Night-Walking

I've always been a fan of the nighttime. The stillness of people allowing nature to fully awaken, the air getting just a little more crisp to remind you that you're there, a throwback to the insomnuous days of yesteryear... it's always been a time when I've very much felt me. So it should come as no surprise that the prospect of hiking at night on my upcoming thru-hike is a fascinating and exciting idea, one that I'm hungry to experience.

There's also concern. The darkness gives more opportunities and challenges to a plate that is already two-helpings deep. Less light means an increased likelihood of making the wrong step and getting hurt or losing sight of the white blazes and ended up off-trail. Increased animal activity, while thrilling in a very primitive fashion, poses risk of everything from getting startled by walking through a spider web to bear encounters.

Lighting makes this venture easier and safer. It provides surer footing, better visibility of trail markers, and two-way warning between hiker and wildlife. Whether I spot an animal from a distance or it spots the light and is alerted to my approach before I'm right on top of it is no different - as long as I don't surprise any animals, my safety is much-increased.

Headlamps are wonderful pieces of gear. They allow you to cast light along with your gaze without requiring a hand to do so. They would seem like the ideal item to use while night-hiking. There is one factor, however, that gives room for improvement: the height. Lowering a light source closer to the ground gives better definition to what is on the trail. Shadows cast from bushes and the like won't be as drastic, and there will likely be less bob than with the head. In addition, if the lamp is below your eyes, you don't need to worry about light flooding down into them. Waist-level would be ideal, but sadly, straps for headlamps aren't the size of belts.

This is where I came up with the idea to mount a headlamp to the hip belt of my backpack. My first plan involved getting a matching set of male/female buckles as to what already exists on my pack, fixing them together permanently at the side where you run webbing through. This would create an "extender" of sorts, where I would be able to unbuckle my pack, and just click this new piece in; the male side of my pack joining to the female side of the extender, and the female side of my pack joining the male side of the extender. On the front of this extender, I would also affix a headlamp from my collection. That way, when I didn't need the headlamp, I could just click this "light buckle" out, and just as easily click it in when I did need it. I was unable to track down anywhere to buy the exact buckles from, though. Well, at least not without buying a bulk order of about 200. Not quite my idea of a practical solution.

Then I got an idea that seemed even simpler. Lighter. Sturdier. Cheaper. To use zip-ties as anchor loops, and just hook the backing of the headlamp through these loops for a final product that is easy to perform and I hope reliable. I placed two zip-ties at the top side of the buckle, one on the female side, one on the male side. These went through the wider opening that allowed webbing to run through. There's enough space between the webbing and the other side of the slit where the zip-ties don't pose any interference. Which is just what I wanted.

Location of the zip-ties. And yes, the stars on my blanket glow in the dark. I know you're jealous.

From here, it's as simple as using the opening on the back of the headlamp that allows you to remove/reattach the strap to slide the zip-ties onto the backing. I find that I can then rotate the zip-ties backwards, so the locking end up wedged between the webbing and the buckle. It gives it a nice sturdy hold.

You can see the rotation of the zip-tie here, turn it so the knob is pushing through from the back.

It seems to hold pretty well on initial testing, which included holding the buckle upside down and shaking vigorously, wearing the pack with headlamp attached and dancing to some groovy tunes, and standing still while staring at it.

I hope that this is steeper than it'll have to hold up in the field...

I think I found my answer. And I'm very satisfied with the results, even though I would have liked to see what the original buckle idea would have ended up looking like.

For this, I used a Princeton Tec Quad headlamp. I was able to pick up a few on Steep & Cheap for about $7 a pop a year and a half or so ago. I chose this model for this project because the 4 LED gives broad light coverage and is also waterproof. If I'm hiking in heavy rains during the day, and the clouds are so thick that sunlight is limited, I can use this without fear of it getting destroyed. It does seem to kill batteries pretty quick, though, even on the low setting (which by default, isn't the first press of the button, which isn't ideal, but I can click two additional times). Then again, I don't think I'll be night-hiking very frequently, so long-term battery life isn't really my top concern.

The light spray is quite broad from this headlamp, just what I wanted.

And best of all, if I decide that this really isn't what I had in mind, all I need to do is cut off the two zip-ties and be done with it. My favorite modification projects are those that can be reversed and have items go back to as close to stock as possible. I'm still in that safe learning phase, after all.