Just had a blackout!

[Learjet]

Was just firing up the computer to get on CPF and everything went dead. The lights flickered for a bit then nothing. By some amazing coincidence I had my Fenix P2D right in my hand at the time! "How did it know?" I thought to myself.

Luckily I had just taken the meal out of the microwave and was about to eat it after it cooled a little. Ceiling bounce off the modified 3D 100 LED light was probably overkill to eat with, but it sure was bright. Washing up in the kitchen was done with ceiling bounce from a Fenix P3D on high. Bathroom stop was made with ceiling bounce from a P2D on medium. General illumination was with my old Dorcy Super 1 watt 3D (old Luxeon yet to be upgraded) also bounced from the ceiling.

Conclusion, the second most important thing in a blackout is a white ceiling.

After the power was restored I put the Li ions on charge ready for next time. What a fun night.

[BSCOTT1504]

You are one lucky guy Learjet! I wish I could have a blackout!

[mapson]

This is one forum that all the members wish they could have a BO in their own neighborhood. I'm jealous.

You are one lucky guy Learjet! I wish I could have a blackout!

[scottaw]

Haha, 2 major storms in my area last week and i was hoping for a blackout at work (never came) is that wrong?

[Uncle Bob]

Learjet, Have you considered adding any LED lanterns to your collection? I noticed you didn't mention any.

I also have my share of hand-held lights that can bounce effectively, but I also have 3 lanterns for the very purpose of illuminating rooms. I save my hand-helds for navigation. Any thoughts?

[ynggrsshppr]

Was just firing up the computer to get on CPF and everything went dead. The lights flickered for a bit then nothing. By some amazing coincidence I had my Fenix P2D right in my hand at the time! "How did it know?" I thought to myself.

The fabled flashaholic's 6th sense. That, or a flashaholic usually just has a flashlight at hand. You decide.

[Jackal112203]

I never get a damn blackout...

Stupid reliable power company

[prof]

um, anyone ever consider just turning the power off?

[techwg]

lol so sad, that us flashlight "enthusiasts" pray for a black out just so we can be like "HA.. what now? what now? wheres your precious lighting?" and then we pull the edc out and light the way

[f22shift]

you are lucky

last time we had a blackout we were powering up all the flashlights and lighting candles and the stupid power came back on in 15 minutes. boo!
blue balls

[mapson]

That's just not the same. Although I did make my son take a shower in the dark. I told him I needed to test a lantern out.

um, anyone ever consider just turning the power off?

[vic2367]

some guys just have all the luck with blackouts,,,here in ny ,,,hardly ever,,,

[Learjet]

Learjet, Have you considered adding any LED lanterns to your collection?

I shall have to look into them. I have a portable 12V fluro that will burn for 36 hours. I completely forgot about it! Think I just got a bit carried away with the new Fenix toys.

Edit, Unscrewed the reflector from the Dorcy 3D and it casts light 180 degrees also. However comparing to ceiling bounce it performs about the same. I guess it just depends if there's a ceiling or not.

[Valolammas]

The library I work in had a complete blackout last summer. Some workmen digging a hole in the ground accidentally sewered a power cable and it took them a while to repair it. I heard that a couple of people were left fumbling in the basement, trying to find their way out by feel. I could have been a hero and rescued them, but alas, I wasn't there when it happened! Argh, what bad luck.

After that they've put GID stickers on the floor and around doors, so people can find their way out if the lights go out. We also have rechargeable Ansman lights in the basement floors (I check every now and then that they work).

The upshot is that I've since had several people mention (without prodding or me mentioning lights at all) that they now carry a light with them, "just in case". Invariably they then show me a Photon attached to their keys.

[carrot]

Besides being completely irresponsible by hoping for a blackout on the scale of the August 2003 East Coast one... I kinda hope for another like it.

[KDOG3]

I work shift work in a glassware factory and sometimes during night shift the power will go out. Its great. Guess who all the cute girls crowd around? Makes the cost of these lights worth it in spades.

[f22shift]

Besides being completely irresponsible by hoping for a blackout on the scale of the August 2003 East Coast one... I kinda hope for another like it.

i do hope too. almost forgot about that one.
it was exciting and everyone was out and socializing and bbqing. it was really great for ppl to get off of the electronic distractions and have family time and some ppl having "quality time'. not really sure if there was a baby boom but i could imagine.

it would nice if they have rolling blackouts in the future to save on electricity. basically some time of no electricity besides the necessities(hospital, grocery, etc).

[raythompson]

You people are sick, sick I tell you. Wishing for blackouts to use your lights. Dissappointed when the black is not longer than 15 minutes. Sick I tell you, sick. Thunderstorms, natural disasters, oh the horror. Sick I tell you, sick.

And I am jealous and keep hoping for my own blackout. I am sick, sick I tell you.

[Outrider]

How about a fund raiser raffle for CPF. Perhaps a 3 hour blackout with tcikets at - say - $ 20.00 or 3 for $ 50.00

[n4zov]

Coincidentally, we experienced a two-hour lightning induced blackout just last night. I sat around congratulating myself for being fully prepared with a collection of Wolf Eyes, SL's , and assorted other goodies. It was all great fun until I noticed the temperature was rising fast! You see, when the air conditioning goes off in Alabama, and the outside temperature is 85-degrees and the humidity is 90%, it gets uncomfortable fast! I had all the fun I could stand when the power finally came back on, and the air conditioning roared into action. Thanks, I'll pass on power outages whenever possible.

[Learjet]

I had all the fun I could stand when the power finally came back on, and the air conditioning roared into action. Thanks, I'll pass on power outages whenever possible.

Yeah same here in summer. It's a sauna even at night and when the power goes off I miss the A/C the most. It's "winter" here at present so it's not so bad.

It seems this blackout was quite wide spread and affected 9 suburbs. My friend's kids were having fun as well with their wind up LED torches and radios.

Well at least the kids and flashaholics had fun. More often than not though the adults would not have been happy since it happened in the middle of tea time.

[Monocrom]

I never get a damn blackout...

Stupid reliable power company

I'm lucky! Up here in NY, we've got Con Edison. Biggest Blackout in NY history was in 1977.... until 2003 rolled around. Just heard on the news a few weeks ago that Con Ed is just now coming up with a back-up system in case of another Blackout.

It's a shame to see them finally doing something to put an end to every Flashaholic's dream who happens to be living in NY. What's better than being in a Blackout for several days? Why, it's being in one in the middle of Summer with no A.C. and plenty of rotting food in the fridge! ..... I'm going to miss the good old days when Con Ed gave us excuses instead of power.

[TORCH_BOY]

I have forgotten what its like to have a blackout

[TorchBoy]

Most "blackouts" around here sadly happen during the day, which just means I can't visit CPF. Haven't had a candle lit dinner for a while...

[jumpstat]

Yes. Blackout really good for us flashaholics but not so fun for the kids though.

[Uncle Bob]

Seems like there might be a consensus here that maybe the power company could schedule blackouts for flashaholics on a regular basis as long as it's not very hot and muggy or freezing and not for more than 30 minutes so the food in the fridge doesn't spoil. Then we could get all our toys out and compare.

[BGater]

Im on a farm way...WAY out there. Our local electric provider has alot of old power lines that need updated badly. We have an outage every time a good thunderstorm or high winds come through. I would say we average 8-10 outages a year lasting 6 hours or more, and many more that are only a few hours at most. The last big one was in December 2006, we was out for 6 days straight, came on for about 12 hours then off for another 24 hours. We have flashlights in every room and every vehicle, just a way of life out here.

[Learjet]

Sounds like you would benefit from a generator / solar power as backup being so far out there BGater. I guess you have that already.

The power isn't too bad here, goes off once every couple of months I guess. Living in cyclone territory I always have the big blow in mind. If we get hit the power is likely to be off for a while. I think I have enough lights to see me through now.

Must get some other stuff together like a 12V fridge, inverters and a good solar panel.

[The Hobbit]

Yeah, we are a strange bunch to wish for a blackout...The great blackout of 2003 started here in Ohio and spread east...It was only out here for a half hour or so...it wasn't even dark yet...rats.....I do like it when the power goes out, not just because of the flahlight thing, but the 'hood gets REAL quiet...Everybody elce is upset when the juice is off, I'm bummed when it comes back on...

[Monocrom]

Yeah, we are a strange bunch to wish for a blackout...The great blackout of 2003 started here in Ohio and spread east...It was only out here for a half hour or so...it wasn't even dark yet...rats....

Ha! I was far luckier than you. Not only was the power out for a few days, but I was upstate visiting my friend for the weekend when the power went out. I was also lucky to have been unemployed at the time. (Otherwise, I would have gotten fired for missing work). Yeah! My luck is freaking awesome!!

Unfortunately, I only became addicted to flashlights just recently. I think me, my best friend, and his roomate, and his roomate's girlfriend had one 2D cheap light between us.