> TEOTWAWKI Blog: Prepping on $40 a Week: Headlamp

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10/3/12

Prepping on $40 a Week: Headlamp

If you've never used a headlamp when working in the dark, it's a life changing experience. Both hands free, no light in your mouth and light wherever you look. For working in the dark, it's the way to go.

Between our BOB and EDC, we've got an AA radio and an AA flashlight, so it'd be a bit kooky to go with another battery type for this series. Most headlamps seem to come in AAA x3 variety, and when you find an AA headlamp, it's often got big ol' 4 battery pack--usually with little in the way of extra battery life or brightness to compensate for wearing a brick on the back of your head.

So you have to hunt a bit to get something in AA, in a good size, and in our price range.

Luckily, Fenix makes an excellent headlamp that fits the bill, the HL21. Max of 90 lumens, mid of 43 lumens, low of 3. Two to 53 hours of battery life. The 90 lumen is very bright, and the 43 lumen is more than enough for navigating and general use.

Waterproof to IPX-8 standards...IPX-8 means "constant immersion" in water > 1 meter. So ya, wear this thing out in a storm...no big deal.

Comfortable enough...not the best headlamp I've worn in terms of comfort, but not the worst. Can be removed from the headlamp mount/band if you want to use it elsewhere.

Best of all - it runs on one AA battery. One! A lil' four pack of spare batteries in your kit will give you a week's worth of evening lighting, easy.

Price from Amazon is $34.95 shipped.

Which leaves us enough money to pick up a decent whistle--a handy thing to have. The Wind Storm claims to be the whistle of choice for Special Forces - bet you didn't know there was a Tier 1 whistle of choice, eh? It's tough, loud and works when wet, which is all that I ask for in a whistle. The Fox 40 usually gets the nod, but they're around $7, and the Wind Storm is under $5 and Delta Force uses 'em.

That'll eat up the $40 budget for the week.

Next week, we're moving into putting together a basic, low-cost food storage supply.