Lights for Tripping

boy&hisdogs said:

I have a headlamp and small pocket flashlight that I really like, but I'm in need of a small, packable lantern. My brother got one of those inflatable lanterns and it's a sound idea, but I have yet to find one that is just right for me.

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Lots of choices here. I've had an original Luci light since before they had to call it "original". Still works fine.

I bring two head lamps. Both for redundancy for myself and in case someone else needs one. I have had to use my backup twice, once for me and once for another person. I use rechargeable packs (three AAA's in a bundle) that are made for my headlamp. I'll link the headlamp below. Sometimes, I take my Fenix flashlight, but I normally keep that for SAR activities.

I take only one headlamp, either my out of production Zebralight H32 or my Fenix HM23 . The Zebralight is more powerful and the CR 123A battery is compatible with my Flextail Zero Pump but the Fenix has sufficient illumination and the AA battery is less expensive and commonly available.

for summer trips a headlamp. Get all of your tasks done before dark.
Late and early season trips are a different story. Darkness becomes the enemy. For a Feb trip on the Colorado River I brought some solar yard lights for around camp. Soft light but enough to allow people to see. Luci lights are good for low lights for camp. Two headlamps for each person. For a hunting trip or other trips that needs task lighting, I would add a lantern.

The lucis were game changers. I know it's just Latin for 'light' but I still pronounce it like 'lucy'.

For tripping I like daylight. For camping Penzl headlamps, a couple of them. Maybe a small lantern for a group powered by batteries. Small cheap solar lights for winter trips.

For a long trip I have a Luci light which is what I use almost exclusively. I have an ultralight head lamp should more focused light be needed, but I almost never use it. It has rechargeable batteries and I carry a couple charging bricks on a 3 week trips for all the electronics.

I am very tempted to ditch all the electronics for the next trip. I feel like I’m running the space station when I get all that gear out.

Erica said:

For a long trip I have a Luci light which is what I use almost exclusively. I have an ultralight head lamp should more focused light be needed, but I almost never use it. It has rechargeable batteries and I carry a couple charging bricks on a 3 week trips for all the electronics.

I am very tempted to ditch all the electronics for the next trip. I feel like I’m running the space station when I get all that gear out.

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I have a battery brick but I use them to keep my Garmin InReach charged up, mostly. Maybe take a battery brick but only use it to charge things in the interest of safety or emergency.

WonderMonkey said:

I have a battery brick but I use them to keep my Garmin InReach charged up, mostly. Maybe take a battery brick but only use it to charge things in the interest of safety or emergency.

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Agreed.

On my last trip, 3 weeks, I had a Zoleo and was expected to check in daily, an iphone which I used for photos, but it is needed for the routine Zoleo use, the headlamp, 2 battery bricks and a solar charger, Big Blue, which worked great. As did the Luci light.

Next trip, emergency only communication.

Erica said:

Agreed.

On my last trip, 3 weeks, I had a Zoleo and was expected to check in daily, an iphone which I used for photos, but it is needed for the routine Zoleo use, the headlamp, 2 battery bricks and a solar charger, Big Blue, which worked great. As did the Luci light.

Next trip, emergency only communication.

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It's a habit to reach for the phone when sitting and doing nothing. I tried to help this problem by bringing a small wood-burning twig stove. It made me slow down and process a stack of twigs and small branches in order to cook my food and have a fire going. It wasn't much, but it gave me an activity to do.

PacketFiend said:

I still carry a 2xAA LED Maglite, although I've been reconsidering it.

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That brings back memories! When I first started tripping the friend who organized the trip insisted we all carry maglites, so if one failed we could pirate parts from it. Remember holding a mag lite in your teeth when you needed both hands to cook or set up your tent? I suppose with LEDs the performance is better. I wonder what happened to mine—haven’t seen one for years. I loved those things, at least back then.

Chip said:

When I first started tripping the friend who organized the trip insisted we all carry maglites, so if one failed we could pirate parts from it.

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haha, I've subjected my poor friends to similar dogma over the years too. Thankfully they still trip with me.

I like low light in the campsite. If I had my druthers, everyone would use their own headlamp for tasks and a couple of Lucie lights would provide just enough context-lighting where needed: at a work table, in a tent, or near the cookstove. The Lucie light hue isn't as warm as I'd prefer, but the compact form and solar function outweigh that consideration. I use my headlamp's red light as much as possible and keep it pointed downward, so as not to blind my friends.

I have a tripmate who insists on bringing a propane-fired Coleman lantern and it's truly horrible: bulky, loud, blindingly bright and attracts bugs.

A collapsible candle lantern provides lovely ambiance in lieu of a fire and will warm up a tent a bit too.

Under the luxury lighting category, I've seen this in use and its lovely, but much heavier than a even a handful of Lucie lights:

Chip said:

That brings back memories! When I first started tripping the friend who organized the trip insisted we all carry maglites, so if one failed we could pirate parts from it. Remember holding a mag lite in your teeth when you needed both hands to cook or set up your tent? I suppose with LEDs the performance is better. I wonder what happened to mine—haven’t seen one for years. I loved those things, at least back then.

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You know, of all the work lights and headlights and lights galore I have collected over the years, there's one little pocket flashlight that somehow ends up in my mouth 90% of the time because it's what is closest at hand.

A couple of years ago after trying a few different lanterns I bought this one which is the best I've seen, very bright, very small, very good battery life (rechargeable). Brand is Lighting Everything, pretty cheap Black Friday deals @ Amazon right now.

I have quite a few headlamps, I'm currently using a cheap one from Costco (AAA), the strap isn't so great but otherwise nice. Last year I bought a Black Diamond Storm 500R (rechargeable), it provides very good light and variable settings BUT the angle adjustment is deficient, I like headlamps to be angled directly down but this BD does not go down that far which makes it not so good for when I'm sitting and writing up my daily notes, I have to bend my neck to get the light on my notebook.

I’ve also been using the old original Lucy light for a while and it still works, even with the bottom plastic being cracked. I’ve since added a couple of the newer versions, and they seem to last longer. I have swapped the Luci’s for Goal Zero collapsible crush lanterns, also solar, water resistant and rechargeable. I’ll bring 1-2 of those, a goal zero lighthouse mini and our headlamps. Everything packs small but gives plenty of lighting. I’ve had three different black diamond Apollo lanterns and have the worst luck with them lasting for any trip. Sometimes I’ll bring the small UCO candle lantern, they’re surpassingly bright and put out a nice warm glow


Edit: seems I already responded to this

Context re my way of doing things:

• There are several items I carry on lanyards in my pockets while camping; a pocket knife and compass on one side, and a lighter, whistle, and micro-light on the other.
• I also have a Photon mini-light attached to my backpack's drawstring (sort of like a closet light in function, for when you're rummaging around and need to see better.)
• Over the years, I've forgotten some piece of gear at least once, including a headlamp. The tiny light got me through, and I've also made do entirely without a light.
• On most trips, short of full overcast and new moon, you'll have at least starlight and/or moonlight to see by, and once you get used to it, it's amazing how much you can actually see "at night" without a light. If you've never taken a hike under a full moon, you are missing something. Along the same lines, if you've never walked under just starlight and new-moon conditions, you are also missing something.
• My favorite ground cloth is a white piece of Tyvek, which has the added advantage of making it easier to see the things you lay on it in low-light conditions.
• Mostly, I prefer a Plowpoint tarp setup (early Spring/Fall, no bugs), or a hammock in summer.

All that said, I typically carry a Black Diamond Gizmo headlamp as my main source of light. It's 2.5 oz and runs on 2x AAA batteries. A spare set of batteries is pretty light as well.

I've tried candle lanterns, and while quaint/traditional (and they can warm up a small space), they simply weigh too much for what they provide (even with side and top reflectors), for me to bother with.

I have a Luci light, and that will occasionally go with me, especially if the trip isn't insanely hard portaging, there's a lean-to involved, or it's with a group. The LED color is a bit odd, but it provides a really nice overhead light for the entire interior. It's nice under my tarp as well. I consider it more of a luxury than a necessity for trips under a week long... longer, which I have never taken, I might lean more toward due to it being solar-charged (4oz vs 2.5 plus a change of batteries. The weight math works out in its favor at some point.)

I had a bear encounter years ago that had me rethinking what lighting was needed (at the time I had a broad-beam/diffused headlamp that couldn't reach out and touch anything at 50-75'). And for a long time, I carried a small flashlight/beam light, and eventually found one that weighs about 2oz, less than my Gizmo, and has a hat clip. But I like the hands-free utility of a headlamp, and the Gizmo is bright enough, and shines far out enough, that I seldom carry a small flashlight anymore. But it's a nice backup on a longer trip (vs say, a 1-2 overnight backpacking trip, where you can get by without.)

I don't go 'heavy' enough, or with enough people, to warrant a Coleman lantern. My dad used to use kerosene and propane lanterns at our off-grid camp when I was a kid, and I liked the quietness of the Kerosene ones, but they could be messy. Pretty sure we had a propane one in Boy Scouts too, especially at summer camp.