Head Lamp for Camp – Some night hiking

I'm surprised this lamp has not been mentioned:
SUREFIRE-HS2-A-BK HEAD LAMP (4.44 oz) excellent lamp. Uses the same 123A Lithium Batteries as the SteriPen.

Features
•Virtually indestructible LED emitter regulated to maximize output and runtime
•Variable light-output dial controls levels from 0 to 100 lumens
•Proprietary refractive optic produces a smooth, wide beam optimized for your field of vision
•Built-in SOS beacon can run for days on end
•Light housing can be rotated up or down 90 degrees
•Red filter (included) for low light signature and/or preserving dark-adapted vision
•High-strength aerospace aluminum body, Mil-Spec hard-anodized for extreme durability
•Submersible to 3 feet for thirty minutes
•Headband provides comfort, durability, and a secure fit with or without a helmet
•Compact integral compartment holds one 123A lithium battery

>"But the moment you say "night hiking" … And not all places are well defined moderate trails .. Youll want a pretty decent headlamp"

Yeah, wet ground and rain really suck up the light. It's one of possible cascade of little errors:

went a little light on the gear

weather got bad

hike was slower than planned

doing miles at night

miss a turn

get benighted somewhere you didn't plan on

etc.

More light (lumens and battery life) than you expect to need is IMO like a back-up Bic lighter or a trash bag – less than an ounce that can really help you out of a jam.

I went with the Zebra H-52w which looks to hit many of my priorities.

As I said, there is a time you need lots of light, and times you don't.

Some people would be fine with a bit lighter only, and some would get in trouble no matter what they had with them.

For instance, the only place on JMT I would have been uncomfortable at night with minimal light would have been south side of miur pass, actually, you could probably get lost there with any light at night. 20 L was plenty to hike up Whitney, and it has a couple of sketchy areas. Hit high for a couple seconds when you need to, which isn't that often.

I have spent night in woods before without working light. Laid down exactly where I was, and waited for morning. Not a big deal IMO.

I've never carried a light with this much output. I have gotten by for decades with lights that are barely bright enough to read a book.

I think I'll somehow survive another couple decades with a paltry 170 lums.

Well that zebralight will give you 280 lms

If all we really needed was ~20 lm we would all have petzl elites for all kinds of night hiking =P (i own one and discovered the hard way how inadequate it was for finding the trail on a descent)

Similarly you could be perfectly happy with happy with what we used years ago … Heavier boots, cotton clothing, rain jackets that weight over a pound, etc … A commodore 64

Time and technology does move on … And headlamp technology is improving by leaps and bounds

Like i said you can always run it on low if you want … But i bet youll use that 280 lm burst when it matters

;)

Honestly, I can barely even tell difference between 80 and 200 L at distance out to 60 ft. More than a certain amount, is really just wasted power.

When I hit high, I never see anything more than I see on low either inside of about 20ft, it just gets brighter.

Personally, I bring only what I need. I don't take a 4 season tent for summer hiking in mild conditions, and I dont bring a 4 oz headlamp for trips where under 1oz is perfectly adequate. Which in my experience is 99.+ % of the time for me.

YMMV.

Well for our esteemed readers …heres some comparison on the petzl tikka series of headlamps from a review site

heres a 45 (what i consider the minimum for night use with rocks and roots litering wet trails), 80, 120 and 150 lumens … all from petzl lamps

Its like that commercial "can YOU see the difference"

Theres even more difference between the "20 lumens" and say 80 lumens … Ill see if i can post that up latter

As to the "quip" about only taking what you "need" … Thats great if circumstances never change and nothing goes wrong (like the accident report i posted above)

Of if you want to own several packs, quilts, tents and headlamps for every situation to save a ounce

Everyone is different, but i personally would never recommend someone get a 20 lumens max headlamp if they indicated they will use it for "night hiking" around here

;)

Edit-

Heres a petzl tikka 2014 at 20 vs 80 lm … Also a fenix hl30 and bd icon both at 200 lm (which shows our fellow BPLers the difference between flood and spot at that level)

Of course a stronger light will light up distant things better.

Thing is, your feet and the next step or two, aren't that far away. 5 to 10 ft.

You might want to see 50 yds like daylight.

But you don't have to, especially on a defined trail.

For around camp at night, I've found that I want 5 to 20 lumens. I have used less than 5 lumens for something, but only rarely. Out on the trail at night, I normally want 20 to 50 lumens. Once in a while, I kick up my Zebralight to its highest intensity, but I seldom need that for as long as 30 seconds before I drop it down to the middle intensity. It is nice to have that highest intensity, just in case.

–B.G.–

We come back to "defined trails" … Well even well defined very popular trails here are littered with rocks and roots which you dont want to slip on when its soaking wet and in the dark

This is a easy "walk" right out of surburbia here (i wont even call it a trail) which everyone does

I consider a 20 lm headlamp (e-lite) to be marginal even here in the dark and in the rain … Especially in the snow

Of course if you slip and fall you can shout and they can hear you from the houses …

And this is as easy as it gets … The walk goes up left through the rocks and roots

Pic taken today in the nice rain

;)

>> I went with the Zebra H-52w which looks to hit many of my priorities. <<

I think you made a good choice.

As Bob mentioned, if you don't need the extra brightness, leave it on a low setting and get unbelievable battery life out of your AA cell. On the other hand, if you ever need to light up the woods it's nice to have that 300 Lm's of brightness.

The only time I've used the high settings on my H52W and H600 is to illuminate confusing trail intersections. This is particularly the case when I'm returning from an evening fishing trip where there are many side spurs on the trail. The trails look very different in the pitch black and 50 Lm of light doesn't help much when the trails branch off. That's when the high beam gets used (it cuts through the bushes and trees well ahead and helps identify the correct route).

I have to say that "spending a night in the woods because of inadequate light" IS A BIG DEAL to me and probably to the folks back home. To me it just shows that you are ill prepared to be out in the woods in the first place.

I'm in the "bring a little more light than you expect to need" camp, but, sure, HYOH. If all you have is 10-20 lumens, you can always crisscross the area and find where the trail continues on after a trodden meadow, a bare area, a granite apron, or a patch of snow. But for, what, an extra 10 grams?, I want a light level I don't expect to use much at all. Like Bob, I rarely use the high level on my Zebralight H51 and when I do, it is often for just a 3-second sweep of the panorama ahead to get my bearings or double-check I'm on the main path.

I've got a Nitecore EA4 – 8.8 oz, 4 x AA, 860-lumen (for 105 minutes). Mostly for checking for moose in the forest when the dog is going bonkers or if someone asks me to S&R for their sled dog or some such. But during an totally off-trail, moonless night hike on an Aleutian island (Adak) with crappy GPS base maps, it was really handy to light up the far hillside to see where the low point on the ridge was and check our angle to the lake 1/4 mile away. At a half pound, I rarely bring it, although it will ignite tinder at close range .

is the Bosavi not cool anymore?

I really like mine.

My wife grew up in Kenai…. you must have ignited some timber with that torch early this year.

Hey… I'll take 280 lms.

We are not picking at you Eric. Everyone has a different take on things. In the military we didn't get to use lights at night and I walked through all sorts of terrain in the dark. Weeks and weeks of walking through swamps and other places where I'm probably glad it was dark and didn't see what I almost stepped in. Like many things you think you need you don't as much as you think when you are forced to live without it.

Could I plummet to my death due to lack of light? Sure… I might but I somehow doubt it. I don't scale the side of mountains under those conditions.

I loved my Commodore 64. Wish I still had it.

"Weeks and weeks of walking through swamps and other places where I'm probably glad it was dark and didn't see what I almost stepped in. Like many things you think you need you don't as much as you think when you are forced to live without it."

Word.

Eric studies this stuff and has a lot more knowledge on the Zaps per ounce/dollar than I do. I just buy stuff and get an idea of what works for me and what doesn't.

At the moment, I have two headlamps.

The first one is the PT Byte. There have been a few reliability complaints made about this headlamp. Both of mine work fine and we've night hiked in the rain and fog with them. I find the red light is great for hiking in the fog, the low setting is good for night hiking, and I'll occasionally switch to high to find cairns, etc. My largest complaint is that the run times are greatly exaggerated. For trips where I don't expect much night hiking and only plan on using the head lamp to find my way to the watering tree in the middle of the night but still want a capable headlamp for emergencies, I bring this one due to its low weight and small size. It uses 2 AAA batteries. I also seem to have an issue with my Petzl where I seem to be committed to misplacing it and then finding it a month later.

For the conditions you mentioned in the OP, this one is worth considering. Again, a couple members had issues with theirs but mine are only a couple years old and I've had zero reliability issues with them.

I have a Petzl Tika that uses 3 AAA batteries. I bring this one for shoulder season trips where I expect to hike quite a bit at night and when I volunteer with SAR.

The byte actually has decent output for a 2aa lamp … Claimed 50 lm … And the test seem to indicate its correct

Im actually quite surprised at the folks saying that a more powerful or longer lasting lamp wont matter

Headlamps are a place where there is very little if any weight penalty to get something more powerful, and possibly longer lasting

Now a small increase in lumens isnt a bit deal but once you start talking about doubling or tripling it, thats very perceptible

Now you arent "saving grams" but if you get double the output and longer runtimes for the same weight … Well folks wont notice i guess unless the actual grams get cut even if it means less output

There arent really any "downsides" to getting a modern more powerful headlamp other than it costs a few dollars more (and sometimes it doesnt) … But then BPL thinks nothing of dropping hundreds of $$$$ to save a few oz with cuben or other such specialty gear

Personally i didnt see the "need" for a more powerful headlamp for years … Until my partners with modern headlamps blew away my old tikka xp ….

We arent talking about bear blinding here either but something with 120-200 lumens (even the walmart 10$ headlamp has 150 ansi spec lumens)

When yr headlamp gets outshone by a walmart headlamp of the same weight you know its time for an upgrade =P

Dont the military folks just wear those combat boots where they can kick any rocks they hit while stumblimg in the dark and squash poor sleeping marmots anyways?

As to the bosavi … Its got a 110 lm burst, uses a li-on pack and is usb rechargeable, and weights ~65g … All the ingredients for luuuv, but can it blind a charging bear !!!

;)