Lightweight LED Flashlights

A simple keychain LED like the ones at DealExtreme are less weight and more than adequate to light up a trail for walks at night. If you want something more fancy, get a white Photon Freedom (a.k.a. Freedom to the Max) for a keychain LED with strobe and SOS flash modes plus variable (dimmable) output. I also carry a yellow or red one for use around the tent without killing my night vision.

The Fenix lights have higher high-output, so they'd be better if you're doing extensive hiking at night and want to be able to shine a light on something more than 20-30 feet away. Not necessary though if you're hiking by day and just want something for around the camp at night.

Remember, your eyes are pretty good at adapting to low light, and this makes a good argument for using less light: just enough to see where you're stepping. The brighter the light, the more it kills your night vision, the less natural ability you'll have to see what's around you.

> Fenix

It's is a very nice light. If I was buying a flashlight hiking hiking it would be on my shortlist. I am using it's big brother because most of the things I own that use batteries use AA size and I like the longer lifetime.

For people who really like headlamps, it's worth mention that there is an updated EOS now that uses the Rebel bulb which has performance similar to the Cree.

> Button light

The Photon freedom doesn't only have more features… it is also something like 2x brighter than most of the cheap button lights.

I have found that the Photon is fine do camp tasks and have found it adequate on well worn trails… but when there isn't a well worn trail (say in the sierras going over a granite field) they are close to useless.

> Remember, your eyes are pretty good at adapting to low light

Speak for yourself, youngster :-) Alas, as our eyes age, they don't do so well in low light. Now I understand why my mother used to say "Turn on a light when you read" and my dad tended to like someone else to drive at night. I am tempted to say the same thing to my daughter. I can't read in the light she does.

You do make a good point about night vision… There are many situations when I found that letting my eyes adjust to the moonlight was better than using a flashlight… especially when the flashlight was an underpowered button light. While I couldn't make out the details as well by moonlight, it was easier to see the edges of the trail.

Remember, your eyes are pretty good at adapting to low light, and this makes a good argument for using less light

The Fenix and the Lummi both have a dim mode. :-)

Quote: While I couldn't make out the details as well by moonlight, it was easier to see the edges of the trail.

The reason for this is that your peripheral vision is much more sensitive to seeing things in the dark than looking at them straight ahead. Try it sometime if you're having trouble seeing something in the dark; just look past it to the side a little bit and you'll have a nice clear picture of it in your peripheral vision.

In my military training I was taught to look 15 degrees off of the target I wanted to see at night for the same reason as described above. To see the trail in the dark, just look 15 degrees above it.

Edit stupid spelling correction

The reason for better vision at night when looking off to the side is that our eyes have better light/dark receptors on the periphery of the back wall within the eyeball. This is better to distinguish objects based on amount of light available but sacrifices visual acuity (seeing things is good detail). The central portion of the back wall of the eyeball has different receptors that work better in well lit situations and gives us the acuity that we are used to during the day. For more info, you can look up rods and cones on the retina.

I'm a big fan of using LED lights that have both red and white lights. The red is very useful for walking trails and some kinds of work at night when you don't want to mess up your night vision. The problem with superbright led lights is that they can blind people at night: ever been on a group hike with people that have these?
Look for one that has separate white and red LEDs. The type that uses a red filter is common but inefficient. The one i use most often was $20 at walmart, ray-o-vac branded iirc.

Fenix lights are awesome. There is a Q5 version of the L0D out now… the LD01. It's stainless steel and 0.5 grams heavier than the L0D.

There is also an aluminum version of the LD01. Weight is listed at 14.8 grams vs. 14.0 grams for the L0D. The Q5 gives slightly more light output and the exact same battery life as the Q4 according to the manufacturer's website. For an extra 0.8 grams, I think I'm gonna buy the LD01 instead of the L0D.