I dont have anything from your list, but I will put in my 2 cents worth.
After a number of camping trips, I find a trend begins to appear. Initially I brought along about 6 torches, each with its own unique feature, however it was difficult bringing all on walks. Juggling too many for each use was fun initially, but over time only a few were really getting used once the novelty begins to wear off compared to the difficulty in handling all of them.
In the end, I end up bringing 3 to the trip.
1) 18650 Headlamp - One battery will last the whole two weeks for me. Mostly on the 30-100 lumen modes, plenty of light to do most tasks, and used almost all the time. This is the bread and butter light, the one that goes everwhere. Hands free operation is key for everything that you do, Cooking/eating/moving around. I find I use it less on the hiking trips than around camp itself.
2) A large high output. Multi task light for everything else, such as the spotting for your walks, and lighting up an area with ceiling bounce, or tree bounce. Its got the battery life to run for long periods too on lower levels, so it becomes the area light at camp. Again, I also only bring one set of batteries for this one for up to 2 weeks. I do however find that moonlight low is also very useful on this one when actually out in the bush. Generally most of these lights start at the 100 lumen mark and for everything close up, thats blindingly bright when you don’t have your headlamp handy.
3) A tent light. A light that hangs off the ceiling (in a low tent). Its got to be reachable in the night. Moonlight mode with long battery life is crucial for this one. Leave the torch on overnight so its easy to find. Or for something fancy… having tritium glow is another way to achieve this.
Batteries, I don’t bring spares for trips of one to two weeks. Even as a torchlight fanatic, I find I still don’t use up the batteries. On a recent 3 week trip, I only ever needed to change one set of batteries for the main torch. The EDC headlamp and tent light went on working for weeks after the trip!
So what are my picks for the 3 torches based on my inventory.
- Headlamp - H600 Zebralight. This one has the range of outputs, High efficiency, 18650 format in the smallest form factor available for its class. Size wize, with a proper strap this works wonderfully well. Moonlight option available too. Only complaint is the UI requires more than just a single press to use the lower modes that I use the most.
2) Big torch - TN30 - Output when you need it, medium throw range (sometimes could do with more), but where it excels is the wide spill. The wider than average spill gives you great visibility of your surroundings and prevents that feeling of claustrophobia. Deep reflector design also gives you great hotspot transition, which allows for nice even lighting of targets down the line and midrange. Perfect light with triple 18650 capacity. Electronically switched forward clicky gives you reliability when switching high powered lights.
Low level is where this torch really works well for me, with a 3 lumen low, its really the prefect light for anything at any time. UI is also dead simple, ring for selecting output, and switch for power. Allows pre-selection of output before firing, saving your eyes from retina searing outputs.
3) Tent light - V10R. Again, a variable output torch, pre-selectable output, rear switch, and loaded with tritium for that night time glow. In the tent pocket, or hanging off the strings in the tent, this is a torch that is easy to find and there when you need it.
Biggest factors for selection for me…
- Easy to use UI
- Low Low output available on All torches
for spare batteries, maybe 1 set spare for all torches and thats a two week long trip covered.
