Best 'building disaster' light

paulr · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

OK, yes, a light in that situation can be very comforting. Even something like a single LED, but a bigger light probably helps more. I guess 14 hours of good light could be an Arc LS with a 123 inside, maybe a spare loose 123 for normal replacement, and a sealed 5-pack of those 80-cent Lisun 123's tucked away for emergencies. Or for less light, an Arc AAA and a 2-cell or 4-cell shrink wrapped pack of spares would give that much runtime. I guess the weight and cost aren't too bad either way.

2dogs · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Paul your comment about calling out for batteries reminded me one incident in the hours after the quake. Ace hardware had the misfortune if having a store one street off the downtown. A pick head axe makes an impromtu door key. "Hey, someone find some paper so we can tell the owner what we took!"

I was called into the purchasers office every few weeks for over two years explaining purchases. "Bill, you signed for 2000 sheets of 3/4" plywood. What did you do with it?"

2dogs · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Paul I love my Arc AAA. Its my gift of choice for my friends. That and the SF G2 are the only lights I can hold in my teeth without wretching.

John N · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Regarding needing light, I can see a lot of possibilities.

1) Evacuating the building gets a lot more complicated if the building is damaged. This can be for almost any size building. There were stories from the WTC where people were searching for an escape route in the rubble. Along with what 2Dog said, if something happens to the building, you are likely to have trapped people. I would expect people trying to search for these people and move debris in the dark until rescue arrives. I think that >1 hr light is needed in these cases.

2) In our area (earthquake country), you get a quake, you get out ok but you have to hoof it home in the dark with rubble strewn across the landscape.

3) Power is out, but your group needs to keep working due to an emergency. You'll need light.

Admittedly, I think EDC is the key to success in any case. But I don't think it would hurt to include lights (>1hr) in the building emergency kits.

FWIW, my EDC includes bright light (SF M2), medium general task light (E1+KL1), and low, long lasting light (CMG Ultra) and spares for all (on my person). That's 19-38hrs. I have a bugout bag w/more spares (plus Newbeam & Aurora if I have to hoof it home ) + a lot of other stuff. The biggest down side is that it's not clear you'll be able to nab your bugout bag if anything serious happens.

-john

d'mo · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Not to be glib, but I think the best disaster light is the one you're carrying and works when you need it.

PlayboyJoeShmoe · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

It's pretty darn rare that I'm in a building with elevators. Last time was last week at Methodist Hospital, but before that was at least a year at the Harris County Courthouse.

That said, I'm seriously reconsidering my EDC!

Best case I have around 3 hours from my Madmax Mini, and 6-7 hours from my ARC AAA. Maybe I should carry my Opalec Mini and my Infinity Ultra to boost the time factor significantly...

GREAT Discussion!!!!

paulr · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

I think if you have an Arc AAA and a yellow Photon II on your keychain, that will give you 14 hours of some semblance of light, enough to not stumble on stuff in the dark. It's a matter of how much stuff you're willing to lug around all the time. Even if you're willing to carry 3 pounds of emergency stuff, I think you're better off with a .05 pound Arc AAA and 2.95 pounds of first aid gear, drinking water, powerbars, pocket knife, radio, etc. than 3 pounds of flashlights and batteries.

I can see waning a brighter light to check whether a long hallway is clear or something like that, but I wouldn't expect to need long runtime for that (use smaller light most of the time, bigger light when needed once in a while). So a LED light and a Surefire E2 would be a good combination.

Re radios: maybe someone should develop an emergency cellular base station for disaster areas for when the regular cell system is out. It would be generator or 12 volt powered, you'd set it up at the highest available spot, and all outgoing cellular phone calls made in its coverage area would get patched to an emergency dispatcher (who would tell people without emergencies to get off the d*mn phone). That turns every cell phone into a distress radio, and since it could let phones talk to each other, it would let volunteer rescue workers use their cell phones as 2-way tranceivers to coordinate with other workers.

John N · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
I think you're better off with a .05 pound Arc AAA and 2.95 pounds of first aid gear,

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the CMG Ultra was born for this!

-john

paulr · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

So how do you EDC a CMG Ultra (or anything else for that matter)? If I have my belt pack with me, it can carry any reasonable light (it currently has a UKE 2L) but I don't always carry it. I guess I can stick a CMG Ultra in my pocket, but usually wouldn't bother. The only things I reliably carry all the time are my wallet and keys, because I always need them. So all of what I consider my EDC lights (Arc AAA and two Photons II's) are on my key chain.

Note that two Arc AAA's with batteries weigh a little less together than one CMG Ultra with battery, and will have about the same total runtime. An Arc AAA with a spare battery will weigh even less, but then you have the loose battery to figure out how to carry. But I could imagine a flashaholic carrying two Arc AAA's (say white and turquoise) on a key chain without feeling strange about it.

brightnorm · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Out of curiosity I just weighed my "minimalist" EDC:

ARC LS 2nd
E2 (not E2e)
AAA
Photon II
____________________
7oz with batteries.

2dogs, I realize I did you a disservice by not mentioning your ideas along with FC's. It's clear that you speak from experience.

Brightnorm

paulr · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

2dogs and FC's posts are very informative and are great.

Norm, out of curiosity, why is the Arc LS part of your minimal EDC? It's a nice light, but seems caught in the middle between the E2 and the single-LED lights. (7 ounces isn't bad as I'd imagined you carried more lights than that).

I may have asked you this before, but what do you think of the PT Rage compared with the UKE 2L? Or for that matter the UKE 2L compared with the Surefire E2?

I've been thinking that the Rage (which uses four AA's) might be a good companion to the Arc AAA, since the Rage's spent batteries can power the Arc AAA for a pretty long time. While nowhere near as bright as an E2, the Rage still does better than a typical 2D light, so isn't bad.

John N · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
So how do you EDC a CMG Ultra (or anything else for that matter)?

[/ QUOTE ]

I just drop it in my pocket. I take care to unscrew it a little bit extra to avoid accidental activation.

[ QUOTE ]
So all of what I consider my EDC lights (Arc AAA and two Photons II's) are on my key chain.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have too many keys to keep my keys with me all the time so I don't consider anything on my keychain EDC.

[ QUOTE ]

Note that two Arc AAA's with batteries weigh a little less together than one CMG Ultra with battery, and will have about the same total runtime.

[/ QUOTE ]

BTW, I carry the Ultra with a lithium battery for weight savings, and the spare is a lithium as well. This is one of the things that annoys me -- lack of a lithium AAA cell.

-john

John N · May 30, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

[ QUOTE ]
paulr said:
Norm, out of curiosity, why is the Arc LS part of your minimal EDC? It's a nice light, but seems caught in the middle between the E2 and the single-LED lights.

[/ QUOTE ]

I carry a E1+KL1 which is almost the same thing. While I bought this setup just for fun, it turns out to be one of my favorite task lights. It's bright, but a nice, even, white beam. So when the Arc AAA isn't enough light and the M2 (or E2, whatever) is TOO much light, the E1+KL1 turns out to be perfect.

[ QUOTE ]
Or for that matter the UKE 2L compared with the Surefire E2?

[/ QUOTE ]

It seems like the UK 2L would be a very nice EDC emergency light. The E2 has a bit better beam and is a bit sexier, but the UK 2L is a lot cheaper and probably would take more abuse and is more waterpoof to boot.

[ QUOTE ]

I've been thinking that the Rage (which uses four AA's) might be a good companion to the Arc AAA, since the Rage's spent batteries can power the Arc AAA for a pretty long time.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like it might be a good pair. You could also try other matched battery combos:

E2 + L1
AA Mag w/Badboy 400 (anyone willing to drag a UK 4AA?) + CMG Ultra

-john

ResQTech · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

I EDC a SF E2e, LSL-P, and ARC AAA. The great thing about this combo is that i have varying brightness from the single led to the 60 lumen incan, and if i need more battery time, i always have the 2 123's that i can pop out of the E2e and put into the LSL-P for atleast 4 times more run time.
-ERiC

2dogs · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

BNorn no problem. FC is a brother in arms so to speak. He is a current FF, I'm retired 2 years. He is big city, I'm small city. The engines I worked on ran about 1,200 calls/year, 80% medical. FC is defintely more high tech and current, when he posts I listen too. I have some hands on e-quake experience that I will always remember and hopefully can share when needed.

There are many voices of experience here and many people who can see through the BS of advertising and media hype to offer valid advice. I always listen to Charles Bradshaw (in the CAFE), he seems to temper my advice and opinions with thoughful comments. I guess that's why I'm here in the first place, I get tired of listening to myself talk. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

2dogs · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

d'mo you are exactly right. I might add "or the one you can "find"". /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Knives are one of my passions as is camping and hunting. I've met several people over the years who have bought some sort of very expensive "suvival knife" but won't use it for anything because that would detract from its value. What the heck good does it do to spend $500.00 to $1,000.00 on a Rambo knife that you tell people is your survival insurance, that can handle any task, that some expert carries, and then never take it out of the safe? You're right d'mo, it's what you have when you need it.

BentHeadTX · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Problem solved!
Ever see those rather ugly 2D military plastic flashlights with the 90 degree angled head? The ones with the different colored filters in the tailcap? You know, the ones with the crappy bulbs in them?
Elektrolumens is about to release them with a 1W Luxeon, micropuck voltage regulator and Fraen optics. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif It puts out 800 lumens, costs $35 and lasts around 24 hours on 2D batteries. It is very durable and ugly enough to keep from sprouting legs.
Lights go out, grab it and clip to your belt and run. Had a power failure last night that lasted 7 hours, the BB500 and Elektrolumens 5D 5W Cyan came out to play and we had a good time. It would of been nice to have that angle light though, great output and the ability to clip it to my belt to keep my hands free.
The military types in your building would love to see the old dog come back with new Luxeon tricks. I am going to get one to clip up on the wall in my living room for power failures.
Here is the link to the page with pics and explanation
http://elektrolumens.com/AngleLux/AngleLux.html

ResQTech · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

800 lumens eh?

BentHeadTX · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

MTFD,
Oooooops! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ohgeez.gif Not 800 lumens, 800 Lux! Really screwed that one up. I think 800 lumens would be a bit much with a 1,000 people blasting them around in hallways. Sorry about the mixup. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/twak.gif

ResQTech · May 31, 2003

Re: Best \'building disaster\' light

Hehe, it's quite alright.

Best 'building disaster' light

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