Thru-Hike Flashlight or Headlamp

Thanks Dave,
I read the review and there were very few H51 model people that even posted. It was mostly the other models. At this point I am considering the Fenix LD10, Fenix LD01, and the Zebralight H51. I am leaning towards the H51. I just hope it does not fail on me on the trail is all. Thanks again, I will tell you guys if the Zebralight Fails on me! hah
Have a Happy Holiday and thanks again for all the posts!! I am so glad to have this forum, and everyone here has been more than helpful to me.

Overall, I'd go with the Zebralight… the headlamp feature is just too good to pass up.

But, other notes:
Personally, if you're strongly considering the LD10 and want that size/format of light (AA, clicky), I'd choose the 4Seven's Quark AA over the LD10 any day.

The Quark has several things you will probably appreciate while backpacking:

1- Super low moonlight mode: The moonlight mode (0.2lumens?) is adequate to read by. If your eyes are adapted to the dark, you'll be surprised what you can do with this mode. And as a bonus, using it won't totally destroy your night vision. And the batteries last for days and days on this mode, it's fantastic.

2- Better pocket clip: The Quark pocket clip is a much better/reliable design if you're actually going to use it. The Fenix pocket clip on this one is sort of an afterthought that clips onto the light.

3- Note that 4Sevens rates their lumen output differently than Fenix. 4Sevens uses a more honest "OTF" or out the front lumen output that is actually measured and includes light loss at the lens, whereas Fenix is quoting an estimate of how much is being put out at the LED. So, 100 4Sevens OTF lumens > 100 Fenix emitter lumens.

4- 10 year warranty on 4Sevens is a nice touch. David Chow/his team at 4Sevens back up their products well and are easy to get a hold of.

(As you can tell, I guess I'm kind of a 4Seven's fanboy, but I just think they make very carefully thought out products. All the above being said, the LD10 is also a great light, so you wouldn't be making a bad choice either way.)

If you want AAA format, like the LD01, also consider the 4Sevens Preon ReVO… a bit more money, but it uses a more advanced power regulation scheme (current-controlled rather than PWM, which is hard to come by in such a small light). This results in great battery life for its size on the ReVo. Same comment about 4Sevens using lower-sounding OTF lumens ratings applies here.

Joshua,
Also remember that many of these "tactical" type lights use complicated circuitry (for a flashlight). The technology goes way beyond sending power to a tungsten filament to make it glow, and thus will inherently have more issues. It's not a bad idea to take a minuscule keychain light for backup.

My goodness there are way to many options. I understand why people are post Just Pick 1! It sure is hard when there are so many options. The Quark Flashlight look pretty great! Anyone have feedback on of all these lights listed, What light will be most reliable and will run on regular batteries and no need the lithium? Lithium might not be available. Also, for night reading how many Lumen's will I need? For camp Chores? Thanks

"What light will be most reliable and will run on regular batteries and no need the lithium?"

All the lights you are considering will be about equal in terms of reliability and performance on different batteries. They all use very similar circuit designs and LEDs.

"Also, for night reading how many Lumen's will I need?"

These questions depend on how the light is focused and personal preference, but generally: You'll be able to read with very, very low lumens… Anywhere from 0.1 to 15 lumens is a comfortable range for reading. You'll use the lower end if your eyes are very dark adapted.

"For camp Chores?"

Anywhere in the 10 lumens to 120 lumens range

Beyond about 120 lumens would usually only be "needed" for lighting up larger areas or seeing further distances. This all assumes your eyes are adapted to the dark.

Not to push the H51, but its the only light like these that I have. So, here are my thoughts on your questions…

Regardless of the scary poll, you're going to find reliability is pretty even across the board.

The H51 will run regular or lithium.

You only need a couple of lumens to read. The H51 puts out 0.2 lumens on its lowest setting and you'd be able to read by that, but the 2.5 or 8 lumen setting might be better.

For camp chores, you'd only need 10-20 lumens.

And, the H51 puts out a blinding 200 lumens off of a single AA if you need the light. Its the brightest single AA in the world.

On high, it puts my Princeton Tec Eos and Remix to shame, and they use 3 AAA batteries. Though I do believe the Princeton Tecs get longer runtime on high, but I'm not completely sure.

Sorry if I'm posting way too much flashlight info, but one thing that's good to know about lumens:

Lumens themselves are a linear scale of how much light the flashlight is putting out. But your eyes do not perceive lumens in a linear fashion, but in a logarithmic fashion. What this means is that 2x as many lumens will NOT *look* like 2x as many lumens. The visual difference between 10 lumens and 20 lumens is small. Same goes for the visual difference between 100 lumens and 200 lumens. I think the general rule of thumb is that it takes about 4x as many lumens to *appear* twice as bright.

The moral is: Don't get too caught up worrying about small percentages of lumens either way. You won't be able to really see much difference between 75 lumens and 100 lumens for example.

Dave's right. While I can see the light change between 200 and 140 lumens, it doesn't make a big difference, especially at any distance.

Yes, the Lumen is a measurement of light strength.

What nobody seems to mention is light spectrum. Back in ancient history when we had incandescent bulbs in our headlamps, they put out a warm glow of a fairly broad spectrum. As a result, we could distinguish colors at night with just the headlamp for illumination. But then we converted to LED headlamps, and they have a very narrow spectrum. Some are warm and some are cool, but the spectrum is narrow enough that color recognition gets chancy. Most of the time, I can put up with that. However, color recognition gets important when I am trying to read a paper topo map.

–B.G.–

Totally agree, Bob.

There are a lot of incan light fans on CPF for this reason. The full spectrum is a lot more pleasant to the eye and makes things look more natural. Modern LED lights often make things look sort of washed out.

Fun Fact: All White LEDs are actually Blue LEDs with a phosphor coating that spreads out the spectrum. If you look at the output of a white LED, there is a huge spike in the blue region for this reason.

High CRI (Color Rendering Index) LEDs and so called "Warm White" and "Neutral White" LEDs attempt to address this, but none of them comes close the the full incan spectrum. However there aren't a lot of lights made using the LEDs yet. 4Sevens sometimes has the Neutral White variety, but they are generally limited availability.

"Fun Fact: All White LEDs are actually Blue LEDs with a phosphor coating that spreads out the spectrum. If you look at the output of a white LED, there is a huge spike in the blue region for this reason."

That is interesting, because in the early days of color LED history, Red color was easy, Yellow and Green were harder, and Blue was extremely difficult to produce.

There are some LED products being made for video camera illumination, sort of like a sun gun. A few seem to offer spectrum variability. Color temperature is important to photographers.

–B.G.–

It doesn't have the H51, but beamshots are very useful when picking out a light.

http://www.illuminationgear.com/SIDEBYSIDE27729.html

Sounds Like the Zebralight H51 is the way to go. I will take my chances and we will see.
Thanks for all the help…Zebralight H51 as primary and the Photon Micro-Light II as my backup. Thanks for the advice about Lumens. I was worried the 0.2 Lumens would be to little for nighttime reading, but sounds like it might work.

Have you considered the Zebralight H31?

Only problem with the H31 is that it runs off a CR123 battery. Those are pricey and harder to find compared to AAs.

While I have been a lurker on this forum for a few weeks, this is my first post.

All of the comments have been good, intelligent, remarks about flashlights. Several have posted about http://www.candlepowerforums.com. I should like to heartily recommend that site.

But, as a member there for about 5 years, I warn you that if you really dive into it, it can become addictive. You can become, like me, a flashaholic; plus spend way more than you ever intended to.

FYI, for my hiking and camping needs, I usually take two lights, at a minimum, one a small keychain light just bright enough to see a keyhole. The other a Fenix E01 (about $15) that yields 10 lumens and runs off of AAAs or rechargeable AAAs. It gets around 11 hours in what they call sun mode and another 10 hours in moon mode.

But, depending on the circumstances, I have a dozen other lights to choose from, if I wish.

Regards to all,

Steve

blah blah blah blah. Tikka 2. hands down. special forces to cops to cavers to thrus. hands down the light of choice. use others at your peril. see you on the PCT bro.

I used a Petzl e+lite for the whole PCT trip. For the AT this year I started with something that threw off more lumens, in the theory that I might be more likely to have to be hiking at night given an early start on the trail. On the PCT I was sort of looking forward to night hiking, but never did; it never got so hot in SoCal that felt that was a reasonable approach.

I think that the e+lite would be pretty minimal for night hiking in forest canopy, but under the stars and perhaps with some moonlight — should be pretty fine, and if you're night hiking to avoid the heat in the south then the odds are pretty good that the sky will be at least somewhat clear at night.

Bottom line is that I'd just go with the e+lite the whole way. Throw away the hard plastic case, I just carried mine in a snack sized ziplock, and that only to keep the headband from catching on stuff.

The batteries are so light that I always carried a spare pair. They're expensive, however, so find a much less expensive online source and buy several pairs ahead of time, mail yourself a pair every trail month or so (or store in bounce box). These lithium batteries have a very long shelf life.

Very light weight, offers both red and white light options, it's a headlamp, what's not to like? It's certainly plenty of light for use just in camp at night.

Love mine and is going with me on my PCT. I am taking a backup though.

PCT gear list —> http://thf2.wordpress.com/pct-gear-list/

"I think that the e+lite would be pretty minimal for night hiking in forest canopy, but under the stars and perhaps with some moonlight — should be pretty fine, and if you're night hiking to avoid the heat in the south then the odds are pretty good that the sky will be at least somewhat clear at night."

Brian,
I have found the exact oposite to be the case. Once your eyes get night adjusted, the lighter skies and moon will actually interfer with letting you see. The effect is really minor, though.

Hey Ryan when are you starting the thru-hike? I am starting May 16th on the account my friend is getting married the 15th. As far as the headlamp I ended up getting a Zebralight H51 for christmas that I am still waiting to try out; I hope it does not break down on me. I also received a Photon Mini II for backup. I was blown away by how bright the little Photon was. Since I am going to be starting the trail behind the herd I hope to meet at least a few people. I have never done anything like this before in my life, but I can't tell you how excited I am!!