I was rethinking my light needs and realized that they are not the best light but are good. Water resistant to a point and durable. Maglites are also cheap and quite common. I usually carry a Princton Tech - Scout. It is an LED with a few settings and ok for my backpacking needs. While in Peru last November we needed a headlamp with a more focused beam. I ended up with a headlamp that required three AA batteries. It ended up weighing 5 oz. plus three more ounces for spares. The good thing about this was that it took regular batteries. If I needed to buy some more batteries from one of the villages I could. If I needed batteries for an LED I couldn't. My Scout is a 1 oz. headlamp without the strap. A Maglite solitaire is a 1 oz. light and takes a single AAA battery. It is a more focused beam than the Scout. The Solitaire is not a headlamp nor is the more common Mini Mag. The Mini Mag is about 4 oz. and has a much brighter beam than the Scout and the Solitaire. Batteries are easy to find in a third world country also. Again it is not a headlamp but there is a head strap made of heavy nylon and elastic that converts it into a headlamp. It weighs almost as much as the light. I decided to make some of my own for the Maglite-Solitaire and Mini Maglite. Here they are and their weight is .25 oz. made of elastic and has a velcro closure to adjust the size. Simple and Superlight. Converts an average Maglite into a headlamp angled down so you can work comfortably with your hands. Maybe it will fit some other higher quality lights too?


Maglite Solitare/Mini Maglite

Solitaire

Mini Mag


Edited by Beardog (02/26/08 05:21 AM)