Emergency/Survival Flashlight Challenge

[LightningFox]

Hey guys, I'm a newbie here. :twothumbs
In light of the recent quakes around the world I figure I'd kick things off here with a challenge for everyone:

What's the best emergency/survival flashlight out there?
I figure it must have the following requirements:

- LED (lasts longer, doesn't break)
- Light must have decent enough Lumens for use outdoors
- Runtime/Burntime must last a long time (very important)
- Batteries must be common enough to find anywhere
(like AA, AAA, D. No specialty/hard to find batteries)
- Waterproof
- Shockproof

Bonuses:
- Right-angle shape
- Glow in the dark material
- Special light features (like S.O.S. mode)


I've hunted around and the Pelican 3610PL is as close as I can get to the requirements but I believe is not waterproof, no SOS feature.



What say you?

 

[crizyal]

It has been said that cr123 batteries might actually be easier to find in an emergency because all of the others are purchased right away. Most have no use for cr123s leaving plenty for us flashaholics.:twothumbs

 

[mfm]

It has been said that cr123 batteries might actually be easier to find in an emergency because all of the others are purchased right away. Most have no use for cr123s leaving plenty for us flashaholics.:twothumbs

It depends on the situation and the location:

"During 911 you couldn't find a 123 battery anywhere. There were thousands of AA AAA C's D's available to us." from http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=3082022&postcount=27

Also some LEO wrote that during Katrina, he couldn't use his 123 light but that there were AA batteries everywhere and because of that he had to his old Maglite (don't remember the exact post).

It is probably best to have at least one light for each battery type...

 

[crizyal]

It is probably best to have at least one light for each battery type...

I guess it would be a good idea to have several in a situation like that. I would anyway.:laughing:

 

[lingpau]

This is the easiest question to answer without a seconds hesitation. The Eternalight. Period. Its water resistant, comes with 3 AA lithium batteries that have a long shelf life, are not affected by cold weather and the batteries last more than 1000 hours! I have a Eternalight Elite MAX that has the latest LEDs put in by Eternalight and it can light up from a gentle glow to a blinding floodlight! It has features that make it the perfect Emergency/Survival light. Durable case, magnet on the case for attachment if needed, easy to put in the pocket(small for a 3AA) and just about every type of light function that would be needed.(strobe, SOS, dazzle, 10 dimmable settings, night beacon, etc) This light has never failed me. It is the most reliable light I own.

 

[herulach]

As with anything like that, the best depends on the kind of situation you're in. If you're stuck up a hill, battery availability doesn't matter, and CR123 is better g/w than aa, so in my hiking/biking gear theirs 4 spare cr123s, a smallish throwy (ish) light (seraph with d36 head), and my sc30 with a headband and a H30.

I figure the worst disaster I need to plan for here (central UK) is an extended period with no electricity due to snow/wind. In which case you're best in the house, so its a selection of lights with a lowlow, plus something chunky for 'bump in the night' situations (usually the same seraph as above).

Batteries are in a cupboard, where theres 40 charged eneloops, 20 123s and assorted other sizes for lanterns etc.

In a situation a low-low is a must, with dark adapted vision you should be able to walkreasonably well with 4-5 lumens, if you're indoors, less than 1 is more than adequate for general navigation.

 

[thermal guy]

If it has to be not a 123 type light i think the fenix TK-20 would fit the bill.

 

[USM0083]

I have a Fenix TA30 solely for it's ability to run off of 2xAA in an emergency. I normally feed it with 2x17500, but keep a good supply of CR123s, AAs and L91 AAs on hand.

 

[LightningFox]

Sorry guys, I made an error in terminology:

I meant to say the ideal flashlight's burntime/runtime should last a long time. Not the battery.

For example, I've seen flashlights that advertise 30hr burntime, others 50hr burn time. Under emergency conditions one may not be able to find replacement batteries for a long time so the flashlight should provide a decent amount of lumens for outdoors use, but still retain a long burn time.

 

[John_Galt]

In my thread here: http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=261238

In short, I found that Cr123's were much easier to find than AA's, AAA's; C's or D cells, and 9v's were nowhere to be found.

In short, I found that headlamps were best for using the bathroom, washing dishes, etc, and single and 2 cell lights (AA lithium for me) were best for ceiling bouncing to illuminate rooms while eating, etc.

I personally would keep an emergency stash with plenty of Lithium AA's and AAA's, and several good quality headlamps as well as lego-able lights from Fenix, or Quark. The ability to use a multitude of different cells (including AA in emergencies, at lower power levels) is a god-send.

Also, multimode lights are better (IMHO) than non-regulated, single-mode lights, as expressed in my thread.

I would also recommend only storing Lithium primary cells, in AA,AAA and 123 variants (if your lights require them), because the lithium batteries have a much longer shelf-life than Alkaline, and work better in cold conditions.

My sister was using my Ti Quark AA for the extent of our power outage, and when I asked her how many batteries she had been using, she replied 2-3 per day, in Duracell alkaline's. I gave her a four pack of Energizer lithium's, and got three back by the time the power came back on two days later, so the extra run time from lithium's is worth the extra cost.

 

[carrot]

It depends on the situation and the location:

"During 911 you couldn't find a 123 battery anywhere. There were thousands of AA AAA C's D's available to us." from http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/showpost.php?p=3082022&postcount=27

Also some LEO wrote that during Katrina, he couldn't use his 123 light but that there were AA batteries everywhere and because of that he had to his old Maglite (don't remember the exact post).

It is probably best to have at least one light for each battery type...

Of course, this is the special situation where there's lots of emergency responders, and emergency responders tend to go for Surefires, etc, that use CR123A's, and of course the supply chain forgets this. It is of course, best to have at least one of each...

 

[Lynx_Arc]

you aren't a flashaholic if you want only 1 flashlight and want it to do everything. It is best to have several lights that do half or most of what you want very very well than 1 that does everything mediocre on average. I find having one light that is a good thrower running off 2AAs, a keychain pocket light that has a few modes to extend runtime to at least a few hours, a lantern or two with bright output and long running dim nightlight and a headlamp with a few modes so you can see very well to work or well enough to navigate without draining batteries. As far as batteries are concerned us true hard core flashaholics never want to even consider we would have to *ugh* play the emergency store lottery battery game in a mass outage. We do the following things: stock up on primaries (lithium is a plus), have lights that use rechargeable batteries and get them (nimh LSD a plus) and have alternative ways to charge them using single channel smart chargers (car chargers a plus). For most folks the AA/AAA and 123 cells are the go to, with AA/AAA being more and more chosen due to LSD nimh and smart chargers vs the harder to get and manage rechargeable 123 cells and lights that can use them. D cell lights are less popular because of the improvement of LED emitters are such you can get long enough runtime that a 2AA LED light can surpass the useable runtime of a 2D incan and you can carry another 6AAs and still end up with less mass/weight. As for the very low modes IMO if you have plenty of batteries and a way to recharge them you don't need a super low.... it is very nice but unless you are stuck in an outage lasting more than a few days with no way to recharge cells and short supply of batteries (due to lack of stocking up) having lights with a 15-30 lumen low using a newer emitter does fine and can run all day off one set of batteries.

 

[thermal guy]

Change your battery type to include 123 battery and grab an hds. Problem solved.

 

[LightningFox]

This is the easiest question to answer without a seconds hesitation. The Eternalight. Period. Its water resistant, comes with 3 AA lithium batteries that have a long shelf life, are not affected by cold weather and the batteries last more than 1000 hours! I have a Eternalight Elite MAX that has the latest LEDs put in by Eternalight and it can light up from a gentle glow to a blinding floodlight! It has features that make it the perfect Emergency/Survival light. Durable case, magnet on the case for attachment if needed, easy to put in the pocket(small for a 3AA) and just about every type of light function that would be needed.(strobe, SOS, dazzle, 10 dimmable settings, night beacon, etc) This light has never failed me. It is the most reliable light I own.

I checked out the Eternalight but it's too small. I'm thinking of a solid light you can hold on your hand or hang from the strap of a backpack for hands-free use. What do you think of the Remington 3AAA 2 in 1 LED? I love the lamp function and has a 10hr burntime.

 

[MiniLux]

This is the easiest question to answer without a seconds hesitation. The Eternalight. Period. Its water resistant, comes with 3 AA lithium batteries that have a long shelf life, are not affected by cold weather and the batteries last more than 1000 hours! I have a Eternalight Elite MAX that has the latest LEDs put in by Eternalight and it can light up from a gentle glow to a blinding floodlight! It has features that make it the perfect Emergency/Survival light. Durable case, magnet on the case for attachment if needed, easy to put in the pocket(small for a 3AA) and just about every type of light function that would be needed.(strobe, SOS, dazzle, 10 dimmable settings, night beacon, etc) This light has never failed me. It is the most reliable light I own.

Nice little buddies, bought one of the early models several years ago :twothumbs
Still working, but the LEDs are somewhat outdated as for now :green:
Where can these newer models be found nowadays?
I've searched around, but couldn't locate any dealer :sigh:

MiniLux

 

[NonSenCe]

burntime= runtime?

energizer hard case might be one option for tough angle light.

 

[LightningFox]

Guys, give me some feedback on what you think of the Pelican SabreLite 2010 Recoil LED Photoluminescent Flashlight. I haven't found any info on this flashlight anywhere. How does it stack up against the famous TK-20?

 

[John_Galt]

Change your battery type to include 123 battery and grab an hds. Problem solved.

I'll second this.

I've owned my HDS for about two months now, and use it quite frequently. The modes are very well spaced, output is good (modified with a SSC P4 LED, greater efficiency means more output than the old Luxeon I), and the runtime is excellent. I'm still on my first battery, and it was my go to light when I lost power for four days.

 

[carrot]

Guys, give me some feedback on what you think of the Pelican SabreLite 2010 Recoil LED Photoluminescent Flashlight. I haven't found any info on this flashlight anywhere. How does it stack up against the famous TK-20?

The Sabrelight is unbelievably old tech. I have a similar one, the Pelican Recoil M8. It is a great light but uses ancient technology. Runtime is excellent, and it throws better than many lights that are far brighter. However, that's about all I can say for it, as there's many out there that are brighter, and even some that run longer, such as the Quark AA^2.

Added bonus is the Quark fits in your pocket and on moonlight mode runs for 30 straight days.

 

[Brigadier]

This may get me flamed, but here goes.......


One is looking for a flashlight to PREPARE for emergency situations. YET, one is refusing to PREPARE for said situation by stocking up on batteries. Are you actually going to COUNT on being able to buy batteries for your flashlight(s) AFTER said emergency? :candle:

Given that CR123 primaries can be bought online in bulk at significant savings, and that they have a 10 yr shelf life, I guess I just don't understand not stocking up so that you don't have to worry about getting them after the fact.

Heck, I know of one vendor that even sells them shrinkwrapped in pairs or triples so you KNOW you wont be mixing old and new cells.

So why exclude some of the best lights out there because they take cR123's? Why limit your choice.

That said, my light would be my Jet-III M. I can quickly adjust the user level to whatever I want to suit my needs at the moment. I have 4 ea 18650's that I use for it, and can even recharge them in my car, but I also have 50+ Titanium CR123's on hand at any given time.

Oh, and since two is one and one is none, I also have 2 ea 85T's, and RRT-1, 2 ea 6P's, an M2, a P3D CE,....... to use too.

YMMV.