[pct-l] Re: Headlamps and Flashlights

[o123david at hotmail.com (David O)]

A few ideas about headlamps and flashlights...

1. The only tiny flashlight I have found that is sturdy, waterproof, uses an 
easy to find battery (aaa)
that is easy to replace, and has a reliable switch is the one sold by 
Arcflashlight. The battery weighs
more than the rest of the flashlight. The LED light is semi-regulated and 
remains bright until the battery is almost dead after around 6 hours of use.
There is now a version that uses an aa battery. Battery life is almost 
doubled. The big advantage is that
if you use a lithium battery you have tolerance for the cold and, since a 
lithium battery stays closer to
its initial voltage much longer than do alkalines, the light output remains 
more constant.

2. The new Luxeon Star LED is far more efficient than previous LEDs. The 
modified MiniMag sold by
Inretech uses 2 aa's. You should use lithium aa batteries because they 
maintain the necessary voltage
several times longer than alkalines. After 65 hours of use it is still very 
bright. This compares with a
typical LED light such as the Petzl Zipka which has 3 LEDs powered by 3 
aaa's, starts out less bright
than the Inretech is after 65 hours, after maybe 8 hours of use is still 
good enough for reading but lousy for hiking, but has the strength that it 
will remain strong enough for reading for maybe as much as 2 more weeks of 
steady use (24 hours/day).

3. Arcflashlight will be coming out with the LS4 next March. It will be much 
better, lighter in weight,
and  also use the Luxeon Star LED. It will also be far more expensive.

4. Since the aaa-Arcflashlight is so light I hold it when hiking and get the 
advantage of shadows that
are not visible when using it as a headlamp. With the Inretech I sometimes 
do the same. With the Inretech I usually put it in a Jakstrap (from Campmor) 
and use it as a headlamp.

5. Candlepowerforums is a fantastic source of information and will lead you 
to many other sources.
--David

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