Carrying back up light

[Havok]

Between a solid light, and a decent one....

Solid light first. So I can look for what I need to/ cover more ground without thinking/ worrying about my light instead of what's important.

I EDC five lights. One on me, and four in my pack.

 

[The Hawk]

I would use my better light first, with the lesser light being my back up.

 

[340pd]

One is none,
Two is one,
Three is for parts

 

[parang]

What would you do if both lights can do the job, one is $40 and the other is $100.

I would load balance - both the battery power and the natural wear and tear - so they both last longer.

 

[5S8Zh5]

I keep a Sofirn C01S in my cargo pocket as my backup. EDC changes now and then - currently a FW3A.

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

That's an... extreme example in the OP, dealgrabber :laughing: Still, I get the point.

Backup lights for me are smaller than the main one, always. I like 1xAAAs like the Ti3 or Tool/EDC01, they're no encumbrance at all and easy to store on your person. 1xAA seems to be a bit big for the task, so if I have one (carrying three torches) it's the secondary light while the AAA is a tertiary/redundant backup.

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Maybe I didn't make my original post clear enough. I didn't ask what you carry for edc. My question was IF you have only 2 lights one being an expensive one ( very well built) and the other more economical (not as solid). Which is your primary and which is your backup if you were to take a trip to the Amazon rainforest. Given they use the same battery and similar mode spacing/lumen.

 

[peter yetman]

If I were goimg somewhere dangerous, I'd take two decent lights. Pointless taking a crap one as backup.
P

 

[dealgrabber2002]

Of course.

We not talking about Ultafire or Underfire.

 

[Sambob]

I'd like to think that most of us wouldn't even entertain that kind of thing "It's good solid equipment..or my *** Is staying right here In base camp" but, at first light I will be a part of the search party that comes looking for what's left of you..I'll be the one carrying two good flashlights, kinda like you should have done to start with.

(Friends don't let friends use crap gear.:twothumbs)

 

[Jean-Luc Descarte]

Maybe I didn't make my original post clear enough. I didn't ask what you carry for edc. My question was IF you have only 2 lights one being an expensive one ( very well built) and the other more economical (not as solid). Which is your primary and which is your backup if you were to take a trip to the Amazon rainforest. Given they use the same battery and similar mode spacing/lumen.

Well then. Still an extreme example and oddly specific, but let's roll with it.

I'd most likely have the cheaper one out first, because while the sturdy one can take more of a beating, it's just as likely to be lost as the cheaper torch.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Currently, my primary light is a Nitecore E4K with a Nitecore Tip 2 as a backup. If I have to choose between Fenix and Surefire, Fenix would be the primary as it tends to have more usable settings and is less expensive to replace. If there's a blackout, and I'm the only one around with a flashlight, I'd rather be holding the cheaper light run on low to limit attacks to steal it. I also tend to prefer to save my best and most reliable gear for emergencies so the Surefire would be kept in reserve. I really hate seeing a lot of the cheap, unreliable garbage that is pedalled as emergency gear. If it's your emergency or backup gear, it needs to be just as reliable as your primary gear. Never bother carrying something for survival that is only reliable as a paperweight.

 

[CanAm]

The good one. The lesser grade one probably won't stand up to as much use, but it /will/ hold you over until the main can be repaired or replaced. That's its main function. I would also check both lights on the same schedule. Nothing worse than pulling out a backup only to find the batteries have run down, the lens is cracked, etc.

I'd try to make sure both lights could run the same batteries as well (though I'm not holding true to this on my work lights at the moment, but that's another story).

If someone asked me to borrow in that situation, I'd loan them the backup. Being known for lending nice gear freely isn't always in your favor, though obviously neither is lending total crap.

 

[Megalamuffin]

My primary light for the last few months has been an olight warrior mini, which has been great so far and I like the easy charging. The runtime on the olight is good and makes it unlikely that I need a backup, but I always carry my surefire backup mv along with two spare batteries. Just for the heck of it I also have a streamlight microstream usb in my maxpedition micro pouch that I keep in my pocket.

 

[Tasky]

My question was IF you have only 2 lights one being an expensive one ( very well built) and the other more economical (not as solid). Which is your primary and which is your backup if you were to take a trip to the Amazon rainforest.

As a logic exercise - With all other things being equal, you want the cheaper one as primary. It probably won't last as long, or will end up being lost/damaged/whatever... though if it doesn't, then yay... But when you're down to just your backup kit and utterly dependent upon that for your life, you'll want that to be something that WILL NOT fail!!
Ideally you want something that has less in the way of fancy features, and more of the solidly implemented basic ones - So with torches, none of these double-tap-longpress-hold-reverse switches with custom modes. Just a big, easily operated switch and a few simple light levels.

The same mentality goes for every other piece of kit you carry, be that a weapon, sleeping bag, firelighter, radio, or just a pen.