# Lessons from Sandy Storm power outages



## Solscud007 (Oct 31, 2012)

So I am one of the many in the NY area to be affected and not have power. I wasn't worried as I am a flashaholic. However there are some interesting things I discovered and played with in the darkness.

First of all 18650s are nice but my bright lights burned thru them fast. So I switched gears and used my Quark 18650 body, Turbo forward clicky tailcap for tailstanding, and my Quark CR123 head. I set the brightness to medium and it is more than enough light to last hours. 

I dont normally have this many lights on. But the point I want to make is the discovery of using a liquid body wash bottle as a diffuser. it is a PERFECT fit for the Quark head. It is a snug fit but there is a lip inside that stops the head from going in all the way. This really helped with general area lighting. No the HF is not on in this picture.









As many have noted, headlamps are invaluable. I love my Surefire Saint and my ICON headlamp. I have a CR123 Zebralight but opted not to use it. As I dont have that many CR123s. I have 8 fresh Eneloops and 48 Alkaline AA ready to feed those lights. Right now the Icon is still running off the AA that is in it and my Saint is running off the 3xCR123 that it came with. I know that I can just feed two AA when the time comes.

Battery vampires are fun to use as well. Milky Candle is killing off batteries. Although it is still running off two "dead" CR123s since FOREVER!!!!


I have another battery vampire, I cant remember who made it but he modded my Pentagon Light angle head to a warm nichia. Anyway I fed it a D-cell and put a Ping Pong ball over the LED as a diffuser. Then I had the great idea to use my tealight candle lantern instead. Not terribly bright but enough light to navigate in the dark. This thing has been running for two days straight and still going.






I am charging my Rechargeables at work. However my friend told me about this and I think it is awesome. It is a small camping stove that you use wood to fuel it and it can charge USB powered objects as well as cook food.

http://www.biolitestove.com/campstove/camp-overview/features/



For fun, I went to the mall at night. I guess they have emergency lights on but it was closed and all the parking lights were out. So I took a picture and brought the hellfighter along.


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## moldyoldy (Oct 31, 2012)

Solscud007: I note the Tie-Fighter on your desk and R2D2 on the shelf. Disney just purchased LucasFilm for 4B with a promise to keep the Star Wars theme alive. Note also that the Indiana Jones series also goes to Disney. The Force was obviously with George Lucas!

You have a nice collection of flashlights with good comments. I note that most of them are smallish or even single-cell lights. You are discovering the next phase of flashaholism ... that the big bright long-throwing lights are not that useful in every day life, unless you are an ER or LEO or SAR or ... For the non-flashaholics, using a ceiling bounce to light up a room (or some sort of a diffuser) is too often belatedly discovered when the assumed AC power is non-existent, given that a light of sufficient lumens was findable and the batteries were not dead. Headlights are wonderful and underappreciated.. Ditto for battery vampires!

I myself am transitioning from the stage of "I need more lumens" and shrinking my preferences. I am down to experimenting with button-cell lights (10-20 lumens) or the smaller hand-crank lights. My pockets appreciate the size difference. I wore holes in too many front or back pants pockets with 1x 123 or 1x AA lights. even the 1x AAA lights are borderline large. I still carry an LD01 on steroids (10440) or an LD15 in a shirt pocket with a flap, but my pants pockets only have a button-cell light hung on whatever key chain happens to be with me. No, I have not had a problem with button-cell lights (pinch-lights) turning on in my pocket. To lower the cost of operation, I purchase CR2016 and LR41 cells a 100 at a time. at <$0.50 per cell, the cost ceases to be of concern. The small hand-crank lights were essentially toys and I gave them all away to kids to play with. Admittedly I did keep one crank light with what looks like 3x AA cells inside. 

I gifted various acquaintances and family members with decent LED lighting. The "gifted lumens" reached 500-800. However whenever I had the chance to observe or ask, nearly all of "giftees" had only the button-cell lights like the Photo X-Light for EDC. There was no hope for more output levels than 2-3 - too confusing. I could show them the different levels, but they normally used the light at the first level at turn-on. There was a major boundary at a pocket or purse size. If the light was larger than disappearing in a pocket or purse, it was a shelf queen parked somewhere waiting maybe to be found when the need arose, usually because of power failures. Then maybe. So I stopped gifting anything larger than a Photon X-Light with a couple packs of CR2016 cells. Most of my extended family sort of becomes disinterested above 100-200 lumens.

Regarding lumens: with age, all of the flashaholics who wanted outputs of <1 lumen will discover that they cannot see so well any more. Then the 10 lumen lights are useful. ie: I tried out a Preon P0 - the low output is totally useless for me. The P0 with 25 lumen high is all flood and nearly useless except at <1 or 2 meters.

As always, YMMV. What you have with you when the lights go out or at least know where to quickly find and with enough light to get there is important. A bathroom or stairwell or back room in large malls or builiding complexes can be very dark when the AC-based lights drop out. I wonder how many of the flashlights purchased and used for Sandy will be around for the next power failure?


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## Solscud007 (Oct 31, 2012)

Yeah what we need and what we have are two different things. I dislike AAA lights. But I am in love with AA lights. Like my Ti 1xAA Quark and my Sunwayman V10R (with extender) and V10A. I feed them 14500 li-ions until they die and then fuel them with AAs. The Sunwaymans are great since they have the magnetic ring to dial in the brightness level, like my Surefire Titans. But I can tail stand them, titans can't tailstand. At least the Aluminum ones can't.


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## joecatch (Oct 31, 2012)

I live in Dutchess County, NY and I didn't learn any lesons because we never lost power! I had my new Trustfire J18 and various older lightbulb flashlights ready by my side but we never lost power. The lights just flickered a few times. I had a good supply of AAs and 18650s ready. My daughter at Nyack College lost power in her dorm but still had WIFI. Go figure.

Joe C


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## 1pt21 (Nov 1, 2012)

That "flowery" transparent display case you have in the back. I have the exact same one (well it's the wife's to be honest), I think its from IKEA.

She let me take over about 45% of it with lights (my hopes in making the new place appear more manly) LOL.

Pics upon request (if you don't believe me )

It currently houses my M6 which certainly "mans" it up for sure!!!


Anyway I had no power for ~2days total; I used WAAAAAY more 2aa and 3xaaa lights than I would've ever imagined! Mostly upgraded (of course) 2aa mini-mags tail standing to light various rooms throughout the condo. Never would've though it, of course I had an arsenal of 18650's ready to rock... Used up about 2 of em hahaha..

Thanks for story!!


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## MikeAusC (Nov 1, 2012)

I suspect we haven't heard from people who have recently learnt that, even if you live in the biggest city in a country with some of the most reliable infrastructure in the world, you may be suddenly without power for many days.

Why ???? Because right now they're very busy working out how to survive without refrigeration, a weather-proof roof, shops etc - and most probably don't have power to communicate with the outside world.

It's not just New York / New Jersey. Christchurch residents had no warning that their comforts were to be suddenly taken away.


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## ElectronGuru (Nov 1, 2012)

Read an article about how urban density correlates to storm/power reliability. 

Underground power is more resilient but costs much more per mile. The US is less dense than many other developed nations and so has a much higher proportion of above ground power lines. Not enough people per mile, so we are more vulnerable to storms, etc.


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## jrmcferren (Nov 1, 2012)

I think I learned about as much preparing for Sandy as from Sandy itself. I had been preparing for Sandy for a week prior to the storm as a just in case measure. I orginally ready about how Sandy could turn into a snow storm (it did for the higher elevations). Here are the lessons learned and steps I took:


Always have a battery powered (or hand crank) radio. I only had AM portables from the 70s and earlier. First prep item I bought was an eTon FR-170 radio that contained an AM/FM/Weather radio (no alerting) with a flashlight and a cell phone charger. Rechargable from a USB source as well as solar panels and the hand crank. This is also a backup light.
D-Cells run out quick when a storm is coming, in the future I'm going to stress the importance of diversification on cell types. C-Cells were plenty in my area, AA and AAA lights are good two.
My EDC flashlight is not an emergency preparation. (I knew this ahead of time, hence my backup lights that I have).
Think about possible travel bans (this came up as a possiblity) and have a way to spend the night wherever you are (home or work). I came up with sleeping arrangements last minute, didn't even think about the sleeping bag in my storage locker. I now keep it in the trunk of my car. I grabbed pillows and blankets at the last minute.
Keep your gas tank full. I did this to the most viable extreme. I filled my tank on Thursday night before I went home from work, I did some errands on Friday and went to work on Sunday and topped off again on my way home even though it was less than two gallons.
Know the infrastructure in your area and plan accordingly. My parents (I live at home) got gas for the generator before hand (wasn't needed luckilly). I told them it was likely that they would have to travel out of town to get gas if we lost power. We live very close to the substation and a transmission line or substation transformer failure would be the likely cause of any long duration outage and it would affect a large area.
Know where you can take refuge if must be away from home. In my case it was work as that is where I was anyway. We have large generators as we are a critical operation. Before taking refuge at your workplace, you obviously should ask management.
Plan food accordingly (again this was last minute, but I did well), again with the fear of a travel ban I not only left home early and made makeshift sleeping arrangements I grabbed something to eat. I grabbed some snacks (already had some), 12 24-ounce bottles of Soda and three hoagies (as well as my emergency lunches already in the freezer at work). I knew my office would not loose refrigeration due to our emergency power.
Communications are critical, but also prone to failure. When I packed things up I brought three forms of communication (Two where I could send information and one receive-only source). I had my smartphone with extra chargers (including a large battery pack), my ham radio handheld, and lastly my radio above. This of course was only personal resources, not anything provided by my employer.
Anything can fail! By around 1:30 AM all NOAA weather radio stations that I could receive (Including the one that didn't provide forecasts or warnings for this area) were off the air. Hagerstown went first and didn't get restored until yesterday. Harrisburg then failed (which doesn't serve my area) and lastly Bedford failed. My only source of weather information other than local radio was my smartphone. The cellular networks stayed functional the entire time.
Bookmark the power company website. Even if you aren't without power, you can at least track outages in your area to see what the extent of power-outage related damage is occuring, especially if you switch to generators pre-emptively to prevent problems (My employer did).
Be very paitient with local radio stations. I didn't have to worry about this as much, but the radio stations in my area continued normal programming with updates throughout the storm. Paitence is a very important virtue especially when you can't stand said station's normal programming.

I mentioned backup lights earlier in this post, my backup light plan is a bit different than most flashaholics. My EDC is my primary light, I however do not carry a backup light on my person as the likely reason of switching to a backup light is runtime, not failure. I keep backup lights all over. I have one at home (family flashlight that is used enough that the batteries are replaced often enough), one in the car, and one in my cubicle at work. Each of these offer a longer runtime then my EDC light and EDC spare cells combined without needing a change of cells (or battery).


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## moldyoldy (Nov 1, 2012)

jrmcferren: good comments, especially those about the EDC light not being emergency preparation! I guess I never really thought about it that way.

I do carry multiple flashlights in various pockets (usually zippered or velcro'd) although I do not carry spare cells with me. I prefer a second or third light since the first might be loaned or dropped/lost. I have plenty of lights and cells in my house, but that is not necessarily a good response or preparation.


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## Roger Sully (Nov 2, 2012)

I guess I shouldn't be amazed about how many people were not prepared this past week. What did surprise me was that the local PDs were not prepared. I can't tell you how many lights were loaned and batteries given out to officers on duty. 
I can also reiterate that, while the high lumens are impressive, the low/medium modes were the ones most used during the outage. Mr. Elfin was the star of the show tailstanding in the living room with the diffuser. Everyone in my household also had a light on a lanyard. It's awesome how the Mrs can appreciate flashoholism after and extended outage !


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## fresh eddie fresh (Nov 2, 2012)

I hope everyone effected by the storm are staying safe and doing well... although if I had a room full of Legos and flashlights, I would be perfectly happy for quite a long time!


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## webley445 (Nov 4, 2012)

A thought about the above comment concerning C/D cells.

If you go to Radio Shack you can buy project boxes/ battery holders for various cell sizes. Attach longer wires to the leads and then alligator clips to the other ends. Get boxes that hold 2/4/6 cells. Then the clips can be attached to various battery powered devices to power them. With a little experimenting you can find lights that will accommodate having clips attached. Works well for led laterns that have batteries placed in the base. If the light runs off of 4 AA cells, use 4 C cell box and your runtime will be increased. This works wonderfully for AA powered radios. Even some coin cells devices can be modded to accept the clips and run forever.
Battery adaptor can be bought or DIY so that smaller cells can be used in D cell lights too. Just some food for thought, budget ways of making preps.


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## jamesbeat (Nov 4, 2012)

I had exactly that plan in mind, great minds think alike 

Another thing that I am going to do is build a lantern that is a low output battery vampire.
I'm going to make it with a D battery box, and I'm going to get adapters for every cell size so that they can be nested like russian dolls. My lantern will then be able to run on D, C, AA, and AAA.
That is also what I plan to do when I make my battery box with flyleads and alligator clips.

After working in a store that sold batteries during the run up to and aftermath of the hurricane, I have decided that versatility is the only way to go.
At least one customer that I know of (because she told me) and probably many others bought batteries that they didn't have a use in mind for, just for the sake of buying batteries.
Panic buying has to be seen to be believed.

Another lesson that I learned was to absolutely never buy a radio that takes D or C cells, because that is what everybody else has already done.
My emergency radio takes 2xAAA. I bet its current draw is a fraction of that if a 'boom box' type radio that takes C or D cells, and with the aforementioned battery box with clips, could be run on any of the major alkaline cell sizes.


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## Quiksilver (Nov 4, 2012)

jamesbeat said:


> After working in a store that sold batteries during the run up to and aftermath of the hurricane, I have decided that versatility is the only way to go.
> at least one customer that I know of (because she told me) and probably many others bought batteries that they disn't have a use in mind for, just for the sake of buying batteries.
> Panic buying has to be seen to be believed.



Eh, I might do the same for my neighborhood. Visit some electronics/camera stores/gas station/supermarket/distributor warehouse, and load up on batteries. 

Then re-sell them for a small profit to fund all my Prep expenses during the emergency, as well as freely distribute them to neighbors in the interest of neighborhood watch and good will. 

Currently still working on diversifying my light collection to include different lights to take literally every kind of battery i can find.


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## reppans (Nov 5, 2012)

I'm quite certain that I will represent the extreme corner on this thread, but I used my EDC and burned about the equivalent of one Eneloop during the Sandy outage - my power came back on Sat. night. I have dedicated lanterns and headlamps, but I find them no better than what I carry in my pockets 24/7, and usually less efficient or comfortable.

I'm a minimalist camper and low lumen freak and prefer using my night vision to higher lumens. When I'm out in the middle of the woods, I just feel that I can see better (at least sense movement) when my eyes aren't bleached out by bright light - it just makes everything less scary for me and has huge runtime benefits, of course. For me, power outages are like camping indoors.

For the most part, I use 0.3/3/20 lumen modes as my L/M/H and a 3 lumen weighted average should be about 50 hrs of runtime from an Eneloop - an easy week of continuous nighttime use. In general, I use moonlight while on my "neckband." With dark adapted eyes, I find the aimed light just right for indoor navigation, reading, and simple close task work. I use 3 lumens for more difficult task work (like cooking) and for general diffused lantern lighting. But if need be, I could quite easily live on moonlight alone.

I have solar chargers for my Eneloops, and AAA>AA adapters that will let me scavenge the dozens of other AAA & 9V batteries littering the house in remotes, detectors, toys etc. I probably wouldn't need to use these resources for lighting, but I've consolidated all of my other emergency/portable electronic devices around AAs & Eneloops, like a back-up cellphone charger, and AM/FM radio, UV water purifier, etc.

For me, by far, the most important things to have, and use, for emergency lighting is an efficient moonlight mode single-AA flashlight.... and your own night vision.


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## Blue72 (Nov 5, 2012)

A week after the storm

Just like camping....brightness is meaningless and runtime is king.....extra wide flood is a bonus....so are headlamps


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## TEEJ (Nov 5, 2012)

My wife is about night blind, but glare is also blinding to her, so the SC600 and SC600W are "Her's" for most of the ordeal....plus the teeny monster.

I have a solar charger (Cottonpicker) with double battery boxes, that easily recharged all the cells from the night before to be ready for the next night...with a car jumpstarter that allowed further energy storage, and convenient three prong and cig lighter accessories, etc.

So cell phones, cells, laptops, etc, are all charged and ready to go every day.

Other than not having heat, it's not that different than normal.

The grocery stores were wiped out of flashlights and batteries except some for hearing aids and watches....even the 9v were gone. No AAA, AA, C or D's...all gone. No CR123's...all gone. There were two energizer nimh charger's with cells (A kit) at a few stores here and there...but the couple (One in each store...other stores had none of them either....) were probably left behind as you need to CHARGE them. Which is all pretty normal crowd behavior from what I see out there every time the sheet hits the fans. Its also normal for the nimrods to then return or try to return the flashlights, lanterns, coolers, etc...AFTER the emergency is over, as obviously, they will never need them again... (Good time to get slightly used generators if the pattern holds...)


I was out doing emergency response work (still am...) when I gave every one their "Chores" and headed out...so they knew which lights they could drain, and which to leave alone (Didn't want lights in their hands that could over drain, etc...).

The wife liked the SC600's as they tail stand and can light the room enough to read by, but were small enough to carry around....and she liked that the TM11 on low would do about the same thing. She and the boys were recharging cells like old pros after a few days. 

So, no battery vampire lighting at my place...it was lit up like a Griswald Christmas.


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## Lynx_Arc (Nov 5, 2012)

jamesbeat said:


> I had exactly that plan in mind, great minds think alike
> 
> Another thing that I am going to do is build a lantern that is a low output battery vampire.
> I'm going to make it with a D battery box, and I'm going to get adapters for every cell size so that they can be nested like russian dolls. My lantern will then be able to run on D, C, AA, and AAA.
> ...


Actually unless you crank up a boom box it takes about the same amount of power but since it has 2-3 times as many batteries with 3-10 times the capacity you are looking at 6-30 times the runtime. I ran a 4C table radio for 4 days about 9 hours a day off used batteries that were 10 years old with no problems during a power outages in 2007 here. The only advantage of non C/D alkaline radios is you can use rechargeable or lithium primaries and avoid leakage. If your 4D radio has an input jack you could find a 6 volt lantern battery or SLA to power it with even, and if you have a 12v adapter for it you can use a 12v battery hooked to it for incredible runtimes.


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## Stress_Test (Nov 5, 2012)

Lynx_Arc said:


> Actually unless you crank up a boom box it takes about the same amount of power but since it has 2-3 times as many batteries with 3-10 times the capacity you are looking at 6-30 times the runtime. I ran a 4C table radio for 4 days about 9 hours a day off used batteries that were 10 years old with no problems during a power outages in 2007 here. The only advantage of non C/D alkaline radios is you can use rechargeable or lithium primaries and avoid leakage. If your 4D radio has an input jack you could find a 6 volt lantern battery or SLA to power it with even, and if you have a 12v adapter for it you can use a 12v battery hooked to it for incredible runtimes.




Yeah, I'd always assumed the "boom box" would still last a pretty long time at low volume. Mine also has a headphone jack so I could use it with headphones and probably have even lower power draw. (I might check mine with an ammeter sometime to see how much current it draws, if I can rig it)


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## Sub_Umbra (Nov 5, 2012)

My take on boomboxes-- 

I think that most don't realize how important planning for your entertainment may be during an outage. One may find oneself confined with spouses they rarely spend time with (because of jobs). One may also be spending much more time with the kids underfoot. Due to the disruption you may be sheltering both in laws and outlaws and even if the stress doesn't get to *you* its hard to tell how the rest of your party will react to all the abrupt changes in their lives. My point is to prepare for the stress that is bound to come visit, especially in an event of greater duration. Lee1959 once wrote a great post about stocking board games, cards, etc for outages. I fully agree.

I'm big on audiobooks and OTR during outages. Audiobooks are cool in a blackout because they are posture independant, don't require much light and more than one person may listen at the same time. I loved them during the Katrina outage. They are perfect for an hour or two of winding down after a weird day of trying to do everything in a different way than normal.

I liked it so much that I've been noodling around for some time designing a 'mechless' post-apocalyptic boombox. It will read files from a *sd card* and a *thumb drive.* With no motors to spin CDs and no lasers to track and burn to read them it will be easier on batteries. (Hence the 'mechless') It will also have a usb port for *charging* phones, etc. I'll probably use one of the cheap 12v amp/fm rigs that are flooding in from China. They are all over Amazon with names like *Kinter* and *Lepai.* Their power ratings are way exaggerated but that's ok as I really only want it a little bit louder than the three watt mechless rig I'm using now. Has anyone here used any of these cheap amps? I've got some questions.

I'll probably build it into two ammo cans, One for the amp and one for a 12v agm sla battery. I ordered a tiny 12v 5ah agm battery to fool around with earlier today. Tiny agm batts seem to be everywhere for scooters, ebikes, Rascals, etc. They may be had in many, *many* capacities and form factors. Good prices, too. _For my uses_ I much prefer agm to li-on.

I'd actually use this _almost every day_ for abooks, podcasts and the like while cooking outside in the patio.


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## nycjosh (Nov 6, 2012)

Being from NYC, I have never dealt with the power being off for more than one day or so before. It was surreal, i really want to be prepared for the future. That is what brought me to cpf, i plan to learn and stock up some nice lights.


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## TMedina (Nov 6, 2012)

Welcome, NycJosh!

Fair warning - you're going to be discussing a topic with enthusiasts, so you're going to get buried in a lot of information fast.

Do a lot of reading, decide on a budget, and what features you want, then stick to it. This flashlight experience doesn't have to become an expensive hobby - although it's way, way too late for me. 

EtA: And be sure to check out emergency preparedness sites - like Ready.gov, or the Red Cross. You don't have to be one of the "zombie apocalypse" enthusiasts to learn more about disaster readiness and emergency preparedness. If you want, shoot me a message offline and I'll send you a list of good starting websites for learning more.


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## webley445 (Nov 6, 2012)

If you want your boom box to run forever use only the radio. cassettes and CD players drain the juice.

About 6-8 years ago I bought a bulk pack of regular 5mm leds from ebay for super cheap. I cannot recall at the moment what rating they were, but I attached a resistor to + lead, then soldered on 9v batt plugs.

They ran for many many days. This was all back in the day and I was able to find someone selling a small lot of old mini-mag reflectors in the B/S/T. The led's fit the holes perfectly. They were nice little area lights and I gave many away to friends. Actually got used after a hurricane passed close and one of my friends lost power for several days. She was so thankful I had given it to her and I was told how she used it daily.

Remember when you have no power you will use your lights even during the day. apartments, and even houses, have areas with no windows. Interior restrooms have no windows. At sunset there may still be useable light outdoors but it will be getting dark inside, so long run times are essential for the long haul. 

I have found low lumens like stated by the minimalist camper above to be the most useful for myself too. And having a keychain button cell light on a lanyard or wrist strap while sleeping to be most convenient.

After Katrina there was a wonderful thread by a CPF member who had stayed in their home after the storm passed, and his description of what life was like was very eye opening. If I can find it I will post a link or maybe someone else can find it too.


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## Sub_Umbra (Nov 6, 2012)

> ...After Katrina there was a wonderful thread by a CPF member who had stayed in their home after the storm passed, and his description of what life was like was very eye opening. If I can find it I will post a link or maybe someone else can find it too.


It was probably this one:

*An Emergency Water Epiphany*

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?121453-An-Emergency-Water-Epiphany

There's actually some stuff in there about hardening your plumbing *so it can't freeze* in an extended outage.


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## Quiksilver (Nov 6, 2012)

nycjosh said:


> Being from NYC, I have never dealt with the power being off for more than one day or so before. It was surreal, i really want to be prepared for the future. That is what brought me to cpf, i plan to learn and stock up some nice lights.



Your best bet is to:

1. Go to malkoffdevices.com

2. purchase a Malkoff MD2 turn-key (with M61)

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/turnkey-md2-with-highlow-switch-p-87.html

3. purchase a M61LL

http://www.malkoffdevices.com/shop/m61ll-lowest-output-to-fit-surefire-p-9.html

4. purchase 1 case of Surefire CR123 batteries.

http://www.surefire.com/batteries/72-pack-batteries.html

^ prepared for any power outage, emergency, and disaster.

Not cheap but it will take care of your requirements for a LONG time. No one here in their right mind would say you made a mistake by doing the above.


edit:

5. (Optional) purchase a good holster for the light, so you can wear it on a belt if necessary. Blackhawk Mod-U-Lok holster. I have one, and it is excellent. I have all of the above actually, and these are all excellent products.

http://www.blackhawk.com/product/Flashlight-Holder-wMod-U-Lok-Attachment,1013,127.htm


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## scout24 (Nov 6, 2012)

+1 to Quicksilver's recommendation. I'd go for the hi/low version, it's worth the extra bucks. Malkoff's quality and customer service is legendary here, for good reason. MD2 is a nice platform to grow with as well if you want to venture into other higher output modules or different tints as you spend more time here. I just spent four hours shy of a week here affected by Sandy with no power, and an MD2 was one of my primary room lighters, 4+ hours a night with no noticeable drop in output using an M61LLL, never had to worry about changing cells. M61LL is spec'd at 10 hours run on two of Quicksilver's recommended batteries before BEGINNING a slow drop in output. It takes a while to notice... I forget how long the taper to shutdown takes, but it's a darn long time.


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## xcel730 (Nov 8, 2012)

I'm in the NJ area, right by the Hudson River, so I was without power for 7 days. Here are some of the things I learn:

1. Headlamps and more useful than flashlights - I had the Surefire Saint and Zebralight H51w. My wife and I wore it every night.

2. Lanterns are very convenient to have - I have a *Rayovac Lantern * that runs on 3D batteries and a small *Black Diamond Apollo* that runs on 4AAA batteries.

3. Flashlights that can tailstand is more useful that ones with tactical protruding tailcap switches.

4. Having a Xeno TW02 diffuser wand for my Surefire C2 converted it to a nice lantern. I had 2 Surefire C2, 1 Surefire 6P and 1 Surefire G2. However, I only had one diffuser wand and wished I had two more. I ordered more a few days ago in eBay.

5. 9v battery vampire lights such as the PakLite are nice additions - I had two of them and I left them on low all night for 7 days straight. I left them on the floor near the front door and in the bedroom. This allow us to see the mess on the floor and not trip.

6. Be sure to have means to charge your phones - I saw many people posting on Facebook and Twitter panicking that they have no batteries left and trying to figure out what's going on. I was fortunate to have enough juice to last me for 7 days. I have the following items:
* *Duracell PowerPack 600* - This is my portable car jumper. I've never used it to jump my car before, but used it many times to charge my laptop, photography lighting and cell phones
* *Paul C Buff Vagabond Mini* - This is for my photography lighting equipment. It's a little pricey, but came in very handy. 
* *New Trent iPulse 10,000mah Charger* - I use this to charge my iPhone and iPod when I'm flying

7. Have a battery operated radio available - we were lucky to have a shower radio. It's not designed for emergency purpose and it's actually quite fragile. However, it was nice to have some music and news. 

8. Have a kerosene or propane heater - it was freezing with no heat in my apartment. Luckily I had a *Sengoku 10,000 BTU heater* with a few gallons of Kerosene.

9. Portable Stove - I had a small isobutane stove (Snowpeak) that I use for backpacking with a few canister of isobutane left. It was very small and took awhile to cook, but it was better than nothing. When you're freezing cold, it's nice to even have a hot cup of coffee or tea. Yesterday I just ordered 2 *GasOne Portable Stove *with 12 canisters of butane fuel. Another alternative is to use Denatured Alcohol and invest in a small alcohol stove such as *Trangia Spirit Alcohol Stove*. If you have the time, you could make an alcohol stove using soda cans (google homemade alcohol stove). You'll also need a stove base such as *Coughlan's Folding Stove* to rest your pots / pans. You could get your *Denatured Alcohol* in your local hardware store. I bought one gallon of it about 5 years ago for maybe $15 or so.


10. Gas - I usually have a bad habit of letting the gas go down to fumes before getting gas. I had about a half a tank of gas left before the storm hit and I had a bad feeling about the storm. I topped off the gas beforehand. I wanted to get extra gas, but none of the gas stations had any gas cans available. I just ordered from Amazon 2 x 5 Gallon Gas Cans

11. Some form of entertainment - My wife and I kept ourselves entertained with our iPads (until we ran out of batteries), read books and kindle, magazine, and exercise.


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## Lynx_Arc (Nov 8, 2012)

I wasn't in Sandy but the ice storm of 2007 and I agree that for single people or couples without children or adult children that headlamps are the first best thing followed by a few low to medium output lanterns and a few dim area lights. Even a cheap 3x5mm based 3AAA headlamp is worth having better than nothing as it was what I had at the time. I can see about heating as many around here had central heating and no backup non fan based heaters or gas stove or oven. We heated the house using a gas stove which was a pain. Another thing is fans even in the winter if you don't have central heating a few fans to move air to the sleeping areas to warm them up helps and if you can clip them on top of doors to pull the hot air down to blow it around it helps not having one place in the house really hot where your one heater is and the rest ice cold. Sleeping bags and extra blankets is always good as you can just move to the warmest spot in the house if you are using alternate heating. As for stoves to cook stuff it is nice to have one if you don't have dry food to eat and it is nice to have a large cooler to save some of your food in your fridge after 24 hours of no power it will start to thaw and spoil and you can even if it is cold enough put it outside hopefully nobody will see it and take it. As far as entertainment and radios a nice table radio or boom box does wonders plus cards and board games and books also. we had an electronic dart board that was good for a few days of fun.


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## tjiscooler (Nov 8, 2012)

Im in South CT and I lost power for about a week. The biggest thing I learned is that people go nuts just about right away during power outages. Two people were killed as local gas stations just so they could get first in line. People were stealing generators left and right as well.

Also, A light that tail-stands is amazing. I used that feature darn near exclusively. It really brightens up the room with a solid ceiling bounce. Great for taking a shower in the dark!


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## recycledelectrons (Nov 8, 2012)

jrmcferren said:


> I think I learned about as much preparing for Sandy as from Sandy itself. I had been preparing for Sandy for a week prior to the storm as a just in case measure. I orginally ready about how Sandy could turn into a snow storm (it did for the higher elevations). Here are the lessons learned and steps I took:
> 
> 
> Always have a battery powered (or hand crank) radio. I only had AM portables from the 70s and earlier. First prep item I bought was an eTon FR-170 radio that contained an AM/FM/Weather radio (no alerting) with a flashlight and a cell phone charger. Rechargable from a USB source as well as solar panels and the hand crank. This is also a backup light.
> ...



Excellent points! Bravo to the preapred!


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## recycledelectrons (Nov 8, 2012)

xcel730 said:


> 2. Lanterns are very convenient to have - I have a *Rayovac Lantern *that runs on 3D batteries and a small *Black Diamond Apollo* that runs on 4AAA batteries.
> 
> 5. 9v battery vampire lights such as the PakLite are nice additions - I had two of them and I left them on low all night for 7 days straight. I left them on the floor near the front door and in the bedroom. This allow us to see the mess on the floor and not trip.
> 
> ...



More excellent points!



xcel730 said:


> 10. Gas - I usually have a bad habit of letting the gas go down to fumes before getting gas. I had about a half a tank of gas left before the storm hit and I had a bad feeling about the storm. I topped off the gas beforehand. I wanted to get extra gas, but none of the gas stations had any gas cans available. I just ordered from Amazon 2 x 5 Gallon Gas Cans
> 
> After you put gas in them, where will you store them? Apartments are not good places to store gas cans.


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## recycledelectrons (Nov 8, 2012)

Sub_Umbra said:


> I think that most don't realize how important planning for your entertainment may be during an outage. One may find oneself confined with spouses they rarely spend time with (because of jobs). One may also be spending much more time with the kids underfoot. Due to the disruption you may be sheltering both in laws and outlaws and even if the stress doesn't get to *you* its hard to tell how the rest of your party will react to all the abrupt changes in their lives. My point is to prepare for the stress that is bound to come visit, especially in an event of greater duration. Lee1959 once wrote a great post about stocking board games, cards, etc for outages. I fully agree.
> 
> I'm big on audiobooks and OTR during outages. Audiobooks are cool in a blackout because they are posture independant, don't require much light and more than one person may listen at the same time. I loved them during the Katrina outage. They are perfect for an hour or two of winding down after a weird day of trying to do everything in a different way than normal.
> 
> ...



I agree completely. My frustration comes from not being able to find an 18650 powered boombox that plays MP3 from USB drives, that has an AM radio built in. For some reason, AM radios and MP3 players are mutually exclusive. I ideally, it would pick up shortwave broadcasts also, but that's dreaming.

I love your comment about charging other devices also. Providing substantial power to one (or more) USB ports would be very nice.


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## Big Sam (Nov 8, 2012)

You guys in NJ, NY and CT did very well for yourselves. We only lost power for 4 hours here in Central PA. But we have a propane heater, gas cooking stove, kerosene lamps, water, flashlights etc. My most useful light in a power outage is my SC600 with (or without) a diffuser. I EDC it as well. I never really appreciated a good tail standing light until getting a couple Zebra lights. Had the power stayed off for longer the 18650's and Eneloop's could have been recharged from the car (got plenty of them anyway). I found great use in my new MT26. 800 lumens is not a lot outside in a storm and 100 lumens makes a nice room candle. 

There were some learning moments though. I did not break out the kerosene lamps for fear of the knuckle-head collie swishing it off a table and the fact that it should not be left alone for long. Well... the problem is I need to buy a couple of quality kerosene lamps that hang. Hanging candle lanterns might have worked in the long run as well (though kerosene give a lot of light per quart). If power is out for days I think this makes sense but not for shorter periods. The other issue is that I used to think I had a lot of flashlights. I had one, my wife had one, my live in MIL needed 2 and old people need decent ambient light to see where they are going. So there are flashlights burning everywhere...well... at least en route to the bathroom and kitchen. Net effect is all my best flashlights were spoken for even if most were burning a low output. My comfort in low light is not well shared. 

We have lost power more in the last 2 years than in the previous 20. Seems to be an increasing trend.


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## xcel730 (Nov 9, 2012)

After seeing how difficult it is to buy the gas can, I plan on buying just the empty containers for now. I will not fill them up until the next storm come. 

Luckily, I have an storage unit right outside my door. I'll keep the filled gas can there when the situation arises. You raised a good point though ... my current apartment can address the issue of keeping filled gas can, but if I ever move, I may not have that luxury.



recycledelectrons said:


> More excellent points!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## TMedina (Nov 9, 2012)

If you don't keep them full, an empty gas can is just like any other container. Once they've been filled, or are full, then fumes become a real concern.

Scarcity is likely proportional to perceived need - trying to buy a flashlight on the eve of Sandy was very likely impossible because everyone else had been through first. Likewise, buy an empty gas can "just in case". Fill them up in the event of an emergency, discard them after an emergency, and by clean replacements to sit empty.

It's expensive, no doubt, but for apartment dwellers without the luxury of external storage options, it's a viable means of keeping fuel containers handy.


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## Lynx_Arc (Nov 9, 2012)

I noticed one thing lately, the Rayovac 3D LED lantern price online has shot way up from about $25 to $40+ I am guessing many folks are buying them now so the price won't go back down probably till next year unless you can find some cheaper in a local store


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## Stress_Test (Nov 9, 2012)

Regarding apartment dwelling and gas storage...

I live in an apartment (no garage) and about a year and a half ago, my state had a major, 5 day long power outage due to tornado strikes on the main power distribution center.

It caught people even more unprepared than they would be for a hurricane, because there wasn't much warning. (and I've lived here almost 3 decades and the power has NEVER gone out for 5 days before).


Anyway, it seemed to me that it's best to have enough supplies on hand so you don't have to go out and drive in the first place. I didn't have to go to work (and I bet most people didn't either) so I had no particular reason to drive. I had enough supplies that I didn't have to go to the grocery store or anything.

So if you can just hunker down for a while and not go out and drive that's probably for the best. I also reasoned that, due to no traffic lights, and disorder in general, you'd be far more likely to get into an accident... and then what? Think about that for a minute. The cops probably won't come if there aren't injuries. Your insurance company might not be staffed so you can't make a claim report (and they'll be backlogged for weeks with storm damage claims anyway). If the car is crippled, you'll have to have it towed home, but the tow companies might not be running. So you may have to abandon your car by the road side for a while. And by the way, there are looters running around too...

And if you're injured in the accident, you're really in trouble. The hospital will be running in emergency mode because of no power. They'll probably be extra busy handling storm victims and other people like you who were injured during the aftermath. Being in a hospital is bad enough under good conditions, no freakin' way would I want to be in a hospital during adverse conditions. 

So considering all that, is why in my own opinion, it's best to stay off the roads and don't be running around, at least until some semblance of order is restored. When people are shooting and stabbing each other while lined up at the gas station is not a good time to be out site seeing. (I began hearing of these incidents on about day 2 or 3 of our outage)


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## xcel730 (Nov 9, 2012)

I agree to stay if you don't need to go out.

From the people I spoke with, the reason they left varies to a small extent:

1. They have small babies / children at home and it was getting way too cold to stay without heat

2. They have a generator at home and they need to get gas to keep the refrigerator going and keep the house warm

3. They ran out of batteries so they either have to charge it in the car (if they have a 12v-to-usb charger or inverter) or they'll have to drive to a place with electricity to charge their phone

4. They were getting cold at home, so drove to department stores to keep warm

5. They ran out of food

6. They got really bored at home and wanted to explore (not a very good reason)

7. They evacuated to their relatives' homes. However, their closest relative lives quite far and require some additional gas to get there.

I must say that the cityfolks (myself included) are generally the least prepared. We always have the mentality of "we're in <fill in city>, they have to rescue us." Among all my friends, I may be the most prepared, but I still find myself needing to purchase additional emergency items after Sandy. Also, living in a city, our small apartments are limited with living and storage space. Hence, even if we wanted to be fully prepared, we find ourselves making tough space tradeoffs.


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## Ishango (Nov 10, 2012)

xcel730 said:


> [...] Also, living in a city, our small apartments are limited with living and storage space. Hence, even if we wanted to be fully prepared, we find ourselves making tough space tradeoffs.



This is the main reason why being fully prepared is a challenge in cities.

I myself live in the Netherlands and chances of a storm this big are pretty small, though the past two years my government also advices people to prepare themselves for emergency situations. Most people I know just laugh about it (saying it would never occur here) and don't even have a first aid kit in their homes (before moving in with her, the only reason my girlfriend had one, was because she travels a lot). Though the past two years I've heard about several fairly long power outages (mostly due to failing equipment, not often emergencies).

Though I'm best prepared of all my friends and family (also because I have my bushcrafting gear and am interested in survival and such), because we live in a small appartment, storage space is really limited here as well. So every purchase has the have a place in our limited storage. Lately I've also been contemplating about making a bug out bag, but don't know where to store it yet (I could place it in my car, but it is not parked in the immediate area of our house and I'm afraid it could be stolen if I put a full pack in there).


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## reppans (Nov 10, 2012)

Stress_Test said:


> So if you can just hunker down for a while and not go out and drive that's probably for the best. I also reasoned that, due to no traffic lights, and disorder in general, you'd be far more likely to get into an accident... and then what? Think about that for a minute. The cops probably won't come if there aren't injuries. Your insurance company might not be staffed so you can't make a claim report (and they'll be backlogged for weeks with storm damage claims anyway). If the car is crippled, you'll have to have it towed home, but the tow companies might not be running. So you may have to abandon your car by the road side for a while. And by the way, there are looters running around too...
> 
> And if you're injured in the accident, you're really in trouble. The hospital will be running in emergency mode because of no power. They'll probably be extra busy handling storm victims and other people like you who were injured during the aftermath. Being in a hospital is bad enough under good conditions, no freakin' way would I want to be in a hospital during adverse conditions.
> 
> So considering all that, is why in my own opinion, it's best to stay off the roads and don't be running around, at least until some semblance of order is restored. When people are shooting and stabbing each other while lined up at the gas station is not a good time to be out site seeing. (I began hearing of these incidents on about day 2 or 3 of our outage)



Great point and this was lurking in my subconscious somewhere back there. We went out to dinner one night with friends (town had power) and gas lines were so bad that they completely clogged the main roads - people from NY and NJ coming here to find gas. One in our party bagged out and went home on account of making it only 3 miles in a hour, and another almost got into two fights just trying to cross the gas line to get into the restaurant parking lot. 

I normally don't carry my firearm, but after that, I did until the gas crisis started dying down. I lose power for about a week per year but this gas thing took me by total surprise. I didn't need any, since I filled up before hand, but how it completely gridlocked my town and actually made it dangerous to go out.


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## webley445 (Nov 11, 2012)

I've used coffee mugs or plastic cups to hold lights that don't tailstand.


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## Quiksilver (Nov 11, 2012)

webley445 said:


> I've used coffee mugs or plastic cups to hold lights that don't tailstand.



^ This


Rarely been in a spot where I couldnt improvise a way to tailstand a light (ie. shot gass, toilet paper roll, cup, bottle, tape, etc.)


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## MrModularME (Nov 11, 2012)

Thing that always helped me when the lack of electricity would drag me down is the LED Keyhain lights. DealExtreme sells 10 of them for something like 6 Bucks. Take em, Turn um all on. Set them all over my room, AND PRESTO! Just like i had electricity again. Good Anti-BlackOUT-Deppressent. Always seemed to help me out after 3 - 4 days/Nights without any Electricity


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## AFearlessBirdOfParadise (Nov 11, 2012)

Quiksilver said:


> ^ This
> 
> 
> Rarely been in a spot where I couldnt improvise a way to tailstand a light (ie. shot gass, toilet paper roll, cup, bottle, tape, etc.)



Wait, you mean you don't use this?


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## Sub_Umbra (Nov 11, 2012)

Stress_Test said:


> ...So if you can just hunker down for a while and not go out and drive that's probably for the best...


Yes. The worse the event, the more true it is. We spent the first week after Katrina inside. This is another reason why preparations are so important. You want to be in a situation where *you don't have to go outside* if things get really dicey. Many good people got in way over their heads because they had to go out and _forage_ for food and water.

That is how a great many of them got scooped up and put on airplanes, often after being herded around at gunpoint for a few days. No thanks, its much less stressful to quietly sit inside, listen to audiobooks and do the _Anne Frank_ thing.


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## Therapy (Nov 11, 2012)

I came here for advice on a high output light but now want some real low level lights too.

We like to stay prepared in the land of hurricane (FL) scares.

Any links to small, efficent lights?


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## Samy (Nov 11, 2012)

This has been a really good read. Thanks!


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## Quiksilver (Nov 12, 2012)

Therapy said:


> I came here for advice on a high output light but now want some real low level lights too.
> 
> We like to stay prepared in the land of hurricane (FL) scares.
> 
> Any links to small, efficent lights?



http://www.hdssystems.com/?id=Edc&mType=Clicky


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## AnAppleSnail (Nov 12, 2012)

Therapy said:


> Any links to small, efficent lights?



A thread I wrote on making a Minimag with a month or two of (low output) runtime.


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## reppans (Nov 12, 2012)

Therapy said:


> I came here for advice on a high output light but now want some real low level lights too.
> 
> We like to stay prepared in the land of hurricane (FL) scares.
> 
> Any links to small, efficent lights?



As a low lumen/runtime junkie, with emergency use always in the back of my mind, I'd advise going with single cell AAs. Single cells have lower risk of cell imbalance, reverse charging, and leaking, and are easier to scavenge the myriad of AAs/AAAs/9Vs littering every home. Also, common Alkalines will crush NiMh, Li-primary (L91) and Li-ions (14500s) in low lumen runtime comparisons. Just make sure you don't run an Alk too low, or it will leak - use the light's built-in battery meter to test status of the batt. (ie, just run through all the modes - as the battery weakens, you will lose the highest modes one-by-one).

123s will have greater efficiency due to closer LED voltage matching, but one of my critical requirements is being able cross-utilize my battery stores, and solar chargers, with other emergency electronics depending upon priority (eg, radio, cellphone charger, UV water purifier, GPS, etc)

The best I've found so far are, in order of preference:
- Foursevens Quarks
- Eagletac D25As
- Zebralight 51s

Still looking though, and would love to hear other ideas.

PS... if battery commonality is not important, I think it will be hard to beat a 9V Pak-lite, good for thousand or two hours.


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## AFearlessBirdOfParadise (Nov 12, 2012)

I've been looking for a single AA EDC backup that is also for SHTF situations, and I think you hit the nail on the head with the Quark. I have the QTA at the top. With a momentary that doesn't switch modes, and a moonlight that lasts more than a week, it's hard to beat as not many lights have those two features. Going sub-lumen cuts down the field drastically to the handful of companies that do it.


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## reppans (Nov 12, 2012)

BTW, forgot to mention, a lot of infinitely variable magnetic ring lights also go low and sub-lumen, but to the point of this thread, make sure you look into the runtime implications for emergency use since those rings will use more power than the LED itself at low lumen levels.



AFearlessBirdOfParadise said:


> .. Going sub-lumen cuts down the field drastically to the handful of companies that do it.



Yeah, moonlight has to be one of the most counter-intuitive features ever to the uninitiated. I worry it will disappear altogether since it is costly to implement, and flashaholics represent only a tiny fraction of the market.


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## Roger Sully (Nov 12, 2012)

While I lov emy high powered lights I did find that the low/medium settings worked perfectly during the outage. 
I also learned that electric stoves suck.......however having some sterno on hand does come in handy!




[/IMG]


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## StriderTB (Nov 12, 2012)

I gave a breakdown of the gear I used during the blackout on another forum I belong to, figured I'd share it here. I also found my lower output LED lights more useful than my Surefire incans (which I want to convert in the near future).

In central NJ, I lost power from Monday night to Thursday afternoon. I didn't run a generator, but I do have natural gas for my water heater and stove.

*1) Coleman Xtreme 70 quart cooler* 
Amazon.com: Coleman 70-Quart Xtreme Cooler (Blue): Sports & Outdoors

Knowing that the storm was going to knock power out for a while, I made ice for a few days before the storm hit. When my neighborhood was told to evacuate, my wife and I packed the cooler with ice and most of the perishable food from our fridge and freezer. Come Thursday afternoon, most of the ice (especially what lined the bottom) was solid. If you don't have a generator, it'll keep food for days, and longer if you can get more ice.

*2) Dyna-Glo 23000 BTU kerosene heater* http://www.lowes.com/pd_93043-88644-...ductId=3471481
Thankfully the storm hit while it was relatively mild out, but it still sucks waking up to a 59F house. I had this heater for use in my garage, and dragged it in to take the chill out of the house when we got up, and before we went to bed. This thing took my living room from 60F to 75F in a little over an hour. It's fairly efficient with kerosene, I went through maybe 2 gallons in the three days when I used it. If you pick one up, just be sure to start it and extinguish it outside, because it can smell a bit. Also keep a window cracked slightly to allow fresh air in. Love this thing.

*3) Eureka Glide 115* 
Amazon.com: Eureka! Glide 115 - Lantern/Flashlight: Sports & Outdoors

I'm a flashlight junkie, and have 12-15 different lights, from Surefire, Streamlight, Maglite, Petzl, Princeton-Tec and others. This might be my favorite flashlight. It puts out a clean bright white light, and that it converts to a mini lantern is super useful. I hung this light from my shower caddy (opposite the showerhead, it's not waterproof) and had no problems taking showers at night. The normal beam is focused and solid, and it also runs forever. I always had this light in my pocket.

*4) Energizer Ultimate Lithium AAA batteries* 
Amazon.com: Energizer Ultimate Lithium L92BP-4 AAA Battery 4 count: Health & Personal Care

These are the batteries I use in the Glide 115. They're worth every penny. I went to the store today to pick up more of these for the rest of my lights. They also have a 15 year shelf life, which is nice.

*5) Ryobi One+ Lithium lantern and lithium battery pack* http://www.homedepot.com/buy/18-volt...l#.UJR-ncXA_yA
I already have a bunch of Ryobi One+ Lithium tools, and I picked up this little lantern for my garage, and I've used it more for blackouts. With the Ryobi One+ Lithium P104 battery pack, I used it as an all purpose light and haven't put a dent in the battery level. The light is a little more blue than I prefer, but it lasts forever.

*6) Duracell MyGrid USB chargers* 
Amazon.com: Duracell Mygrid Usb Charger: Cell Phones & Accessories

These chargers might be the last good thing I bought off Woot. They were life savers when it came to keeping my Galaxy S3 topped off. A full charger would give my phone about 50% more life. I recharged them off my laptop, which I kept charged so I could recharge my phone and these battery packs. This kind of tech has come a long way since I picked these up, so there might be better options out there.

*7) Black & Decker 500 watt power inverter* 
Black & Decker PI500BB 500 Watt Power Inverter : Amazon.com : Automotive

After a few days, I was worried that my fish weren't going to survive without trying to run the filter and heater. They were getting by on warm water changes, but I wanted to get the water moving for a bit. I was able to connect this inverter to my RS battery, and let my car idle while the inverter powered a 100 watt heater, tank filter, tank bubbler, while also charging two laptops and two Galaxy S3 phones. A more powerful inverter could handle a sump pump in a pinch, if you don't have access to a dedicated generator. Not the most efficient way to power your gear, but it does the job.

*8) Coleman Quickpack InstaStart propane lantern* 
Amazon.com: Coleman QuickPack InstaStart 967 Lumens Lantern: Sports & Outdoors

This was my primary light source when the sun went down. It was nice to have something that was bright enough to read by, and it's got a decent runtime on a 1lb propane canister. I also lent this to my parent's church so they could light their kitchen while they cooked food before it went bad in the attached school's freezer. It also pumps out some serious heat, so if you hang it, make sure it's now enough that it doesn't scorch your ceiling. 





*9) Mr. Heater Big Buddy Heater* 
Amazon.com: Mr. Heater Big Buddy Heater: Sports & Outdoors

A smaller heater than the massive kerosene heater I posted earlier, but it does a decent job in smaller spaces. Another re-purposed item from my garage and tailgating gear, it helped warm my fish tank when I got home from my parent's place. Better for small rooms and also adjustable, unlike the big kerosene heater. It also has a fan that can be powered by 4 D cell batteries or an AC adapter (not included). The only issue with it is that it burns through 1lb propane cans like they're going out of style. It does have a quick connect so you can plug in a 20lb grill style propane tank using a proprietary Mr. Heater hose and regulator.

*10) Reliance 5 gallon collapsible water carrier* 
Amazon.com: Fold a Carrier - 5 Gal: Sports & Outdoors

Thankfully I didn't need to depend on this, but it's good to have stored water. I filled this thing the day before, and it's still on my counter, ready to go. The material is ok, but feels a bit thin, and I would worry that it might leak if you're tossing it around. Also, the water valve opens and closes a bit too easily, so again, it can make transport in a car a bit of an adventure. Still, it takes up next to no space when it's folded up and stored. Not a bad idea to have a few on hand for emergency drinking/cooking water.

*11) Grundig FR200 Emergency Radio* 
Amazon.com: Grundig FR200 Emergency Radio: Electronics
I ran this little guy pretty much non-stop. Two minutes of hand cranking (heh) gives a little over an hour of continuous radio. After a while, I switched over to the three AA batteries it can run on, and after three days, they're still going strong. It even has a little flashlight on it. AM and FM reception are great, and Shortwave is handy if you understand Spanish. I might replace it with a newer model from Grundig/Eton that also has a USB charger incorporated.

*12) Princeton Tec Fuel LED headlamp* 
Amazon.com: Princeton Tec Fuel Headlamp: Sports & Outdoors
Perfect for reading in the dark, because it doesn't have a bulky battery pack on your head. Perfect for using around the house. The switch is a bit fiddly, but that's a minor issue.

*13) Energizer Hard Case Professional 4 LED headlamp* 
Amazon.com: Energizer Hard Case Professional 4 LED Headlight, Black/Gray: Sports & Outdoors

I use this one outside, the lamp shoots a really powerful beam, and the built in diffuser is handy when you don't want a focused spot beam. The green LED is also useful for tracking blood trails.





*14) Pak-Lite 9V LED flashlight* 
Pak-lite LED Flashlight with Alkaline Battery - Amazon.com

I picked this up ages ago to stash in my motorcycle. I run it on old 9V batteries I pull out of my smoke detectors every few months. I don't think I've killed one of those batteries yet. It's not terribly bright, but you can keep it in your pocket and never know it's there. I also used it in a flashlight headband 
Amazon.com: Nite Ize NPO-03-01 Headband/Hands-Free Flashlight Holder, Black: Home Improvement
for reading in bed.


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## Sub_Umbra (Nov 12, 2012)

Therapy said:


> I came here for advice on a high output light but now want some real low level lights too...


Many at cpf poo-poo Pak-Lites because of their price. The lights are made in the States and one of their first contracts was for B-52 flight crews. When you look at the big picture from a prepper's point of view it's a really cheap setup:

* Buy one Pak-Lite (Original or Super model, NOT the Basic model)

* Buy two lithium 9V batteries

The lithium 9V has a *great* shelf life.

Attach one Lithium Battery to the Pak-Lite and put the spare in a taped up zip-lock bag. Both of these items will fit into one pocket of the tightest pair of blue jeans you own. With that cheap, tiny kit you will have *2,000 hours* of usable light in an emergency and with that problem solved you may begin to deal with the mundane, like how you'll avoid freezing, starving or succumbing to death by thirst _before those two batteries die out..._

But wait, there's more. Pak-Lites are THE 9V *vampire.* If you are one who rotates out your smoke alarm batteries every six months (when the time changes) each of those pulled batteries will give you ~125 hours of usable light in the PL. In the aftermath of Katrina I ran PLs on used batts pulled from body mics and The PL drained them down to a point where 20-30% of them went POP and blew some of the individual cells out through the cardboard bottoms of the Coppertops. Leakage is not an issue as the battery is EXTERNAL and even in storage not much can happen if you store them standing up. 

With a piece of bicycle inner tube stretched over the battery its easy to hold with teeth. With a piece of Velcro stuck to the battery it may be stuck into a desk lamp's shade for portable light with no glare in long outages.

They also come in a bazillion colors of LEDs. (I prefer turquoise when things really get iffy...)


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## Quiksilver (Nov 13, 2012)

Not sure about Pak-Lights but recently purchased a pair of PALights. Aside from their flimsy construction, they are great! Output isnt too high but I really appreciate having the ability to use 9V batteries for illumination. 

They also aren't too expensive.


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## Roger Sully (Nov 13, 2012)

I've been threatening to get a couple of those 9volt lights for a while now but never got around to it. I think Sandy has given me the added incentive to make that purchase. Once I knew for sure the storm was coming I went about assigning lights on lanyards to family members, as well as "strategically" placing lights around the house just in case the power went out and they didn't have their light with them. 
The first thing I did with my AA & AAA lights was remove the Lithiums from them and replace with alkaline. I figured as much use as they were probably going to get, there would be no chance of leaking.

One note, my M-I-L, who always gives me grief about the lights has become the proud owner of a Larry light! She wanted something read with during the outage and the larry light was perfect. She now carries it everywhere she goes and has already "sold" 3 of them to her friends at work!


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## xevious (Nov 13, 2012)

Already so much great info compiled in this thread, so there's not much more I can add other than this:



Strider is right--Ice is very valuable when there's a power outage, especially in the warmer months. Keep your freezer as packed as possible, as your freezer will use less energy because the contents help keep everything cold. I usually keep a dozen or so frozen chicken breasts in there, the kind that come vacuum packed (Wegman's is terrific for these). They act like ice packs. I was without power for 5 days and on the 5th day is when I noticed these were starting to thaw.
MILK! In no time at all, stores were out of milk and eggs. I don't care for treated milk in those room temperature containers (Parmalat), but it's great stuff when you don't have real milk on hand. Keep some small milk friendly containers handy to fill up, which are easier to store than a gallon jug.
ALWAYS have a good quality crank flashlight handy, no matter how many batteries you keep on hand. More than one is even better (I have a small one and a large one).
Get a solar battery charger. I use one regularly for the batteries in my bathroom radio. When they run low, I swap in another set of batteries and put the low batteries in the solar charger. After a few bright sunny days on the window sill, the batteries are fully charged.


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## DaveG (Nov 14, 2012)

Great info,just to chime in I too am a fan of the Pak-lite and Palight.Its nice to have a light that gives you a added option that when the poo hits the fan you can still find batteries for it.The d-cells were gone fast from stores, lots of 9-volt cells still in stock.Plus the Pak-lite is a great hotel night light when traveling.


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## reppans (Nov 14, 2012)

DaveG said:


> ..Its nice to have a light that gives you a added option that when the poo hits the fan you can still find batteries for it.The d-cells were gone fast from stores, lots of 9-volt cells still in stock.



I noticed the same... 9Vs were among the last to disappear, or were still available, around where I live. Since, I'm always preaching it, I decided to run a 9V runtime test with a couple of my AA lights. On moonlight mode, I'm crossing ~ 300 hrs so far and hope to get up to ~ 500 hrs or about the equivalent of a alkaline AA test I've seen.


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## CMAG (Nov 14, 2012)

just got back on the grid yesterday, lesson learned you can live without the internet


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## AnAppleSnail (Nov 14, 2012)

DaveG said:


> Great info,just to chime in I too am a fan of the Pak-lite and Palight.Its nice to have a light that gives you a added option that when the poo hits the fan you can still find batteries for it.The d-cells were gone fast from stores, lots of 9-volt cells still in stock.Plus the Pak-lite is a great hotel night light when traveling.



I can't bring myself to spend money on something that "should" be as easy to build as a PakLite. But every one I build (So far!) hasn't been as nice as a Pak-Lite probably is. Maybe this one will be different. It's got two modes:

4 white LEDs in series (Low)
3 white and 1 red LED in series (High)

I'm doing a runtime test with a dead battery, then later I'll pot it in epoxy and add glow powder. Neither of these settings is very bright, but I already have plenty of bright lights.


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## TMedina (Nov 14, 2012)

I know, right?

I keep waiting for an emergency "universal single cell" light with adapters for AAA, AA, C, and D cells.


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## jabe1 (Nov 14, 2012)

TMedina said:


> I know, right?
> 
> I keep waiting for an emergency "universal single cell" light with adapters for AAA, AA, C, and D cells.



Energizer makes a light that will use AAA, AA, or C sized. Nothing special, 17 lumens for a long time though!


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## TEEJ (Nov 14, 2012)

LOL

I have tritium for that.

~ 20 year run time, no batteries required...glows the entire time no matter if its light or dark out. The little ones can easily function as markers to find things/mark a path etc. The larger ones if you're night adapted can provide enough light in an otherwise pitchblack room to navigate by or even read if you don't mind the eyestrain.


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## eternity (Nov 14, 2012)

MP3 players with AM do exist, but they cost over $100 the last time I checked.

For example:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F51GU2/?tag=cpf0b6-20
http://www.ccrane.com/radios/am-fm-radios/sangean-prd8-am-fm-mp3-radio.aspx
http://www.radiolabs.com/radio/Kaito/KA1121.php



recycledelectrons said:


> I agree completely. My frustration comes from not being able to find an 18650 powered boombox that plays MP3 from USB drives, that has an AM radio built in. *For some reason, AM radios and MP3 players are mutually exclusive*. I ideally, it would pick up shortwave broadcasts also, but that's dreaming.
> 
> I love your comment about charging other devices also. Providing substantial power to one (or more) USB ports would be very nice.


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## eternity (Nov 14, 2012)

Doesn't that use two cells though?



jabe1 said:


> Energizer makes a light that will use AAA, AA, or C sized. Nothing special, 17 lumens for a long time though!


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## TMedina (Nov 14, 2012)

jabe1 said:


> Energizer makes a light that will use AAA, AA, or C sized. Nothing special, 17 lumens for a long time though!



The Energizer "LED Safety light", part of the "weatheready" series - although Energizer.com doesn't sort their products that way. 17 lumens, 65 hours on x2 AAA, AA, or C. Very cool - I'm going to have to add this to my "to check out" list.

I was picturing, though, something akin to a Fenix E01 - with a series of adapters to fit anything from AAA to C, but based on the D cell. It'll never see production, but it's an interesting idea.


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## scout24 (Nov 14, 2012)

If you're interested in a single alkaline powered stationary light, check out "Joule thief" circuits. AAA to D cell, I got mine from the Marketplace, but I believe there is a sales thread still active here...


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## Samy (Nov 14, 2012)

CMAG said:


> just got back on the grid yesterday, lesson learned you can live without the internet




But clearly you can't live without candlepowerfroums.com! 

cheers


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