If we have nuclear winter solar panels may not work 
good point. Then its Thermocouple charging from Colman Gas & propane lanterns 
I would like to see thermocouples becoming more efficient, it would add a power source to gasoline automobiles, electricity plants and just about everywhere that has fire and sunshine
This is a little off topic but it is similar so I will post here,
how long do 18650’s last? Say if I bought a new one today and just stored it for 20 years…what would happen? Would it still work? Reduced capacity? Hold no charge at all???
If we have a nuclear winter, um…flashlights and/or solar panels will probably be the least of our worries 
my point was there are also sun blocking disasters possible, such as
Usually anywhere between 5 to 10 years depending on the quality, brand, storage methods, and how you maintain them.
I note that no-one except the OP seems to be including an AAA light. That’s a must have because you can scavenge an awful lot of AAA’s from TV remote controls, etc.
Personally I’d go for a 1XAAA like a Tank E09 rather than need to scavenge in threes.
good point AAA and AA cells are the cheapest, and easiest format size to find anywhere.
Solar panels do still function in the winter. Anything that blocks enough sun to make solar panels actually pointless will kill off nearly all life. The food chain starts with plants.
My 9 volt pak-lite
Fenix TK70—for security and security intimidation to drive off thieving at night, and search and rescue & beacon signaling in an America without electricity.
Fenix LD12—single AA, long run time, several settings, all the flashlight one really needs
Fenix headlamp HP25—4 AAs, but all 4 are represented in the run times, so more flexibility than the HL21.
A solar yard light that uses AAs, probably for the house as a lantern, but also usable for other purposes, serves as a back up charger.
Nightstar 3rd generation shake light (the only real deal shake light) this is the ultimate post apocalypse light and will last for decades.
This is for the end of the world scenario and I have tons of AAA to AA, and AA to D adapters.
I would like to have my LD01 on the list, but I can use my AAA to AA adapters for AAA batteries, so I don’t need a AAA light.
I can also use adapters for my TK70 security and intimidation light after the Apocalypse.
Almost forgot to mention about their poor quality, not something you will relies on but well they are okay for simple use once a safe area is secured, walking around and checking on friends, going to toilet in the night or some sort since all electric power is out. You don’t wanna waste any battery power of better quality high output flashlight.
There’s a sort of poetry there; using a carp light to take a carp at night. :bigsmile:
I think if there was an economic collapse on the magnitude of what snakebite describes, I don’t think I would hedge on hoping to find any AA batteries in the duration of the event.
Best options might be along the lines of a huge stock pile of envelops and a solar panel for charging them. That rig would probably take you at least into your 90’s and by then you wouldn’t give a damn.
Maybe we should make a kickstarter project with nuclear driven flashlights…
Runtime:forever…
trouble is everyone and their dog will be thinking the same thing
Lots of people do it now already, if they need a battery quickly, so people are well versed in it as an emergency battery source, sadly some even take them out of their smoke alarms
I’d rather have torches that use 18650, abundance everywhere in laptops, tool packs etc and very few people even realise it, let alone have the skills to extract them, or a torch that uses them
The arcing from a welder is only generating a small EMP that won’t do any damage other than maybe interfering with radio signals. An EMP from a solar flare or a WMD is a different story.
There seems to be some confusion, a major solar EMP has a different effect than a nuclear EMP. Nuclear has e1, e2 and e3 components. Solar only has e3 which induces surges over long power lines but doesn’t damage isolated electronics. E1 is responsible for damaging consumer electronics.
I would hope a nuclear EMP is less likely these days. You need high-altitude for maximum effect and its still isolated over one region. Solar is where I would focus most preparation. Long term power grid failure.
In this case, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned solar but it is considered a nuclear EMP. Either way, by comparison, a spark induced EMP isn’t very strong.