Posts Tagged flashlights
Really Bright Icon Lights
Some kind of flashlight is a critical piece of gear for almost every traveler — you never know when the power is going to go out, your car might break down, and if you’re doing any camping or outdoors after dark, you need portable light. Icon makes sturdy little lights that are small enough to hold in your hand but cast enough light for you to find critters lurking in the distance when you step out of your tent in the middle of a moonless night.
Consider, when you’re shopping for a flashlight, if a little handheld light is enough or you want a headlamp. Headlamps are great for camping; hands free means you can cook dinner, pitch a tent, read a book… A little standard flashlight requires you hold it in your hand. This is fine if you’re using it too look for your keys or finding the way back to your bungalow and some off the grid hotel, or just packing it in case of emergency. The season is coming, so consider, a headlamp or a flashlight makes a really great stocking stuffer type gift for the traveler in your life (or yourself). Think about use and go from there. Headlamps for campers, outdoorsy types, a flashlight for everyone else.
I know this because I wish I’d packed a headlamp for my last trip. I used a hand held flashlight and it was awkward. I wished for a headlamp often, especially while sitting in a camp chair with my dinner plate perched on my knee. That said, I really liked the Irix Link light that I did pack. With one AA battery, I was able to light up my tent (and my hotel room, when the power went out) for two weeks — and there’s still plenty of juice left in it. It’s a cool looking gadget with a nice aluminum finish and a carabiner style clip integrated into the body. This turned out to be really useful, I’m always trying to lose my gear and because I’d clip the flashlight on to my belt loops or a tie down on my pack, it stayed put. Icon says that the light is waterproof to one meter for 30 minutes, I didn’t test this but what it means is should you drop it out of the boat, it will still work if you’re quick about retrieving it.
Icon’s Irix headlamp is also a great little light. It’s made from plastic so it’s a bit lighter than the Link, and it’s weatherproof rather than waterproof, meaning you’ll be okay using it in the rain but don’t drop it in the lake. It’s got a brightness dial; you can turn it down so you don’t blind your camp-mates when you look at them. You’ll get lots of use out of one AA with this light too. The light itself can be removed from the headband so you can use it as a handheld light. With my tendency to lose small bits of gear, I’d probably leave the light clip to the headband.
Both lights are small and lightweight; you can easily find space for them in your kit. The Link is listed for 27.99, but I saw it for as low as 17.00 on Amazon. At around 50.00, the Irix headlamp is a bit pricier, also on Amazon.
Posted by Pam in Business Gear, General Gear on October 28th, 2011
Fenix Flashlights: Massive Light in a Small Package
Is it possible for a flashlight to make you say “Holy sh*t!”? I didn’t really think one would ever make me react that way, but that was before I tried out two tiny but powerful LED lights from Fenix.
Sure, it’s easy to make a flashlight bright if you’re packing it with loads of battery power like the Stanley Spotlight or the 511 Tactical we’ve reviewed before. But what’s amazing about these Fenix lights is they seem to have altered a few scientific laws in their favor by cranking out an amazing amount of juice from just one AAA or two AA rechargeable batteries.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that if you shined one of these—even the AAA one—in someone’s eyes they’d be seeing spots for an hour. You could shine one of these on something 100 meters away and light it up. I’m not geeky enough to know what all the technical specs mean, but if you are, the LD20 I tried goes from 5 to 180 lumens depending on which level you have it set on. From what I’ve seen, 180 lumens is “light up the forest” strength.
The tiny EO5 is smaller than my pinky and uses just one AAA battery. Despite that, it cranks out 27 lumens, 
which is plenty for finding your way to the squat toilet in Nepal. With a flashlight this small, there’s no question of whether you can fit it in your pack, rather where you’ll put it so it doesn’t get lost.
Fenix is not just making the most of the battery power in terms of light, however. It’s also all about efficiency, electrically engineering the components to be bright for a long time, not just for a flash. In my tests I’ve been running both lights frequently for two months and have yet to recharge the batteries. This includes a bout of my daughter and her friends playing “flashlight tag” for a couple hours straight on the roof deck. Officially the E05 will run almost three hours before you need to recharge your batteries. In everyday travel terms, that’s months. The larger E21 will go for two hours and 15 minutes at the high setting, 11 hours on the low setting. The LD20 will go from 2 hours to 100. On top of that, they’re waterproof and they’ll last longer than you will probably. These are tough-as-nails lights made from aircraft aluminum, not painted plastic. There’s a limited lifetime warranty.
See the full line, from these compact ones to gargantuan spotlights, at FenixLighting.com. The tiny E05 is currently going for around $20, the E21 for $35 to $48, the LD20 for around $60. Check prices at the links below.
Get the Fenix EO5 R2, the Fenix E21, or the LD20 at Amazon.
Posted by Tim L. in Adventure Gear, General Gear, Kids and Family, Travel Light on March 10th, 2011
5 Things I Always Pack – Beth Blair
Freelance writer and blogger Beth Blair once worked as a flight attendant and she sometimes flies with kids, so she has learned plenty of lessons about luggage, packing, and useful travel gear. For today’s guest post, here are five things she always packs.
1. Flashlight
This tradition started back when I worked as a flight attendant and was required to carry a flashlight while on duty. Since then, my flashlight has come in handy many times including fixing a flat tire on a rental car, the night a hotel’s power went out for several hours during a severe lightening storm, and several times on airplanes when the reading light was burned out. I’ve been carrying Modus 1 by ICON (pictured below).
2. Luggage scale
I never paid much attention to the weight of my luggage since I try and carry-on as frequently as I can. However, when packing for a two-week cruise I realized how easy it could be to go over my airline’s max luggage weight, especially on the return trip home when the suitcases would be bursting with souvenirs. I use the Balanzza Digital Luggage Scale which fits nicely in my suitcase’s outer pocket.
3. Travel Carbon Monoxide Alarm
This is my newest travel gadget and I am thrilled to be packing it, just in case. Carbon monoxide poisoning is extremely dangerous because it is colorless, odorless and tasteless. I’m even more passionate about this item since someone I know via Twitter recently encountered a carbon monoxide scare while on vacation in a cabin, the gas fireplace wasn’t venting. Fortunately the CO alarm went off and alerted the guests to the problem. I have a First Alert Travel Carbon Monoxide Alarm.
4. Lollipops
There is nothing more painful than plugged ears while flying, especially for children who don’t know how to pop their ears. Usually medication won’t kick-in quickly enough and that’s where the suckers come in handy. Right before descent I hand my kids a lollipop and let them suck away. I’ve even shared them with adults in pain and they’ve worked. I pack classic Tootsie Pops, they last longer than other versions.
5. Business cards
I’ve found that carrying a stack of cards imprinted with pertinent information is time saving and convenient whether I’m traveling for business or pleasure. They especially come in handy when a baggage agent needs to log your information after the airline loses your luggage.
Beth Blair is a former flight attendant turned travel writer specializing in family travel and safety. She writes for Aviation Security International magazine and is co-founder of The Vacation Gals. Learn more about her on her personal site BethBlair.com.
See other guest posts in this series: 5 Things I Always Pack
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear, Kids and Family, Travel Light on October 14th, 2010
Flashlight Envy: 511 Tactical Light for Life
You can call this the father of all flashlights, or a torch for a men with big tools, but either way this 5.11 Tactical Light for Life is one manly way to see in the dark. Putting aside questions of compensating for something, how well does a $150 flashlight work?
Amazingly well, actually. There’s a good reason this thing is aimed at cops, firefighters, and EMS personnel. It’s heavy duty, powerful, and feels solid in the hand. But so what, right? Lots of competitors can make that claim. What makes this 5.11 Tactical one really special is that it charges up in just 90 seconds—in your car! “No way,” I thought as I unpacked it and looked at the instructions. The very first charge took longer than 90 seconds: 100 actually. The second and third took almost exactly 90 seconds though. Eerie. And I actually watched it charge. I couldn’t help it: the blue light on the charger blinks slowly at first, then picks up speed as it goes, blinks like mad at about 75 seconds on, then goes solid blue. Climax time.
Sometimes a flashlight is just a flashlight, as I think Freud said, but get a look at the charger to the left. The Tactical Light for Life goes into that sheath when it needs to recharge. Light for Life results.
What matters is, this is a damn fine piece of machinery, with specs that are hard to believe until you test them out. There’s real innovation at work here that takes a tiny amount of electricity and turns it into hours of light. Consider these attributes:
- Lasts for four hours on one 90-second charge.
- Retains 96% of capacity after 50,000 cycles of charging and discharging.
- You could charge it once a day and still use it for more than 135 years.
- The LED bulbs are rated to last 50,000 hours (that’s 40 hours a week, for more than 24 years)
There’s a regular mode, a strobe mode, and a high-power mode for when you need a lot of brightness. It’s hexagonal so it won’t roll away while you’re changing a flat or putting in tent stakes in the dark. The charger comes with mounting screws to permanently drill the charger into your car interior. How hardcore is that? You can also order an AC adapter so you can recharge it in a wall socket as well (necessitating another insertion—of car charger male plug into female receptacle. Just a coincidence I’m sure…)
This isn’t airplane or “travel light” gear for sure, but it would be great to keep in the car, the RV, or the box of camping gear. You can literally use it for the rest of your life, then pass it on to the grandsons. Just make sure they’re old enough to know what to do with it.
(If you don’t believe this piece of equipment is coming from a serious company, however, check out the dealer locator page for 5.11 Tactical. You can pick this flashlight up at Copquest.com, 911Supply.ca, the U.S. Patriot Store, or DSTactical.com. )
Posted by Tim L. in General Gear on October 28th, 2009
