Well, this IS a "candle power" forum.....
A flashlight is still great for getting it started and moving around, or when you need light in a small spot. But most flashlights don't light a room well, just a part of one. A candle goes in every direction.
Candles can be used safely, but they do need to be enclosed. Making your own 'candle lamp' is pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Sitting beside my computer stand is a 1 gallon wide-mouth pickle jar with a metal lid. (The wide-mouth part is important unless you've got an undersized hand) The original metal lid has a 3/4 inch central hole, and surrounding it out towards the rim is a ring of smaller pencil-sized holes. The inspiration for this came from a commercial product I saw a few years ago.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0031I0PAI/?tag=cpf0b6-20
"$0.49 + $4.49 shipping" - you can see why I make my own!
As it happens, none of the wide-mouth glass jars I've seen have flat bottoms, so I have to do that by myself too. In my chosen jar I put a bit of junk wax - enough when melted to completely cover the bottom. Set inside a 200 degree oven it melts and makes the smooth flat surface I need to hold my candle or candle holder. After it cools and hardens, it's ready to go. Set the candle inside, centered as well as possible. Light the candle with a long match or long-snouted butane lighter, and screw on the lid. Hot gas from the flame flows straight up the central hole, and incoming air flows smoothly down the sides. If you've done everything right, the flame is as steady as a rock - it looks like a glowing little light bulb without a hint of a flicker. And IMO it's pretty darned safe! No open flame, and there is no liquid fuel to instantly set the room afire if it gets knocked over.
The screw-on lid is a frill, and one I tried just to see how much trouble it was. (quite a lot, actually) I could have used a six inch square of heavy aluminum foil in which I'd precut the central hole. Carefully fold the foil (with the hole centered) over the mouth of the glass containr to mark things, then take it back off and cut around the mark with scissors. Back on again, and punch the holes with a sharp pencil. Voila! It's ready for the candle.
By using aluminum foil any old vase or jar will do - it just needs to be clear glass and have an opening large enough for your hand to go inside while holding the candle.
Now to the flashlight. In my view there is no competition - they're better. A 8 lumen beam pointed at a white ceiling makes plenty of light to navigate, and without a naked flame to mess up your eyesight.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PZPB2I/?tag=cpf0b6-20
Total piece of crap of a flashlight except for one thing - it has a low-draw PR LED bulb. I've run one of these for several days - day and night - on one D cell alkaline. If you buy one of them shipped with the batteries, check to see the bulb base wasn't smashed during transport. Lots are! The ones without an included battery are better prospects. Walmart is now selling a similar one which doesn't have quite as good an LED bulb, but the flashlight itself is better - it has a screw-on bulb protector.
Now a person can buy 2-3 of these cheap LED flashlights for the cost of one big candle. And they can be run in perfect safety. Opinions vary, but as I said earlier, I'll take the flashlight every time.
Now on to the latest "emergency lighting".
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005QGEAUY/?tag=cpf0b6-20
I've never seen one, but I suppose it would work fine.
Again, I've been making my own. Buy one of those solar LED sidewalk lights. Take out the cheap AAA or AA or 3/4 AA nicad and throw it away. Replace the AAA or AA with alkalines, and you've got a really cheap emergency light. My test run of one of them had over 100 non-stop hours of decent light from a single AAA battery.
To make a long-run nightlight for your cabin in the backwoods, drill a hole in the side of the little hockey puck light. Wire up a single D-cell battery holder. I use double stick tape to hold the light and battery to a flat wood or sheet metal board, but velcro under the light would allow recharging if you'd chosen a nicad.
The LEDs in my hockey puck lights varied from 20 ma down to 5 ma. The latter was on orange Halloween lights I got at Dollar Tree last year. I've no idea how long a good D cell would run a 5 ma lamp, but it's got to be something measured in non-stop weeks. That's because I got over ten days of light from one of those Eveready 1 D flashlights at 70 ma.