[pct-l] Headlamps

[Bill Burge]

An EXCELLENT choice in that lamp category!

Also, the advice on getting the "covert" bulb model is spot on!  I  
have one of these and it's on a clip with my whistle. (Yes, I'm a gear  
geek.  I'm hoping to leave a small fortune of gear at home when I get  
to the PCT!  ;-)

You were also right that a light the is too close to in-line with with  
your eyes will not reveal the contours of the trail.  This is largely  
due to the lack of shadows.

I use the spare headband holder for my Zebralight on the chest strap  
of my pack and get enough shadows to make walking a lot easier.

BillB



On Nov 11, 2009, at 8:35 AM, CHUCK CHELIN wrote:

> Good morning, Sasha,
>
>
>
> Most of the time I carry one or two *Photon Freedom* LED pinch- 
> lights at
> 0.26 oz. each.
> http://www.photonlight.com/Photon-Freedom-Micro-Keychain-LED-Flashlights-p/fm-led-keychain-flashlight.htm
>
>
>
> Some of them come with a little clip to attach the light to a hat,  
> but I
> don’t use it.  If I want the light on my head I just put the neck- 
> string
> around my head and move the little string slide to tighten it in  
> place.
>
>
>
> For walking at night I don’t prefer to have that light – or any  
> other light
> -- on my head.  I carry the light in my hand when I grip the  
> trekking pole.
> The light held low does a much better job of revealing the texture and
> relief of the trail surface than does a light nearly at eye level.
>
>
>
> The little *Freedom* has another feature I like:  The power switch  
> provides
> electronically-controlled, continuously-variable light intensity  
> from very
> low to maximum.  I don’t use a light very much, but one task is to
> illuminate my paper while I write my trail journal notes before I  
> sleep.  The
> full-on power is too much for close work so I turn the illumination  
> down to
> a low setting.
>
>
>
> I have two versions of the *Freedom:*  The standard version has the  
> LED
> extending out past the housing a bit to provide broad illumination,  
> while
> the “covert” version – which I somewhat prefer -- has a small sleeve  
> around
> the LED to shield side-light and direct the light more directly  
> forward.
>
>
> I use the white light version.  Red would be OK if there were  
> instances
> where I needed to maintain my “night vision” while using the light,  
> but the
> red light also makes my TOPO maps look a bit strange and more  
> difficult to
> read.
>
> Steel-Eye
> Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT -- 1965
> http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
> http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09
>
>
>
> On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 6:13 AM, Steve McAllister
> <brooklynkayak at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> A single AA battery headlamp like the Zebralite is light and using a
>> single AA battery is more cost effective in the long run.
>> You can also get AA batteries almost anywhere.
>>
>> I never could understand why so many headlamps use 3 AAA batteries
>> when one AA has about the same amount of juice. Also AAA batteries
>> come in 4 packs not 3?
>>
>> Use lithium batteries and you will get a lot more miles on a single
>> battery and they aren't as affect by the cold as other batteries.
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 5:28 PM, Sasha Leidman <sleidman at gmail.com>  
>> wrote:
>>> I was thinking about buying a headlamp for backpacking and around  
>>> the
>>> neigborhood, which brand/model would you guys suggest. Thanks
>>>
>>> --
>>> Sasha Leidman
>>> sleidman at gmail.com
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Pct-l mailing list
>>> Pct-l at backcountry.net
>>> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ... when your feeling blue, and you've lost all your dreams, there's
>> nothing like a campfire and a can of beans!
>>  -- Tom Waits
>>
>> http://kayakbrooklyn.blogspot.com
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