While most of us can handle a short power outage of up to a week or two using our existing flashlights and batteries, how many of us are prepared for “The Big One”? On the East Coast of The US down to the Gulf Coast there are hurricanes and ‘Nor-Easters’, in the central plains area there’s Tornado Alley, and here on the West Coast there are earthquakes and volcanoes (PNW). Sure, a major catastrophe is a rare occurrence, but, are we truly prepared? Would you have enough batteries to last a month or three without power? What will you do after your stockpile of 18650s and Lithium AAs run out?
I’m hoping to keep this discussion limited to lighting tools since this is a flashlight forum.
My own solution are a pair of Fulton MX-991/U lights with a Nite Ize PR 1W LED replacement bulbs installed and a 1/2W LED replacement bulbs in the tail cap storage space. In addition to these I have a Ray-O-Vac plastic 2D flashlight with the same LED bulb setup. On top of all that I have a set of battery adapters that will allow me to use 2C, 2AA, and 2X 18650 batteries in any of these lights, increasing their versatility in the even that I need to scavenge for batteries. The Nite Ize bulbs have a wide enough voltage range that they can run on two AA cells or two 18650s just fine. The half Watt version can handle down to one AA if needed and will light up on batteries that won’t fire the 1W version.
I learned that lesson the hard way, I now have two generators, a large one that I can operate my house on and a smaller portable one that can easily be transported where needed. I used the smaller one to operate my neighbors furnace and refrigerator in his house last winter. Gas becomes a problem but I have a couple of hot rods that double as a gas storage units so I always have a minimum of 40 gallons of gas on hand not counting the gas in our daily drivers.
I have about 250 (190+ nimh) batteries so I should be good for a couple 2-3 weeks or more. I wouldn't mind buying a couple solar powered chargers to add to the mix though.
That may be a future project of mine, just need to build (or buy) something that can supply enough amperage at 12v for my xtar chargers.
Although where I am if the power outage was in the winter the daylight time would be contracted and less intense so that would have to be a consideration.
As you stated , most could easily handle a few weeks.
I’m not sure I could handle two months without power though.
This calls for re-checking my stash !!
These are supposed to be pretty good panels for the money. Add a solar inverter/storage battery/etc and you should be good to go with your current battery chargers and anything else.
Every time we loose power for a couple days I realize that although I always think I am ready I find shortcomings in my plan. The 4 day power outage we had during the freak Halloween blizzard was a perfect example. I went through 18650s much faster than I ever thought I would mostly keeping my girlfriends smartphone going so we could watch Netflix.
I am able to heat my whole house with a portable kerosene heater and I burn K1 instead of #2 heating oil in my main furnace so I can go all winter without needing heating oil and that is the most important thing well that and water.
I am located right next to a giant water holding tank for the town so even after 4 days we still have water pressure.
Unfortunately when my power goes out the cell tower near my house usually goes down also and I have no land line so I loose all communication. I usually drive around until I find cell service when I need to make a call.
I can charge my batteries with my pickup or jeep but you can only charge so many before it kills the battery. I think with a decent solar panel and a small generator I would be better prepared.
Finding gasoline can be a problem around here after a couple days with no power so I would like to find a generator that runs on propane since I have a large tank connected to my house that I only use to cook with. Hooking up my hot water tank to propane would be helpful as well.
A nice solar panel to charge my 18650s would be a good investment. It just seems to get more expensive the more I research exactly what I need. Charging them from a generator would take to long so it would require a lot of fuel.
Last week, I couldn’t resist and spent 4.99 on a really cheaply made lantern.
Probably a cheap copy of the old-style paraffin lamps made from a glass bulb and painted stamped-steel sheetmetal, just made from thinner metal - but still, fitted with 15 luxeon LEDs and powered by two D-cells (and regulated by a less-than-adequate variable resistor). Beautiful thing for the money spent, I have been using it for room lighting (the kind of light which is suitable for working night hours in front of a computer screen and the occasional checking of paperwork) for a whole week now.
I wonder how much I can make of that using a single XM-L, two 18650s in parallel, and a QTC dimmer switch…?
as far as solar chargers are concerned, I still think it’d be best to charge a 12V lead-acid battery first, then use that one to charge your torch batteries. I might be wrong, though; I haven’t followed discussions about solar chargers for over a year now.
I have several lights that I think would serve well in that kind of application. Some of these I have owned for 5+ years, and have been completely reliable in that time. Some required out of box DIY repairs to get them up and running this way. Regardless, I can rely on any of these lights equally in an emergency situation. So proven reliability is very important. I would take a cheap P60 host with a proven track record, over any new and $$$ light.
All these lights have long running low modes. The longest runner would be the HD2010. Modded with one of Eriks .002A candle mode drivers I can just keep reloading 26650 and 18650 cells. The cheap 18650-P60 hosts have DIY modules with low modes in the~20mah ballpark.
Eneoops and rayovac 4.0 cells are great LSD AA power. Several lights in this form factor, chosen for reliability and long running low modes. I also like hands free lighting too. Either tail standing or body-attachable.
I have several 16340 cells, not what I would call an ideal power source for this application… but they’re there so I may as well make use of them. They work great in the SF-E2L and A2 low modes.
It looks confusing, but its really nothing more than long run times and multi-level redundancy based around 18650 / AA power formats.
Ok, I live in the UK, our weather is much less extreme (pretty much wet and/or cold). I have an ancient bi-alladin lamp, various gas stoves and if the weathers extreme I’m fairly confident my landcruiser would get me and the family to safety no matter what happens.
The thing is though, in 32 years, I’ve never known a power outage to last more than a few hours, it just doesn’t happen. In Scotland in the winter maybe but in the northwest of england we never get weather extremes, an earthquake that actually registers is a worldwide news worthy event. How prepared do I actually have to be?
If you are at risk of long term outages, I would look towards paraffin lamps, heaters and cookers before I looked at charging batteries, you get far more light/heat from energy source size than batteries can provide. I realise this is a heretical statement, but I do stand by it. :8)
I have about 400 AA batteries (Costco) that I could use for a long time, especially considering a TK41 can run on 8 x aa for 170 hours or so on Low.
I have a generator on hand if needed, but would also like to find a good reliable solar charger.
My impressions so far is that Polycrystalline ones are over-rated, the good ones are monocrystalline, but even those seem to get fairly crappy reviews.
We recently had a big storm and lost electricity for a few days. I have plenty to last at least a couple of months, but what I did was charge my phone both at work and in the car…also can charge 1850’s in the car too, of course. Gotta have a car adapter!
The 20kW Generac automatic backup generator that I just had installed can run on either natural gas or propane (just flip a lever to select). I have it hooked to the natural gas line, but have the hardware to connect it to a propane tank, if need be. Around here, about the only think that would knock out the natural gas would be a large tornado… and those tend to not leave any houses around to live in.
A cooking stove that cuts emissions by more than 90% while generating off-grid electricity.
I am planning on buying one .
No worry about running out of gas etc
USB power output: Max continuous: 2W 5V, Peak: 4W 5V
Compatible Devices: Powers most USB-chargeable devices including smartphones
Fuel: Burns sticks, pine cones, pellets and other biomass
