Heh, thanks, yeah. It's just that the thread was originally started by Doug, who sells an emergency kit that has the usual stuff in it including a headlamp, but the headlamp he was using was discontinued, so he was looking for a replacement with similar specs (under 1 oz, long shelf life thus non-rechargeable). He didn't say cost constraints and the Black Diamond Flare is a really nice light, though imho on the expensive side for something that uses coin cells and intended to not be used. I had somehow thought that the kit cost in the $200 range so that the Flare's cost was a significant chunk of this. But it turns out to be an ultra deluxe kit costing around $3000 that includes some really nice gear like a custom made knife, so cost wasn't much of an issue. He did end up including the Flare fwiw. Anyway, I'm not the one who picked the constraints. I just tried to find lights that fit them or came close to what Doug specified.

The situation with small headlamps really perplexes me. There are a LOT of really nice tube-shaped 1AAA keychain lights that are under $10. All we need is one of those with an angle head, but instead we get these quite fancy lights like the HL10. My favorite small headlamp is Zebralight's earliest model, the H50, which is a 1AA flood that weighs 16g (w/o batteries or headband) and is tiny. They discontinued it in favor of bigger, heavier, fancier lights, maybe due to chasing more lumens, idk. So the flashlight nerd in me sees a simple technical problem that the manufacturers keep getting wrong. That must be what keeps me coming back to this thread: I've spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at headlamp specs because of it. I wish Zebralight would bring back the H50 and make a 1AAA version with an ultralight headband.

I think you are right that it is best to be familiar with one's equipment, and maybe cycle out any stored batteries for fresh ones 1x a year or so. But, people are naturally forgetful and their emergency gear should work anyway.

I've only been in one "emergency" that needed flashlights, the 2003 east coast blackout (about 3 days without power, though in nice summer weather). I was in a pitch dark apartment building so needed a light to get around. Luckily I had several and had fun playing with them. But, a simple keychain light really would have been enough.

Did you use carbide headlamps back in the day? I've never seen one of those up close. I imagine wearing one to be an adventure in its own right .