Headlights

[Owl62]

Seems like we frequently arrive in camp after sundown and have to set up camp in the dark. Headlights make it an easier task.

 

We recommend that our folks get and use headlights so that they can set up without having to hold a flashlight. Most of them have the little Eveready 3 LED headlights that can be bought in many stores for about $10. Uses 3 AAA alkaline batteries. Seems to serve well. Headlights can also be used for general lighting, tent lights, caving, trail trekking, etc. Others including myself have other headlights including combination LED and high-intensity headlights.

 

We'd like to hear from others that use headlights including the type, etc.

 

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[Beavah]

Yah, here in the great and (now) white north headlamps are pretty much required. Don't think any boys or leaders use standard flashlights anymore, though the aged among us still remember the days of holdin' a maglite in our teeth.

 

I've seen all kinds. Da kids tend to prefer the small, lightweight LED models like the Tikka. Old critters who can afford more to supplement failing eyesight will often go with a "dual" model that combines LED's for cookin' and settin' up camp with a halogen or hyperbrite to shine on the moose or bear from a healthy distance

 

 

[kenk]

Headlights are wonderful! Somehow it is always pointing in the direction I'm looking. Magic!

 

These days I recommend the Princeton Tec EOS - an LED light that uses AAA batteries. Very bright, but also has a lower setting that is perfect for inside tent use.

 

I still carry a regular flashlight, but not sure why. Eventually it may just get left home.

[anarchist]

Head lights are great!

 

Though, I still carry an old "AA" maglight on my belt...habits are hard to break. Currently use a tikka plus (with the red flip lens... for fishing), and I have a Cabellas single LED super lite that I drag along as a back up. I started with the eveready "twin white LEDs w/single red LED" and frankly it is a great light...was about $13- now down to $9.97 at WalMart and Eveready now has a 6 white two red LED version for $14.00.

 

Some of my friends use really nice $50-$90 lights but for most scouts the small LEDs are perfect...and mom and dad don't break down and cry when Junior forgets where in the woods he last saw it... I try to point most parents towards a WakMart LED light...though some insist on buying the big heavy flashlight sized headlights - you know the ones that look like old miner lights, weight a pound and a half and that the boys hate wearing after an hour or two!

 

Anarchist

 

Anarchist

[CalicoPenn]

I use a 4-LED 3-AAA battery headlamp from Black Diamond. It has three brightness settings, and can also be set so that the lights flash on and off (my best guess as to why this feature is that a flashing light will attract someones attention faster than a non-flashing light, in case one is misplaced (hate the word lost) or injured - but that's only my guess). I wear it under a baseball cap which also helps concentrate the light on what I'm looking at - usually something I'm reading/writing, or cooking - it acts as a visor reflector preventing too much light from escaping upwards. This works best will ball caps that have velcro enclosures at the back.

 

I wish I had one of these when I was a Scout for setting up tents, etc. in the dark. On the other hand, since I hated carrying anything in my hands when I went for walks (not even walking staffs) because I like to be free to pick things up and look at them when I walk, I got used to walking at night by the light of the night sky rather than the light of my flashlight. Use a flashlight when walking at night and you'll see just the area in front of you. Use your night adjusted eyes and you'll see further in front of you and around you. Had I a headlamp, I might not have truly learned how to "see" at night.

 

I still carry a 3-C Cell maglight in my possibles bag (a day pack I use to carry any thing I might possibly need or want when car camping - a combination first aid kit, mechanic bag (multi-tools, knife, duct tape, rope, extra batteries), emergency kit (space blanket, flint and steel, extra food, extra clothing, wet weather gear and TP), naturalist kit (binocs, digital camera, magnifying glass, a couple of field guides, zip-locks), and entertainment kit (a silly dice game, cards, book, journal). When not car-camping, I'll pull a few items out of this bag for my backpack). I use the Maglight when I want to really shine light on something in the dark - an Owl in a tree, for instance, because the headlights are great for close work and reading, but not very good for detailed distance viewing.

 

Calico

[smincz]

I strongly agree with what all Calico said; hands free lighting is great. And after flying Night Vision Goggle missions for my 20 year hiatus from Scouts, I truly learned the value of dark adaptation; maybe something that the guys today don't get enough of. No leader wants to explain a broken ankle to mom (or worse, a snake bite), but it sure is a neat experience to have the guys do a little unaided night hiking on good trail, and a full moon. The downside of these new high tech, mega-candle power gadgets is that even to a greater extent than with handheld flashlights, you really have to continually remind the guys about flashlight courtesy, and keeping those beams out of other people's faces. (No... no... not another kind of toten' chip!)

 

Take care folks,

 

SM

[EagleInKY]

Yeah, we use all types. I've got the big multi-function headlamp and the small single LED clip-on. I still use the old fashion flashlight from time to time. Don't know why, just sometimes they find their way into my hand or pockets. Old habits, I guess.