Carrying back up light

When carrying 2 lights. Which one do you use as the back up? Your favorite light? Or the one you don't care for too much?

What I meant was, if you are going on a trip to the Amazon rainforest. You have a Surefire and a Fenix. Which is your backup?

Neither one is my backup. Or both. My two lights are a larger, (18650,or 21700) light, and a AAA light.
The AAA light gets used more often. I often clip it to my hat. But when I want to see farther in the distance I use the more powerful light.

I own more Maratac aaa lights than any other type so maybe thats my favorite, but its also less expensive then the other lights that I use.

This morning when I checked my Truck I used the Maratac, but when I was looking for the delivery destination in the Dark I pulled out the Thrunite T2.

only 2???? i do try to use the smallest that fits the job. you never know when you need your daylight device.

Aaa sofirn co1s

Emisar D4V2 vn quad W2. This backs up other larger lights that I edc and rotate periodically. I am amazed with the beam profile and beam performance every time I turn it on.

In shorts-and-t-shirt weather, at the very least, my main pocket light is an HDS, and my backup is a discontinued 1xAAA PeakLed "Baltic". I carry a spare battery for both in waterproof containers on a CountyComm 6" mechanic's cable (keychain). The PeakLed is mainly intended to provide light for an HDS battery change, which isn't needed often at all. If it's cold enough to be wearing a jacket, I will have at least one, if not two, other lights to play with; quite possibly a Surefire A2 Aviator (hybrid).

What I meant was if you have a solid light and a decent light, which will be used as a backup.

dealgrabber2002 said:

What I meant was if you have a solid light and a decent light, which will be used as a backup.

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For a long time, I was of the mindset that I didn't want to risk my "good" lights that I liked a lot. I might carry it but the "user" light would be one that I wasn't too fond of.

Then lately I've realized that I've got a bunch of nice lights that have hardly ever been used; there was no point in trying to preserve the "good" lights; it just meant I wasn't getting my money's worth of enjoyment out of those lights.

So now I try not to worry about it any more and just use the ones I like best. If a light gets accidentally trashed or lost, etc, then well that's just life. It'll suck, but that's better than the lights just sitting on the shelf gathering dust. It's like a guy that buys a really nice car then just bubble-wraps the thing in his garage and it never sees the light of day again until the estate auction.

In other words, smoke 'em while you can!

I`d EDC my D4V2 and Convoy M3 as my 2 rainforest lights, the M3 could light up the campsite and not even get warm, the D4V2 covers everything else from moonlight mode to daylight. I always have my Manker E02 on me nearly 24/7 anyway and have often woke up with still clipped to my night shirt, so I don`t count that as a light, it`s a body part now

I use the "good" one. It's pretty simple. Flashlights aren't jewelry, they're meant to be used and I use the ones I like the best.
Wayne

I'll always use the one best suited to the job in hand regardless of any other concerns. No point in keeping a light back because it's 'nice' and struggling on with something that isn't up for the task.

They're tools and should really be used as such. If you didn't want to get it dirty/scratched then it's best left at home

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What would you do if both lights can do the job, one is $40 and the other is $100.

This really depends on where am I going. If I was a caver and my life would depend on it - I would take more than 2 and they would be super-reliable (think HDS), I would maybe even toss some cheap small LED lights into the pack just in case.
For hiking? Honestly - I will not die out there without a flashlight, eyes will get adapted to darkness and I will survive. So 2 is enough (usually headlamp and some small handheld, plus you always have a phone with flash with you).
For EDC? For me one is enough. Something small I don't notice in the pocket, for example Surefire Sidekick - it's made out of plastic so it doesn't scratch other items in my pocket, and it's rectangular size. I always have my phone as backup.

dealgrabber2002 said:

What I meant was if you have a solid light and a decent light, which will be used as a backup.

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Normally I carry "good" lights, but that could change depending on the circumstances. On the few trips I have made out of the country, I carry lights that can be replaced when I get back home, if they are lost, stolen, or confiscated.

I've never had a job that depended on a regular need for a flashlight. I suspect that I would have a light that worked well, but was not irreplaceable. I do not know if I would be willing to loan a light to a co-worker, unless it was a less expensive light, carried for that reason.

dealgrabber2002 said:

What would you do if both lights can do the job, one is $40 and the other is $100.

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That's the thing though with carrying two lights. I'll always tend to carry two different types... Bright/dim, floody/thrower. Unless the situation was mission critical of be very unlikely to carry two lights of the same style.

That being said, I was an active caver for nearly ten years when light very much was mission critical. My standard carry would be primary and secondary helmet mounted lights (primary on a rechargeable lithium Ion battery pack, secondary running enloop AA's). A petzl e-lite in a waterproof pouch in my pocket (incase I lost the helmet) a single AA light on a lanyard round my neck/under my clothes and a 9v lithium battery with a pak-lite attached (lamp of last resource)

Over the course of some 300 trips I never had to use anything other than my primary headlamp but I wouldn't have hesitated to use/abuse any and all of my lights when I was underground. You really dont mind getting a few scratches on a light when you're dangling 100' over a dark abyss trying to negotiate a tricky re-belay and your primary light craps out on you.

As an aside, caves are the darkest places around but 95% of my caving was done on 50 lumens or less.....

To answer your original question though, I'd probably use the 'nice' light. After all, I will have paid more for it, I might as well use it otherwise I've wasted my money buying it in the first place.

It probably comes across as a criticism of people that collect lights just for the sake of having them (multiple styles of the same light and so on) and then just putting them on a shelf to look at but really but really it isn't. I have no issue with how other people spend their hard-earned and what they do with their goods.

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simonsays said:

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It probably comes across as a criticism of people that collect lights just for the sake of having them (multiple styles of the same light and so on) and then just putting them on a shelf to look at but really but really it isn't. I have no issue with how other people spend their hard-earned and what they do with their goods.

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Oh I agree, nothing wrong with collecting for its own sake if that's what a person enjoys most. After all, if no one was into collecting and preserving things, there wouldn't be any antique items left for everyone else to admire (cars, watches, guns, cameras, etc etc)

I'm a "preserver" for some things, but not flashlights in general. I felt more regret for a light that wasn't used much than I did towards a light that's gotten scratched and dinged a few times.


And a "loner light" should definitely be a cheap one there's plenty of forum stories out there where an expensive light or knife is loaned to a co-worker or buddy who then proceeds to use it as a hammer or pry bar.

Just 1 backup? I carry at least 2 Olights and another AA light on me. Several more in my truck.

I always have a EDC size light on me. Backup is on keychain, a rovyvon atm. 2nd backup is on phone. Lol.

dealgrabber2002 said:

You have a Surefire and a Fenix. Which is your backup?

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Fenix is the backup.

Funny you should mention it I live in a part of Australia with amazon like jungle. In fact our forest is even older than the amazon I only own 4 lights or so. What I carried on multi-night hikes was my nitecore EC4GT(the old 1000 lumens model) and a Fenix HL23 1x AA headlight. (My car keys which go in the pack also have a little fenix e01 attached to them, the old 13 lumens model). Some hikers, like the ultralight crew prefer only 1-2 minimal AA or AAA based plastic lights to keep weight down. Realistically in heavy jungle visibility in daylight is only yards anyway a lot of the time in "the great wall of green" so powerful lights just reflect it back. But I figured an EC4GT has enough throw to put a search light into the clouds should I ever become geographically embarrassed or illuminate a canyon or deep creek those times when I cant work out whats before me. 1000 lumens/70,000 CD has some deterrant abiility on dogs I have found too. If it failed I could live without it of course. For the record that power level behind a red filter throws enough candles to target and shoot pest animals to 50 yards as well. Very handy power level in a compact thrower.