Fenix E01 vs Photon Freedom Micro

Kind of a flashlight freak here:

First off all, realize you're basically comparing the spaceshuttle to a poorly made paper airplane. However, with a battery the Fenix is FOUR times heavier than the squeeze light. Don't get me wrong, plenty of people have used the Freedom for a very long time with excellent results. The light is no slouch. However, the Fenix is pretty much indestructable. You can drop it in 6 feet of water, run over it with your car, leave it out in a down pour for hours on end and it would be fine through it all. Plus, it carries the advantage of using a common battery type which is naturally a plus for thru hikers.

To sum it up, I carry the Freedom when hiking,
which consists of following trails that are moderately hard to find to well worn and almost always pitching camp with daylight to spare. However I do own 4 different Fenix flashlights, they're that well made.

If I was doing any hiking that required some night hiking or going to an area where finding my way out wouldn't involve following a trail, I would certainly choose something over my Freedom (probably a Zebralight 501 or 501w) plus have an additional backup (a lightweight thrower).

I've been taking a petzl e+lite headlamp; before that a princeton aurora. The petzl isn't up to trail walking, though, and it's about the same brightness as the photon. I'm considering buying one of the fenix lights as a "dual-use" item–I can use it backpacking, or strap it to my helmet when I cycle at night. However, I wouldn't go with the EO1, but the LD10+, which has three brightness settings and a clip to attach it to your hat for hands-free use. It does weigh about an ounce more, but gives you 34 hours of use on its lowest setting, which is about the same as the E01, and 12X that brightness if you need it.

Lately my main flashlight has been a cheap Energizer LED headlamp. It takes two 2032 lithium coin cell batteries. The headlamp puts off 12 lumens with a run time of 30 hours and weighs only 1.2 oz. w/ batteries. The light cost me only $6. I have been nothing but happy with it.

In my pocket survival kit I keep a Doug Ritter version Photon Freedom. This one is easy to find yellow and has a protective tube that eliminates side scatter and protects the LED. Link: http://www.equipped.com/dr_photon.htm.

One plus is I can use the 2032 batteries from my Energizer in the Photon and vice versa.

I would not just bring the Photon backpacking but as a backup flashlight there is none better IMO. It has come in handy several times.

Joseph,

Is the one in your pocket survival kit similar to this model: http://www.photonlight.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDesc=N&PhotoURL=/v/vspfiles/photos/options/FM-LED-keychain-flashlight-94.jpg

If so, is the protective tube detachable?

I can't access equipped.com at the moment because I'm behind a firewall that's filtering traffic to that site.

Thanks…

Hi Chris,

The Fenix. Nothing against the remarkable little Freedom, but no button cell light can maintain beam intensity for more than a minute or two. It's the limitation of the breed (same goes for the e-lite). The little button cells simply aren't up to the task of providing continuous light (unless dimmed considerably). If you consider the flashlight to be an emergency light, you need to also consider the possibility the emergency might last a good long while, and here the Fenix is the obvious choice. The weight difference is a matter of grams.

Cheers,

Rick

Rick,

When you say that button cell lights cannot maintain beam intensity for more than a minute or two, what happens thereafter? Do they just maintain a beam at an albeit lower intensity, or does the intensity become erratic?

It’s pretty evident in the photon freedom runtime graph that was posted on candlepower that the beam follows off pretty quickly. The freedom loses more than 1/2 it’s brightness in less than 60 minutes. It’s down to 1/6 it’s original brightness after 6 hours which significantly reduces it’s effectiveness. I almost always have a photon freedom in my pocket. It’s small, light, and quite useful. I wouldn’t rely on it for nighttime navigation, but it’s fine for around the camp utility lighting. I tried it as my primary flashlight, but was disappointed with it’s brightness over time. I would second getting a freedom with the tube around the LED to reduce side scatter in the ritter version of the photon is quite useful and is not removal.

The fenix e01 runtime graph shows that it maintains nearly full brightness for several hours. The E01 is a nice little flashlight. It certainly runs at a higher brightness than the freedom for a longer period of time. The flip is that the photon continues to provide a little bit of light for a long time where the E01 will cut out completely more quickly. For serious nighttime navigation I carry something brighter than the E01.

For backpacking I typically carry two lights. The first is a ritter eQ headlight. It’s light, doesn’t turn on accidently, and can easily clip to things. The lens gives a surprisingly bright focused beam which works well for me. I bring a Fenix L1D for nightime navigation thanks to it’s good throw and high quality power regulation. More thoughts on my recommended flashlights page.

–mark

I am thinking of getting this light for emergency/survival kit purposes.

If I'm going to be doing some early evening hiking, etc. I would take along my Petzl headlamp as my primary light source (with the emergency one as back up)…

Hi Chris,

Our test results were similar to the ones Mark links to.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/photon_freedom_led_microight_spotlite_review.html

When I measured the Photon's output with fresh batteries the output dropped so quickly I had a hard time settling on an initial output reading. Counter to that, if you turn it on at a low setting it can hold an output for a long while, but low output on a button cell light is awfully meager for following a trail.

A well-crafted AAA cell light such as the Fenix or a Surefire, Gerber, etc. offers a much more robust alternative. That said, I still carry button cell lights but would never count on one for more than five or ten minutes of genuine navigation (as compared to following a clear trail).

Cheers,

Rick

I'm a fan of the Fenix E01. I like using a standard battery that I can get hold of anywhere, and I like being able to use a rechargeable (Eneloop) rather than disposable batteries.

And I like that it Saved My A*s Big Time on an impromptu alpine night navigation exercise last week, after I overestimated my ability to "just quickly nip up the Wendelstein" the afternoon after the first big snowfall of the year. The first hour or so of the descent, after enjoying the sunset from 300 metres below the summit, went well without a light – with afterglow, a rising full moon and snow on the ground, you don't need a light anyway. Below the snowline and into the trees was a different ballgame, however, and the Fenix turned out the be perfect for it – it throws a good twenty metres of enough light to find a steep, faint path in dense forest, but not so bright as to completely mess up my night vision for when I got back onto easier ground.

Other points that occur to me: lack of hands-free operation is a drawback; on the other hand, the fairly stiff twist action to turn on means there's no danger at all of accidentally draining the battery in your pack.

For anybody who really wants to get into flashlight obsessiveness, here's an unending and incredibly detailed review thread on the E01 at candlepower forums. They really like it.
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=196078

I can think of better ways to save a couple of grams, if I cared, than carrying a toy plastic light.

… if I were doing *planned* night navigation exercises, pre-dawn alpine starts etc, then I would without hesitation pack a Real Light such as the 105g of my Mammut Lucido TX1 (on which I'm currently contemplating installing a longer cable so that I can tuck the battery pack away somewhere warm)

But my experience last week definitely gave me the confidence that it's ok to go out with the E01 as my only just-in-case light.

Am I reading this right? According to a BPL review (http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/photon_light_micro_led.html), the yellow LED model has a run time 10 times longer than the white model.

Anyone have the yellow model? How does it compare with the white in practical use?

Thanks…

One CR2032 Lithium Battery is required for Red, Orange, Yellow, or Infrared LED models (yields up to 120 hours run time).

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=103425

this clone seems to be a much better value. I'm trying to decide which one to get. Don't really think its worth the extra 10 or so bucks on amazon to have a dimmer switch.
Only problem is that it doesn't come in red.

Lighthound $1
Photon-$10-20

if you go cheap, better get this one:

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1253