What Kind of Flashlight/Lantern Do You Use?

My brother in law has a bit of a flashlight obsession and it's rubbed off a bit on me. He got me a Streamlight lantern for Christmas this past year and I love it but it's a bit heavy for backpacking. Do you have a specific flashlight or lantern that you've found to be a great mix of brightness and lightweight?

Rechargeable Petzl Tikka series, currently last year's model called RXP (now Reactik). Can charge in the field with a solar kit, making it effectively limitless. The reactive system is pretty slick--transitioning from flood to beam handsfree.

Watch out--the flashlight bug can get expensive!

Cheers,

The Luci solar lanterns have worked well for me. Good as a lantern and have used them night hiking, too.

After owning many quite expensive rechargeable lights over the years, I finally bought an Energizer brand light about a year back. Cost me $15, takes two AA's. Love that thing!

As for a headlamp, I have a Petz LED that I really like. I've been using Pezl headlamps for 15+ years now, can't go wrong.

I have a 10-year-old Princeton Tec headlamp that is regulated so can safely use lithium batteries. A set of batteries lasts for months even though I also use the headlamp a lot around home (great for hands-free cleaning or repairs under the kitchen sink, for example). While it's a bit heavier than I'd like, I've tried a few lightweight ones (such as the Petzl e+Lite) and found that they don't provide enough light for safe night hiking.

For a week or longer trip, I put in a fresh set of batteries and don't need to take spares.

I frankly have not felt the need to check the market recently to see if these headlamps are still being made--the one I have is doing just fine, thank you.

Depends on what you mean by lightweight, of course. I'm a huge fan of my Fenix PD32 flashlight. Some folks would consider it heavy at 2.7 oz. excluding batteries, but it throws a LOT of light when you need it to, and in low mode (good enough for night hiking) it'll last over 30 hours.

Petzl Tikka headlamp. I can wrap it around a Nalgene with the light pointing up from the bottom and it makes an excellent tent lantern that way.

Olight sr20. I like the lithium battery, multiple intensity levels, and lowest setting lasts 28 days. Cellphone/usb charger. Not a headlamp, could be lighter. I'd prefer a rear button too.

Stuff to consider,

Edfardos

Petzl Zipka Plus 2. I like the fact that it has both red and white LEDs, and the retractable cord makes it very compact to store.

If I wanted a flashlight instead of a headlamp, it would be a Mini-Mag.

A white coin cell LED and a Red coin cell LED. I like Inova Microlights. About 1/2 oz. total for both lights and I wear them on a string around my neck.
I've never had the need for much light and the little coin cell lights are way more than adequate. Red for night vision preservation.

petzl zipka

Zipka.....too heavy (2.4 ounces) and too expensive for my tastes, for hiking.

I have a Black Diamond head lamp (like Petzl) for around the house. My go-to flashlight.

A couple of $15 tiny headlamps for us. We don't hike at night..or wander around much after dark.

Luci, as noted, is a great solution for a tent light.. but we usually save the weight and leave it home an backpacking trips.

I doubt that many of us plan to hike at night, except perhaps where it's really hot, but I was in an emergency situation two years ago in which we had to hike out after dark. All I had was a Petzl e+lite and it wasn't good for much. My grandson, who had my Princeton Tec headlamp, went ahead and turned around at every rough spot on the trail to light the way for me--not easy with his sprained ankle. It took us two hours to go one mile! The little e+lite went in the trash when I got home!

I tried the e+Lite, too - pretty much the same conclusion and final resting place. Thus the Zipka (sorry, Paul; the extra two ounces are worth it, to me.)

Yup. "things" happen and once in a while I find myself hiking well past sundown, usually on crummy trails. A legit navigating light is worth its weight in platinum for those times. Fact is LED technology has made carrying a nice head torch painless. Predawn summiters once toted mining lights powered by lantern batteries or 4x D cells (or carbide lamps). We're lucky as can be.

Cheers,

It depends on the situation. If climbing and seriously might need to walk out at dark I carry a very nice (yet inexpensive) Everyready headlamp with 4 settings. It has proven to be adequate in every situation. However in summer just backpacking I carry a cheap lightweight LED that attaches to my baseball cap and uses just 2 button batteries. In addition a little LED tent light that takes just one AAA battery. One is a backup for the other and both very light and I actually could walk out with either in an emergency.

I have, on two occasions, tested a couple of different head lamps and flashlights by hiking in late in the evening and purposely walking out after dark on a local little mountain. It was fun and I learned a lot. Try this; while you are walking after dark with your head lamp, take it off and hand hold it like a flashlight. It works very well, maybe even better than on you head because it is closer to the ground.

I looked up the Fenix PD32 flashlight. I can see why you like it. I have a couple of very similar flashlights I purchased for work and I can't believe how bright they are. Unless you need your hands free (cooking, climbing, setting up a tent) a flashlight is every bit as good as a head lamp. Maybe even better for walking in the dark.

I have a black diamond headlamp. It works good when it works but half the time it turns on in my pack so I also have to have a backup

I too have a Streamlight product. and it is a joy to use. the one I'd rather take is the Streamlight "stylus".. simple white led flashlight fed by three AAAA's, about the size of a ball point pen and weighs in at 33g (batteries installed) If I were only using it for around camp yeoman duty I'd take it all the time. But the one that gets packed is usually my Blackdiamond "revolt" headlamp- 115g with 4 AAA's. it kicks out a lot of light, both white and red, and has adjustable output for either. one problem for me, at least is that all SL products only come in black..iirc the price was about the same for either

I have two black diamond headlamps. The newer one has a lot of control with the button switch. I can dim the light and switch between multiple functions. I've had that exact same problem. The button tuns on the light very easily and runs out the battery. The old is simple on/off with a pretty good sized button switch. Never had that problem with it.

I carry a Fenix light (PD22) because it's really small, has useful brightness settings ( 8 - ~250 lumens), but what I really like is that Fenix makes a diffuser tip for it they call a lampshade. It's a clear plastic tip that has a conical reflector (inverse to the reflector in the flashlight) to spread the light in a nice outward and downward pattern. The tip holds the light upside-down via little friction tabs.

I hang the diffuser in the peak of my tarp and then plug the flashlight in when I enter and grab the flashlight when I exit. I like that the flashlight is pointing up, not shining straight down into my eyes.

Also, the diffuser is a less than an ounce and makes it easy to find my flashlight when it's off.