White Light Too Bright, Red Light Just Right
Headlamp shopping advice for the minimalist ultralight backpacker
The towering cupboards in the skinny hallway looming above the small living room couch of my childhood home always seemed to hold a treasure trove of special things that were off limits to my big brother and me. Some things were fair game like the scratched-up Beatles records (I wonder who did that?), the old beat up decks of cards, and the other miscellany lying around on the lower shelves that didn’t seem to have any other better places to go.
Most of the high-end stuff, which was supposed to be strictly off-limits to us little rascals, sat on the upper shelves which we couldn’t reach without a step stool: my dad’s Super 8 movie camera, his most precious set of binoculars and SLR cameras, and other fascinating goodies. What my dad didn’t know at the time, but was well understood by me, was that everything in the cupboard was considered fair game. All that mattered was whether the old man was around to catch me sneaking some play time with all of his favorite fragile toys.
Was there really that much distinction between the junky kids’ flashlights on the lower shelf and my dad’s super duper heavy duty flashlights that lived in the upper reaches of the cupboard? For sure in quality, yes. In my ability to use, no.
My brother’s and my flashlights were those cheap, lame, flimsy models that lit up the far wall with only a couple of weak orange dots. Dad’s models were strong, reliable and produced super bright beams of light so that you could actually see where you were going in the dark. He had both the more handy portable ones that fit nicely in the back pocket of my Tough Skin jeans and the bigger heavier 9-volt lantern style that would light up even the darkest corners of any scratchy, dirty, spider web encrusted basement.
If we were about to head up into the dark creepy outer reaches of the attic through the hatch in the ceiling of my bedroom closet, there was no better choice than to grab one of my dad’s flashlights. Bring our kid’s flashlights instead? Are you kidding me?!? That would be reckless. We might get stranded for days, or even worse, nights! So, no, there really wasn’t any great distinction between all these choices unless Dad was lurking around the corner. But he was often gone for hours or sometimes days at a time, so I’d usually just take the best option I could get my hands on.
Grabbing flashlights off the shelf always meant great adventures were about to be had. Besides expeditions into the deep unknown pockets of our attic and basement, these whiz-bang toys were taken out for investigating strange and unusual noises in far off spooky places, navigating around the house during power outages on stormy nights, or walking to a friend’s house in the dark. But the greatest moment to shine was in the mountains during our annual week long trip to the City of Berkeley’s Tuolumne Camp sitting at the doorstep of Yosemite National Park.
It was at camp where these lights shone their brightest. With scarce power around the grounds, flashlights were essential for getting back and forth from the campfire circle outside the dining hall to the outdoor stage located way out in the boondocks for our short little legs to practice our show-stopping breath-taking skits for the big performance at the end of the week. They were also useful for more mundane tasks like finding just the right tent cabin and cot so that we could jump into just the right sleeping bags at the end of the night and read a bit before nodding off under the soft dim yellow glow of our kid’s flashlights.
When out adventuring, associating dark with big fun is something I’ve never grown out of. Owning an arsenal of good lights is considered essential inventory in my book. These days, most of them come in the form of headlamps, but we own the whole gamut - lanterns big and small, handheld flashlights, bike lights, and a variety of headlamps. Out of all the gear we’ve purchased, perhaps we’ve owned more lights than anything else (except maybe carabiners which are also portenders of good fun), mostly because of how many lights we’ve misplaced, lost, or broken over the years. In my book, there’s no better tool out there to keep the fun clock ticking and to extend one’s adventures beyond conventional timelines set by the sun. A good set of lights will get you off early well before sunrise, keep you out late way past your bedtime, or even better, both!
Let’s now add a little bit of color to the story. Huh? Say what? Color? You see, lights don’t all have to be white. Really? Yes! I know, isn’t that cool? Just like back in the day when we replaced our black and white TVs with color models, or broke out our Colortone Wheel from the hallway closet for the upcoming holidays, these are exciting times!
Fast forward to today, what do some of the new headlamps come with? The color red! Huh? Yes, red! Mostly to keep us all from getting blinded from all those white lights.
You see, in conversation, it’s human nature to turn our heads to the people we’re talking to. Those new to the headlamp scene will sometimes unknowingly turn to someone in the dark and instantly blind them with their headlamp’s bright white light, killing any of the wonderful night vision they may have gained. One of the beauties of a red light is that it’s far less intrusive. Choose it over a bright white light, and you’ll spare your fellow teammates their well earned night sight. It’ll preserve yours as well.
Another benefit of a red light is that it casts a nice warm cheery glow on everything and who wouldn’t like that? Just like a pair of rose-colored glasses!
OK, so how does this all relate to ultralight minimalist travel, you might ask? Yes, you’ve heard me say that having a headlamp is essential gear in my opinion for keeping some of your more adventurous world travels going after dark. But why on earth would one need a minimalist ultralight headlamp if all they’re doing is staying in hostels, guesthouses, and hotel rooms of world cities which are all usually well lit? And why have a red light option? Well there are some great reasons. You can:
Easily pack it along most anywhere you go, even on outings without your pack. By design, ultralight models take up almost no space and weigh next to nothing. My favorite model for world backpacking is the Petzl E+LITE headlamp which you can buy on Amazon (Petzl E+LITE headlamp). It weighs only 30 grams and bunches up into a small ball of nothing.
Use the red light feature to unobtrusively get into and out of a bedroom or dorm room and/or head to the bathroom in the middle of the night without disturbing your roommates.
Shine red to read a book in the middle of the night without waking up your roommates with your bright white options.
Take your headlamp with you on nights out on the town so that you’re more visible to oncoming traffic as you head back to your accommodations. For this use, I’d recommend using one of the flashing light modes to draw greater attention to yourself.
Check out cool caves, old abandoned buildings, or other dark wondrous places you stumble across during your travels. Using a headlamp keeps you hands-free so that you can safely scramble in and out of challenging terrain.
Bring your micro headlamp on long hikes and more adventurous outings for you never know what distractions might keep you out long after dark!
Though take note that the Petzl E+LITE headlamp is pretty weak when in comes to overall lumens. It’s most suited for ultralight backpackers who need occasional incidental light while out traveling the world. If you’re planning a more burly adventure, you’ll want to bring, borrow, or buy a more powerful, rugged, and heavier light. This particular one is optimized for weight and space at the expense of brightness. It’s also equipped with the recommended red light option.
To drive the point home and further highlight the benefits of a reddish hue, give the following a whirl. Get your hands on something with a red light, maybe a friend’s headlamp if you don’t have one yourself. Also grab a standard flashlight with a white beam. Then, in a dark room, ask your spouse, partner, or friend to close their eyes. First shine a beam of red light at their closed eyelids. Are they bothered at all? To what level are they annoyed? Next, shine a beam of white light. Do they notice a difference? Are they more bothered by the white light than the red one?
Regardless as to how you might use a portable light during your future minimalist ultralight travels, or even what model you choose, I think you’ll soon find that a small headlamp occupies a permanent spot in your pack. My hope for you is that you’ll be able to explore even further and deeper into the remote reaches of the world, especially into all those dark creepy corners where you might need to dodge your way past giant spiders and their sinister webs which you might not have otherwise seen had it not been for your ultralight minimalist headlamp!
Okay, enough of that. The hour has arrived to fold up my keyboard, gather up my stuff and quietly veer off to sneak back into the dorm room to grab my toiletries bag. Good thing I’ve got this handy-dandy little red headlamp! Until next time, be well. Be well lit too. But not too well lit.
