Triangle Adventure Racing Team

These little lights are great. I like to keep one attached to the front of my pack, and use them for changing batteries on other lights or for map reading so I can turn my head light off.

In addition to adventure racing, I keep one on my keychain and one attached to my cell phone!

– Sean

This little light is a life saver. Typically in adventure racing, all I use is a head light. But I’ve found that sometimes having a mini flashlight is well worth it. This light is extremely light weight at just 3 ounces, yet it is strong enough to provide 60 lumens. It reaches much further in the dark than most head lights.

The burn time with the two CR123A batteries is just one hour, but I typically use it in “flash” mode. You can either turn the light so it is always on, or just use the button on the back. In Flash mode, I was able to use just one set of batteries all night the US National Rogaine Championship. But in a trek in the Florida Coast to Coast, I had to use the light more steadily, and did need to change batteries in a 4 hour period.

– Sean

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I’ve had the Petzl Duo for a long time and it has served me pretty well. After a couple of years, they came out with the LED version, and than an LED upgrade package for the old incandescent version. I upgraded mine to have 5 LEDs.

It’s great to have two different intensity lights, and to be able to focus the halogen. The LEDs give great burn times (100 + hours with lithium batteries), while the halogen will give 6-10 hours or so. Much better than the < 3 hrs and < 12 hours I used to get with the incandescent bulb and alkalines!

There are two draw backs to this light. First, it is not really water proof, just water resistant, and my batter contacts have corroded a bit. Second, you have to wear it over your helmet when biking, while some petzl lights can fit under the helmet as they have a front mounted battery pack.

-- Sean

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I’ve used the Petzl Duo for over a year now. Most of the time I prefer LED lights for their long battery life, but since I’m often the navigator, I need a halogen light for route-finding. The Duo meets both of these needs but has a few drawbacks. First of all, this light is not as comfortable as others when worn for long periods of time. By morning I’m very happy to be able to take it off. Also the halogen beam doesn’t focus as nicely as the Zoom (for instance). I assume this is due to the smaller reflector. The focus adjustment dial is supposed to allow you to change from flood to zoom, but I’ve only found one position that I consider usable.

I’ve used both the 3-LED and 8-LED modules. The 3-LED module produces sufficient light for hiking and biking on easy fireroads, but you’ll need something else if the biking gets fast or slightly technical. The 8-LED module is very nice and has 3 different power levels. The highest LED setting can almost compete with a halogen bulb for area lighting. The halogen was only needed when trying to spot distant objects.

I’m not sure of the run time in LED mode, but in constant halogen mode I only get about 5 hours using lithium batteries. In normal race conditions, one set of lithiums will usually last the entire night.

Despite its shortcomings, this is still a good light for AR. I would probably consider the newer Myo 5 if was going to buy a new light, though.

– Charlie

This is another fantastic product from RailRiders. I’ve had this for as long as I’ve had my weather pants, and it’s been used in most of the same ways. It provides great sun protection during the day and bug protection at night. It is extremely light weight and cool, so it even works in the middle of the day in the heat of a Florida summer.

Highly recommended.

These pants from RailRiders are simply fantastic — they are my do everything pants. I’ve had a pair for over four years now, and they have been used to race across Florida three times (in the annual Florida Coast to Coast race), other adventure races and orienteering events including the 2003 National Championship Rogaine, to paint my Mom’s house, to clear the lot of the home we built, and to do lots of other yard work!

They are light weight, dry fast, and are incredibly tough. After everything they’ve been through, I only have a few minor snags on them. They are a bit covered in paint now, though. The paint looks like dried blood, so I do get some interesting stares! I highly recommend these to anyone that needs protection from the sun, bugs, and bushwhacking.

Note: I have a small frame — 5′8″ and 140 lbs. I typically wear a size 29 waist / 30 inseam. I had to get the woman’s small for these to f it comfortably.

Bruce, Brian, and Ernie raced to 2nd place overall in the open division!