I may start crying. Oy vey!

Keep strong. You'll be home and back with your family of lights before you know it.

I'm going to Peru April 2nd for a couple of weeks. I too agonize about which lights to bring. I have a pretty decent collection. Right now I thinking about taking my Arc AAA DS, 6PL, and a Tikka headlamp. My wife will bring her Arc AAA CS and I will put a L2 in her luggage. In the past my hand held was a E2O with a twisty switch. I'm gonna pack the 6PL and a full SC1 w/P60 LA so I will have a backup emmitter and a good cache of spare cells.

I've got the same problem. Going to Disney for a week soon and stressing out over what lights to take :hairpull:

Thinking the SF Backup, L1 Cree, and the Pak-Lite Super Glow White.

Wow! Man, da.gee you have some nice lights!

Basically you've covered the same bases I think of when travelling:
- at least one EDC with long runtime low mode availabe
- at least one palm sized blaster (2xcr123 sized)
- one "always on me" light attached to keychain, neck, etc.

Although I will say you throw caution to the wind compared to me when it comes to travelling with lights - I try not to bring precious items as they can get lost or stolen in transport, in hotels etc.

My travel team is usually:
- NDI or P2D Q5 (ok, usually both lol)
- SF G2Z with 6PD bezel and Malkoff M60
- Fauxton on my keychain

That being said, I guess if I had a Nautilus and an Mc-"anything" I probably wouldn't let them out of my site!

Simplicity, I'll be taking a vacation and will bring 2, an E1L and a small Peak Matterhorn. I won't be joining S&R, signaling planes, nor going into the backwoods. It makes my traveling easy and compact without all the extra accessories....or preparing for "what-if" scenarios. YMMV.

Now for ghost hunts...:thumbsup:

southernlites said:

I've got the same problem. Going to Disney for a week soon and stressing out over what lights to take :hairpull:

Thinking the SF Backup, L1 Cree, and the Pak-Lite Super Glow White.

Click to expand...

Last time I was at DL I brought a lowes TF, lugged it around my camera bag. It was that week I realized I needed something smaller & lighter, but it was fun running around after the park closed lighting things up with the cree thrower. I also used a Dorcy aspheric in the hotel room.

So far doing great. Keep going out the lanai and shining my CL1H into the Pacific. It's a little "voggy" here because of the volcano activity but much warmer than back in Oregon right now. Still miss my little buddies.

On vacation? Let me see: Two AAA lights (LOD Q4, Arc DS as a backup) and two CR123 lights (HDS, E1L (the old Luxeon version with two stage tailcap because it runs on rechargeables)) and one light running on AA's (Zebralight, I need that in the tent). That would do for me.

All the other lights would have to stay at home.

Hans

I think 2 is usually sufficient... 3 if you're going with someone who isn't bringing one.

1 versatile/bright light - i.e. Fenix P1D/P2D
2 1xAAA format lights - i.e. Fenix L0D-CE / Fenix E0

If I was going somewhere I'd be likely to encounter a lot of darkness, I might consider something else.

Well since my travels usually involve some form of camping and or four wheeling, I'll take at least four or five lights. Nice thing about being outdoors is no one looks at you funny for two or three on your belt, a headlamp and carrying a 3d thrower.

It used to be so difficult for me, but over the last few months, it's gotten much easier. I've been keeping it simple while vacationing/traveling.

-- Arc-AAA DS
-- Proton Pro
-- Photon Freedom
-- SureFire E1B (if camping)
-- Photon ReX (just started with this one)

Vacation in 1980 - Cool

Hawaii - $$$ Plane tickets and hotel bills

Walking up to the top of Diamond Head to watch the sun rise at 5:00 in the morning, but going up inside the pitch black tunnel with no light whatsover - Worthless

If only ANY of the lights I have today had been in existance then... :sigh:

For any trips I take nowadays, portability is paramount so only single cell lights are considered. But runtime is also a deal breaker, so...

I never take more than 3 (but usually do), and they are:

Novatac 120P for it's large choice of levels and modes because you just never know when you'll want a certain level of light, and the strobe is nice for when you want someone to find you in a crowd.

Surefire E1L for it's very long runtime on high, and I've replaced my single level I used when traveling with my new E1L dual level. I get even more runtime because I find that the low level works fine for most situations, but it still runs a LONG time on high.

NDI because of it's adjustability which lends itself to long runtimes, but it mainly comes because it uses AA batteries in case I just can't find any CR123's on the road.

If I "had" to pare it down to just one light (but I've never had to), I think I'd take just the E1L/Dual Level. That, and probably just two spare batteries would probably take me through the longest time away I could ever arrange.

LOL. Since you're in Hawaii, I'll tell you my Hawaii trip story. I just got my Microfire 24W HID before going to HI for a friend's wedding, the mailman dropped it off the day I was leaving. I hastily unpacked it, cleaned it up, stuffed it with eight CR123s and left for the airport.

Fondled it in the plane, and fortunately had a hotel room with a balcony overlooking a bay. I played "light house" with my new HID for about 30 minutes a night while I was there hahaha. (I also packed a SF L5 Turbohead and a SF U2.)

Now I'm looking at going to Egypt for some vacation this year. The checklist of things to pack has changed at least 50 times, mostly in the lights department. I'm on the pre-order list for a Surefire UA2, and hopefully I'll get it in time for the trip!! (Then the list of lights to pack will change yet again!)

I was thinking of being super-daring and only packing ONE light. With the UA2 that might be possible due to its promising-looking range of dimness levels: Dim, for nighttime navigation to bathroom, and bright, for other forms of navigation in darkness.

When I went on vacation 2 years ago I brought my 27LT and a E1L as a spare light. The 27LT worked really well with the very floody beam plus 2 levels and the E1L was like a mini thrower. Oh, and the ever present Arc-AAA goes unnoticed but is used a ton.

I've been scaring the neighbors nightly shining my lights off the lanai. Cool to have some real dark outside the city where I usually roam. I'll know I had fun if I come home with some depleted batteries.

Both my wife and I were reading menus at Kona Brewing tonight with our Muyshondt Nautiluses (Nautilii??) and my son took the G2L on a hiking trip with his uncle today. I'm happy they're all seeing some use.