Flashlights for headlamps

Well, it's official, I now prefer very small clipped flashlights over headlamps. Been using a little aaa Maratac to get in and out of the deer woods for the last 15 days. The high level on the Maratac is a little brighter then the high on a 25 lumen EOS but has a much smoother beam. No headband to mess with and the maratac and 1aa Energizer Cree are so much easier to carry then a headlamp. I just keep the Maratac in a front pocket. I had to put some shrink tubing around the little Maratac's clip to make sure it never comes off. It's nice to be able to just snatch it off my skull when I need to use it as a handheld. Since I pretty much always have a ballcap glued to my head, these little handhelds work great for me.

yeah- Im on the other end since most
headlamps arent powerful enough for me (when MTN biking)
I use a C2 with a dual XPG module velcroed
to my zebralight H51. the whole thing
goes over my helmet so its not a floppy as
it sounds.

:thumbsup:

fishx65 said:

...... Since I pretty much always have a ballcap glued to my head, these little handhelds work great for me.

Click to expand...

That's my problem.... I don't wear hats ever ( square head and big ears)

After comparing the available flashlights with the available headlamps, I decided to go with a multi-flashlight helmet system for caving. For large caves I use an MG PLI (MC-E + 18650) for flood, an EagleTac T100C2 for spotting (XP-E + 18650), and a Zebralight H501w with a 14500 Li-Ion (I prefer the 40 lumen, five hour output this enables). For smaller caves, I substitute an MG Mini II MC-E 7C for the flood, and an EagleTac P20C2 (original XR-E) for throw.

Believe it or not, the masses of these systems are comparable to headlamp setups (whether multi or single) with similar capabilities. In addition, the multi-flashlight route can offer the following advantages:

• Increased redundancy (ie, switches, drivers, etc)
• Simultaneous multi-mode operation
• Often less expensive
• No need for cables (eliminates cable as point of failure)
• Newer emitters, sooner
• Greater combined heatsinking ability

You might think the flashlights would protrude too much, but in actual practice, this has not been the case, even in extremely tight crawls/squeezes.

Using a small flash light as a head light is a great idea. I am in the process of researching a new head light. I have a Streamlight Microstream that I EDC. I find it to be almost perfect for my every day needs. It would be nice to slip it on an elastic band and wear it as a head light.

Thanks for the idea.

jonblack