Forum Index > Trail Talk > How much light do you carry?
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Cyclopath
Faster than light



Joined: 20 Mar 2012
Posts: 7694 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Cyclopath
Faster than light
PostWed May 20, 2020 7:18 am 
I'm curious what other people do wrt light. How many lumens, how many lights, what type of lights (hand or head), and what do you do about battery power? Obviously there's a different answer for a typical day hike, a backpacking trip, and a day hike that involves some darkness like watching the sun rise from a peak. Would love to hear your preferences for each.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
PostWed May 20, 2020 8:19 am 
Enough to navigate at night by.

"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." — Abraham Lincoln
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
MangyMarmot
Member
Member


Joined: 06 Apr 2012
Posts: 473 | TRs | Pics
MangyMarmot
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 8:23 am 
I usually carry two headlamps. I also have a tiny emergency light in my repair kit. When desperate, I've used my camera as a light by pulling up a bright photo on the LCD display and pointing it forward.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
HikerJohn
Member
Member


Joined: 01 Sep 2008
Posts: 354 | TRs | Pics
Location: Daydreaming
HikerJohn
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 8:30 am 
Black Diamond rechargable headlamp plus spare batteries. I will also sometimes stuff a mini-flashlight into my emergency bag as a "get back home" backup. I do NOT count on my cell phone as a light (you guys have heard me rant about that a lot here...)...

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
thunderhead
Member
Member


Joined: 14 Oct 2015
Posts: 1510 | TRs | Pics
thunderhead
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 8:30 am 
For most backpacking trips i bring 2 headlamps plus my phone as a backup. For dayhikes and backpacks near the summer solstice when days are very long... 1 headlamp is good enough for me. For easy caves 2 plus the phone again. For hard caves.... all the headlamps. Lol.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!



Joined: 25 Dec 2006
Posts: 11272 | TRs | Pics
Location: Don't move here
treeswarper
Alleged Sockpuppet!
PostWed May 20, 2020 8:50 am 
A headlamp and a solar rechargeable Luci light. The latter weighs the same as a CD and will stay lit for hours. To recharge, you just put it in the sun.

What's especially fun about sock puppets is that you can make each one unique and individual, so that they each have special characters. And they don't have to be human––animals and aliens are great possibilities
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Bronco
Member
Member


Joined: 20 Jun 2010
Posts: 133 | TRs | Pics
Bronco
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 9:05 am 
My goto is the Black Diamond Spot with an extra set of batteries and a tiny Petzl emergency light. Headlamps are so good and cheap nowadays that I think I have one in every pack and vehicle. You definitely don't want to be that person who calls SAR because you didn't think you needed a light.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Cyclopath
Faster than light



Joined: 20 Mar 2012
Posts: 7694 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Cyclopath
Faster than light
PostWed May 20, 2020 9:13 am 
I bring a headlamp and a flashlight. Headlamp uses AAAs and that can be a bit of a pain, but it's worth it because you have both your hands and the light follows your gaze. I have an old bike headlamp that's 800 lumens on full blast, but can make it through a night on medium which is ~3. It can also draw from an external battery pack. I have a second rechargeable flashlight that does 1,600 lumens, if I plan to hike through the night I'll bring the three of them and pull a fresh one out when one dies. Very bright lights tend to run a long time on their medium setting, and every now and then an artificial sun can be useful navigating in dark woods on a moonless night.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Luc
Member
Member


Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Posts: 1674 | TRs | Pics
Location: accepting wise-cracks like no other
Luc
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 11:28 am 
For backpacking I have a Mammut with a crazy bright spot setting. Bring an extra set of lithium batts and it will last for weeks especially in summer when it's light out for some 16hrs a day. Then my phone as a backup - with a battery pack to recharge. For dayhikes, the same headlamp and phone, without extra batts or batt pack. They've stay in the pack, since I've never found myself needing to bivy on a day hike.

GNGSTR
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
awilsondc
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Apr 2016
Posts: 1323 | TRs | Pics
awilsondc
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 11:40 am 
Black Diamond spot and an extra set of batteries. I've never had it fail, ever that I can remember (10 years?). I'd use my cell phone flashlight for an emergency and have done so once on a sunrise hike once when I forgot my headlamp. I now keep an extra headlamp in my car in case I forget since it's happened a couple times.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Navy salad
Member
Member


Joined: 09 Sep 2008
Posts: 1864 | TRs | Pics
Location: Woodinville
Navy salad
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 11:40 am 
For overnight trips, I carry 3 lights (not counting my cellphone, which I also don't count as a light): -- A Spot headlamp (that I'm not all that crazy about); -- A mini flashlight about the size of my little finger that clips to the little loop on the ceiling of my tent and has helped me find my tent in the dark more than once; and -- A tiny key-chain type light that weighs 0.2 ounces that clips to my backpack. I could probably get along just find without this, but it's such a trivial amount of weight I bring anyway. For dayhikes, I just carry one emergency headlamp.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Kascadia
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Feb 2014
Posts: 648 | TRs | Pics
Kascadia
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 11:49 am 
Two small BD headlamps (same for Kascadio, who also carries extra batteries). They're in our packs ("10 essentials") and go on every hike.

It is as though I had read a divine text, written into the world itself, not with letters but rather with essential objects, saying: Man, stretch thy reason hither, so thou mayest comprehend these things. Johannes Kepler
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
christensent
Member
Member


Joined: 05 Nov 2011
Posts: 658 | TRs | Pics
christensent
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 11:53 am 
For anything less than caving, I just carry one head lamp. The odds that it's going to fail seem to be really impressively low, and if it does the consequences are just not that high. Plus as much as people say a cell phone doesn't count, if I'm somehow in an emergency situation where I absolutely must move at night and my headlamp has failed, I'll gladly take a cell phone. And of course if I'm in a group rather than solo, other people have lights too. Although it is unpleasant, I have hiked out with N-1 headlamps in a group of N people, and it's just not THAT bad.

Learning mountaineering: 10% technical knowledge, 90% learning how to eat
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
texasbb
Misplaced Texan



Joined: 30 Mar 2009
Posts: 1153 | TRs | Pics
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
texasbb
Misplaced Texan
PostWed May 20, 2020 2:00 pm 
I don't generally hike at night, at least not on purpose. I take one tiny headlamp (Petzl e+LITE) and one tiny pen light (one AAA battery). The headlamp is mainly for reading in the tent. The pen light is mainly for hanging as an overhead light in the tent. Unless it's a completely moonless night, I rarely use a light outside the tent. Even then, I'd rather not foul my night vision if I can help it.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Schroder
Member
Member


Joined: 26 Oct 2007
Posts: 6696 | TRs | Pics
Location: on the beach
Schroder
Member
PostWed May 20, 2020 3:19 pm 
I've done a lot of hiking and climbing at night and never found a need for more than one good headlamp with spare batteries.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trail Talk > How much light do you carry?
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum