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JJRC
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Sep 26, 2018
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In my experience the Black Diamond Line is fantastic and well proven in industries where equipment failure isn't an option such as military use and wildland firefighting. They have high reliability, good comfort, good features, and good support. The Zebra Light is also fantastic but not as proven in my opinion.
The features you desire boil down to how you will be using it. My experience comes from the military and deep back woods use. For me it comes down battery and LED color options.
Lights that use 18650 (or other large lithium cells) cells and are USB rechargeable are very nice...if you have a dedicated recharge point readily available. In a lot of my experience a wall socket, USB battery, or other means to charge such batteries is few and far between. As such I prefer AA battery options. They are available everywhere and most outdoor gear also uses them. This lets you pack one type of battery for your GPS, radios, and other kit greatly simplifying your gear load out. Of course if your primary use is wrenching on your car or doing stuff around home it isn't an issue and a rechargeable 18650 cell light is just fine (I own both).
Another critical thing I look for is also based on my military experience and that is a red (or blue) LED option within the same light. When traversing wilderness at night using a red or blue LED is a must. It preserves your peripheral vision and night vision making it much easier to see. You also avoid the tunnel vision effect of having a white beam light by using an off color LED. If you're setting up camp or in a mine then sure the maximum white light output you can muster is great but in my experience I can travel much faster and see better (not to mention preserve battery life) in the bush using an off color LED. From a tactical perspective the red LED is also much harder for someone else out there to judge the distance between you and them. While this doesn't matter much unless you are being hunted it is must have for times you don't want Johnny Taliban walking up on you.
Sep 26, 2018
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