A power outage changed my EDC philosophy today...

So, I have to pre-qualify this by stating what I've firmly come to believe over the past few years about my EDC flashlight needs.

1) I like simple, un-complicated and in most cases, single level twisty type UI's. Think Z41 and Malkoff. That said, and a 6P light being a bit large for EDC to me, I have long since settled on the the Surefire L1 as a compromise of simple and intuitive with minimal failure potential. I actually like the low/high combo for EDC. My current EDC is a Milky Modded 4 flats floodmaster.

2) I'm a firm believer in enough light to get the job done, no overkill.

3) Flood/Diffused: Love it. Hot spots have always proven to be useless for most close range tasks and I have long come to love flood type lights. One of my all time favorites being the above said Z41 Malkoff combo with a M60LF drop in- gorgeous.

My backup, BTW, has usually been a Peak Eiger #1 flood. I often have a tertiary backup in the form of a SS Preon ReVo.

I'm a cool white kind of guy.

So, here's what happened earlier today. I go to get the wee ones at daycare and lo and behold, in the middle of a raging thunderstorm, power goes out.

Now, there's no massive generator at work here, a few UPS style wall lights come on in each room (you know them well, the utterly-dim 2 flood deals), but the hallways- devoid of windows and lights (I am not happy about this, BTW)- are now pitch black.

Not a flashlight in sight that belongs to the daycare.

Well, there were some pretty frightened kids and the Teachers were getting concerned with all of the crying and the lack of good lighting. Sure, the exit signs were visible and getting out was not really a huge issue if an evacuation were required (since the daycare is relatively small and there really is no way to get lost in the hallways), but make no mistake, it was dark in there.

So out comes the Milky. Awesome, beautiful flood, reliable, working as designed. Teachers incredibly thankful as I helped usher kids out to the gym area where they could be accounted for and where there was better light and then went back to make sure all rooms were clear. No big deal, the light worked, everyone was happy.

Except for me.

I realized that all of my EDC use to date had shown my lighting choice was sound, but I had not forseen the need to light large areas while, and here's the gap, ushering groups of people to and fro.

The L1 just did not have the lumens or throw needed. I tried ceiling bouncing, but the hallways had low drop style ceiling tiles, and their rough texture did not allow for the great bounce I had become accustomed to in my high ceiling, bright white-painted house. In other words, the light was adequate, but but it required that I spend more time ushering groups rather than lighting up the joint while folks made their way out.

Boy, did I miss my M91 and various Kerberos Quads and Oveready triples!!!!

So... that's my tale folks. I am going to make a change to my EDC and I believe I will be changing my tune to that of needing three levels, one of which will be REALLY FREAKING BRIGHT!!! I want Quad/Triple power with Optics, or an XM-L.

I have not yet determined if that will be the addtion of my single levels (say M91) to compliment the Milky, or a replacement to the tune of an Oveready pocket that will give me three levels and my choice of output vs. Runtime.

One thing is for sure, I will never be caught without the right amount of light again!

Good for you..! You at least had a light on you. I find my E05 works great at two blackouts so far this year. Real good floody light IMO.

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This just simply means you need to carry "2" EDC lights.

But they both need to be small enough that you "WILL"... Carry them.

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All you really need is something bigger in your car

I too am still looking for the perfect edc that can fulfill my requirements for edc use. I am in the construction business and usage of light is essential in day to day activities. It is difficult to carry multiple lights so the single that one carries must be versatile. Currently the McLux III PD-S is handling that department. Its smooth beam profile and with its useful 2 speed is the features that appeals to me. I am now awaiting for the Haiku which has 3 speed and higher output on the high level. The ability for McGizmo's lights to accept rechargeables is also a plus point IMHO. Hopefully the Haiku can fulfill the requirements I seek for a edc.

I came to this conclusion a good while ago. My EDC is a 6P with Nailbender's XM-L unit and a smooth reflector, for a useful beam with some reach to it, and plenty of output. It also has a two-stage tailcap from a Kroma for those times when a low mode is needed. To me, flood is overrated. It sure seems nice when you're there doing some close-up work, but in all other scenarios it will disappoint and annoy.

The backup/alternative to this is a Zebralight headlamp in my jacket.

That's why the Tri-EDC is my favourite EDC. Small, floody, but can crank it up to light up a whole room.

Great Story and i'm glad to hear that another blackout was passed without hysteria due to the presence of a keen flashaholic.
Disappointingly, we don't get many blackouts here in London. The last one i can remember was over four years ago (lasted about 14 hours) and in the past eleven years there've only been two others, both of which were less than an hour

because of this, i'm not really sure how well my EDC would cope. it's an itp A2 with an Energizer L91, and it lights up a personal-space worth of area just fine on minimum, and on high it produces quite a lot of light, but i can honestly say i have no idea how it would cope in a situation like you described Darvis, with large areas needing to be illuminated.

in my backpack i try to always have a spare 2xCR123A light for when i need lots of light and throw, as well as a spare pair of L91s and CR123As, but if i don't have my backpack with me how well would i cope?

My EDC strategy is to have both 1) Lots of Light and 2) Lots of Runtime [in one flashlight].

By using a one-cell 123A, the light is small enough, but runtime can be a problem.

Therefore I like the interface such as the EDC Executive--the first mode is mid-flux, then you can access high-flux when you need it.

So the normal working condition with "enough light" will last much longer.


My Story:

We had a power outage at work once, I was the only one with a flashlight. "Oh, you have a flashlight? Can I borrow it?" My light wound up being taken into the ladies room and sat there ON for a long long time while everyone used the bathroom. I couldn't say no, and I was without a light for the remainder of the power outage!

My fiancee jsut returned from a business trip to Indianapolis yesterday. Wednesday night there were severe storm and tornado warnings. I told her to keep her flashlight on her at all times. I gave her a Ti quark AA mini. Not my preference for a light as the twist is not reliable and skips modes. But it will run on AA and is pretty bright. I knew that if crap hit the fan, NO ONE will have a light.

I had a power outage at work. I went to the bathroom and a guy was trying to use the urinal with his cellphone to light up the target. I felt bad for him. I had my Ti Quark AA (non mini) running a 14500 li-ion. I point it to the ceiling and fwoom!!!!! LIGHT!!!!! haha. Best thing is I can tail stand it on top of the urinal for hands free operation.

All great choices. I did a lot of soul searching and testing last night, and the Oveready Pocket in either 18350 or 18500 format is just too tempting to ignore. I can run three levels and easily carry 2 18350 spares (or an 18500) as needed for more power. Think I'm making the switch for now.

I'm already and EDC junkie, so various other objects take up critical space in my pockets and adding another light just does not make sense, but replacing one with one that has more functionality does. Other considerations were that I live in high temp Urban environment, so light weight shorts, etc are the summer norm, so that extra big light was not practical in my eyes...

We'll see how this does!

EDIT: Here's the set-up now. Oveready triple neutral (Moddoolar version, so it's the slim Moddoolar body only head) Oveready 18500 body and a triad tailcap with a harpress clickie. It all fits in the same space as my L1 in the large pocket of my Bill's Uban Wallet AND... the kicker is that I'm also able to fit in 2 extra IMR 18500's, so it was a no-brainer for the extended runtime capabilities.

I imagine low and medium will get the most use, but it's nice to have almost 25 minutes of 700-ish lumens on tap with an extra 50 minutes on tap...

Good food for thought. Never hurts to re-evaluate your needs.

My own approach for a while now has been to have at least one "blaster" and one long runner. By "blaster" I mean 100+ lumens, preferably 150 to 200. The other, a light that can run about 24 hours (or more) on low mode.

Then I like to add a third light that can use the same power source as either one, for additional redundancy. Also, it's nice to have something that where the parts (head/tail/body) will interchange.

So, my summer combo has been two Quark low voltage lights, one running a 17670, the other a CR123a, and a Preon 1. (the Preon is a bit of a compromise because it can't interchange batteries with either of the other lights, but it's necessary due to lack of space!)

In winter time I may lean more towards AA and 2AA format, but for summer I'm limited to what I can carry in my jeans, so I have to keep things more compact.

Interesting read, Darvis. Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Different perspectives are always good to have.

It can sometimes be a bit tough to anticipate what would be ideal. In a blackout, runtime is often best. With the lights out everywhere, something like a Fenix E01 or Arc AAA-P can seem like a SureFire M6 with the HOLA installed. Lanterns and headlamps often shine (pardon the pun) in a blackout. Generally, something with a great deal of throw isn't useful in such situations . . . unless you have to venture outside to direct others to a safe place. Just hard to anticipate what'll be needed.

Glad to hear everyone was alright.

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Lucky you RBR!