How many Lumens for hiking at night in the woods ?

Valmet62

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I am looking for a light ( preferably neutral ) to take with me when I hike the many miles of log trails cut out from the woods close to my apartment. How many lumens would you suggest ? In some areas the trees don't even allow the moon light in. My Eagletac T100c2 does ok, but am wondering if a 300 lumen light would really make that much difference. What do fellow CPF members use out in the woods when there is absolutely no other light source ?

Valmet62
 

B0wz3r

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If you let your eyes adapt, you'll be surprised with how little light you can get away with. I've never needed more than the M1 setting on my Zebralight H51w with diffusion film, and that's only about 25 lumens.
 

Schuey2002

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I've hiked many a night through the local trails that wind their way around a series of lakes. And most of those times I used nothing more than a CMG Infinity Ultra. I don't know how many lumens they make, but it can't be much. I had no problem seeing where I was going while using it..

PS - I always have my 45 lumen KX2 in my pocket as back-up, but really if ever needed it..
 

robostudent5000

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if you just want to see where you're going, like B0wz3r said, you really shouldn't need that much. 27 lumens from my Fenix E05 are more than enough for me to get around. that takes care of me out to 30-40 feet. if you want to look around some and really light up things beyond that, it's up to you. for anything beyond 50 feet, i like at least 100 lumens.
 
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KLowD9x

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Not many lumens at all. I use Medium 1 on the Spark in the woods and even then, that is almost too much light.

The Fenix LD25 looks like the perfect light for being outside in the dark. 48 lumens (which is plenty for the dark of night) for 11 hours (will get you to the next morning if needed) and comes in neutral white (makes colors show true, which can be a life saver in the wilderness) and runs on common batteries (kill off your rechargeables? Keep a pack of lithium primaries in your pack.)
 

jhc37013

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You must want to explore the area and see all around because 20-30 lumens is enough to illuminate a path, I don't blame you I would want to light up the whole area to. Look into a 600+ lumen light like the Lumintop TD15X and Fenix TK35, high output lights can eat up battery's so getting some Li-Ion 18650's and charger would be a good idea as well if you don't already have some, backup battery's is always good to have as well.
 

carrot

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I will happily hike with as little as 5 lumens or perhaps even less. You will find that in the woods you need a lot less light than usual because there is very little ambient light. However there is no real maximum limit because the woods do tend to soak up light pretty easily and your eyes will adjust, but you do not need a lot of light to see ahead of you. You may, however, want a light with a lot of flood (M61) in case you need to get your bearings, or a light with a lot of throw (G5) if you need to be able to follow trail markers. This is of course, situationally dependent and when I hiked Mt. Fuji at night I had my Saint on the "middle" setting, for about 10 lumens. I prefer to have a headlamp when I am hiking and right now the Petzl Tikka 2, Princeton Tec EOS and Petzl Tikka XP2 are all on my highly recommended list for hikers on varying budgets.
 

EnduringEagle

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I use two setups as I like to keep my hands free. One is a Quark 123 in a Fenix headband/Clamp. This will get me 43 lumins for 6.2 hours as I like the extra light on the trail. The other setup is Petzl tikka Plus 2 which gets me 50 lumins (or less if I set it) for 55 hours or economy at for 140 hours. Strobe is longer than that. Very comfortable and durable.
 

shane45_1911

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Malkoff M61W (230 lm) in my C2 is always my go-to light when in the woods. Great spill AND good throw all in a flawless beam that is tinted just right (IMHO).
 

TMedina

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There are only two reasons I'd take a retina burner with me into the woods: 1) to signal my location and 2) scare off critters (that haven't successfully ambushed me).

As others have pointed out, the basic rule of thumb: less ambient light, less artificial needed. And the converse is true.

I usually have two flashlights with me - usually between 45 - 100 lumens. Those lights are picked for battery use and overall run time and not, necessarily, lumen output.

-Trevor
 

dcbeane

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How about a Surefire E1L outdoorsman? I bet the 3 lumens is enough most of the time and 45 lumens is a click away.
I like mine. I'd like to find a fully functional beater E1L so.... somebody have at it and sell me yours at a cheap price.
 

Orum

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When I'm out camping and have to walk a winding trail to the nearest latrine, I can get away with very few lumens, 30 if the manufacturer is to be believed. But what I don't like about my light is where it puts them--all in the center. I think the more important thing would be getting a nice wide, even beam, especially if you're in an area that has dangerous animals you could potentially trip over around (snakes?). Also, if you are in an area with bears, I would certainly want something with enough power to blind one. I certainly wouldn't rely on it being the best way to diffuse the situation, but would definitely want it at my disposal.
 

richpalm

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If you let your eyes adapt, you'll be surprised with how little light you can get away with. I've never needed more than the M1 setting on my Zebralight H51w with diffusion film, and that's only about 25 lumens.

Not me... I need 300 lumens just to walk the dogs and be able to see without straining. Whatever you do, take a backup light also when you go.

Rich
 

ringzero

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10 lumens is plenty for me to hike a trail, if delivered in a general purpose beam with a hotspot for throw and a spillbeam for peripheral vision.

That same general purpose beam when momentarily bumped up to 20 lumens lets me see a bit further down the trail to check for markers and such.

I think that anything very much over 20 lumens is overkill for trail walking that'll wreck your night vision for no good reason.

If you are hiking cross country at night, then you'll want a higher output.

If you are caving, then you'll want a higher output.

If you are doing a predawn approach to the bottom of a climb over rough terrain, then you'll want a higher output.

But for trail walking, I think it's better to avoid totally blasting away your night vision with unnecessarily bright lights.

.
 

nzbazza

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In the years of late night tramping (hiking) I've found that I've never needed more than 30lm of light when off route, although I can appreciate there may be times when brighter is better.

On a track/trail/route I typically only ever use the M2 level of the ZL H51w or the med level of the PT Eos rebel50, so around 15lm.

For campsite tasks I find anything more than 5lm too bright.
 
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CyberCT

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Lol you people are crazy. I wouldn't settle with anything less than the 820 lumens my TK35 puts out ;). I used it tonight in the woods actually, walking back to the car and looking at what fish were swimming around in the water.
 

Burgess

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Interesting, eye-opening thread here.

(pun intended)


Unless you encounter a " WhatTheHellWasTHAT ? ? ? " moment,
a bright blaster is seldom required for walking through the woods.


Ya' just need something strong enough to spot the occasional

Spider Web !


:eeksign:
_
 

Richub

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It actually depends on how good your night vision is.
Check out how well you'll be able to see on a moonlit night in an open field without artificial light.

If you have a good night vision: Keep the light low & floody, with a brighter thrower handy in case you need to check something out farther away.
My night vision is exellent, so I need very little light to go around safely. If I'd go hiking right now, my Fenix E05 would be my primary choice, with the TK41 as the second long distance light.

If your night vision is pretty bad, go as bright as your lights & batteries allow you.
That's why Richpalm always uses at least 300 lumens, I saw him mention several times in his posts his night vision is very poor.

As an example, I have a friend with very poor night vision.
When we go out together in wintertime on a moonlit night, I can see everything clearly in open fields and such, and even see a touch of color, while my friend is almost blind.
He can only spot bright things a few feet away, without being able to tell if it's a piece of paper, or a light colored rock.
 
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badtziscool

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I'm with most of the ppl who replied here. Once your eyes have adjusted, you need very little to see the trail. In the clear and a good moon, you don't even need any light. For the areas that are covered or if there's no moon, I would say 100 lumens is all you need, and that's to have some reach to look for a suitable campsite. Of course, having a multimode light that can go from 100 lm to 1000 lm is kinda nice :)
 
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