Patty,

Did you end up purchasing the ear light? If yes, what do you think of it? I still carry a mega torch for safari, but find the ear light indespensible for tent/hotel living.

KhakiF

I nearly always have a small maglite torch with me, they come in sizes small enough to use as keyrings so don't take up much space.

When we did a self-drive safari we took the headtorch and a small torch, slightly bigger than the mini maglite, that had a base that made it easy to use as a lamp. Both proved useful.

I didn't think to take the headtorch for the Kenya trip in 2004 and could have done with it as the tents were lit only with paraffin lamps and remained quite dark.

Also, power failures do occur so having torches to hand, even if the lodge normally provide one when walking you to the tent, is probably handy.

Khakif,
Yes, I did end up getting an ear clip light. I'll get to test it out fully on safari next month and will let you know it works out when I return.

Depends on how well you can see in the dark. With my eyesight, torches on safari are invaluable.

I use a Petzl Tactikka headlamp (en.petzl.com) in all situations were I need free hands. Very helpful when packing in safari tents without electricity. The Tactikka also has a built-in red filter which makes it a perfect companion during night drives - other clients and animals are not disturbed if I'm checking my photo equipment.

For all kind of night walks I use a small Wolf-Eyes Raider (www.wolf-eyes.com) with additional LED head on the back. The 5x LED lamp is very bright, good if you're searching for something in your tent or for lightening the floor on your way to the loo. The main Xenon head is for outdoor usage and gives me more brightness than a conventional 5-D MagLite (130 lumens). Also good for using as spot light.

Khakif,
I LOVED my ear clip light! Thanks for the suggestion.

We started this last trip with 5 torches and ended up with 3 :)) Left the hand crank torch behind at the first camp and our mini maglite quit on us (that was very disappointing).

Patty - what ear clip light do yo like?

regards - tom

Patty, great to hear you liked it. I carry it on every trip, business or pleasure. I have one in the office too for when the power goes out.

khakif

Tom,
This is the one I ended up getting http://tinyurl.com/3yko38 though I paid less than that. At the moment, I can't find the site I bought them from. If I can remember what it is, I'll post.

thanks Patty, cute, any feel for about how long the batteries last?

regards - tom

No idea!