Power Outage

During the week I work nights and get home between midnight and 3am. This morning I got home around 3 and surfed CPF...until the power went out at about 3:30. I could hardly contain my excitement, and that is when I realized for the first time that I'm a crazy flashaholic.

I felt so lucky that the power had gone out so I grabbed the couple lights I've aquired recently and headed outside to see how far the outage went. Half of my small town was out, everything south of the main street running through town. :thumbsup: A couple of neighbors fumbled through the darkness to get their generators started up so they could get ready for work. I helped one of them (with a light of course) and introduced myself since I just moved in to the area. I got to play in the pitch black with my lights until the sun came up then I finally went back inside. I tried to open a browser window on my laptop so I could brag about all the fun I had in the dark but in my excitement I had forgotten that the power was still out...no internet. :lolsign:

Anyways, I thought the timing was almost perfect with having just become interested in flashlights. Have you been "lucky enough" to have a power outage?

Lucky you

we have maybe 2 outages a year if were lucky.

Last night I said to my girlfriend that I wished we lived in a state that suffered more power outages (this was after she lifted a pillow and found my E1L under it). She said anyone else would think it would be weird to find "tactical gear hidden under pillows", but she thinks I'm handy.

Always a fun time. When the disease progresses further you will start having your own imaginary outages. Just think of it as "blackout" practice.

Geoff

somber said:

Last night I said to my girlfriend that I wished we lived in a state that suffered more power outages (this was after she lifted a pillow and found my E1L under it). She said anyone else would think it would be weird to find "tactical gear hidden under pillows", but she thinks I'm handy.

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Yeah, my girlfriend loves my level of interest and research into useful things. (guns, knives (her favorite) and lights). She likes "attack bezels," lol.

Flying Turtle said:

Always a fun time. When the disease progresses further you will start having your own imaginary outages. Just think of it as "blackout" practice.

Geoff

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Oh my, that sounds like the advanced stages.

We've got lots of dark places to go play with lights so hopefully I wont need to do much imagining.

Lucky you :laughing:

I don't get power outages very often, and when I do they are usually short - 1 hour max. The longest one was more than a day and that was after a large earthquake, so I really don't want another of those, even though I now have the flashlights for it...

I have not experienced a power outage for many years. And if it would occur this night I would not be happy at all. No CPF, no warm pizza, the beers would be lukewarm, and because it's practically daylight 24 hours per day I could not make use of my flashlights anyway...
But I am waiting for autumn, in three months or so...

Lucky me, I always use my lights and batteries to their full potential when vacationing in the Philippines coz power outage is normal especially in the province where I live. Here in the states, I still use my lights but not to their full potential coz I haven't experienced power outage yet.

I can't remember the last time it happened. I would love to have power outages here so I can show off my lights.

don.gwapo said:

Lucky me, I always use my lights and batteries to their full potential when vacationing in the Philippines coz power outage is normal especially in the province where I live. Here in the states, I still use my lights but not to their full potential coz I haven't experienced power outage yet.

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I'm in the Philippines and I always Hope for power outages(hopefully not harmful to others). It's been almost a year since we have one at least at night.

Everyone should have one warm emitter light for ceiling bounce lighting when there's a power outage; just a little cozy and welcoming warm light is perfect when the rest of the world is dark..

We have underground power lines here, and all the high power lines traverse hundreds of miles of completely empty desert, so it's nigh on impossible for the power to go out even momentarily. However, our power company will be doing line maintenance next weekend, no power from 9pm to 7am - I'm mostly concerned about how to keep everything that's in the fridge, but short of that, it should be a fine light show..

StarHalo said:

Everyone should have one warm emitter light for ceiling bounce lighting when there's a power outage; just a little cozy and welcoming warm light is perfect when the rest of the world is dark..

We have underground power lines here, and all the high power lines traverse hundreds of miles of completely empty desert, so it's nigh on impossible for the power to go out even momentarily. However, our power company will be doing line maintenance next weekend, no power from 9pm to 7am - I'm mostly concerned about how to keep everything that's in the fridge, but short of that, it should be a fine light show..

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I agree wholeheartedly, the warm light is so easy on the eyes. I set up the Q-mini 123 WW for the livingroom so my girlfriend could see without carrying a light...while I was outside playing in the dark.

If you don't open your fridge that whole time everything should be fine. If you're really worried about it get 4 medium blocks of dry ice and put two on the top shelf and two on the bottom shelf. To save your freezer stuff do the same but in a picnic cooler instead of the freezer.

StarHalo said:

However, our power company will be doing line maintenance next weekend, no power from 9pm to 7am - I'm mostly concerned about how to keep everything that's in the fridge, but short of that, it should be a fine light show..

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Make a few gallons of ice (e.g. in a soup pot) in the freezer over the next few days, and put it on the top shelf of the fridge when the power goes out.

Usually we get ~1 outage a winter (occasional ice storms in Oregon) but last winter was pretty mild and we never even got one. :sigh:

My normal practice is to put a few lights into ceiling-bounce configuration, curl up on the couch and watch DVD's on the laptop (Have one regular battery plus one mega battery ready to go) :thumbsup:

Good idea, we have two laptops and backup batteries for each as well. By the way, I love your L1 review. Hands on experience over time seems to make for really good reviews. It looks like a great light for many purposes. It's your fault that it's on my want list now, right behind the A2 incan.

kito109654 said:

By the way, I love your L1 review. Hands on experience over time seems to make for really good reviews. It looks like a great light for many purposes. It's your fault that it's on my want list now, right behind the A2 incan.

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Thanks, glad I could be of assistance (re: trying to drain your wallet, that is ). Wasn't really a review, just more of a long-term perspective on a great light - I get dizzy with how often some folks around here change their EDC's.

Kestrel said:

I get dizzy with how often some folks around here change their EDC's.

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well said... my next EDC is yet to arive. can't waite!

We live in the most power secure area ever. In 13 years we've lost power about 5-6 times, but I simply refuse to turn on any mains lights in the house unless a family member is around.

My wife has gotten used to it and the kids think it's cool and often grab their lights and follow me to see what I'm doing (usually feeding the dog and locking up the chickens at night).

There is a 10 acre park right across the road that has absolutely NO lighting, so little walks through the park at night are a common thing and at least three lights go with each time.

sappyg said:

well said... my next EDC is yet to arive. can't waite!

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LOL, you embrace it! If I change my EDC stuff too often it becomes a distraction.

Jash said:

We live in the most power secure area ever. In 13 years we've lost power about 5-6 times, but I simply refuse to turn on any mains lights in the house unless a family member is around.

My wife has gotten used to it and the kids think it's cool and often grab their lights and follow me to see what I'm doing (usually feeding the dog and locking up the chickens at night).

There is a 10 acre park right across the road that has absolutely NO lighting, so little walks through the park at night are a common thing and at least three lights go with each time.

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It sounds like that works quite well for you, I'm sure the kids enjoy it!

I am looking forward to next weekend, as I KNOW I will have No Electricity, as I am going up to the cabin to open it up for the summer. No electric lights, so flashlights & fresh batteries are already to go.