My new Flood/Spot duo

[Stefan H]

I have always found it hard to get the quality and quantity of light I prefer in a smaller package. My former combo was perfect…but 8oz.

New to my kit this spring is the Manker E02 III with the warm Nichia led, and the new Lumintop GT Nano, with 10440 tube.

I dedomed the headlight LED to make it a tighter beam and about 1200k warmer, with a far better tint. The Headlight comes with a 10440 with its own USB c port. It has a confident metal button and a simple enough UI with 3 moonlight modes in their own group. I think if most people had the right temp and tint with nice low settings, they would find that wretched red junk obsolete.

That tiny pink spotty throws 400m!!! It’s nonsensical. It has direct USB C charging. I put the 10440 tube on it to give me battery and charging redundancy. Also has a confident metal button and an almost identical UI so you don’t hafta think of which light you are holding.

The manker weighs 1.2oz, the spotty with long tube 1.2oz. headband .8oz.

I direct charge both with a 3oz solar panel that works great.

This combo is barely giving anything up to my much heavier combo. Battery and charging redundancy, super durable solid metals, purdy bright colors, UI perfection, and my favorite LEDs.

Worth a look. Be nice to me about the red light comment lol.

Happy spring.

[Stefan H]

Really nobody cares about lighting? Did this post look robotic? I’ve always thought it was important. I dont like my world to become 8ft wide when it gets dark. I haven’t seen these lights mentioned and they are just impossible to beat for UL backpacking.

[David D]

The Manker looks like a good light, but what do find makes it better than the Nitecores?  Beam quality maybe?

It holds 60 lums for 90 mins.   The NU25UL at 1.6 oz tests at 110lums for 150 mins, and holds 70 lums to 290 mins, and gives red light

[Stefan H]

Non replaceable batteries are a deal breaker for me. It dies at camp, you’re hosed (or using your phone, which is sad). It fails, you throw it out and buy the new model. Lightweight doesn’t need to be disposable.

I need red light like I need a car that beeps about everything…it’s annoying at best….”yay low budget horror movie vision, can I pay extra for this? Now I can feel like an amateur astronomer when I wake up to pee”.

IMO, what saves night vision is direct access to moonlight modes, with no need to cycle through blinders. As well as a warmer emitter with a tint that isn’t lemon lime.

There are companies prioritizing quality drivers and emitters and intuitive interfaces, and there are companies putting superfluous junk in plastic housing to push an upgrade model. The latter will always sell better. And that’s a shame.

[Bill Budney]

I agree that replaceable batteries should be required by law. It’s absurd to throw away a device when the battery inevitably fails. (Headlamps are not the worst offenders).

How do you buy that 10440 tube for the Lumintop GT Nano? I couldn’t find it on the website.

[Stefan H]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>https://www.lumintoponline.com/collections/extension-tubes/products/10440-extension-tube?_pos=1&_sid=919068483&_ss=r&variant=42389128413220</p&gt;
The extension tube is an option on that page.

The GT Nano shipped incredibly fast from China, I couldn’t believe it. I call it my Bump Light, as in Bump in the night. Amazing lil thing. The 10300 battery is better, really, but I wanted a Flood/Spot set with the same.

[David D]

Makes sense.  Alkaline or NiMh don’t hold charge well below freezing like LI does.  Nice find, this fits an underserved niche.   I hope the right to repair movement gains more steam and replaceable batteries gain more adoption.

Bugs biblicly swarm in seconds to a white light out here in spring, a red light buys me precious minutes as they need time to zero in on my CO2.    For me I need at least one headlamp with red light

For an ultralight white light headlight later season, I’ve been using nitecore tube v2, about 10g with hat clip

[Stefan H]

Ah. Red light for bugs. I don’t really have bug problems in rural Nevada, but thats really cool. I often walk with just a huge blacklight to spot scorpions, and holy hell does every massive bug for miles divebomb me. So red light is the opposite end of the spectrum. Ya that’s neat. Points for red. But I agree with the bugs lol, not interested…Idk it really makes me uneasy for some reason.

[Terran]

The NU25 UL is basically a battery with LEDs attached. A removable battery would require extra material and extra weight.  More complexity. Heavier construction. Carrying an extra battery ” just in case”. Falling back on our fears in leu of planning. Throwing away metal clad batteries. It’s not a John Deere. It’s a tiny piece of cheap plastic.

[Stefan H]

I agree. It’s a tiny piece of cheap plastic. That’s why I prefer a beautifully machined and anodized aluminum light that weighs less (with my diy headband). Is far more pleasant to use and I can cherish it for a decade. I can use my lack of planning to have a solid amount of light for as long as I want, instead of having my gear call the shots. To each their own. Man the nitecore fanboys act like i spit in their general direction lol. Do your thing. I thought ide share an alternative option with bpl.

[DirtNap]

Yay a light nerd post! Awesome light I have the Manker E02 II. Love it, but I don’t like that to charge it, you need a 10440 that has built in USB port on the battery, so I don’t use it much. I much prefer in-chassis charging ports for many reasons but primarily: higher battery capacity (also more robust). Also don’t like removing the batteries to charge. You can lose end caps, o rings etc.

I’ve messed with all the different battery form factors, and my thoughts on them in descending size:

-18650. Form factor is bomber. Use these tanks when performance and reliability are key. Packrafting kayaking, River trips or trips where I know I’ll be night hiking a ton.

– 18350. Another bomber form factors, a “half cell” 18650. Many 18650 lights come with half tubes for use with 18350s so you can go lighter if needed. My Wurkkos HD15s have done thousands of miles of duty in both tube factors. Love the dual emitter with flood, spot or a combo, and they can be used as power banks and chargers. These batteries are the best choice if you’re using turbo mode a ton or using them as power banks as it’s really hard on batteries.

– 16340 (CR123 form factor). I have a few of these lights and like them primarily because you can use disposable CR123s on most of these. I don’t use them much any more.

– 14500 (AA size). This is my current go-to form factor for general UL uses. Batteries can be up to 18350 levels in capacity (Vapcells excellent F15 is rated to 1500mah), they are robust in use, no failures yet, and many lights can use AA cells in a pinch, though at much limited power levels. I can usually go about 5 days between charges depending on night usage. Can use turbo mode with care.

– 10440 (AAA size), the OPs light uses these. Like them. Limited capacity, about a 3rd of a good 14500. As you get down in girth, the batteries are much less durable. I’ve had a few failures in the field over the years. But they are good for shorter trips where you won’t need turbo mode a ton.

– 10180 (about 1/3rd AAA). Cute little guys great for keychain lights. Fragile not robust.

My primary backpacking light right now is the Wurkkos HD10. Love that it has Anduril 2 OS, so fully customizable UI. I have mine set to smooth ramping (IYKYK you’ll never go back) and I love it’s ancillary RGB lights. I have them set to Red, Green and Blue and use them all the time.

A word about Anduril 2 (ie, use programmable UI): very intimidating at first but once you read the charts and guides, you’re really only building your UI once. The click sequences and charts are weird but you don’t really need to memorize anything. I also have Anduril OS charts in my sacred “Outdoor” folder on my phone next to all my other critical beta and guides. It’s an extremely powerful thing to be able to build your own UI though and I highly recommend digging in if you like to control lots of parameters. My UIs are very simple.

Key bits for me in a light are smooth ramping, decent color temp 2700-3000k (no blue light please), fully replaceable battery, built in charging, waterproof and robust. Anduril is a great thing if you want to nerd out and I typically HATE factory UIs.

I will never buy a plastic light again. I’ve seen physical failures of almost every popular brand. I’ve never had an aluminum tube break. Too many great lights out there for me to even consider any big brand nonsense.

[Stefan H]

DirtNap, do you ever carry a thrower as well? Lumintop JUST came out with a NanoGT Plus, 14500, 1000lm, 450m throw. If your headlamp needs a thrower buddy.

Light nerds are a different bunch haha. Wurkkos lights are sweet, I have a handful. I am a big Emisar/Noctigon fan, so my less UL go-to is an Emisar DW4 (dedomed 519a, 3000k, tight optic, 18350/18650) and a D1 with w1 led. Those two are so good I couldn’t justify upgrading for several years. Anduril is goat, and every decent UI now is an attempt at a simplified version of it. Funny, I actually much prefer stepped levels, so great that it does both. The EO2 does best Anduril in having 3 moon modes though. Its programmable in Anduril, but you hafta pick 1 moon.

Most of my hiking is crazy long day/night hikes, so with the big lights I just choose whichever battery gets it done. For my upcoming missions i need indefinite charging for far less weight. Hence the….upgrading down haha.

It was hard to talk myself into tiny lights but I am stoked that I can get the right temp and tint in this form factor. Plus 400m throw from the Nano for 1oz is super adequate. I haven’t tested this on multi days, but the batteries with C port should be great because I can run one, charge one (with a two way 21700 battery+solar), and go forever. I realize this all weighs way more than a big headlight, but the goal was indefinite charging of lights and other devices. For being able to do that it’s crazy UL. I am really crunching to get down to 100oz base weight in an enclosed hammock.

I seriously considered 14500, and that wurkkos headlamp and matching thrower were on the list. There was a time when they had better led options. I’m not yet brave enough to do a real led swap.

Great to see another lumen geek here. The options nowadays are boggling.

[Terran]

[Stefan H]

Terran, that Sofirn has always piqued my interest. It should be the all-in-one unicorn. What do you think of it? Mostly, is it easy to pop the spotty on and see how angry a moose is?

[DirtNap]

@Stefan H: Us light nerds need to stick together. I have not seen the NanoGT Plus, looks like a winner! For backcountry use, I personally prefer the angled head lights nowadays, mostly because they work so great as headlamps. You’re right the Wurkkos lights have subpar leds and drivers out of the box. I’m way too ADD to work out a led swap or any real mods lol! I just wish they’d (or anybody) kick out a 18650 angle head light with a swappable 18350 tube with Anduril. As far as I know it doesn’t really exist? I’m probably wrong though.

[Stefan H]

Emisar. A zillion options for led, optics, ano colors (including white!!!),buttons, multiple channels…it’s nuts. They make the GOAT 18650/18500/18350 angle light with Anduril. No charging but it’s just outstanding at being a light. I will have my DW4 forever and idk why I don’t have 5 of them. They also make 2 sweet 14500 options. Cheap, quick shipping. OPTIONS. No modding needed. I think they even offer a good band nowadays. Here’s a link to all the headlamps. But sure to get a variety of optics and the bezel tool to play around with.

https://intl-outdoor.com/headlamps-worklights.html

[Terran]

The Sofirn was my cheapest light at 35 dollars. It can get a little warm when left on hi. Probably my most used light. A good balance of brightness and weight. At that brightness, I prefer a flood. The Sofirn will highlight an angry moose, but with the larger Nitecore, they start posing.

[Bill Budney]

I have a couple of Sofirns (H25LR and H35LR): Good bang for the buck, bright white light and “mostly adequate” red light (H25LR has brighter red light). The single push button “remembers” intensity settings for white and red lights individually. I can quickly flip between red and white, which is nice.

The more expensive Peax Backcountry Duo headlamps have very much brighter red light (or even-brighter-still green light), as well as bright white lights. It’s more efficient, so battery lasts longer. However, switching between red and white requires toggling through all of the intensities, which is less elegant than Sofirn’s button pattern.

The Peax beam has both spot in the center and wide flood at the sides, which I find convenient. No need to change settings to spot that moose… just aim in his direction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Terran]

I have the Sofirn HS22. I bought it for the temperature variation. I wanted to try a yellow light for night vision. 2500 lumens. Two button system. I also bought a Nitecore uT27 for the yellow light. I found that I prefer a very dim white light, which the Sofirn can get very dim.

Counter to the Peax Duo, I picked up a Last Light Strike 1800 green. Basically the same as the Peax with different diodes. 1800 lm. 3 white and 2 green levels. It stays in the last mode used when turned off. I prefer green over red. I find my eyes straining more with anything but white.

[Stefan H]

All nice lights. But unspeakably heavy haha. My goal was to get close to 2oz with a headlight and a spotlight. Getting that part of my kit down to 2.4oz, whilst integrating neatly with my solar charger for theoretically infinite charging, is amazing. A 3oz solar panel can direct charge both lights. And if a light gets destroyed, or a battery stops working, I am not in the dark. Redundancy is crucial.

8oz total for my two lights, solar panel, and 6ah power bank. That’s about the same as one of those huge headlamps. And I can charge my phone and watch (slowly but surely).

[Terran]

10 grams for a 3 diode light strip from Ali.. 20 grams if you want red

I ordered a Strap light l saw advertised. Goes on your straps. 1200 lm, 6 modes including red. 3 oz. Out of Utah.

 

[Stefan H]

Doesn’t a strap light do zero throw? A focused 20lm is more useful in many cases than 200lm of full spill. I would think that light is more for being seen than for seeing. Lots of lights weigh 10ish grams. Nitecore Tiki is alright for edc keychain but ide hate my life if that’s all I had at camp.

Side note. I just got some of the new Vapecell P2160B 21700 batteries. Two-way USB c. I think these have been mentioned elsewhere on bpl. New version does 2amp output. Good luck finding a light that fits it, but it’s worth a look as a UL power bank.

[Bill Budney]

What’s this strap light, Terran? Link or pic, please!

 

[Terran]

Straplight

[Stefan H]

Sorry for discouraging innovation, but what could possibly be the use case for those? You can’t have light without your bag on, you broadcast light places where you don’t need it, you can’t really direct it.

Nobody uses a spotlight in addition to a floody? That tiny pink spotty in the OP can put light MUCH farther down the trail than even my 8500 lumen floody-ish light. That’s why I go with the combo. All the lumens in the world can’t get down range without optics. In fact, if you crank up your floody headlamp, you get the foreground blazing bright and can’t see anything at all beyond that. With the combo, you can walk down the trail with a pleasant 10 or 20 lumens spread on the immediate trail, and poke that tight spotty beam out through the woods.

But I guess the way this forum works now is, an idea is presented and then everybody just blurts out every possible alternative, even if it’s a completely different genre. Like if I said my new hybrid gets 50mpg, people could respond with the lift height of their truck, or just state their favorite breed of dog. That’s productive conversation.

[Author]

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