Girlfriends birthday light

Hi guys i was looking for some advice. My girlfriends birthday is next week and she is going away to do conservation work abroad and asked for a flashlight. Im not too sure what one to get her and im on a tight budget of £25, being a student, after buying her a necklace. She needs something quite small and it must be small enough to fit to a headband to be used as a headlamp but still offer a good level of brightness. I was thinking of the fenix E11 but not sure if this light will offer enough spill and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts/ oppinions for alternatives or if the E11 is a good choice?

i raise u a thrunite T10. higher lumens on high with the same runtime, an extra low low mode (.9 lumens) for reading or finding your way around things without waking people up. its thinner and shorter than the E11, it can tail stand unlike the E11 and it has a bigger lanyard attachment on back so u can clip things to it.

If you are on a budget the E11 sounds like a good choice. If not check out the JetBeam BA10: maybe you can find them for 25 quids if you look around.
For the headband, you can get the Klarus one, it should sell for less than 5 and the BA10 will fit fine, not sure about the E11.
Good luck : )

For here conservation work...will there be electricity to charge cells? IE: Does she need the light because its a camp-type environment, or just to see around the hotel/take a walk at night, etc?

If there's no or limited power, something that uses primaries, or, bringing a solar powered charger, etc, might be preferable.

The lights that can at least use lithium ion cells are going to be brighter and run longer for a given form factor.

Thanks guys for the input so far been haveing a wee look to see which is best and still cant deside She will have a base to return to most evenings but its unlikely that the light will be running off anything other than alkaline batteries and i doubt she'll be able to get hold of CR123s about the village. She will be camping for 4 or 5 nights as well and some of the conservation work will be during night time when they go out exploring as well, its got to be basically a working light thats reliable, i suggested my fenix LD25 but she says its far too big and needs something small.

A bit over the budget, but perhaps you can look at the zebralights, like the SC80, which can run on 123s or aa's. Or just he AA model, SC51 that has great run time and comes with a headband for use as a headlamp, if needed.

I would look at the Fenix E21 or LD22 (LD22 smaller but more expensive). Both run well on AA primaries or rechargables, and aren't much larger than the AA's they run on..

A fenix eo1 is more than suitable for any type of night time work. They're cheap and you can afford to get her more than one that she can then re-gift.

greenlight said:

A fenix eo1 is more than suitable for any type of night time work. They're cheap and you can afford to get her more than one that she can then re-gift.

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I would check the E01 as well as the Fenix E05. I have the E05 on my keys, better beam with a better tint, but run time suffers.

Plenty of decent h/lamps in the Mountain/Walking/Outdoor shops that are popping up all over the UK.That one that is on the UK tv adverts all the time have huge stores.

You did not mention where and for how long, and these are important questions. I second the idea of E01, but you gotta make sure that the AAA batts are available where she is at (i.e. maybe only AA are available). You might be well advised to include a box of Energizer Lithiums (no, no, I know what you are thinking, but I am referring to the L92, not the rechargeable lithiums). I know, they are not cheap, but will perform well in the field.

Cheers for the input so far guys, going to decide the next few hours so that it arrives on time, i forgot to mention that she would be away for 10 weeks but I'm leaning towards AA as it will probubly be easier to get a head band for one and they will provide better runtime and probubly be easier to get a hold of as well.

Ok so i've narrowed it down to the thrunight T10 and the Fenix E11, anyone any last throughts?

You've got a PM regarding my preference for a Zebralight SC80w or SC51w.

Since you're considering the T10 and E11 I'd also suggest the Quark MiNi AA, which has one of the most perfect all around beam patterns of any light regardless of price point.

Thanks everyone who posted and took the time to read this tread, and an special thanks to Kaichu for helping me to see the light :thumbsup: I have decided to go for a Zebralight SC51w and cant wait to see my girlfriends face when she switches it on for the first time. Cheers guys

Doesnt a Zebralight SC51 cost twice your initial budget? :devil:

Labrador72 said:

Doesnt a Zebralight SC51 cost twice your initial budget? :devil:

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I think that a thing call LOVE! ... :naughty:

Can't go wrong with an SC51w or SC51c. Both make very good lights for camping. If you can, get her some spare Energizer lithium AA. Alkaline batteries are not efficient enough to power high powered flashlights and the light's output tend to weaken tremendously when the battery encounters high resistance. Also, alkaline may leak and cause damage to the light, something you would want to avoid when stuck in the village or woods.

If it has to fit in a headband, I think you pretty much have to go with Zebralight. They've kinda got the headlamp market cornered.

Look up the ITP A2. I think that model may have been renamed, but looks like they are still available under that name (a Q5 at Battery Junction for $25, fer example.) I got one from Shiningbeam a couple of years ago, and like it a lot. (I like the A3 even more, because it's so tiny, but I agree with those who say get an AA light only for best battery availability. Also, AA are cheaper per watt-hour.) Nice three mode light. The PWM is fast enough that it's not usually intrusive. Mine has a neutral-white emitter, which is great if you can find one. I ditched the metal lobster claw and just made a lanyard of 1/8" cord tied through the split-ring. Biggest drawbacks: won't tailstand; twisty switch so a little tricky to operate one-handed.

I made a headband out of neoprene with little pockets on each side, one which holds an AAA light or a small AA light (the A2 barely fits) and the other sized for medium to large AA lights. The only problem I've noticed is that if you wear glasses, having the light on the side of your head give reflected glare off the back of the glasses. With a single cell light, it's hard to pull the light far enough forward to prevent this.

Another neat 1xAA light is the Romisen RC-29, which has an aspheric zoom. The uniform illumination at wide angle is great, and it must be one of the best throwing 1xAAs at full zoom. A few drawbacks: 1. single mode, so would often be producing more light than needed and eats cells fast. Fresh eneloop lasts almost exactly an hour. An alkaline would be a lot less. 2. weird little sharp fins around clicky make for a good tail-stand, but can be a little uncomfortable in a pocket and make it difficult to slip into the headband mentioned above without removing the tail switch. The zoom head is quite a bit bulkier than a small reflector head like the ITP, of course.