walking flashlight-headlamp combo

I have a question. I walk my dog in the morning, but the problem is I walk him when it's almost pitch black outside (there is no light unless the moon is out). I need a flashlight for most days and then a headlamp for when it rains. The two flashlights I am considering are the PT 40 and the PT Impact . The headlamps I saw were the Black Diamond Lunar , the Petzl Zoom Zora , and the Koehler-Bright Star/LSI Responder . Of course, I need some input as I am hopelessly clueless about what works the best.

I don't know if you've tried a decent LED light, but they could be an option too. The light output ranges from brighter than a mag solitaire, to as bright as 2 D cell Maglite, more or less. They generally have a much more even, broad beam, and always have better color rendition and battery life. I'm slowly switching over all of my short/medium range lights to LED. (I'm hooked)

If you go that route, their are LOTS of choices.

I'd take my Streamlight 4AA LED, if my Lab were still around, and wear a raincoat in the rain. (hate umbrellas) The Streamlight is about as waterproof and rugged as you could want, and the nice bright yellow color of mine is easy to find.

I'm not sure about a bright LED headlamp, I have a Tikka, but for broken sidewalk city dark ground walking, that may be a little dim. Depends on how fast the dog wants to go...

Only suggestions on the lights mentioned would be that using a common battery type might be nice, and that there's a thread somewhere about the PT 40 having a problem with long term use of rechargable batteries - crushes the ends or something.

PT has drop in LED modules for some of their 2AA and 4AA lights (both head and hand carry). I have a PT Solo (2AA) and got the LED module for it. Battery life ratings are 40 hours for alkaline, and 100+ hours for Lithium AA. This is the same as the PT Matrix: same module.

In the light environment that you describe, this would be adequate. The module is perfectly engineered.

There are other and brighter LED headlamps. The Septor (Streamlight) is said to be quite bright. If they made it in 3AA it would be even better.

Another and very bright option, is to get a modified AA Mini-Mag with a Luxeon Star LED, and put 2 Lithium AA batteries in it. Also get a Nite-Ize headband and a holster for the belt.

One Luxeon Star (LS) is 10 - 15 times brighter than an S rank Nichia White LED. I have a Lightwave 4000, which has 10 White LEDs in it and uses 3D batteries. My Arc LS with 2 Alkaline AA is brighter, and since it happens to have the high dome optics, it is also better focused!

Believe me, it is worth the price to go with one of these. Even the modded mini-mags with the LS in it, is a very nice, and readily available aternative. CMG also makes an affordable LS flashlight. These things work longer than incandescents, cause they have a much lower threshold voltage (minimum to get the bulb to light).

The PT Aurora is a nice 3 LED headlamp.

Light weight with good battery life and good brightness.
My daughter has one and likes it.

I have the PT Tec 40 for the "daily walk in the dark" use you describe and it does indeed bend the tips of the NiHM. Apparently you can put aluminum foil in the bottom of the light (to take the pressure off of the NiMHs), but I'd reather get a system that doesn't require fiddling like that. I'm definitely looking for a good light to carry every day...which means that NiMH is a must for me.

I'm thinking about the PT Attitude now (but it won't likely be near as bright as the Tec 40 with KPR103 bulb and NiMHs)... :-(

The MiniMag with the Opalec LED module is another option...but a little pricey.

Will your hands be free or not?
I walk in the country with my dog...no leash needed.

You've all suggested LED headlamps, but my primary concern is whether or not the light beam will be able to cut throught the rain and still be an effective light. Unfortunately my dog is far too stupid and to be allowed free roam. His stupididy is one of my main incentives for getting some lighting. When it rains in my area, the skunks come out, and my dog has a tendency to charge them. I figure if I see one from a good enough distance, it will either go away, or I will go away.

glowstick,

I think they're thinking in terms of your convenience. Certainly the Aurora is nice and compact and fits very comfortably on your head. This would be my first suggestion as well. If you want more light than that, a PT solo headlamp or a Rage flashlight would work well. The Rage is also nice and compact and lightweight, but it's not a headlamp.

I don't recommend the Lunar over the Solo, due to its external cord, and yes I own a Lunar.

We had a dog like that. He never learned his lesson regarding skunks.

Having seen the Arc LS in action (I'm still playing with it). The Luxeon Star (1 watt) is brighter than the lightwave 4000. A reasonably priced alternative to the Arc LS, is the CMG Reactor. You will get best performance out of Lithium AA. The Reactor is also much easier to get. I was lucky to get the Arc LS.

Get a AA based headlamp and use Lithium AA. They last longer, and don't use halogens, as they suck AAs dry like a dehydrated horse will suck a full trough dry. The PT Solo with the dimpled reflector and a nice K4/KPR104 bulb does nicely, unless you want to go with the 4 AA model (still use dimpled reflector and krypton bulb).

Just beware of the Aurora if its uses also include reading. The lowest level has a very annoying blink-blink.....blink-blink in it.

The Streamlight Septor is a little brighter, may not have quite as good battery life, is a bit heavier, but has no blink-blink.

I removed the reflector and the click ratchet.

Cheers,

Richard

Rayovac now has an extremely nice headlam that has three settings on the switch, ON level one is a white LED, ON level two is two red LEDs, and ON level three is a Halogen white light. I really like mine.

Hey, I'm an idiot! I just found out that my green Trident (Streamlight) focuses! Halogen bulb only of course.

Anyway, this light works like the Rayovac Badger described, except the modes are one green LED, two white LEDs, halogen. White is very even, broad beam great for closeup work and reading, and walking around. The halogen focuses pretty well, and has enough light outside the hotspot to see walking around. I think it would work well for the dog walking trip, plus give you the option of a more battery friendly, smoother LED light when you don't need the horsepower. (Minus may be that it uses AAA's. Consider NiMh...)

BTW the current model has a faceted reflector, so the beam is much better than the Trident reviewed on Doug's site.

I still think for a handheld light the 4AA Streamlight LED is the way to go. It's brighter than you'd think.