For hiking, which two lights?

Hi guys,

I have a good problem.

I'm trying to decide on lights for my hiking bag/bug out bag. More for hiking, as I use it quite a lot more in its hiking config than bug out config. Assumption is for multi-day hikes with 35-40lb pack. Subtropics and intermittent jungle. Jungle is BLACK, no residual lighting even in full moon. Can't see nose on face between 7PM-4AM at this time of year. Working light is mandatory, jungle is dangerous at night without one, plenty of critters that sting and bite.

Please pick one or two handheld flashlights from the list:

HDS Rotary 200
4Sevens Preon 1 or 2
Malkoff Hound Dog (MD2)
SureFire 6P or 9P + 1 dropin (M60, M61, M61LL, nailbender XR-E). Its a 6P with mcclicky switch and optional A19
SureFire 6PX Pro
SureFire E1B Backup

Pick one headlight:

Zebralight H501
SureFire Saint or Minimus

holsters:

Blackhawk Mod-U-Lok
HDS holster

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Not a bad problem to have, I just cant decide which selection of lights to bring along with me on the next hike. Another assumption is that the light(s) I bring are for me only, assume companions bring their own.

Which would you bring for a 2+ night wilderness backpacking trip in subtropics/jungle?

Handheld:
HDS Rotary
Surefire 6PX Pro

Headlight:
Surefire Saint (I would go for Zebralight, but since the handhelds use CR123s, might as well stick with them)

How many extra batteries are you bringing?

I don't know how many batteries.

The bag is primarily for hiking and secondary as a bug out kit.

For hiking (up to 5 nights), mabye fresh cells in the lights plus 2 more sets.

For emergency bug out, maybe a box (12) plus fresh in the lights.

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Just seeing what you guys might do given the circumstances. Maybe will help me decide. Its not a huge problem, the choices range from good to better. Just want to find a good compromise between capability and weight.

I'd take the Zebralight headlamp and one of the P60 or smaller sized lights (where ever one has more throw) and extra batteries.

That's my advice given your choices. If I were going on that hike I'd take my two Zebralight H51 headlamps and one small thrower (no larger than P60 size).

I'd bring that Hound Dog. It's nice to get some real throw when you hear things bumping around in the dark. Throw the A19 on there and you'll get longer run-time and still have the option to remove it if you end up needing to pull a battery for a longer running light.

Besides that, I'd take the HDS Rotary (for it's low low) and the Saint, so you can have everything running on CR123s.

Handheld: The SF 6P but I would opt to take both the M60 and M61LL.The 6P/M60 will give you reasonably high output and decent throw but you can fall back to the M61LL if you run low on batteries or otherwise need the runtime advantage.

Headlamp:The SF Saint,you can use the same batteries.

In all honesty I would take one of the other smaller lights as well, just in case.It would also be tough to leave the Hound Dog behind but the extra size and weight would probably be too much.

In a completely dark environment, you really don't need a lot of lumens. In fact, too much will hinder your vision and drive you crazy. Night adjusted vision will be hindered everytime you turn on a bright light. I'd go for the SF Minimus for the headlamp and the 6p with m61LL, and maybe bring the m60. The extra drop in won't take up much space and having a throw option is good but to be honest, in a jungle environment throw won't go very far although it would help you cut through some of the brush and stuff. And going with all cr123 lights, you only have to carry one battery type.

My choices would be:
HDS Rotary
E1B backup

Both headlamps...

HDS holster.

I'm starting to find myself favoring single cell lights. I find that i now have 2 spare batteries instead of 1 spare set

M61LL, in a totally dark area, will be all the light you need and long lasting. The HDS would make a good "partner" to it.

My .02 FWIW YMMV

HDS and Saint, for same battery types.
and good low modes for night adapted eyes.

and use the hound dog as a battery carrier :thumbsup: got 3 extra cells in there. and another extra cell in the E1B

surefire 6px pro and surefire saint minimus. The 6px pro will give you a 200 lumen output, which is more then capable of providing sufficient lighting for a hike. The saint minimus is also the same, however the reason i chose it is because of it's battery compatibility with the 6p. On a hike you don't want to be carrying more then 1 type of battery, you want compatibility with all you lighting products.

My hiking lights are:

Surefire G2 with a neutral 3 mode drop-in. The nitrolon is much lighter than the alloy variations, and the neutral mod is a must for me. I like backpacking light, so if there's a lighter option I'm taking it... And cool tints for prolonged periods at night remind me of being outdoors in a budget horror movie. I can't comprehend why anyone would consciously choose cool tints for natural environments, knowing that neutral tints are available.

Zebralight H31c. Once again proper color rendition for viewing my natural surroundings, with a battery type matching my main light. Also of great utility is the Zebralight UI being able to get right to ultralow light levels. Real useful for starting that trip to the nearest bush in the middle of the night. Of course the Saint minimus allows you to dial in a nice low easily as well, but with an unpleasant tint for natural environments.

At some point in time, I have owned almost all the lights you listed. I keep coming back to an HDS EDC and the Surefire Saint Minimus. Lots of flexibility with very high reliability and durability. On top of these two I would choose the 6P with M61LL for ultimate KISS reliability. I would make one change. I prefer the Z41 with the TorchLab ZeroRes upgrade over any clicky for this application.

My hiking lights:

Zebralight H31w
Surefire C2, bored, Triad with McClicky soft press tail switch, Malkoff M61LHCRI drop-in

I have an HDS Rotary on the way that may take the place of the C2 on some outings.

From your selection I would go with the H501 and the HDS Rotary.

Nice selection by the way!

Nice problem to have.

HDS in pocket, 6P with M61LL for long runtime and general use, and bring along M60 for reasonable throw.
Saint Minimus, mostly to keep batteries consistent.
Have fun!

tjswarbrick said:

Nice problem to have.

HDS in pocket, 6P with M61LL for long runtime and general use, and bring along M60 for reasonable throw.
Saint Minimus, mostly to keep batteries consistent.
Have fun!

Click to expand...

Well played!

I agree.

If you had to go minimalist, I would go with the HDS and Minimus. You can't go wrong with one celled lights when bringing along spare batteries. My dynamic duo is a Minimus and L1, throw and glow.

kelmo

I would take the HDS for sure and and A head lamp and the zebra light

sorry guys, I'm going with fire on a stick as primary for this one.
have a couple flashlights for backup surely.

walk softly and carry a big stick, that's on fire.

but from your list:
HDS Rotary
Malkoff Hound Dog
Zebralight H501

With fire on stick out front you could just take the HDS and leave the other two at home or take them both and leave the HDS.