Honolulu Area Blackout

[cl0123]

Not on Boxing Day evening w/ thousands in the shopping mall. My light kits (before & since knowing CPF) & backup batteries are all in place. Even my better-half suggested me to call (I text msg him) my boss to let him know I`m ready to respond if needed.

In all honesty, however, I`d much rather the pwr comes back like now!

The only bright side is that my family really appreciate the light-readiness. Even my better-half is enjoying the several M6's lyinf around. Backups, of backups, really shines now!

With Aloha but no pwr,

Clarence

PS: Blackberry, & w/ 2 extra BB batteries already fully charged

 

[Flying Turtle]

Hope you get your power back soon, but only after all your lights get a bit of exercise. A little justification is always fun, but not too much.

Geoff

 

[jchoo]

M6+HOLA+shopping mall=good times. I bet you wish you had one with you now!

 

[cl0123]

Not good, local pwr co is saying that the blackout could last 12 hrs. Good thing we were already finishing supper at home & so no hassle. OTOH, President-Elect Obama happens to be visiting his birthplace and gets the rare chance to experience an island-wide blackout.

I'm tail-standing my Malkoff'ed 3D Maglite in the living room. All of a sudden, I wish I have a couple of those Energizer Pack-light or something. Or one more lantern would be nice. Unless I got called to respond to some emergency, all those high power flashlights are basically 2nd stringers.

C3+M60F is my weapon of choice today, not quite my favorite M3+Z46+EO3.

With Aloha & praying for a quick pwr restore,

Clarence

 

[DaveG]

Hang in there,let us know how you make out.

 

[bladerunner]

Wow....a blackout in Honolulu.....CPF paridise in paridise!
Hope the power is back soon for you though..

 

[fieldops]

Even my better-half is enjoying the several M6's lyinf around.

Saving the day, first class! :twothumbs

 

[jayflash]

"The only bright side is that my family really appreciate the light-readiness. Even my better-half is enjoying the several M6's lyinf around. Backups, of backups, really shines now!

With Aloha but no pwr,

Clarence"

Geez...SEVERAL M6's just lazily lying around?! LOL!

Of all the dozens of more efficient flashlights lying around my house, the ONE M6 I have is the light my wife happens to find when she's crawling around in the attic. That only gives her about 20 minutes to find her prize.

I wonder whether our new President is flashlight savvy?

 

[TMedina]

Of course, this is going to spawn at least one thread about relative performance qualities of LED lanterns as a long-term light source.

-Trevor

 

[EXCALIBUR1]

We were home when the power went off on Oahu. I was so glad to have my collection of flashlights to rely on. We used a couple of Fenix E01's as nightlights and for reading. I used my NiteCore D10 to check on things around the house. We even used my Fenix L1D Q5 to walk around the neighborhood. It was eery to see all of Oahu in darkness. The strobe came in fantastic when using the crosswalks to get across the streets. The motorists all came to a stop and let us cross safely. I am proud to say, we had the best flashlights in the neighborhood. "Be Prepared," as the Boy Scouts say.:thumbsup:

 

[Mercaptan]

I decided it'd be fun to rip my SureFire M951 with Malkoff M60 off my carbine and see exactly how impressive it was with all the power out.

Let me say. Damn. That thing is awesome.

Hopefully I didn't lose too much stuff in the fridge, my power was out for 15+ hours.

 

[cl0123]

According to some casual surveys (meaning calling some people that I know), certain parts of the Hawaii Kai (eastern) side are still without power. My place saw power about 6:48am in the morning, and ironically, almost exactly 12 hours, as the authorities predicted.

My power engineer friend said that two out of six main cables from the major generator got a major hit by lightning yesterday afternoon. Hence, as an automatic safety precaution, the power generators jumped. While he has nothing to do with the rescue frenzies, his group (thankless) usually takes all the blames later on.

I am blaming the blackout, but in a very Darwin moment I actually asked, "Can the company actually stop lightning from striking its cables?"

My better-half really enjoyed the ceiling bounce technique. The M6 literally can light up a room like a small 40w ceiling light. I also hang a P1D+Leef tube with a lanyard for her to carry it around. With the low on, my kids loved that because they felt safer "seeing" where the parents were.

Lessons Learned:

1. Reload the Li-ions: Around the 3rd hour into the blackout, I finally decided to reload my lights as I just took all of them out the week before for recharging. Next time, I would definitely put the lithium ion cells back into the lights as soon as I am done recharging.
2. Lanyards storage: I should put all the lanyards at the same place instead of leaving them stashed around different containers and drawers. I generally prefer only the shorter wrist-strap type lanyards, but some of the original longer SF ones proved to be very useful.
3. Blackout Rehearsals: My better-half used to be annoyed by the rest of us turning off all the room lights after dinner to play with the flashlights. She was glad last night that our oldest (only 6) showed her how to use the different lights from Surefire twisty tailcaps to Mag Mini's rotating heads. Once my kids saw their familiar lights (Mag Mini's), they thought it's play time and relaxed not only themselves, but the parents as well.
4. Lanterns: Long lasting LED lanterns or similar types should be much more useful than high-power handheld lights in a blackout situation. Anything with a few lumens would be just fine. I need to go back studying more about lanterns or portable camp lights.
5. Small lighter: I just realized I do not have anything to light a candle except those longish BBQ lighter. I need a good smallish lighter in my emergency kit.
6. Auto-On Emergency Light: Also need one of those lights that automatically kicked in when power is out. When the lights went out last night, I was able to feel my way back to the kitchen counter to grab my head-standing Mag 3D; however, an auto-on emergency light would definitely help calming down my kids.

Of course, a year into CPF really helps this island dweller attaining new levels of readiness. :twothumbs

With Aloha,

Clarence

 

[Mercaptan]

Lanterns: Long lasting LED lanterns or similar types should be much more useful than high-power handheld lights in a blackout situation. Anything with a few lumens would be just fine. I need to go back studying more about lanterns or portable camp lights.

Yup, I have one of those Sylvania 4xAA lanterns modified with a Seoul P4, it does wonders at lighting up a room, even on the lower power. I didn't have to replace batteries at all for the lantern or any hand-held.

Also, an MS-2000 marker strobe is an excellent thing to have to mark ones self while walking to the grocery store to pick up ice. People don't understand the "stop at a stoplight, treat as a four-way intersection" concept.

 

[Timothybil]

1. Auto-On Emergency Light: Also need one of those lights that automatically kicked in when power is out. When the lights went out last night, I was able to feel my way back to the kitchen counter to grab my head-standing Mag 3D; however, an auto-on emergency light would definitely help calming down my kids.

I've always wondered about taking one of the standard two-head emergency lights and replacing the heads with moderate power LEDs scattered around the house. Half watt LEDs should provide enough light for wandering and finding, and the run time should be fantastic. Anyone here ever tried it?

 

[Rayne]

That was a pain in the butt! Just sat down at Ruby Tuesdays in Ala Moana when the power went out, then had a nice 40 minute ride to get out of the parking lot. When I got home my mom and brother raided the visible flashlights in my room and had the Sam's HID doing ceiling bounce duty. What worked well was an old car battery with a power inverter running a lamp with a CFL in it. My house got power again around 2pm the next day....about 17.5 hours later.

 

[FrogmanM]

Just my luck, no blackouts on Kauai!

Mayo

 

[cl0123]

...in Ala Moana when the power went out, then had a nice 40 minute ride to get out of the parking lot.

Rayne,

Oh no, so sorry to hear that. Not that anyone can control the timing of lightning strike, but the blackout did occur at really the worst time of the year, if you ask me.

Mayo,

Despite the bad weather and flooding conditions on Big Island, somehow their power grid held up and making many people in Oahu mad at the power company. Good to know that Kauai was saved from the bad elements. CPF experiences help a great deal in assembling super light kits, but I cannot honestly say that I enjoy any blackout over a couple of hours. Good thing that the weather was breezy and not very cold nor humid.

With Aloha,

Clarence

 

[TMedina]

I'm debating getting the Black Diamond Apollo lantern for long-term lighting needs.

The specs look good and Black Diamond has a pretty good track record for their product line.

-Trevor

 

[Braddah_Bill]

then had a nice 40 minute ride to get out of the parking lot.

Yep the roads were quite busy I had to take 8 people home from work, Kaneohe to town, then Waipahu, and finally Royal Kunia. There were some idiots just blowing through the intersections but for the most part every one was being careful.

My most used lights were:

1. Streamlight Microstream on a neck lanyard to move around supervise other workers to clean up before we left work, funny but it was the brightest light, everyone else had cheap 2D cell lights.

2. Zebra Light H50 headlight, this is an awesome headlight and the ability to take it out of the headband to use in candle mode is a real plus. I used it to whip up some grub on the single burner propane stove.

3. NiteCore D10 when I needed a little more light.

4. Razorlite HID outside to light up the street and houses on the next block.

5. Everyready 4AA folding LED lantern in the bedroom before going to sleep.

Funny, my Sure Fires and other high end customs just sat there, which goes to prove long lasting lower lumen lights are just as important to have in a prolonged black out.


Braddah_Bill

 

[cl0123]

5. Everyready 4AA folding LED lantern in the bedroom before going to sleep.

Funny, my Sure Fires and other high end customs just sat there, which goes to prove long lasting lower lumen lights are just as important to have in a prolonged black out.

Braddah Bill,

You are definitely right. A couple of my "investments" immediately after the 2006 earthquake:

Courtesy of Costco Iwilei or Hawaii Kai.

The GE lantern takes four D Duracells in the base canister and lasted the whole 12 hours. However, since I have never even opened the box until the last blackout, the light did seem to have some problems in the beginning and went off on its own. A couple of shakes would bring the light back on. Or it could have been the D-cells that were put in there.

I actually bought two of that Stanley 369 lights from Costco in 2006. They are not very bright but they are lightweight and my son knew how to use it like a flashlight and spread out the pod legs to make it stand.

May I ask if the Energizer 4AA lantern could last the entire night? I do not know whether a fluorescent light lasts longer than LEDs, but I do wish the GE steel lantern to have a low or economy mode. Secondly, I am looking for something smaller and lighter so that the kids can carry them along.

What happened to your collection of the 1-cell lights? I forgot the few that I have and did not bother to look for them. Hanging one on the neck lanyard would be very useful.

With Aloha,

Clarence