Joe Talmadge
Flashlight Enthusiast
Okay, admit it -- you guys all hope they'll be a blackout in your neighborhood, so you can break out your flashlights and be a hero. Go ahead, you can admit it to me, I share your affliction.
We had a blackout last night, it lasted only about an hour, but it gave me an opportunity to see what lights worked for me.
Here's my situation: it happened right while we were fixing dinner. I have a 1-year-old and 3-year-old, and it's important they get fed, or there's BIG TROUBLE around here! So, we're all in the kitchen, we lose power, so now I can only boil or fry things on the gas stove. Because of the babies, and because my wife and I are both cooking, it's important that there's a reasonable amount of light -- much more than needed for a bachelor or even an older family.
Since I don't know how long the blackout will last, one thing I know is that I won't be breaking out my Surefires. Instead, I take stock of other lights that are bright enough to be useful: Arc LS (given to the 3-year-old), Eternalite (nice brightness and runtime even at highest setting), UKE 2L (best brightness, and acceptable runtime during cooking chores), a Princeton Tec Blast, PT Rage, and UKE 2xAAA. We ran all of these at the same time, to keep things bright enough in the kitchen and keep the kids from freaking.
Things I learned:
- I thought in this situation I'd be carrying the Arc LS. You know what? It's guaranteed the 3-year-old will demand the coolest flashlight. Better have a good second-coolest light, and plan for that to be your main light.
- I could have really used a headlamp (I was cooking, constantly doing things with 2 hands). Even a small light clipped to a baseball cap would've been a fine solution. The headlamp doesn't have to be bright, but given the fact that I have young kids, I need a headlamp of at least Arc AAA brightness. I may be that 1AAA single LED cliplight that just showed up on Glowbug, that someone pointed out on the LED forum.
- I could have used a lantern. This may be just the excuse I need to buy that 4AA CCFL/LED/Incandescent jobbie you guys have been giving good reviews for.
- This is the perfect time to convince your SO that she should be carrying a flashlight at all times. My wife picked the 4-AAA Princeton Tec (the Blast or the Rage, whichever is 4-AAA), and I feel good about it.
Joe
We had a blackout last night, it lasted only about an hour, but it gave me an opportunity to see what lights worked for me.
Here's my situation: it happened right while we were fixing dinner. I have a 1-year-old and 3-year-old, and it's important they get fed, or there's BIG TROUBLE around here! So, we're all in the kitchen, we lose power, so now I can only boil or fry things on the gas stove. Because of the babies, and because my wife and I are both cooking, it's important that there's a reasonable amount of light -- much more than needed for a bachelor or even an older family.
Since I don't know how long the blackout will last, one thing I know is that I won't be breaking out my Surefires. Instead, I take stock of other lights that are bright enough to be useful: Arc LS (given to the 3-year-old), Eternalite (nice brightness and runtime even at highest setting), UKE 2L (best brightness, and acceptable runtime during cooking chores), a Princeton Tec Blast, PT Rage, and UKE 2xAAA. We ran all of these at the same time, to keep things bright enough in the kitchen and keep the kids from freaking.
Things I learned:
- I thought in this situation I'd be carrying the Arc LS. You know what? It's guaranteed the 3-year-old will demand the coolest flashlight. Better have a good second-coolest light, and plan for that to be your main light.
- I could have really used a headlamp (I was cooking, constantly doing things with 2 hands). Even a small light clipped to a baseball cap would've been a fine solution. The headlamp doesn't have to be bright, but given the fact that I have young kids, I need a headlamp of at least Arc AAA brightness. I may be that 1AAA single LED cliplight that just showed up on Glowbug, that someone pointed out on the LED forum.
- I could have used a lantern. This may be just the excuse I need to buy that 4AA CCFL/LED/Incandescent jobbie you guys have been giving good reviews for.
- This is the perfect time to convince your SO that she should be carrying a flashlight at all times. My wife picked the 4-AAA Princeton Tec (the Blast or the Rage, whichever is 4-AAA), and I feel good about it.
Joe