Hi everyone, I recently accepted a position I was offered by my local church leaders. The position is strictly volunteer but it should be lots of fun. I am now in charge of building an emergency preparedness program for the congregation.
The basic plans and organization are in place and now I am working on what goes in a 72-hour kit.
So what type of flashlight would you recommend for a basic bug out bag? What do you have in yours (if you even have one)? What would you put in your car or truck?
I figure that because I am Noob when it comes to lights, this should be a learning experience for me.
I’m not sure of the reliability/quality of those dynamo torches. I suspect the output is pretty feeble also. They might also be hard to use by someone elderly with arthritic hands.
The main thing about an emergency torch is that it MUST work when you need it. It’s no good turning it on to find it doesn’t work and the battery has leaked and corroded the terminals.
Firstly you need to ask yourself how much light you actually need. You probably don’t need that many lumens. My emergency back-up caving light is a puts out 100/50/15/2 lumens. It’s fine for finding your way out of a cave, but wouldn’t be much good searching for survivors after a disaster .
Secondly, the battery type you need must have a long shelf life. You don’t want them going dead on you before they’re needed. They must not leak in the torch and not be effected too much by low temperatures. Perhaps store them outside the torch? But this leaves the issue of potentially having to fumble around installing them in the dark.
If you decide to have the batteries in the torch then the torch must not have any parasitic drain.
I’d suggest finding something that uses multiple AA cells and buy lithium primary cells. Have a look at the Sofirn SF13 or the Sofirn SF11
There’s probably a lot more lights that fit the bill also.
Put some i3eos in a pill bottle; 20 dram will hold about 5; put some aaa batteries in another bottle and put into storage; when the lights go out hand them out to the congregation.
Lampliter’s suggestion makes the most sense to me. Bunch of little AAA lights and batteries within easy reach.
That’s how my share-with-neighbors earthquake kit is equipped.
Of course you’ll want to plan to be able to recharge the batteries for people when you discover the power will be off for three days or three weeks.
If they’re gonna be left unattended for extended lengths of time, I’d stick with either eneloops (and charger, even solar or crank, just in case), or a pile of ’123s which last nigh forever.
So that means either AA lights or 16340 lights.
Style would be up to you, but stay away from any lights that have parasitic drain. Even locking out a SP10 via the tailcap would be problematic, because those cowering in fear of being swept up by the mudslide or whatever might not have the presence of mind to twist it tight to unlock it.
I even have to remind a muggle whose ’10 “stopped working” after recharging the cell, to tighten both head and tailcap.
Best to just get a ’123 light with tailclicky. A pile of NexTorch nylon-body lights and box of ’123s should be best.
You also need a headlight since there will likely be times when you need both hands free. I have a 2AA flashlight with Eneloops in it (lithium primaries in a plastic bag next to it) and a cheap AAA headlight with Eneloops in my car.
Crank flashlights are really indispensable emergency lights. Cheap and useful. I still have a Freeplay Sherpa X-Ray LED crank flashlight with original cells. They’re not as long lasting as they used to be, but they’re still working after 10+ years. The good thing about this model is that it has an AC socket, so you can recharge it without having to crank it. But even after being dead flat, a full minute crank already puts out some light and you still get a decent runtime after a few minutes of cranking.
But I also think it’s a great idea to have a USB rechargeable flashlight as well. These days it’s pretty easy to obtain portable power banks that can charge devices via USB, so a rechargeable flashlight can be topped off by that. Those solar power banks do a fair job of using sunlight to recharge and provide useful power to recharge other devices. The Renogy Phoenix rechargeable generator linked above is super expensive at $470, because it has serious specs for long term power outages. It can charge an iPhone 6S 32 times before going flat.
If anyone knows of a good quality reasonably priced solar recharging power bank, please post!
@ lampliter — I really like the idea of reusing pill bottles for AA and AAA cells. I’d been buying the small plastic clam shell cases for a few bucks, tossed in when placing flashlight orders. They’re useful, but those plastic hinges have built-in obsolescence… they split after “X” open/close completions.
For sure; living here in paradise(Florida); I have a full solar set up for recharging; 100W panel, 100ah deep cycle battery, 800W inverter, charge controller, digital meter.
There’s a lot of good info on YouTube on how to set up a solar system.
I saw this on Amazon; I know nothing about it but it looks interesting.
I did the same thing - but for my dad's hurricane bag, not an entire congregation. I suspect the requirements are similar.
Batteries
AA Lithium primary (non-rechargeable) batteries.
One major requirement was a long shelf life. I don't trust alkaline batteries not to leak and my dad didn't want to have to deal with rechargeable batteries.
You can get Lithium primaries in AA, AAA, and CR123. But if there was a long-term power outage, emergency relief organizations are more likely to hand out AA and AAA than CR123.
Stress they shouldn't save money and go with Alkaline. These flashlights will be in the kit, not in daily use, so they won't be going through batteries.
Lights
There are lots of suitable AA LED lights.
I assume you are providing your congregation with a suggested shopping list, not the actual kits. I would suggest providing a list of 2-3 lights in 1xAA, 2xAA and 4xAA sizes. They can let their individual budget inform their decision.
Make sure the lights are available at Amazon and/or at the big box hardware stores. (No waiting for lights from China like many of us do.)
An easy to use User Interface would be better. You don't want to have to read the flashlight manual in an emergency.
1xAA
There are a number multi-packs (typically 5-packs) of cheap 1xAA zommie lights. Congregants can go in together and get these for about $3 each.
For better lights, pick several off of these reviews:
I find myself in disagreement.
The entire purpose of this light would be:
1. Guide people out during a blackout
2. Guide people out in a fire.
3. Search for people who are hiding, whether victims or bad guys.
4. Search for injured
5. Signal for help (trapped in fire).
So, I think the requirements would be:
Powerful narrow beam. A flood would be worse than useless in a smoke condition.
Strobe for signaling.
Rechargeable, because an emergency light should be mounted on a rack where it can be charged and easily grabbed
Side switch, because a tail switch would be confusing to a person in the dark who is not a flashaholic.
Now I know I am going to get beat up here, but I suggest this light:
Reasons:
Cheap
Narrow powerful beam that quite frankly is right up there with a Convoy L6 (maybe I will do a beam shot).
Recharges.
Comes with batteries (two alleged 4000 in a pack - they do work well but I personally would replace with quality batteries).
Does NOT require high drain batteries. Protected cells work fine.
It defaults to HIGH when you press the side switch.
Ramping!
Double click for strobe.
Works a very long time on the included batteries.
Glass lens
Did I mention cheap?
I may sell my L6 and S70S. This cheap light outperforms them in real world, at least as a thrower.
I greatly dislike the dual switch system on the Convoy and Thorfire.
And for sure THAT DOES NOT BELONG ON AN EMERGENCY LIGHT.
Any cop or firefighter will tell you that needing to do two things in an emergency, and needing to use two hands, is just a no-go,
Great for fanboys like me and you, NOT an emergency light.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Fire away.
Here are some beamshot comparisons.
Another thing is this company is really good to deal with
I bought a one cell light from them and mentioned in the review that the LED in the button did not seem to work right.
They sent me another light, did not have to send back the old one (which of course works outside of the funky LED)
And they sent me a two cell 8.4 charger on the house.
Let me fill in a little of the background, if I may. The church is not providing or purchasing any of the gear and no member of the congregation is forced to own an emergency kit if they don’t want too.
We are asking members to prepare their homes with a first aid kit and a 72-hour emergency kit of some sort. A second first-aid is expected for their automobile. That is the minimum standard. Of course, members are welcome to do more than this. Church leaders will encourage members to do more if anyone has the desire but, as I said, no one will be forced to do anything.
Part of my job is to compile data on any special needs of the membership in case of a disaster. Who is handicapped and will need help. How much help and for how long, that sort of thing. Another one of my duties is to collect information about the skills and resources of the members that the church may use in times of need.
The third part of my job is to train members on disaster preparedness and to help them meet the minimum standards.
For me, one of the enjoyable parts of all of this is the research I have to do. I get to ask questions of people (like yourselves) that have more knowledge than I do. I learn quite a bit.
