Wilderness Survival: Survive in The Dark – With a Headlamp!

An excerpt from The Ultimate Winter Survival Handbook

Favored by miners in historic times, and campers, hunters, and spelunkers more recently, the outdoor sports community finally began to embrace headlamps, this hands-free lighting option about 25 years ago.

Since then, the brands and features in the marketplace have boomed. The beauty of a headlamp is that it puts the light you need right in front of you, yet it leaves both hands free to work. Gone are the days of juggling a heavy flashlight or lantern while you peer under the hood of your truck or fight for survival in the wilderness. Not all headlamps are alike, however, so be choosy in your search.

Battery Power
Look for a headlamp that offers a long battery life. LED bulbs allow standard AA or AAA batteries to crank out over 100 hours of light in some models. This is an amazing development compared to the battery-gobbling flashlights of the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Water Resistance
Your headlamp should also have some margin of waterproofing. You may need it in the rain or under other conditions where it may get wet. Waterproofing can save the device from water damage, and keep your dark world illuminated.

Bonus Features
A nice side feature for your headlamp is an optional setting that activates a bright incandescent bulb. LED bulbs can be very bright at short range, but the incandescent bulb can produce a strong beam that can reach out some distance. This is perfect for inspecting the shadowy creature rustling the bushes 30 meters into the black forest (it was just your dog, by the way).

Bring a Backup
Always pack some spare batteries with your headlamp. Batteries are always at risk of leaking, or the lamp could get bumped into the “on” mode during storage and drain the supply.

How to Survive Anything

Prepare For Anything

Hunting and Gathering Survival Manual 

And if that’s not enough, you can:

Follow Tim on Twitter @timmacwelch

Take one of his survival classes at www.advancedsurvivaltraining.com and check out more of MacWelch’s outdoor skills and survival articles at Outdoor Life Magazine’s survival site, The Survivalist ( link http://survival.outdoorlife.com )

And check out more of MacWelch’s outdoor skills and survival articles in Outdoor Life Magazine.

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