IlluminatingBikr
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2003
- Messages
- 2,320
Well, around 8 o'clock tonight, the power went out, after flickering off and on three times. Yeeeeeee-hhhhhaaaaaaaa!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif A flashaholic's dream come true, on the end of Christmas! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif
Things I learned from this power outage:
Have something in your pockets at all time
Immediately when the power went out, I reached for my precious L4 in my right pocket. It was so quick, it was like an instinct. Even I was amazed at my reaction time. I ran out of my room (I was on my computer at the time of the outage) and lit up the whole house. My sister, was freaked out, but the light of my L4 calmed her down. Having anything in your pocket at all time, is better than nothing.
It was really funny… tonight my Grandma came over for dinner. I lit a fire in the fire place, but before doing so, had to check the fire-place flu. Of course it's hard to see up there, and I didn't know if it was open or closed. I whipped out my L4, and saw it was closed, so I used my L4 to see the lever and opened it. My grandma laughed. She knows my dad and I are flashaholics, but to see me with a light in my pocket was funny for her. And tonight, I am very glad I had something in my pocket.
What you'll want to use
Right now, as I'm writing this post in Word on my laptop (the cable modem doesn't have power, so I'm not writing this on CPF). I'm am sitting in the family room with my dad and sister. We are using two things for room illuminating. 1- Dad's Eternalight Elite X-ray. He has it on a low mode. Believe me, this thing in full mode can blind when there is no light. Also on, are 3 out of the 11 5mm LEDs on my dad and my custom LED light box. It operates on 12 volts, from D cell batteries. I would imagine the three resistored LEDs will last quite a long time. The box is sitting on a cabinet, on the other side of the room. Normally, you would think that this would not light up the room, but I can see my dad and my sister's faces just fine.
Any high-output Surefires or spotlights weren't needed at all. A headlamp would be nice, but I think if you have one light in the room you should be fine.
Mom is lying in bed reading. It was difficult at first to find her something to read by. She likes something really bright, so that opted out some of our flashlights. Others were too hard to get to stay still pointed at the page. We tried using some normal book lights that clip on to the book your reading. Mom didn't think they were bright enough, and also she was reading a paper-back book, so it kept tipping it over. What we found works the best, is my dad's DeWalt flexible floodlight, from his power tool set he got yesterday. It runs of off a 14.4V battery (which we have two of). Dad was testing it out last night, and after one hour of use, it was still going, almost at the full brightness. Not bad for an incandescent.
The Funest Part of All
For me, the absolute greatest part of this, is going outside!!! It is PITCH BLACK!!!! Other than an occasional car, you can not see two inches in front of your face and there was almost no moon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif You take out any light with you, and it immediately seems really bright. Taking out my UltraStinger and seeing how long it would throw with absolutely no other lights on was impressive. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif We live on the corner of two streets, and I ran out to the corner on the sidewalk. My L4 lit up the whole house from my position, which was probably only 40-50 feet from the house.
Well, I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present! I called my grandma who lives near us (she went home before it happened), and she was doing okay… her power was still on. I also called my girlfriend, who was entertaining quite a few guests tonight. The power went off at her place, but came on shortly after. Our power is still out, having been over an hour so far. My girlfriend (being a non-flashaholic) used mostly candles. My dad and I offered to go over to her house and drop off some lights, but she said she could get by with her candles.
Today: Well it's officially no longer Christmas. I went to bed last night around 9, but was awoken by my stereo going into full illuminating, when the power was restored. It came on sometime around 11 or so I would guess. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Things I learned from this power outage:
Have something in your pockets at all time
Immediately when the power went out, I reached for my precious L4 in my right pocket. It was so quick, it was like an instinct. Even I was amazed at my reaction time. I ran out of my room (I was on my computer at the time of the outage) and lit up the whole house. My sister, was freaked out, but the light of my L4 calmed her down. Having anything in your pocket at all time, is better than nothing.
It was really funny… tonight my Grandma came over for dinner. I lit a fire in the fire place, but before doing so, had to check the fire-place flu. Of course it's hard to see up there, and I didn't know if it was open or closed. I whipped out my L4, and saw it was closed, so I used my L4 to see the lever and opened it. My grandma laughed. She knows my dad and I are flashaholics, but to see me with a light in my pocket was funny for her. And tonight, I am very glad I had something in my pocket.
What you'll want to use
Right now, as I'm writing this post in Word on my laptop (the cable modem doesn't have power, so I'm not writing this on CPF). I'm am sitting in the family room with my dad and sister. We are using two things for room illuminating. 1- Dad's Eternalight Elite X-ray. He has it on a low mode. Believe me, this thing in full mode can blind when there is no light. Also on, are 3 out of the 11 5mm LEDs on my dad and my custom LED light box. It operates on 12 volts, from D cell batteries. I would imagine the three resistored LEDs will last quite a long time. The box is sitting on a cabinet, on the other side of the room. Normally, you would think that this would not light up the room, but I can see my dad and my sister's faces just fine.
Any high-output Surefires or spotlights weren't needed at all. A headlamp would be nice, but I think if you have one light in the room you should be fine.
Mom is lying in bed reading. It was difficult at first to find her something to read by. She likes something really bright, so that opted out some of our flashlights. Others were too hard to get to stay still pointed at the page. We tried using some normal book lights that clip on to the book your reading. Mom didn't think they were bright enough, and also she was reading a paper-back book, so it kept tipping it over. What we found works the best, is my dad's DeWalt flexible floodlight, from his power tool set he got yesterday. It runs of off a 14.4V battery (which we have two of). Dad was testing it out last night, and after one hour of use, it was still going, almost at the full brightness. Not bad for an incandescent.
The Funest Part of All
For me, the absolute greatest part of this, is going outside!!! It is PITCH BLACK!!!! Other than an occasional car, you can not see two inches in front of your face and there was almost no moon. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif You take out any light with you, and it immediately seems really bright. Taking out my UltraStinger and seeing how long it would throw with absolutely no other lights on was impressive. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif We live on the corner of two streets, and I ran out to the corner on the sidewalk. My L4 lit up the whole house from my position, which was probably only 40-50 feet from the house.
Well, I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present! I called my grandma who lives near us (she went home before it happened), and she was doing okay… her power was still on. I also called my girlfriend, who was entertaining quite a few guests tonight. The power went off at her place, but came on shortly after. Our power is still out, having been over an hour so far. My girlfriend (being a non-flashaholic) used mostly candles. My dad and I offered to go over to her house and drop off some lights, but she said she could get by with her candles.
Today: Well it's officially no longer Christmas. I went to bed last night around 9, but was awoken by my stereo going into full illuminating, when the power was restored. It came on sometime around 11 or so I would guess. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
