This thing has been amazing over the years. Right off the bat it was winning in the price department. I got the thrunite ti3 in Neutral White and it cost me $13.95. Not bad compared to the prices of headlamps that I was looking at before this. Also, the little thing is really bright! It has 3 modes and I would describe them as follows:
- low mode: About the brightness of your phone screen. This is useful for seeing things <1ft from your face when you don't want to lose your night vision, but it's so dim you can't really light up the ground from standing up.
- medium mode: This is about the same brightness as my phone's "flashlight" feature. This is the mode that I use for general purpose night-hiking, dinner after dark, and for setting up my tent in the dark. No one is going to look at this and go "wow that's bright", but it gets the job done.
- bright mode: This is where the flashlight really shines (pun intended). I think it boasts around 100 lumens and it's bright enough for me to look around for tent sites or check out a river crossing at night. The little LED heats up after just 5-10 minutes in this mode and it gets noticeably less bright, but (a) if you need brightness again, just let it cool for 10 minutes and turn it back on and (b) it's not a big deal for me because I don't use this mode for sustained activity, only for short bursts where I need bright light.
This little light seems to get everything right! There's the big 3 (weight, cost, and lumens) as well as a bunch of other details:
- Battery life: since I don't use it at the high mode for long (and I don't use a flashlight for all that much), I can go for a week long trip with only 1 AAA, but sometimes I bring a backup AAA anyway
- Clip: securely stays on my hat, so I can use it as a headlamp when needed. Also, the clip is reversible, I swear these guys thought of everything!
- Program: "low->medium->high" you cycle through by quickly turning the light off and back on again. This is the correct order in my opinion. I really hate how some lights go the other way "high -> medium -> low" because "high" has ruined your necessary night vision to use "low" effectively
- Accepts a normal AAA battery: some of the specialty lights require charging, special batteries, etc. With a normal AAA I get to choose when I use an easy-to-find disposable battery or a rechargeable one. Plus, it keeps everything cheap!
- Balance: you can actually stand it up on it's back, which is nice sometimes when you want a makeshift lamp (only works if there's a roof above you to reflect the light back down of course).
- Color: Neutral white rocks, cool white is so ugly :P
Anyway, that was a lot of words about this little light, but I absolutely LOVE it. The exact model seems to change every once in a while, but I got the new-and-improved thrunite ti3 V2 for my girlfriend last year, and it seems to work just the same. This is the one she got: https://www.amazon.com/ThruNite-Ti3-NW- ... 097&sr=8-5
I have no affiliation whatsoever with thrunite nor amazon (that's a normal link, not one of the affiliate ones). I just like this light and wanted to share it with ya'll
