Kilimanjaro! I'm truely impressed. I yield to your experience. <br><br>I based my pitiful obervations on using my Zipka around the house and back yard! But opinion seems to be divided among casual hikers who report the inadequacy of LED lights for night hiking. <br><br>Also, the Zipka isn't overpriced for me since I value it's tiny size which makes it very pocketable and convenient as an EDC light and emergency car light. For hiking though, I just ordered a Tikka for it's greater comfort.

Great, thanks for the replies! Seems the Tikka or LED Duo will be a good backup to my usual carry (Mag Lite or Sure Fire), but the Zipka's strap seems a bit too fragile for tough SAR. Thanks again.<br><br>John McIntire

In my (limited) experience, I find people tend to rely too heavily on flashlights. At a camping weekend we ran for the cadets back on the Labour Day weekend, the sleeping area was 200 yards down the hill from the kitchen where we ate. It seemed everyone, including the Boy Scout leaders, I think, had honking great maglites that they used to return to the sleeping area after supper. I found that I simply couldn't see where I was going with all those flashlights bobbing around; I was much more comfortable waiting for everyone to go on ahead and then proceeding down "in the dark". It was a dirt road, and a clear night - if they'd only turned off their flashlights and waited 5-10 minutes for their night vision to adjust, they'd probably have been astonished at how easy it was to see the road. <br><br>I'm only speculating, but testing a flashlight around the house or in the back yard, there might well be enough ambient light from the street, passing cars, or other houses, to prevent your night vision from ever kicking in. On the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, you might well find that your night vision is far better than you ever thought possible.<br><br>(My brother once dropped a roll of exposed film in the darkroom. He couldn't turn on the lights to look for it without destroying it. After about 45 minutes of fruitless groping on his hands and knees, he discovered that he could use the backlight from his digital watch as a flashlight; he found the roll of film and was able to develop it successfully.)

I now have both the Tikka and the Zipka. I managed to find the Petzl case for the Tikka, but not yet for the Zipka (it does exist).<br><br>The Tikka, in it's case, is not much larger than the Zipka for stowage, but the Zipka's cord is much more convenient to use, though I do have doubts about it's durability. One really cool thing about the Zipka is that you can wear the lamp on your wrist for close quarter hand work.<br><br>The Zipka has replaced my Mini Mag-Lites for EDC at the moment, ut occasionally I still take along a AA Mini Mag-Lite for a brighter spot light.<br><br>What would really be cool is if Petzl would build a Tikka/Zipka using AA batteries--that way I could fill it with lithiums. Alternatively, I'd like to see the battery companies come out with AAA lithium cells.<br><br>These lights are not exactly what I would call bright, but they are sufficient for many tasks. I haven't been hiking with them yet, but just walking around the backyard on a dark night is too much for them, in my opinion.<br><br>All in all, a good effort by Petzl, but really most useful for their size/weight rather than their light output--however, EDC items tend to be an exercise in compromise, anyway.<br><br>For SAR use, get a bigger hammer.

hikerdon has suggest almost exactly what I carry in my pack (with the exception of the carbide). The LED Duo works great. I use 1 hallogen for distance and the LED for most close up work. The burn life is of course really good using the LED. I also carry the Tikka for around camp and a photon II that I always have on my keychain. I also carry a surefire M3 for really big lighting. On the other hand I usually have more lighting devices then all of companions combined. <br><br>nothing like a little overkill.<br><br>-paul

For SAR I still carry my Petzel zoom in my pack. Throws great light for seeing things 30 feet away. <br><br>I have switched to a Princton TEC combo headlamp. It has two lamp assemblies, one 3 bulb LED and one incandescent. The lamp assemblies have a notch so you can only install them in the body of the flashlight one way. I am able to switch between the two assemblies with my eyes closed. <br><br>It is waterproof to 2000 feet. It uses AA batteries. I use lithium batteries. <br><br>When searching I use the incandesent lamp and around camp or command center, I use the LED. It is maybe double the size of the Tipka/Zikka but I have both incandesent and LED and waterproof.

LEDs are good for general purpose. I acquired one for extreme cold usage. They do not give the light required to do intimate work on a diameter that exceeds 1-2 feet. That is my experience with the light I used. As of today the temp is -25C. I used the LED for 10 min. It maintained a constant beam during the 10.<br><br>Mariner

I forgot to add. Next week I will change the universal joints in a 1990 Suburban using the LED. I will post how it goes.<br><br>Mariner

Another LED headlamp you may want to consider even though it is a fair bit more money is the Photon Fusion which is a bit like a 6 LED version of the Photon 3.<br><br>http://ledmuseum.home.att.net/fusion.htm<br>http://www.photonlight.com/fusion/index.html

Another one to consider is the > Princeton Tec Aurora - there is quite an extensive discussion of headlamps here .<br>