I recently had the pleasure of a 14 day canoe trip with non other than Darrel Brauer, AKA Kingfisher. This was after over 2 years of lobbying.....basically groveling shamelessly for his company. He was as superb a companion as I suspected and I learned a great deal.

Much of what I will introduce will be academic for the experienced.......but for the sake of discussion perhaps we can flesh it out a bit.

#1. Have a backup light
Yup, you guessed it, my headlamp with my brand new double A lithiums went dead soon after our entrance. I carry much of my gear in waterproof duffels which tend to capture some air so accidental "on" was not much a concern........but it should of been. This put me in a bit of a fix since I often like to fish until dark which puts an ample amount of skeets in my tent which need to be dealt with. Fortunately I made mention of my gaffe and was quickly handed a small film container. Inside was a teeny tiny clip on headlamp which fit snugly inside. It was the backup light.......protected against accidental "on". Lesson #1.......always have a backup light.   

or carry back-up batteries, or get a headlamp that allows you to "lock" it in the off position.

I have been kickin around the responses and keep coming back to having a separate light. What if a switch malfunctions or a bulb blows or the unit gets wet and ceases to function? There are some truly small LED lights out there........so small in fact one might need to take pains to insure that you could find it when you need it. I liked the idea of protecting it in a small plastic film container.

This is a bit bigger backup light than a man (or woman ) would need.
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It has also occurred to me that my light went dead in all probability because I simply failed to turn it off. It was not uncommon for me to get up and start breaking camp while it was still dark and I probably just left the dang thing on after it got light and then stashed it. I dunno what happened for certain.

If I remember correctly didn't ST once post a teeny tiny light of sorts? Post any and all suggestions and links and lets see if we can't find the perfect back up light.

Some sort of backup light is a good idea, especially for trips later in the year when light is short. I carried a backup the size of a pen- now the backup is a little LED lantern that is nice for the tent or general light around the fire.

This headlamp is very bright, waterproof and has a lock feature, hold the switch for six seconds and it is locked in the off position. (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

backup light is a 9.99 energizer headlamp from target that i use around the house.  headlamp and 2 loose AAs in a ziplock and stashed in the 'misc' bag.