[pct-l] ultralight headlamp

[Craig Rice]

Hi W/S Monty,

For night hiking a "head"-lamp per se may not be the best choice for  
positioning the light. In addition to causing a bit of night  
blindness from having the light source so close to your eyes, the  
acute angle of the light onto the trail does not result in good  
shadows. Rocks and roots are just not very distinct--especially if  
you're traveling quickly. I've had much better luck, i.e. I don't  
fall down as often, night hiking when I move the light source down  
below waist line. With the lamp shining at this more oblique angle  
roots, rocks, and even the edge of the trail cast very strong shadows  
making walking and staying upright and on track much easier. Many  
ultrarunners, who spend a good deal of time running at night, use  
this low angle approach.

Things I've used with good success

- a Princetontec EOS headlamp wrapped around my hand and trekking  
poles. EOS while heavy is a good choice for weeks of extended night  
hiking because of long battery life (60 hours on low beam), and it's  
high beam is great for route finding and identifying things that go  
bump or grrrr in the night.
- a Princetontec Impulse clipped to my belt. Much lighter than the  
EOS; provided plenty of light for night hiking, and 30+ hour battery  
life on low setting is adequate for several nights of hiking.
- a Photon II. This is an experiment in progress. These are super  
lightweight and provide a lot of light. I've experimented with  
slipping one under the laces of my trail runners. Only downside was a  
light/dark cycle depending on whether the shoe was forward or back in  
my stride. A second one on the other shoe should correct this, but I  
haven't had a chance to test this out. Downside of the Photon is  
short battery life (12-15 hours).

Mr. Wizard

On Sep 23, 2006, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> Message: 11
> Date: Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:50:57 -0700
> From: "Monty Tam" <metam01 at earthlink.net>
> Subject: [pct-l] ultralight headlamp
> To: "pct-l" <pct-l at mailman.backcountry.net>
> Message-ID: <410-220069522225057625 at earthlink.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>
> Hey everyone
> I'm need advise on a very lightweight headlamp to use for night  
> hiking.
> Lighter the better.
>
> Warner Springs Monty