Oh, almost forgot the most important thing: Bacpacjac, thanks for sharing this story. This is exactly the kind of inspiration we need if we are to be successful conveying our love for the outdoors to the next generation. As a dad for two small kids, this is a topic that is dear to my heart.


As for the lights... I find "always-start-on-low" lights very useful. In particular the quark kind of lights, where the low actually is low enough to be useful with dark adapted eyes. Doing as little damage as possible to my night vision - that is something that is very useful. A zebralight illuminating something more than 3 foot away has some of the same effect. I've clipped these little buggers to my waist with great success - just enough light to avoid stumbling, just little enough to let my night vision see the large scale contours of the land.

Ever since I played with night-time orienteering as a boy scout I've loved fumbling around in the dark. With lights on and off.