night hiking headlamp

[Neil]

These are the kind of replies, from people like Doug Paul, that make this board so valuable. Doug's answers on a variety of technical questions are a resource that I rely on often.
Thanks

I hereby bestow an honorary doctorate on DougPaul. I'm also feeling pretty smug because I have the same headlamp as he does.

 

[una_dogger]

Love my

Princeton Tech.
Excellent for night hiking, three levels and strobe
all for an excellent price!

 

[BorealChickadee]

Darn DougPaul, every time you respond to a tech question the answer is just an awesome explanation. I know there are a lot of other techie answers you've given before this one each one as good as the last.

How about a sticky on this ever question about headlamps? DougPaul's answers apply to any research on lights regardless of what brand or model any individual ends up choosing.

The BD Zenix IQ has been on my gotta find list since Neil raved about it a while back. Now I KNOW it's the one to get.

 

[DougPaul]

The BD Zenix IQ has been on my gotta find list since Neil raved about it a while back. Now I KNOW it's the one to get.

Just because we like a particular headlamp doesn't make it the best one for you. Your requirements, desires, and finances might be different from ours.

And knowledgable, intellegent people with the same requirements, desires, and finances can decide different headlamps are the best for themselves.

I like to listen to the experts, understand what they are saying and why, and then make my own choice. I would hope that others would do the same.

Doug

 

[Nadine]

I just bought a new Black Diamomd Spot for night hiking. It has a bunch of features that will come in handy for just that:

* HyperBright LED bulb effective up to 40 meters; three SuperBright LEDs effective up to 15 meters
* Far reaching HyperBrite bulb is clusterd with three SuperBright LEDs for maximum lighting versatility
* HyperBright bulb features an improved reflector for a far-reaching beam
* Switch on top gives a choice of three brightness settings plus strobe illumination in either the HyperBright or SuperBright mode
* Powered by three AAA batteries(included) with a tiltable housing
* Batteries-in-front design makes for a compact unit that will stash in your pocket

I'll be using it in Baxter in a couple of weeks. Will post a product review when return.

Nadine

 

[BorealChickadee]

Oh, don't worry Doug, when Neil first mentioned it I went to BD's site and compared it to to other BDs and to Petzls. It really did have what I wanted. I also went to several links to reviews of different headlamps. I don't remember if they were ones that you or someone else posted.

And you are quite right that each has to pick their own. Having the batteries at the back of my head is an important requirement for me for any headlamp. That's why what I usually use is a MOonlight. And this is still a great lamp for me for most night hiking. I just ordered another one last night from steepandcheap for my son. A lot of our hiking is not in the high peaks and the very lightweight Moonlight is perfect for probably 80% of our hiking out at night. It's the other 20% that I don't feel it's adequate for and in those circumstances it's very inadequate. The Zenix will come but the other Moonlight was more important at this point. I can still carry the hand held lights as my long range beam extras in the meantime. Hiking life gets expensive when you have to buy two of everything (or almost everything). And the few things you don't buy two of teens outgrown all the time. New $100+ boots every year adds up for growing feet. Ugh, just pulled out his snowhsoes today and the 21" are really too small now.

Regardless, of which headlamp, the info about the lithium batteries and drop off of led lamp light was very informative. I've been switiching over not only my digital camera but toher things to lithium batteries jsut because of the greatly extended life. My back up batteries in my pack are lithium regardless. If I have to use backups I want them to last and not have to worry. This fall coming off Iroquois my Moonlight needed changing(alkalines) and it was really hard for me to tell what was going on with the light. I could see but not very well. Not at all like what happens when a regular light goes dim. With those it just dies quick. So I put in the back up lithiums and it was very obvious that the alkaline batteries had been too low for the leds. I've tested taking the lithium battereies out of my camera and used them in my headlamp and that works also. Another source of back ups.

 

[Mike P.]

I think I have a Matrix I'm using, on trails I'm familiar with it's fine, in hardwoods in late falll & rain it's not bright enough so I've been carrying a mini-mag for those few times. Fits in with the Matrix, providea back up also & both take AA's.

Was the matrix one of the first LED's Princeton put out maybe 3 or 4 years ago? Still works well but then I use it 2-5 X a year at the end of day hikes & occasionally at the beginning.

 

[DougPaul]

Oh, don't worry Doug, when Neil first mentioned it I went to BD's site and compared it to to other BDs and to Petzls. It really did have what I wanted. I also went to several links to reviews of different headlamps. I don't remember if they were ones that you or someone else posted.

Glad to hear that you don't blindly believe everything us "experts" say...

But, of course, now that I have an honorary PhD in headlamp-ology, you risk being called to task if you doubt my words...

And you are quite right that each has to pick their own. Having the batteries at the back of my head is an important requirement for me for any headlamp. That's why what I usually use is a MOonlight. And this is still a great lamp for me for most night hiking. I just ordered another one last night from steepandcheap for my son. A lot of our hiking is not in the high peaks and the very lightweight Moonlight is perfect for probably 80% of our hiking out at night. It's the other 20% that I don't feel it's adequate for and in those circumstances it's very inadequate. The Zenix will come but the other Moonlight was more important at this point. I can still carry the hand held lights as my long range beam extras in the meantime. Hiking life gets expensive when you have to buy two of everything (or almost everything). And the few things you don't buy two of teens outgrown all the time. New $100+ boots every year adds up for growing feet. Ugh, just pulled out his snowhsoes today and the 21" are really too small now.

Sounds like a good mix. A friend likes her moonlight--I prefer my Aurora. And as long as it is light enough, I prefer the batteries in the front--simpler, lighter, more reliable, and better for reading in bed. (If the battery pack is heavy, I want it in my pocket, not on my head.)

Regardless, of which headlamp, the info about the lithium batteries and drop off of led lamp light was very informative. I've been switiching over not only my digital camera but toher things to lithium batteries jsut because of the greatly extended life. My back up batteries in my pack are lithium regardless. If I have to use backups I want them to last and not have to worry. This fall coming off Iroquois my Moonlight needed changing(alkalines) and it was really hard for me to tell what was going on with the light. I could see but not very well. Not at all like what happens when a regular light goes dim. With those it just dies quick. So I put in the back up lithiums and it was very obvious that the alkaline batteries had been too low for the leds. I've tested taking the lithium battereies out of my camera and used them in my headlamp and that works also. Another source of back ups.

Just standard battery info.

Digital cameras use high currents for short periods of time. Alkalines are never good at this (even in the warm)--lithium or NiMH are much better. (More standard battery info.)

I generally carry NiMH or lithium as my primary camera and headlamp batteries and lithium as backup. Agreed--batteries in one's headlamp are more important than those in cameras (unless you are trying to leave a photographic record of your demise...).

BTW, the headlamp manufacturers use the long slow dimming of non-boost regulated LED lights with alkaline batteries along with a rediculously low cut-off intensity to post those rediculously long runtimes. The website that I referred to uses a much more meaningful time-to-half-intensity to measure runtimes. I measure the current drawn from fresh batteries to estimate power and runtimes (easy and quick to do).

Doug

 

[DougPaul]

I think I have a Matrix I'm using, on trails I'm familiar with it's fine, in hardwoods in late falll & rain it's not bright enough so I've been carrying a mini-mag for those few times. Fits in with the Matrix, providea back up also & both take AA's.

Was the matrix one of the first LED's Princeton put out maybe 3 or 4 years ago? Still works well but then I use it 2-5 X a year at the end of day hikes & occasionally at the beginning.

The matrix was certainly one of the early ones. Uses a boost regulator--one of the things I like about it. Unfortunately, it is single intensity and relatively heavy. It has been replaced by more recent LED lights in my quiver of hiking headlamps, but I still use it around the house.

Doug

 

[Lawn Sale]

For long hikes I use an older Duo Belt 5, and overnights I use a Petzl Tikka, with a Princeton Tec as a backup.

The duo-belt is heavy, but the battery pack will last a long time and it puts out a ton of light.

 

[DougPaul]

For long hikes I use an older Duo Belt 5, and overnights I use a Petzl Tikka, with a Princeton Tec as a backup.

The duo-belt is heavy, but the battery pack will last a long time and it puts out a ton of light.

I also used a Petzl Duo Belt for a number of years. A good light. You can reduce the weght by making some spacer sleeves from some foam pipe insulation. Cut some of the diameter out of the foam so that the inside fits tightly around 2 lengthwise AA batteries and shave the outside of the foam down until it is the same diameter as a C battery. (AA and C batteries are the same length.) With 2 of these sleeves, you can now run the headlamp on 4 AA lithiums. Saves weight and no worries about keeping the batteries warm.

Doug

 

[Lawn Sale]

Great advice but I'm way ahead of you, I already did it as I'm always looking to save on weight and I was bored at work one day. Any idea of how long the batteries will last?

 

[DougPaul]

Great advice but I'm way ahead of you, I already did it as I'm always looking to save on weight and I was bored at work one day. Any idea of how long the batteries will last?

Great minds run in the same gutters...

A Duo Belt draws about 520mA on high and the 5-LED beam draws about 150mA (extrapolated from my 3-LED version). The capacity of an AA lithium cell is about 2500mAh, so about 5hrs on high and about 16 hrs on low.

The capacity of an alkaline cell is similar, so pure high beam usage should also be about 5hrs. Pure LED beam usage will last longer than 16 hrs, but the light will get dimmer with time with alkalines.

REI gives 11 hrs on high with alkaline C cells and the usual rediculous 133 hrs for the 5-LED beam.

Doug

 

[Lawn Sale]

Doug, you are the Man! Thanks for the info.

 

[DougPaul]

Doug, you are the Man! Thanks for the info.

No problem--it's easy to answer questions when you just happen to already have the necessary info at hand...

Doug

 

[Lawn Sale]

But difficult to generate them when you don't...

 

[DougPaul]

One more data point that might interest some:

After using my BD Zenix IQ night skiing this weekend, it seemed to me that it was not quite as good as my PrincetonTec Yukon HL at lighting up the track in the distance. (When skiing quickly down a track, I like to be able to see ahead as far as possible to check for obstacles in the track.)

When I got home, I compared the two lights: IQ on its brightest beam vs the HL on its high beam (with the focus set to brightest on a small distant object). Both use 1W Luxeon Star LEDs. The IQ puts out more total light, but its beam is broader so the HL is brigher on distant objects.

The critical difference between the two is the adjustable focus on the HL. Now if the IQ just had an adjustable focus...

Both lights are reviewed at http://www.flashlightreviews.com/reviews_index/reviews_index_headlamps.htm.
(The measurements in the reviews verify my observations.)

Doug

 

[SAR-EMT40]

was not quite as good as my PrincetonTec Yukon HL at lighting up the track in the distance.

I also have the Yukon HL and think very highly of it. It's second in my mind only to my Petzl Myo XP. The Yukon XL has very good performance also in real world conditions. Personally, I think those are two of the best lamps out there.

BTW, I need to sell some of my older lamps. Anyone want to buy a Petzl Duo?

Keith

 

[Mike P.]

I've got a old Petzl & a the first Princeton headlamp already in addition to my Matrix. I'm ready to lose power at home for a day or two.....