[pct-l] Nite Hiking and Flashlights

[marmot marmot]

Make should your headlamp allows lithium batteries.  Mine does not--Princeton Tec. Their use can cause overheating and the batteries swell.  Marmot

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 26, 2014, at 5:07 AM, "Dan Welch" <welchenergy at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> I use a Petzel Tikka as well.  I have found it works quite well for night
> hiking even as my eyes have become less acute with age.
> 
> One thing I would recommend if you plan a lot of night hiking - Lithium
> batteries.  They last about 20% longer in low discharge situations like
> headlamps. (2-3X as long in high discharge applications like camera flashes
> and steripens).  Their voltage output (i.e. headlamp brightness) degrades
> very little over time until they reach their end of life when it drops
> quickly.  Voltage from alkaline batteries drops continuously as they
> discharge so that at 50% life, they may only put out 75% light output.
> You'll notice the difference.  (The trade off - with lithium batteries you
> don't notice them going dim until they pretty much die.)  Another advantage
> - alkaline battery output drops with temperature; lithium is largely
> unaffected by temp until you get down in the 20's and even then they are
> still much better than alkaline.  Lastly - They are lighter!  11.5 g for AAA
> Alkaline and 7.6 g for AAA Lithium. 
> 
> Happy Night Hiking!
> Timberline
> 
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