Flashlight

[Demillo]

Any recommendation on a lightweight, fairly priced, fairly long lasting flashlight?

[risingsun]

Headlamp or hand held?

[pirogue]

I've bought Surefire but now like Fenix.

[garlic08]

Take a look at this: www.hybridlight.com. I won one at a trail building raffle and it's acting like it's a winner for a handheld. They said they got it at Costco, a two-pack for $20. I don't have a scale, but it feels about the same weight as my Petzl with three AAAs. The hybrid light only has a couple of lithium watch batteries so very little battery weight. It's been working great for the first month I've had it. It's many times brighter than my Petzl.

[Panzer1]

there's a thousand of them. Hard to go wrong.

Panzer

[300winmag]

Get a small headlamp like the Princeton Tec Scout that uses 4 coin batteries. It's very light. (And you DO want less weight, right?) Also it has 2 brightness settings and strobe. Four spare coin batteries weigh an ounce.

Face it, holding a flashlight in your mouth while you drool all over it is not fun. Don't ask me how I know.

Eric

[Rocket Jones]

Energizer has a headlamp at Walmart for less than $5.00. It'll do the job. For backup and handheld, I recommend the Photon Freedom. Light, tiny, versitile.

[BigToe]

Energizer has a headlamp at Walmart for less than $5.00. It'll do the job. For backup and handheld, I recommend the Photon Freedom. Light, tiny, versitile.

I'm with RJ. For section hiking I primarily use my Princeton Tec EOS headlamp (3.5 oz w lithiums) and a Photon Freedom for backup (.25 oz). My son has the Energizer and it has served him well at a great price. When I first started section hiking I realized I had to recalibrate myself on what a flashlight is for. When I was a kid I thought a flashlight had to light up the whole outdoors and now just want illumination of my workspace - setting up tent/hammock, cooking, reading, etc. I use the headlamp for night hiking all the time.

I recently bought a Merkava II tritium Glowring (.03 oz), and am thinking of attaching it to the outside of my pack as a help in locating my gear when I step away. Ah who am I kidding - it's a toy but how cool is a glowing stick that stays on for ten years! It's very faint but noticeable as a homing beacon.

[bobqzzi]

I like the Princeton tech stuff. I know many people go with the lightest/most minimal light, but I prefer a AAA powered headlamp that allows me to hike at night.

[BigToe]

By the way, the eGear PICO LED Zipper Lite is a nice little light comparable to the Photon Freedom. REI had a sale on them yesterday for less than $5 http://www.rei.com/product/803136/eg...ed-zipper-lite Doug Ritter uses them in his Personal Survival Kits, a strong endorsement IMO.

[Tinker]

Headlamp or hand held?

Second person to pose above question.

And, also, what are the functions most important to you (besides what you said above):
Size
Brightness
Waterproofness
Durability
Cost
Any other features you'd like?

Personally, I carry a Princeton Tec Eos most of the time myself.
I have a very light headlamp which is called Cyclops, which I carry "just in case" on daytrips, but it has coin cell batteries which are expensive, so I don't use it much.
The Princeton Tec headlamp uses standard AAA batteries (inexpensive).

[mweinstone]

flashlight? whats that? you mean headlamp? then you want black diamond.

[Demillo]

Great ideas! I picked up one of those energizers from WalMart! Thanks for the tips