Personally, I’m a big fan of L.E.D. flashlights and headlamps. I own several each. The LED’s are bright and run forever on a set of batteries. Most use AA or AAA batteries. The AA lights are nice because the use the same batteries as the GPS.

Most LED lights will run about 50+ hrs on a set of batteries. This is a good safety measure since the batteries shouldn’t go dead on you, even if left on for a few days.

LED lights don’t throw off quite as much as convention lights, but their battery life makes up for it.

I usually use a hand held LED flashlight that I bought at Walmart for about $10.00. It uses 4 AA batteries and lasts about 60 hrs. I also use a headlamp at the same time. One of my favorites is a light that I won at one of the WGA picnics. I’m not looking at it right know, but I think it’s an “Aurora”? It is very small, runs on 2 AAA batteries, features an elastic headband and 3 LED’s. It also has 3 brightness modes, and 2 flashing modes. It is great for keeping your hands free or looking at your GPS at night.

Another cool LED headlamp I have was bought at Cabela’s. It has an array of 8 LEDs and runs on 4 AA batteries. It looks like you have a florescent lamp stuck on your head. It is very bright, but somewhat heavy and bulky. Not balanced very well.

The last tool in my arsonal is a 1 million C.P. rechargable spot light. It also has a small flashlight in the grip that shines on the ground as you walk. The small light is about as bright as a AA maglight and uses minimal juice. You can hit the trigger for the big beam when you need to reach out. This light is great for night searches for reflective items.

If I had to narrow it down to one light, it would be the Aurora LED headlight. It fits easily in my pack and ready whenever I need it.

Brian
WGA Vice President
[email protected]

I’ve done some night hunting, and I came across a combination that works really well for me. I also have one of those Aurora 3-L.E.D head lamps. I use this one to generally light the terrain in front of me (so I don’t fall down as much) and the cache itself when signing the log etc… I also carry a 4 D-Cell Maglite with me for when I am actually looking around for the cache. The 4 D-Cell Maglite also is quite hefty, and could be used not only for light but also for defense (if you know what I mean). You never know what you might come across at night in the woods. I’ve also found that adding a little anti-oxidant to the ends of the batteries in the Maglite keeps it working well all of the time. I use a product called No-Ox, although silicone grease would probably work well too.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Trudy & the beast:
…Cheesehead Dave keeps eying it with great envy….

---

Yeah. Too bad you have it tied to a cord now, otherwise it’d be MINE!!! ALL MINE!!!

(Erm, ‘scuse me. Sorry ’bout that…)

I agree, that ARC flashlight puts out a ton of light, but it’s only the size of one of thise mini-Maglites. I’ve really got to get one for myself.

Must… get… flashlight…

(For the unaware, I found a really cool flashlight laying on the ground at one of the State of Mind caches. I suspected it belonged to the Beast, who had been to the same cache earlier in the day. It only took two rounds of “are you missing something” emails before he realized what I had.

Turns out (for reasons I found out later when I returned it) he’s really posessive of this flashlight… )

[This message has been edited by Cheesehead Dave (edited 10-21-2003).]

quote:

---

Originally posted by TeamLotsacache:
P.S. We use Energizer 2100 mAh rechargables almost exclusively and have found them to work well in -4° to 122° F. The e2 batteries work well in a pinch or when it gets really cold.

[This message has been edited by TeamLotsacache (edited 10-22-2003).]

---

Now here are some real Wisconsinites…and I quote: ” -4, or they break out the E2 when it REALLY gets cold!”

Doing Mr. Elver’s cache for 5 hours on a windy 15 degree day was about all I can handle… any lower and I might be looking for that St. Bernard with the booze on his neck.

Amy and I exclusively use headlamps up in the Boundary Waters. Very easy to use and bright. I use them duck hunting as well while I’m trying to maintain balance, put out decoys and keep the boat on course all at the same time!

I bought a big Coleman 2-D cell flashlight a few years back that I now keep in Amy’s car. Puts out a nice beam. I’ve always kept a small mini-mag light on my belt during camping trips as well.

This past week (after watching “What’s Next” at the Glow in the Dark 2 cache on Halloween) I decided to invest in a 3 – D Cell mag light. I like it. Heavy duty and strong.

Hope this helps…