In one word: No, I'm not prepared. But I dont see that as a problem in Germany. Power grid is so redundant.. last year, one huge 30kV grid went down and we lost one "live wire" (dont know if thats correct, but usually you have two live wires and ground, one of the live wires didnt give voltage readings) so some devices didnt work. Computers still ran, light was fine.. and after 30min, everything back to normal.
I have some 18650 and tons of AA/AAA.. we have enough wood to make a large fire and my grandpa owns a power generator.. so.. yeah, there are other things to worry about.
There will always be other things to worry about….
But for me i have like 40 or 50 cells…. so yeah pretty ok here as long as you don’t blast in high all the time. 3 weeks is absolutely a piece of cake lighting up multiple parts of the house in low. But I guess the prudent thing to do is to get some big SLAs / solar chargers to charge up them 18650/26650s with a 12V capable charger or something…. A gen set would have to operate too long a period ($$:money_mouth_face: to charge them all up.
I’m fine on lights and batteries for a few weeks. I have two generators to charge batteries from. I’m set.
If it’s truly LONG term, I reserve the right to put into action my ultimate survival plan…….and move. :cowboy_hat_face:
Well, the power went out today. My shiny new backup generator kicked in and all was well… except the bastards that installed it did not put the air conditioner air handler on a backed up circuit, so no nice chilly air to chillax in. I could have run an extension cord up to the air handler, but power came back on before I reached that level of pissedoffitude. Generator people will be here tomorrow to fix the problem. I guess it’s good to learn about such problems now, rather than when it’s really needed.
If I stuck to moonlight mode I have enough batteries and life for a year with just the PALight 9volt safety lights.
-I have a Gerber Omnivore in the toolbox for scavenging cells
two ultrafire car chargers
-And a handfull of primaries of each type.
This is why I keep my Quark lights in my truck, there moonlight mode runtime is pretty sweet.
I suggest everyone get a PALight, one year glow mode, two if its a 9Volt lithium primary
I forgot to mention my 17670 setup. Each CGR17670HC cell is good for ~1150 mAh capacity. With the 4.2V cells the E2L does:
HI: 110L, .299A = 3.84 Hours (87 Lumens / Watt)
LO: 15L, .028A = 41 Hours (127 Lumens / Watt)
I wish I could swap the XRE with an XML for a floodier beam and even better Lumen / watt efficiency
The power went out here for several hours today… it’s the first time that the automatic backup generator was put to good use. I came home and heard it running, but it was the time when it does it’s weekly self-test and thought nothing of it. I went in and all was well, but after a half-hour or so noticed that the generator was still running (and a clock was flashing 12:00). Hmmm… yep… main power was out.
Called power company. Four hours later the generator stopped and lights were still on. The lights didn’t even flicker when the automatic transfer switch did its thing. Those four or so hours of backup power only cost $2500/hr (so far). Well worth it for an electron addict.
@jamjar, you really need to get this if you buy one of the Biolites
In the meantime us boys up North will stick to our “design cult” hobby as it’s a good excuse to run a ‘bucket still’ at the same time for fuel:and carry a few precharged cell phone batteries and power pack with 18650 cells.
Those Biolites have been around long enough now that all you need to do if you want a deal is go to garage sales on Saturday mornings, previous owners seem less than evangelistic about their merits ‘post field-testing’ while trying to sell them for $10.00. I sold mine and was very disappointed when it failed to run my modest 42” plasma TV that I always carry on multi day backcountry excursions.
If it's just to have enough light for me to get around, I could probably go many months. I would also shift to a schedule where I'd actually sleep when the sun goes down. It'd be like my backpacking trips where I can have a single AA last a month. I don't know how my lithium ion batteries would do. I think they would self discharge because I used all of them.
I do have a Powerfilm AA charger, but I've been reading lots of reports that say it would probably break. Who knows, mine might already be broken. I suppose I should test mine!
Now with family and others, I'd probably have to provide a lot of comfort light plus even more since some of them would refuse to modify their sleeping schedule. I'd probably run out of juice in a couple weeks.
i have about 120 aa alkies, 6 or so cr123a primaries, about 15-20 ultimate lithium AAs, 8 fully charged 18650s ready to go (plus 4 more usually fully charged loaded in my lights), 14 fully charged rcr123a lifepo4s ready to go, a dozen or so d cells
i have propane bbq grill, a coleman roadtrip grill, two coleman dual fuel stoves and a propane adapter, optimus 8r, a trangia mini. also have about a gallon and a half of colman fuel, 6 propane cylinders, a 20# tank full, 5 gallons of gas (back up for the colemans), some alcohol for the trangia (cant remember what type, the good type of heat). not to mention several homemade alcohol stoves…
i dont need to state my battery powered lighting i dont think, being what kind of site we are on.
and i have a stocked pantry that our family of 4 could live about a month off. might not be the best pantry, but it will do. stocked with lots of veggies, pastas, beans, spam, corned beef hash, peanut butter, canned/stewed tomatoes, condensed soups… that sort of stuff. easily stored, easily prepared… might not be the healthiest but we will eat if we are snowed in. thats not including whats in our kitchen for regular foods
i am lacking on my power backup. nothing to run the fridge, furnace, hot water heater, washer/dryer…
also, no back up heat yet. i do have a kerosene heater at my dads… does me no good here… luckily no significant power outages this winter
im not a doomsday prepper by any means… but i remember the ice storm of 97, and it was not fun. i just try to stay a couple weeks ahead of things
48v Club Car cart with 6 fresh Trojans, 48v/8amp solar panel, 48 to 12v converter with cig lighter plug and 4 usb ports, 110v inverter, 20 led light bar, and welding cable plugins. Charge phones, batteries, laptops, make coffee, floodlight an acre, and make a quick spot weld. Then remove shotgun from gun rack and make a beer run, love my buggy.
3 weeks is absolutely a piece of cake lighting up multiple parts of the house in low. But I guess the prudent thing to do is to get some big SLAs / solar chargers to charge up them 18650/26650s with a 12V capable charger or something…. A gen set would have to operate too long a period ($$:money_mouth_face: to charge them all up.
