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For the tech geeks among you

Some of my hunting buddies had a discussion by email about flashlights and batteries.  I am a headlamp kind of guy, ever since my eyes started aging a year or two ago, because flashlights require one of my hands while the other tries to do the work of two hands…and I am lucky if I can get both of my hands to synchronize as it is.

Anyhow, if you are into high-tech, intense, high-output flashlights and batteries, read on:

MOSH:

As per irv suggested, AA batteries are better than AAA…. also there are batteries called 14500, physically the same size, but double the Voltage. AA 1.5, 14500 3.4v

DONT PUT A 14500 IN AN AA ONLY FLASHLIGHT, IT WILL BREAK

 …If getting a new flashlight…look for one that can use a 14500 for full brightness 200+lumens,  or a AA for half the power.

 14500 batteries are not readily available in stores.

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Irv:
Hi George, the maratac is a good quality light. I believe its sold by countycomm, which had a good reputation last i heard.

They specifically state NOT to use high power 10440 batteries which i agree with since electronics that use AAA batteries are usually delicate and sensitive to over-current.
I would not hesitate to rely on that light with AAA Lithium batteries. You will probably lose it before it dies on you.
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Irv:
Here’s a short write up you guys may want to read:
STAY AWAY FROM AAA batteries unless you have no choice.  AA batteries have 2-3 times the capacity of AAA batteries.
I use flashlights daily, and everyone knows i highly recommend headlamps. Petzl and Princeton tec are great companies but they don’t make a headlamp that is also a handheld flashlight. So far only 2 companies do. Zebra light and Armytec.
Now it all depends on what battery you want to use.
After much time and research I strongly recommend STAYING AWAY from using AAA batteries if your life depends on it.
and i HIGHLY recommend size AA batteries at the least, and even better lithium  CR123 batteries (but they can be expensive and the cheaper ones can have flaws. more on that later…)
Basically Lithium batteries are best. And Rechargeable “14500” (a rechargeable AA battery on steroids) and even stronger “18650” (rechargeable CR123 battery on steroids)   …are GREAT.
I have been constantly disappointed at the quality and reliability of other companies, and of AAA batteries. Especially in cold weather where plastics get brittle and crack, and batteries freeze up even while being used and seem warm.
After our little trip going down the other side of the mountain i bet everyone realized how important it was to have a flashlight when it gets dark, and even more important to have both hands free.
Mosh loves the flashlights he gets from ebay and i have tried them but if my life depended on them, Hell NO.
Get a good headlamp, and get a good flashlight. and get the best batteries you can afford for when it counts.
Sanyo Eneloop, most Lithium Batteries, and 14500 and 18650 rechargeables have been reliable to me.
I found some interesting gear on sale from a company called ArmyTec, from Canada.
They have good promotions going right now and theyre selling out fast…
i also recommend Fenix flashlights, and Foursevens lights.
Don’t be confused by LED bulbs, the latest bulb technology readily available is XML, and the major differences are tint: soft white, or cool white. each has its place, and that would be a write up all in itself. next time.
Take care,
Irv
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George wrote:

I like this one as an edc flashlight despite being aaa.  Falia makes us all look like couch potatoes.   She does great reviews.

Ode to bear camp

Not too long ago, just a few years, actually, a couple hundred thousand Pennsylvania hunters would gather together for the three days before Thanksgiving.

They’d meet under old tar paper shacks, new half-round log cabins, and “camps” both fancier and more rustic. Wherever they gathered was “bear camp,” the place from which they would sally forth in the state’s most rugged topography in search of a lifetime trophy, one of Pennsylvania’s big black bears.

This 100-year tradition that spawned many long Thanksgiving holidays and peaceful family gatherings among the quiet outer fringes of civilization was inadvertently destroyed by the introduction of a Saturday opener for bear hunting.

Now, pressed for time, bear hunters can get out on one day and say they tried. Lacking Sunday hunting for bears, these hunters might hang out, cut some firewood, and then return home to watch a football game Sunday evening. Fewer hunters make camp together for the remaining Monday through Wednesday season. Sure, hunters are out there, and some camps have tagged incredible numbers of bears in recent years, but the momentum of camp itself is gone, fragmented by the introduction of Saturday hunting and the absence of Sunday hunting.

To say that bear camp was a unique amalgamation of individuals is a gross understatement. Used to be that only the crazy die hard bear hunters would be so driven as to take off of work. Now, so many guys come and go on Saturday that the flavor and chemistry of bear camp is changed, and for the poorer.

I’m an advocate for Sunday hunting. Lots of reasons why, but the loss of that bear camp feeling is a good one by itself. If bear season opened Saturday and continued through Sunday, the old experience would be resurrected. I miss it, because I miss the guys who come up now to only hunt Saturday, and by the time I arrive Sunday, they’re packing up or already gone. Gone are the easy times catching up about our kids, families, and work.

Now, bear camp has evolved two “shifts,” the Saturday hunters, and the oddball crew made of guys who can think of no better way to spend time than out in steep, remote areas, hanging off cliffs, falling down steep ravines, and sitting around with buddies back at camp at night to laugh about it. Two shifts, same camp. Same roof, different people.

Sad. I want that old feeling back. Gimme Sunday hunting for bears, please, so I can reconnect with the old friends I hunted bears with for over a decade before the advent of a Saturday opener.

UPDATE: Well, plenty of people have weighed in on this essay. Seems that Saturday has opened up bear hunting to more kids than ever before, and more hunters in general. Concentrating most of the hunters on one day is a fact of lacking Sunday hunting. And no one disagreed that the momentum has now been lost on the week days.