Off Topic Flashlights and headlamps?

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Aug 31, 2013
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It seems to me that many people who are into good knives are also fond of good lights as well, so rather than go register at a flashlight forum and ask a silly noob question I figured I'd try here where I know I won't be beat up for not knowing everything there is to know about lights. Haha!

So, camping season is upon us and I want to get a good headlamp that runs on regular ol' AA batteries to go along with my beat up old 2AA Streamlight (best money I ever spent). Been looking at the Zebralight H53fc. High lumen ratings don't concern me. My main goal is, if SHTF, how much life can I squeeze out of a single battery? Any other options I should be considering?

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It seems to me that many people who are into good knives are also fond of good lights as well, so rather than go register at a flashlight forum and ask a silly noob question I figured I'd try here where I know I won't be beat up for not knowing everything there is to know about lights. Haha!

So, camping season is upon us and I want to get a good headlamp that runs on regular ol' AA batteries to go along with my beat up old 2AA Streamlight (best money I ever spent). Been looking at the Zebralight H53fc. High lumen ratings don't concern me. My main goal is, if SHTF, how much life as I can squeeze out of a single battery? Any other options I should be considering?

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Zebralights are very nice but I love the Olight stuff and my Black Diamond runs on AAAs but it's awesome! I'm sure both of those companies - Black Diamond and Olight have AA models.
 
I think you've got the right idea. :thumbsup:

Clampy, you for sure have gotten your use outta that little Streamlight!

And even in non-TEOTWAWKI situations it's always good to have tools that offer the most flexibility, serviceability, maintainability, availability, reliability, and use-ability.

There's few things more aggravating than being the middle of a repair job-- everything taken down and laying in pieces in your garage-- just to find out you need a replacement part that will have to be special ordered from Uzbekistan! :mad:

It just makes sense to go with the gear that's gonna be the easiest to keep in service.

That's why I'll always have my Mossberg 12 ga., a couple Ruger & S&W .357's, Glock 19, Princeton Tec AAA headlamp, and drive a Ford Taurus & F150.

Just kidding about the Taurus, but you get the idea.

Last, that's why I think INFI is the ultimate using steel for SHTF or everyday...I've found nothing that offers such an optimal balance of toughness, edge retention, and ease of grindablility. :thumbsup:
 
+1 for Black Diamond headlamps. I have two and have put both through their paces in the field and have a spare for the Apocalypse . They’re bright, have a “locking feature” so they don’t accidentally come on when stuffed in a pack, are legitimately water resistant, and adjust in brightness, and are very well built. The only downside I want to flag is that they eat through batteries much faster than the other headlamps I’ve had. Dimming the light helps, for sure, but they still chew through them quick.
 
It's not AA compatible; but I like the Olight H1R. Lightweight, comfortable, and plenty bright...USB rechargeable (or 123a's, in a pinch)
 
I use the streamlight microstream and the olight I3t. Both use a single aaa. I’m recommending these two because they both have a “S” clip which allows you to easily clip them on the brim/bill of a hat and use them as a headlamp. The micro stream is a simple on/off/momentary switch. The olight is full/off/half/off which will help save battery. Olight has other lights with “s” clip - so there may be a “AA” option.
 
EDC a single AA ZebraLight for many years now. Also have ZebraLight headlamps and headlamp bands in my vehicles and camping gear! They are great torches!


Single AA flashlights are awesome for camping, traveling, vehicles, bug out bags, and EDC! Americans buy more AA batteries every year than all other battery sizes combined. Every wall clock in every house or office or anywhere really or the tv remote controls in hotel rooms are just a few places to find spare AAs when in a pinch and on the go! ;):thumbsup::thumbsup:


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I think you've got the right idea. :thumbsup:

Clampy, you for sure have gotten your use outta that little Streamlight!

And even in non-TEOTWAWKI situations it's always good to have tools that offer the most flexibility, serviceability, maintainability, availability, reliability, and use-ability.

There's few things more aggravating than being the middle of a repair job-- everything taken down and laying in pieces in your garage-- just to find out you need a replacement part that will have to be special ordered from Uzbekistan! :mad:

It just makes sense to go with the gear that's gonna be the easiest to keep in service.

That's why I'll always have my Mossberg 12 ga., a couple Ruger & S&W .357's, Glock 19, Princeton Tec AAA headlamp, and drive a Ford Taurus & F150.

Just kidding about the Taurus, but you get the idea.

Last, that's why I think INFI is the ultimate using steel for SHTF or everyday...I've found nothing that offers such an optimal balance of toughness, edge retention, and ease of grindablility. :thumbsup:

I just love these flashlights. My first one (pictured in the original post) I carried every day for about eight years I think. I eventually managed to crack the lens but streamlight does not sell a replacement lens. They told me to send it in and they would repair or replace it free of charge, but I like the wear on my old one and was afraid they would just send me a brand new one, so I just bought myself another one. Been carrying it for about three years now but I like the light color and beam of my old one better. The older one is warmer and the focused beam in the center is wider. The new one is like a light saber. Kinda green tinted and has to be more carefully aimed at what you want to look at.
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EDC a single AA ZebraLight for many years now. Also have ZebraLight headlamps and headlamp bands in my vehicles and camping gear! They are great torches!


Single AA flashlights are awesome for camping, traveling, vehicles, bug out bags, and EDC! Americans buy more AA batteries every year than all other battery sizes combined. Every wall clock in every house or office or anywhere really or the tv remote controls in hotel rooms are just a few places to find spare AAs when in a pinch and on the go! ;):thumbsup::thumbsup:


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My thoughts exactly! One of the things that is drawing me to the Zebra light is the battery life indicator. I think it would be nice to be able to check the usefulness of a scrounged battery.
 
My thoughts exactly! One of the things that is drawing me to the Zebra light is the battery life indicator. I think it would be nice to be able to check the usefulness of a scrounged battery.



Yes sir that really is a great feature! Four quick clicks and you know exactly what you've got. And if you have a week battery it is easy to adjust the output of the three modes with each having three sub modes. So you can go from a fraction of one lumen, which will last for months on one battery, up to around 300ish in seconds. Plus they are waterproof and oh so tough!

I have edc a SC52 AA for years in an agricultural environment and so far all I've ever had to do to it is clean it and replace the o-ring once, bc it had been 5years not bc it needed it really lol! ;):thumbsup::thumbsup: I cant say enough good things about them!
 
Yes sir that really is a great feature! Four quick clicks and you know exactly what you've got. And if you have a week battery it is easy to adjust the output of the three modes with each having three sub modes. So you can go from a fraction of one lumen, which will last for months on one battery, up to around 300ish in seconds. Plus they are waterproof and oh so tough!

I have edc a SC52 AA for years in an agricultural environment and so far all I've ever had to do to it is clean it and replace the o-ring once, bc it had been 5years not bc it needed it really lol! ;):thumbsup::thumbsup: I cant say enough good things about them!
Have you tried any of the Zebralights in standard and flood (or maybe the F is for frosted?) versions? I'm leaning twards the flood version mainly because night reading with a bright spot can be annoying.

Also, I would like to EDC the light too and not just use it as a headlamp. Have you ever tried using the pocket clip to attach one of the 90 degree lights to a hat. That is one thing I can't do with my beloved stream light.
 
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Have you tried any of the Zebralights in standard and flood (or maybe the F is for frosted?) versions? I'm leaning twards the flood version mainly because night reading with a bright spot can be annoying.

Also, I would like to EDC the light too and not just use it as a headlamp. Have you ever tried using the pocket clip to attach one of the 90 degree lights to a hat. That is one thing I can't do with my beloved stream light.


I haven't used flood versions bc I want the throw of the standard ones for outdoors at night and inside large buildings in daylight hours. I have never had a problem reading w them though bc of the step down modes and have never noticed a bright spot. You can get the perfect amount of light you want for most any indoor scenario except for honestly I wish occasionally it had a little more reach at times when outside, but that’s always the case isn’t it lol.

The pocket clips are so very tight and study, believe it or not I have yet to bend or break or loose one off any light, but they are not good for clipping to a hat imo. Zebralight does make some nice headbands though and I have used them for the headlamps and also for the regular flashlights! For the headlamps you where the lamp on your forehead and for the regular flashlights I just turn the headband 90 degrees so the flashlight is pointed forward from either side of my head! This is my prefer method actually so I can edc a regular flashlight all day everyday and just have a headband in my vehicle or lunchbox if I ever need it for 2 handed night operations. I think these both would work ok with a ball cap on but I don’t recall ever trying this with a hat myself. :)
 
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And if I’m being 100percent honest, and I’m probably opening myself up to some one liners here and I know it lol, most of the time I am in such a hurry with an on the spot unplanned event or breakdown or job that, unless it’s going to be some prolonged 2 handed night work, a lot of times I just turn it on the right intensity and put it between my teeth for a few mines so I can have both hands lol. ;) Do it all the time actually and my father informs me that’s what headlamps used to be called in his day, your mouth lol! :rolleyes::D
 
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I approach flashlights the same way I do Busses - buy lots of them, and use them to find out what I like. After going through a few dozen flashlights and headlamps over the years, I've finally settled on the above three models as my basic lighting kit.

[Top right] A couple of Nightcore M1As. (One is an EDC that lives in my pocket at night, the other is in my EDC bag in case I forget the first one). They use a single AA battery. Two light settings; turn the head one way it gets brighter, turn it the other way it gets duller; with an on/off button at the end. I don't like flashlights with complicated settings, and this one is extremely simple to use so it passes my main test. I've used it multiple times a night for years and never had a single problem.

[Bottom right] Three Olight H1R Novas. (Two are used for hiking / camping, and one goes in the EDC bag). They use CR123a batteries, or the rechargeable equivalent. These are awesome!! After trying a dozen or more quality headlamps I've settled on these and bought three of them. Button on one end to turn on/off, and if you hold the button down it cycles through brightness levels. So it's also extremely simple to use; passes the key test. Brightness levels from very bright (lights up a huge area) down to moonlight mode (battery lasts forever). Seems to be bombproof. You can take them out of the headband and use them as a handheld flashlight with a pocket clip (as per the one on the left). A USB charger attaches magnetically to one end if you have the rechargeable battery in it, and plugs into any USB charger (e.g. your phone charger, USB port in your car, etc.). The non-rechargeable batteries, which I carry as spares, are CR123a's. I like these because they last forever and they're the 'cold weather' batteries that will still work in sub-freezing temps when the AA's will die.

[Bottom left] An Olight M2X-UT Javelot. (Used as a spotlight for hunting). This is extremely bright, and lives in the car glove box. It has a clamp to attach to a rifle scope. More than good enough to shoot with out to about two hundred metres. It's also rechargeable and has a small recharger that fits in the glove box with it.
 
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