Sportsman, what is your favorite outdoor light?

I hunt and fish alot and have been using my Quark AA Tactical for most of the year. I love the low modes for looking in the tackle box, walking to a treestand ect. The high modes on this light impressed me initially, but just ordered the Quark AA2 Turbo to gain that few extra yards. Hope I like it as well. new to this forum and just have to saylovecpf

My favs... I m a big fan of hands free flood lighting so the Zebralight and MC-10 are on my body somewhere. I clip the MC10 on my belt or pack straps and point it down to illuminate where I walk. MUCH nicer in bug infested areas, when the zebralight attracts insects. The LD25 is my fave hand held 2AA light. All 3 of these lights run off eneloops, so I can pack a bunch of AAs easily and not worry about cell compatibility. I can do an entire trip with these 3 lights. If space/weight are not a premium I'd throw in a surefire 6P, E2L or A2 and a box of primaries as backup.

I hike and go camping and my most favorite light is my zebralight H51.

Here's my complete set up




new setup (light weight)

I hunt a lot and spend a lot of time outdoors at night. My vote goes to the Surefire LX2. Compact enough to go in my upper pants pocket but bright enough on low to do most of what I need. High is like having a backup spotlight when I'm in a boat. My favorite headlamp is the Princeton Tec Apex. Spot and flood with an easy UI in a long running package.

After years of trying different combos I have settled on carrying a Maratac aaa and a Solarforce L2 with 3 mode XML drop. I use this combo for about 70 bowhunts each season and 40 or so night time trout adventures. The Maratac covers my headlamp needs. I like to travel light and cover lots of ground while stalking or trout fishing.

1) Pelican 2440
2) Shiningbeam L-Mini II with gunga XP-E neutral mod
3) Shiningbeam L-Mini II XR-E Q3 5A (stock)

I don't hunt since it is not legal to even own guns or any weapon in my country. I do however enjoy camping and trekking. The lights that accompany me on such trips vary but some of my favorites are either my Zebralight H501w or H51Fw, my must have HDS rotary and high CRI clicky, and my newly acquired Malkoff MD2 with an M61HCRI. For more power, I would either bring along Surefire UB3T or the Maelstrom G5 or S12 if I want a smaller package. I always bring along a minimum of 4 lights on each trip and must include a headlamp for around the campsite use.

My only real outdoor activity is caving. I bring my zebralight H51F and Fenix LD10 as a backup.

1. OMG DEFT for when I want to see things a long way off or the other lights dont give me enough light to ID quarry

2. Jetbeam RRT-1 Raptor due to the the fact it is a decent thrower and has a dimmer mechanism. The tape switch option is also good though the pull out lead couild be upped on longevity

3. Tiablo A8 - old faithfull now on its 2nd mod now fitted with an XM-L. Only just got it back so not tried in anger but it was formely running a P7 which was flood flood flood but still made some ground. The XM-L is by far brighter and tighter hot spot and r3 settings low med and high. It will also work with the ashperic lens apparently though will be trying this tonight.

3. Thrunight Scorpion V1 - a great little light and the rotary control on the tailcap is great for hunter applications as is the variable ramp though not as flexible as the ring style collar or rotary tail cap. This will be sold as going to look at the V2 with the turbo head as for hunting, the V1 doesnt quite have the range

4. Thrunite Catapault V3.............bit big but it has decent throw and flood. Still cant touch the DEFT but useful as a hand held. Too big for gun mounting unless it is to the side and shooting from a vehicle

Peak's FR800A...an abolute cannon w/ infinite adjustment

an LX2 w/ FM54 and Ra Clicky are usually in tow as well.

Lately my favorite combination has been the zebralight H51 on my head and my quark turbo X in my pocket for when I need extra throw.

When hiking & camping my favorite light weight set up is the zebralight H51 and quark AA. Both single cell AA lights, and both very small & lightweight. I run the quark on a 14500 Li-ion rechargeable for the extra boost in output (205+ lumens,) but could always use the lithium AA's that I keep packed for either light. Both lights are very nice with great UI's.

The ZL H51 headlight is truely awesome with my favorite UI around. Very comfortable on my head with 6 different output levels ranging from .2 lumens to 200 lumens. It runs on a single AA (eneloop rechargeable or lithium primary are best.) When I'm around the campsite, I find it most comfortable pulled down around my neck aimed forward. I'm really looking forward to the much brighter zebralight H600 (750 lumens running on a 18650 Li-ion) which should be out in a couple of months.

Thanks, Think I think there will be a zebralight headlamp in my pack this fall...

whiteoakjoe said:

Thanks, Think I think there will be a zebralight headlamp in my pack this fall...

Click to expand...

I am sure you will like it. Did not know how useful a headlamp could be until I bought one.

In the outdoors, headlamp is a must. back in 2009 my friends and went mt hiking but due to an unexpected storm, we got lost and have to navigate difficult wet terrain in the dark, I have 1 headlamp (which I lent to our trail leader) and 4 other lights, I use a hand held and I scrambled to maintain my balance with only one hand to hold to rocks and trees and still trying to point the light in front of me. I was glad we survived and I learned my lesson that night.

Headlamp - at difficult terrains it's safer to have both hands helping you maintain balance
Battery life - you don't want to change batteries during heavy rains
Multi mode light - at times too bright will blind you and occasionally you will need throw.
Reliability/Durability - One of the light I lend to a friend flickers and mine drains batteries sooner than I thought it should. Use reliable batteries, LSD like eneloops or Lithium AAs.

Looking at a AA Zebralight from goinggear. Think I will go with the warm tint flood. this and a Quark AA2 Turbo should work together well for me, and with a couple of spare eneloop's in the pack would be a real godsend running a trap line, or in the woods this fall. Thanks to everone for your thoughts and ideas...

Welcome to CPF WOJ!

My favorite trio is a Minimus, L1 strapped to my hip, and something really bright for goofing off around camp!

kelmo

Never doubt CPF flashaholic's advise.. The Zebralight H51Fc is wonderful just took it out for early morning squirrel hunt and could not imagine anything better for walking in the woods. perfect ballance of flood and throw for walking in in the morning and great at showing the details of the woods and trail.

I just love to use a lantern type light when camping/fishing. My TK40 and TA21 always goes with but I've found that I seldom use the TA21 on such a trip. My mostly used light when fishing etc is a Osram Crosser 3-led spotlight. I just find it difficult to just put the TK40 on the ground and for it to give light to where it is needed.
I addition my Olight T15 never leaves my pocket. I use it for all the other tasks like looking in the tackle box etc.
I like the Osram spotlight so much that I actually bought a second one. But I must admit, I thought about buying it just to put more lumens in it. Still considdering options at the moment