hiking in yosemite flashlight recomindation

hi guys i need a little help on a flashlight recommendation be it production, moded, led, incan, whatever. im going on a 6 day hike in yosemitie and im bringing my novatac 120p or nitecore ex10, and my zebra headlamp, that's the extent of my flashlights, pretty pitiful i know, what should i get for my 3rd light i want something with some "umff" and throw.

To tell you the truth I think what you have is good enough. The only difference is I would also bring a small long runtime back up like a Fenix E01. Lights are brighter out in the woods anyways.

What you have defiantly covers most of your needs. Lights seem to throw further when it's really dark out.

How much time do you have till this hike?

A smaller backup type light can be a good choice too.

Isn't a very good time to be going to Yosemite. You should be investing in breathing apparatus and not flashlights.

I suggest you also get a compact thrower light for long distance illumination. I carry one, along with a small edc light and a headlamp, those are my tri set up.

What you have is plenty. While you may not have a huge collection you have the top of the line, so don't stress about bringing more. You simply don't want to overload yourself on a 6 day hike and you don't need a long runtime flashlight, all 3 of those can burn for quite awhile on low. Bringing along anything for throw is going to increase your bulk considerably as well as add more weight.
If the topic weren't about a 6 day hike then if I were to recommend a new flashlight which is useful for backpacking to add to your collection... I'd tell you to invest in a Surefire 6P (or otherwise P60 dropin compatible like a Dereelight CL1H, solarforce, etc.) and a Malkoff M60. Lots of useful throw in that bad boy. And still compact/ light enough to take backpacking.
Now for "car camping" you can start loaing up on heavier and bigger lights like a Malkoff Dropin, an Ammondotech N30 (or hopefuly soon an L35). A Dereelight DBS superthrower or Aspherical Magmod. Polaron PH50 :devil: etc.

You're good, just bring a few extra batteries. In addition to "brighter in the woods" mentality, don't forget that there's lots of granite. You get high enough, with the right moon phase, and you'll be seeing your shadow at night (did that once on Whitney, which was great!)

Don't forget to post pictures after the trip

thanks guys i guess your right, i think i was trying to use this trip as an excuse to buy something that i probably dont need but definitely want. i always wanted one of these moded lights i see so many pics of but i am overwhelmed on how many there are and i am not knowledgeable enough to make an intelligent choice.thanks phantom ill look into those lights you mentioned.

Hi foxracer72,
You're pretty well covered. If you'll be exclusively on trails, the zebra would probably take care of all your needs. If you are doing any cross country, take your lightest thrower and bring battery backup. In the event of an emergency retreat, try to estimate the number of hours runtime you'd need to make it back to the trailhead. Say you are three days in and need to evacuate, you would likely need about 8 to 16 hours of runtime to retreat (one or two nights and not all of that would have to be hi-beam). Chances are very remote that you would need that much light, but just in case, you're prepared.

Which part of the back country will you be exploring? BTW, in case you hadn't heard, highway 140 was closed into the park due to the fire. Check with the highway patrol if 140 is your route. Have fun and don't feed the bears.

foxracer72: Your collection of lights is not pitiful. Utilitarian and unexciting, yes. But not pitiful. Add some fun into the mix with a thrower. If possible, take along an N30 as previously suggested. My boys and I never really worried about packing excess weight as it only made our cores stronger for it.

Check out threads started by souptree. He documented his ascent(s) pretty nicely.

thanks guys,:twothumbs the plan is to hike up half dome then from there hike to lake merced. im not going until aug 16 so i have some time to prepare and hopefully the fires well be out by then

You are well covered on the lights with the Zebralight and Novatac/Nitecore. I wouldn't want to be overladen on a 6 day backpacking trip. If you want something with incredible brightness, even more incredible throw, and even greater WOW factor, bring along a 10-15mW green laser pointer. It will keep you off blinding innocent wildlife and bushes, and get you looking in the right direction, up.

i was actually thinking about getting one, do you know where a good place to get one in my hands before aug 16

If you dont mind the weight and you want to bring a really bright light just for giggles...bring a Surefire M6..:twothumbs

But other than that..you have some great lights already...maybe could use another that really throws...

Optotronics. And go for the 55mW. And ditto on the M6. Trail hiking and a thrower go hand in hand.

The headlamp and the NovaTac should be fine. I did Half Dome and hiked down the last 2 hours in the dark with a Tikka and a HDS B42XRGT. A less potent combination than yours. The HDS setting I used was 21 lumens. Just bring a few extra cells for your NovaTac. A white Minimag traffic cone will fit on the 120's bezel and makes a great tent light set at 10 lumens. Once you get to the top of the valley and into the Tuolomne wilderness there is alot of granite formations that really reflect the moonlight and often you will not need a bright flashlight at night.

I would just take the two mentioned and a few extra cells instead of the 3rd light. The less gear you pack means you take more food!

Beware of the bears! Lots of mosquitos too! Bring DEET.

kelmo

Do you have a C or D Maglite?

if you do you can check out the Hotwire mods. The simpler ones can are just swap and run and the dimmer ones(still pretty bright) can run for a hour or more.

Novatac, EX10, and Zebralight have your close range walking lots covered. If it were me I'd bring my Dereelight DBS V2 to spot things off in the distance. If there is a pack of wolves or something out there the DBS should get their eyes glaring at a long distance.

You might also consider some kind of high power incan, but most will add weight and have limited run time. I might be tempted to bring my Ultrafire WF-500 with a lumens factor 630 lumen bulb.

just got back from a two week backpacking trip at philmont scout ranch, Cimmeron, NM.

here's what I took...

1. Surefire Titan using 1x CR2 li-ion w/one backup CR2 cell
2. Ti PD using 1x R123 li-ion w/2x CR123 for UV aquastar and backup
3. ARC AAA 1x AAA alk. no backup cell

li-io cell in Titan and Ti PD lasted the entire trip with energy to spare.
Arc AAA (newest version) served as the tent light and was too bright most of the time. Titan ended doing most of the tent duties, being able dial in exactly the right amount of light.

Titan ended up the most used light on the trip. Ti PD came out the few time I needed throw.. the bump in the night light... looking for bears late at night.

left behind Zebra headlamp due to it's poor performance for throw. Zebralight has to be run on high to be effective any distance, killing the battery quickly. also Zebralight has the annoying blind everyone that's nearby factor.

foxracer72 said:

hi guys i need a little help on a flashlight recommendation be it production, moded, led, incan, whatever. im going on a 6 day hike in yosemitie and im bringing my novatac 120p or nitecore ex10, and my zebra headlamp, that's the extent of my flashlights, pretty pitiful i know, what should i get for my 3rd light i want something with some "umff" and throw.

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