After our trip to Havasu Falls earlier this year I had great learnings about which parts of my gear I was thrilled about, and which parts I could improve.
We are now in the planning stage of our next trip and I have had a little time to consider my options and make a couple of upgrades.
This is the first in a series of review posts about my upgrades.
First, I was very happy with my MEC LED 30 lumens headlamp for performing specific tasks, but really wished that I had a hand carried, brighter option for viewing my surroundings. 30 lumens doesn’t offer much range. Don’t get me wrong, to make dinner or dig through a pack it works great and I will definitely not be taking it out of my bag.
At Havasu, Brian pulled out a Surefire Defender 200 lumens carry light that was both light and exceptionally bright. I love this light, and would probably have eventually bought one had I not stumbled upon a fabulous alternative.
The Elektro-Lumens EDC-MCE Flashlight. You can find the full specs on the site. This beast throws 700-900 lumens and is a very comfortable carry. I sacrificed the well known brand and took a calculated risk on this custom built unit from Wayne Johnson because there are a lot of great testimonials. Also, I found the possibility of seeing what 700-900 lumens looked like coming from a hand carry light.
The light ships without a battery so you need to order one online. I had no luck finding a retail shop in Toronto that even knew what I was talking about when asking for a 11865 lithium ion battery. The best choice in Canada was a company in Montreal who could ship what I needed over night. Since I was already paying for shipping I picked up two LGABC11865 cells and a charger. At the same time I also won a $0.01 bid on an auction for two no-brand 18650 batteries being shipped from Hong Kong for $5 CAN.
Both batteries work great, but there is an obvious extra brightness in the first few minutes of use with the LGABC11865.
The overall weight is an addition because I’m not taking anything out of my bag. The space is no issue because I’m carrying a fairly large pack at 70 liters.
The light itself is 9oz and each battery brings an extra 1oz along with it so if I bring the light and 4 batteries the total weight added is 13oz, but for simple overnight trips I would never need that many batteries so the usual added weight will be 10oz.
So far I am thrilled with this product and would recommend it to anyone. I can see how law enforcement professionals would want something this bright because you can definitely temporarily incapacitate someone in the dark with a light this bright.
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