Hey Everyone,

I live out east a basically use either a photon freedom for the summertime and a Myo XP for winter. I am going to be on the JMT this summer and don't think either will fit my needs. While I want to stay as light as possible I don't want to sacrifice the ability to have some power [for bear run-ins mostly]. I don't plan on night hiking but want the option if I need it. I've looked at standard headlamps [petzl tikka xp / e+lite...] and am underwhelmed [too heavy, too many features, weak build]. Okay so by now this is pretty much the same lighting post that everyone writes here where the author is looking for some kind of goldilocks zone for lights.

After some research I have narrowed down the field to:

Zebralight h31w [single CR123A]

Zebralight h51w [single AA]

Fenix LD01 [single AAA]

While I am impressed with the specs of all of these lights I have not been able to find much info in regards to user experience. I was wondering if anyone has actually used these lights in the field and would be willing to share their experience [ex - how did the Zebralights work with the included headstraps or when attached elsewhere, how did the Fenix perform when fixed to a hat using the belt clip???] Any and all opinions and annecdotes would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance


Brad


ps - I don't have any other battery operated gear so battery type will not play much of a factor in my decision

"ps - I don't have any other battery operated gear so battery type will not play much of a factor in my decision"

I guess that is important, because many buyers start their search with the battery type based on other use.

Personally, I felt that a single AA was the way to go for my kind of trip, and a Zebralight had that. The low intensity was fine for camp duties. The medium intensity was fine for trail hiking. The high intensity didn't get used much, but it really lit up the woods for wildlife or something.

The Zebralight headbands are good, but they are also heavy. I substituted an old Croakies eyeglasses band to save weight. Mine is the H501 version.

--B.G.--

I own a Zebralight H51w and an older model Fenix LD01. Most of my weekend trips away involve 2-3 hrs night tramping on Friday nights over fairly rough tracks. I much prefer the H51w for this and rarely would use the LD01. The medium levels are a prefect amount of light for me for tramping at night and the lower levels are great around the camp. I rarely use the high levels, only for searching far ahead.

I find the default headband is fine, the glow-in-the-dark headlamp holder is genius. I normally use eneloop cells, rechargeable, they are pretty good in the cold (freezing) and can handle high current drain present on the high levels. I use Energiser Lithiums in winter for their better cold resistance. The neutral white tone of the H51w means that the greens and browns of nature appear truer to life and mist/fog/rain doesn't reflect back so brightly. The battery life of the H51 is much better than the LD01 and so I don't need to take a spare battery for a weekend.

I've never used a H31 but appears to perform similarly to the H51.

Zebralight h51w weights 85 gram and costs $60
Petzl Tikka XP 2 weights 88 gram and costs $50

IMHO, petzl easier to use. Yes, zebra is waterproof while petzl is not. But in rain petzl still work (it even advertised as weather resistant).

If you don't need that red light to stargazing or just for keeping your night vision I would go for h31w version for it weight (25 without batteries and headband). However it's not that cheap: $65!

Yeah, I was just looking at the h51w and thought the same thing. I have a Black Diamond Spot that takes 3 AAA batteries and I think it weighs a little less. Plus it has many more useful features (red LEDs for night use, bright main light for hiking, smaller lights for camp and reading.) So I know you said you don't want a standard headlamp, for various reasons, but the weights compare pretty well.

My wife has a little Fenix AAA flashlight, and it's really quite nice. Very small and light, easy to use, though you mostly need two hands to turn it on and off. Not sure if the pocket clip reverses for use on a ball cap, but it ought to. The three output levels are useful, with low power just fine for reading in a tent, medium for general use, and high for fending off marauding bears.

I have an H51 and tried a Fenix LD01, and also have an ITP EOS A3. For technical endeavors, when a sturdy head attachment is really nice, or hiking at night for several hours is expected (i.e. alpine starts), I use my H51. I used the Fenix LD01 for a while as my non-technical backpacking light, attached to my hat using the belt clip. It worked great, but I ended up keeping the ITP EOS A3 instead, since it was cheaper, lighter, and the runtimes and lumens work better for my use (longer medium and low modes).

The ballcap clip for the Fenix LD01 fit tighter and was more secure than the one included with the ITP EOS A3 - that was the only downside. Not a huge difference for typical backpacking, but it did bite me in the ass while doing some class 4 during an approach at 3am when I forgot my H51. The Fenix LD01 might have fallen off too, so who knows.

If you always bring a ballcap and don't need it for anything technical, which you wouldn't for the JMT, then the Fenix LD01 will definitely fit the bill at a lighter weight.

By the way, you can still get the ITP EOS A3 on Amazon from a few retailers, if you want to go that route.

Following discussion and advice here, I got the zebralight h51, that's a great light. I used it this winter quite a bit for night hikes, and it's really great.

Keeping in mind that each main level setting has at least 2 sub settings, high/low, as Bob notes, the low (set at high) is not only good enough for camp stuff (which I tried one night this winter stealth camping), it's also good enough to read an ebook reader.

The mid setting is absolutely fine for night hiking, no problem at all. Though I found trekkking poles absolutely crucial at night since they really extend the sensory range of inputs for real up/down hiking.

As Bob notes, the high setting is really not needed unless you need to light up the canyon, or maybe find a bear quickly at night, but keep in mind that burns the battery quickly, it's about 60 minutes a high, 10 or so hours at mid, and some huge number at low.

The h51 stays on your head great at speed, the cylinder adjusts very smoothly on the fly, which is very important as you go up/down to get the light in the right place, and it doesn't jar loose or change angles at all.

You could lighten the strap in a couple of ways I guess, might be worth looking into.

After I got a real battery charger with outputs of charge etc, I realized that a 3xAAA device just is not a good idea, I believe the batteries will deliver only the charge of the lowest capacity battery, which means you are really going to be guessing. A single AA is what it is, I can see no reason ever to use 3 aaa batteries, first of all, to carry a spare requires carrying 3, and you have to make sure all of them really match in capacity. Vs carrying a single AA spare that is tested and known re capacity. Of course I use rechargeables, for a slightly lighter earth footprint.

You beat part of the weight problem by substituting the strap. You beat another part by using a lithium primary cell. I ended up with less than two ounces, fully loaded.

--B.G.--

I've been pondering this too. Right now I'm using a flashlight that puts out the same amount of light, but is floody. I prefer a tighter light pattern when I hike the PCT and other trails, and Fenix and the standard Zebralight pattern is good for that. Battery life used to concern me greatly, but I went backpacking earlier this month with that flashlight and never changed the battery. I mostly used the lowest setting for answering nature and reading, but that was much brighter than I needed. Since it only runs up to ~20 hours, I think the H31 would provide more than enough battery life for me, maybe for a few months since I'd take advantage of lower settings.

So even though I haven't tried it yet, I'd go for the H31. Some people have changed the straps to shock cord, but I wouldn't do that because it'd tangle more. I might sew the straps to my preferred tension and discard the rest.

I use a ZebraLight too, it is an impressive piece of gear. The low beam is perfect for in-camp and reading. The medium beam is plenty for night hiking, which I do a fair amount. The high beam is rarely needed but when you need it, it is nice to have, and doesn't weigh any extra. Recently I was on a new-to-me trail well after dark, cruising along with the Zebra on medium. The trail crossed a rocky, washed out section and it was not clear where the trail picked up on the other side. I put the Zebra into high beam and was able to pick out the path quickly.

I can't remember the model I have but it is the more spot-like beam, not pure flood. Even with the spot, in the lower modes there is plenty of usable sidespill.

I use a h31w since it shares batteries with my steripen. Love it. The low is great for abound camp and gets great battery life.

+1 with Cody. The lowest low is low enough that you don't need a red light 'cause you won't really blind someone with it.

When I go to Negev Desert to stargaze even very low portion of white light ruins your night vision. I use a tiny 1-led red light mode of my petzl.

But for hiking it might be OK. Haven't hiked at night yet... Should try it.

Firstly,

Thanks everyone for the really thoughtful discussion. It has helped sharpen my thinking about this whole light issue. In particular I hadn't taken into account how the number of spare batteries I carry would impact the overall weight [which pretty much makes reg petal/bd a no go]. I think the Zebralight h31w is looking pretty amazing right now. Sounds like between using lithium batteries and a strap mod its possible to get this model down. I'm also impressed with how dim these can get [part of me was really hung up on having a red led option but I think this is just the nerd in me].

So now I have one last question:

for those who have this model do you had the straight h31w or the "floody" model. From what I have read those with the h31w have been pretty please with the spill while on the move/incamp.

Any thoughts?


Brad

I got the H501, which is the flood version of the H51w.

--B.G.--

Picked the LD01 over the others because of the AAA battery usage, and that it can be used as a candle.

While I do use a steripen, I also use a AAA powered MP3 player (iriver T60). If my flashlight needs a battery, I don't mind taking the battery from the T60. I certainly DO mind taking it from my steripen. Using the battery from the steripen would render it useless, and from the spares would render them useless as well.

Steve

Check the goinggear youtube channel for a comparison of the spot vs floody. They do a first rate job.

I use the H51 spot version and like it a lot, but I do find myself wondering if the grass is greener with the floody version. My thinking is that it would mean a lot less aiming of my head during camp chores. If I were route finding at night, the spot is the way to go, but I almost never do that.

The floody version would also be good for tinkering in the garage.

I know some folks have talked about having two lights with one headband. Since the light itself weighs very little, if you already plan on taking an extra battery, the weight penalty to taking a second light without the strap and holder is nominal. The cost penalty, however, is another story.