What Are The Best Lights For Overlanding?
Cover Photo by onX Offroad on Unsplash
Overlanding is a very off-grid activity full of exploring the vast unknown. With its mix of camping, off-roading, off-grid survival, and all-around adventuring, it is not just a quick trip to a local campsite.
Because it's such a commitment to your own self-reliance, you need to be prepared with the right gear and in this article, I’m going to cover the perfect lighting to bring with you on your next Overlanding adventure.
FLi-PRO Telescoping Light
The FLi-PRO is definitely the right light to kick off this lighting review as it is the perfect temporary overhead lighting for your outdoor lifestyle.
The FLi-PRO comes out of its case as a small cylinder at only about 2 feet long, but then as you unfold the built-in tripod legs with ground stakes and start to raise the telescoping light up to its max height of 8 feet you get the feel for just how this light is going to help you.
Once fully set up, this light with its 1200 lumens of brightness will give you a 40’ diameter of light illuminating your entire campsite. If the terrain is uneven it’s not a problem as the top of the tripod has an adjustable ball-style swivel adjustment that lets you get the light pole straight up and down for those uneven surfaces.
Once the FLi-PRO is 8’ feet up in the air you won’t have to worry about reaching the power button as it comes with a mini handheld remote with glow-in-the-dark buttons. You won’t have to worry about losing this remote as it’s the same diameter as the shaft of the FLi-PRO and is magnetic so you just reattach it to the base of the tripod when not in use.
The main light part of this setup is connected to the telescoping tripod via a neodymium magnet embedded in the tail of the flashlight. This removable flashlight has four total ways of being used as a light source:
- Telescoping overhead area light
- Handheld flashlight
- Hanging overhead light (built-in hanging hook)
- Magnetic light (attach to any steel surface)
MSRP: $139.99
FLEXIT Headlamp Pro
Hands-free wearable lighting can be one of the best solutions for so many activities that it’s almost a no-brainer to have one of these on hand for Overlanding. Whether you’re stopped on the side of a trail with your head under the hood of a vehicle, cooking a late-night dinner out on the camp grill under the stars, or just trying to get situated in the tent at the end of the night, a quality headlamp is very nice to have.
The FLEXIT Headlamp series are great wearable lights that feature dual light arrays with a center forehead spotlight and outer forehead area floodlights. This combination of light types gives you the distance spotlighting to see down a trail you would expect from a traditional flashlight and floodlighting to see your peripheral areas right around you as well.
They are very lightweight and comfortable featuring multiple layers of foam and felt and come in at a lightweight 5.8oz.
The FLEXIT Headlamp Pro 6.5 features 650 lumens of brightness and the super-intuitive controls let you adjust the brightness to almost any level you desire. This means you’re not locked into just a small, medium, and large-type of brightness scenarios. You just push and hold the power button for either the spot or the floodlight and it cycles up and down the brightness spectrum until you let go locking in your desired setting.
MSRP: $59.99
FLEXIT Solar
The FLEXIT Solar is the perfect off-grid companion as it comes with a built-in rechargeable battery that can be charged by a small solar panel built into the base or a USB power source. The base of this unique flashlight has two neodymium magnets built into a non-marring surface which means you can attach this light to any steel surface like the side of your off-road rig.
The FLEXIT Solar has a light array light no other light in that the LEDs are built into the side of a flat shape-lok material that is almost rubber-like to the touch, but with the addition of an internal frame that lets you bend and form the flat surface into different shapes.
These shapes can be created for two main reasons, light focus and attachment points. For the light focus, you can bend the light into a slight concave (or inward bowl-like) surface with the LEDs on the inside of the cupped surface to create a focused spotlight.
Creating the opposite outward bowl (or convex) surface with the LEDs on the outside of the bowl spreads the light out giving you more of a floodlight that lights up a larger area with less intensity than the spotlight.
Finally, you can roll the surface of the light head up in a full circle tube-like shape to get a full 360 degrees of light much like a lantern.
The other reason that this shape-lok head is so unique is that it can be used as an attachment point. You can wrap it around cylindrical objects like small to medium-sized tree branches, PVC pipes, roll-cage bars, or just about anything roughly the size of your wrist.
Speaking of attachment points, I’ve touched on two already: the bendable shape-lok head and the magnetic base. It also has a built-in swivel hook to hang from a tent, canopy, or small section of rope as just a few of the many examples. It can also be shaped into an upright position to be set down on a table or directly on the ground.
The FLEXIT Solar boasts a powerful 500 lumens and features 5 different modes including a red night vision mode. The integrated Lithium-Ion battery will keep this light running for 70 hours on a low setting.
MSRP: $49.99
FLEXIT Pocket Light
If a smaller size is a factor, then this is the light for you. The FLEXIT Pocket Light is a small multi-use light coming in at 6.3” x 1.8” x 1.25” and only 4.7oz with the battery included. There are two models, a 400-lumen version and a 650-lumen option.
This light is small in size but still packs a large number of features. You’ll recognize the light head material from the FLEXIT Solar described above. Our shape-lok material is a rubber-like material that lets you bend and form it in different ways that then hold its shape.
In that bendable light head, you’ll find a CREE spotlight surrounded by a ring of LED floodlighting. This dual light array gives you the distance lighting paired up with the peripheral lighting for a great mix of close-up and distance illumination.
The small rectangular body features a dual-hinge clip that lets you hook this light onto your shirt, pants pocket, backpack strap, etc. It also features a four-light battery indicator and a USB C charge port.
Lastly, the bottom has an embedded neodymium magnet so you can easily attach it to a nearby steel object or you can also hang it from a built-in hanging hook also on the bottom.
MSRP: from $39.99