One Light, One Month—What will it be?

You are allowed one light for the next five weeks. Just one. You are allowed one rechargeable battery and a spare, plus a charger.

That is it.

You will not be able to purchase spare cells or change parts.

You will have the opportunity to charge your battery about once every three days. Maybe every night, but definitely every three days.

You will be in cities and in the country, backpacking in the mountains and exploring old urban centers with rich history.

You will be in high crime areas with pickpockets, and areas with no other people for miles.

As OP, I'll start:

Shiningbeam S-Mini and two 18650 cells.

Justification

-Best compromise of size/volume (length, width, height), power (output in lumens), power (energy density of cell), weight (mass) and handling (how it feels when actually used)

-Can tailstand

-More floody than XR-E but still some throw compared to XM-L

-real nice low

-useful medium

-punchy high when called for without overheating

-extremely light (covered above, but here again for emphasis)


What do you choose?

Interesting question. I'd go with a Zebralight SC80W. Reasons:

- Small, light and discreet form factor.

- Power: Takes both CR123 and AA batteries. AA batteries can be purchased more or less anywhere (unless you are on a remote and deserted island). I'd take 2 Eneloops and a charger with me. You can also bring along 1 or 2 primary CR123 batteries in a waterproof container as a last resort backup option.

- Has a neutral white XPG led, so to me it's a bit of a floody/thrower compromise. Goes from 0.1lm to 189lm with many options in between, more than enough for most daily tasks. The NW should help with better colour rendition.

- I believe it can tailstand (I don't own one, yet). I was originally thinking perhaps a Zebralight H51W would be more suitable, but since you specified tailstanding, the SC80W was my next choice. For hands-free tasks without fussing with a headband, I find clipping my H51C to my shirt pocket works very well.

On the whole, I wouldn't personally travel with 18650 lights as getting spare or replacement cells for them would be difficult (especially if the light only accepted 18650s). They also tend to be of a larger size and heavier weight than single AA/CR123 lights.

If you can, bring along at least 2 flashlights, as the saying goes - 2 is 1 and 1 is none. Perhaps a Zebralight H51W or a bombproof Surefire or HDS?

I sent the thread to my brother, and he criticized me for not including units of measure, quantifying each parameter. So I added them.

I think a AA light may even be better than 18650, just because you can find batteries anywhere.

But my brother hammered into my head that bulk and weight make for a very unhappy traveler, and that the less you take, the happier you will be. That is part of the reason I specified one light only. It is definitely a risk, and I suppose that with a AA light, you decrease the chances of being left in the dark.

It is true that if a cell goes bad or is lost, that is it, game over, where with a AA light, the game goes on.

Who is up next?

You will be in cities and in the country, backpacking in the mountains and exploring old urban centers with rich history.

You will be in high crime areas with pickpockets, and areas with no other people for miles.

Click to expand...

Just because of the backpacking part, I'd go for a headlamp; a Zebra H600W. It is more likely I'd need light while backpacking than in the city, which means long runtimes are a must, but crazy output is sometimes a good ally and necessary for the high crime areas.


If the question had been simply "you can only carry one light for the next 5 weeks, period" then I'd have to say "my most recent one: Sunwayman V11R high CRI". If I had answered that in a couple days from now I would have said "my most recent one: Sunwayman M11R neutral."

Fenix tk15 just because I love it

Interesting topic. For old city centres where you might explore cellars or dungeon-type areas, as well as a bit of urban exploration, I think a zebralight H502d would be very nice, but it might be too floody for finding and lighting a path in complete dark and overgrown areas in the dark. For that I'd still like a headlamp type light though.
Since you specified high crime, I'd be also tempted to get a light with instant-strobe from off as well as a striking bezel. Perhaps a Klarus XT11 would be good for that.

Still, if I'd be exploring I would have a camera + flash with me anyway, so I'm gonna cheat this topic:
Zebralight H502d as a flashlight and nothing, NOTHING beats the blinding properties of a 580EX's strobe mode modeling light or simply one pop on full power in the face