Round the House Flashlights

[KC2IXE]

OK Gang,
With all my Preparedness 'stuff" that I do, I realized, I have a flashlight problem - No, not too many - actually, not enough!

Here's the problem. I personally carry my Surefire (e2) and an Arc-LS, and an ARC-aaa. Both cars have flashlights. My son's room usually has a Minimag, my bedroom MAY or MAY not have a minimag (hey, all the mags are from before I knew better), there is a "floater" minimag, and the den has a 3D mag, and the basement a 2D mag

The thing is, I REALLY want to mount a couple of more flashlights in inoccuous places around the house, so that my wife and kids would have something to grab for light when I'm not home

As much as I'd LOVE to mount Surefires or ARC LS lights, the budget does NOT got there

So, what would you buy for a "blackout/emergency" light to hang on a closet wall for energencies?

 

[Whistler]

Opalec New beam for the maglites (AA)!?
A turtlelite II?!

 

[KC2IXE]

Originally posted by Whistler:
Opalec New beam for the maglites (AA)!?
A turtlelite II?!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Nope - That doesn't get me NEW flashlights on a BUDGET - that gets me better existing flashlights. I have to buy 3-4 more flashlights

 

[S4MadMan]

The answer...well there are many answers but this is my answer:

 

[revolvergeek]

Well, for just stashing around the house I bought a bunch of Radio Shack Pocket Flourescents. They will put out enough light to navigate around a pretty big room in the event of a power failure.

Are these just meant to be used for added lighting as needed? If so and you need to stay on a budget I would look at:

1) Princeton Tec Attitude, Impact or Impact2
2) Brinkman Rebel or Long-Life
3) CMG Reactors and put lithiums in them

Of that bunch, the Attitudes are my favorites. Small and light, cheap, waterproof and they will run a very long time on one set of batteries.

 

[shiftd]

infinity? they run on aa and run loooong
how bout energizer led light, this is good for area light though cannot on par with the fluorecent one.
lightwave also a good choice.

 

[pedalinbob]

Charles, i would go LED. they are bright, long running, no bulbs to blow and generally cast a very nice even smooth beam. non-flashaholics tend to like this last attribute.

the only drawback is that they dont throw far, but i dont find this to be a problem around the house.

i have 4 attitudes, an impact 2, inretech adapter, infinity ultra, pal-light onestar, various luxeon converted lights, and a streamlight 3c 10 LED.

all are excellent lights.

i really like the smallness and simpicity of the attitudes. the ultra is my edc.

but for mainly home deployment, i prefer the streamlight. it is not easily lost like the smaller lights, and is VERY bright.

another great light may be the newly revised streamlight 4aa 7 LED. (i will be ordering some soon). should be a little less bright and have less runtime than the 3c, but it is considerably smaller, relatively inexpensive (~$24), and works like a normal flashlight. im sure it is tough and waterproof--a plus with kids around!

as an aside, i showed a friend the 3c (we were looking at his furnace, which is tucked inside a very dark-lightless area) and he was impressed.
to show how tough it is, i threw it down on the bare basement floor quite hard, with no ill effects. it bounced about 3 feet off the floor. i dared him to do it with his 2d mag...he wasnt a taker.

good luck,
Bob

 

[Rothrandir]

well, ideally, a rechargable would be posted in every room and closet. but not many can afford that.

i think it is best to have a light in the hallways and in a room that is somewhere you can't get to another room as easily as another room you could get to from a room more easily accessable (confusing enough?

)

as long as you always carry a couple edc's, you can navigate to the next room.

the main reason to get a rechargable is the permanicity (another new word!), it will always be in the same place (the cradle) if you could manipulate this with other, cheaper lights, then that would be ideal. (at least in my case)

but for now, i don't (can't) worry about it, i live with my parents. when i'm on my own, there will be a tigerlight next to every door and window, and toilet, and bed, and couch, and chair!

(and a maxabeam next to every exterior door)

 

[JoeyL]

I would advise lithium powered light of any kind, just because of the long shelf life.
Arizona Gun Runners has the Surefire nitrolon G2 for 27 or so on their web site under specials. That's a pretty good price and a pretty tough light.

 

[Sigman]

I'm going to vote for the CMG Reactors. Yes I am very much aware of the differences between the Luxeon Stars that are installed in them. But for an inexpensive Luxeon Star powered by two 10 year shelf life lithium batteries and a glow ring on it...It's a nice little emergency torch.

The CMG folks had a "second" special going 2 for $30. They were the first generations without the "stop" when twisting the head to turn on...but hey, as I said - They are emergency torches around my house and in the vehicles.

I'll admit it now - I own 12 (hey they were on sale -> look at my sig!) My power goes out, there's an inexpensive "reliable" torch nearby! (I live in earthquake country ya' know!)

 

[flashfan]

An assortment of Princeton Tec lights. I think the Surge is great (but would be better if it could take long-life lithium AAs). A number of CPF members seem to like the Attitude. One of my favorites is the Rage. It is very compact, bright, and easy to "feed." The price is right, too, so losing one wouldn't be a major disaster. Just my opinion.

 

[Steelwolf]

I would suggest that little Swiss light called, IIRC, Freelight. It is small and relatively unobstrusive and is solar recharged to a lithium-vanadium battery. It runs a single LED and is about as bright as a Arc-AAA, slightly brighter than a Mini-Mag Solitaire. It only starts to look weak after an hour of continous running. The beam is typical 5mm LED type, ie it doesn't throw far nor is it extremely bright, but it is adequately bright, especially in power outage situations. Naturally it would need to be supplemented at some point during the emergency with a bigger light, but you could buy a number of them and hang them around the house. They appear able to recharge on house lighting, so direct sunlight is not necessary. Couple them to a traser keyring, as I've done, and you'll be able to see where your lights are even when the power is out.

 

[Wits' End]

I agree with Steelwolf on the freelight, if you don't mind them hanging around. They can't be left forever in a drawer. Tom Lang, a member here, sells them on ebay--search for solar free light. I'd recomend an LED light that can take AA lithiums for storage. The non-Elite Eternalights can be found somewhat inexpensively. Or check on ebay for a cheap LED flashlight there is one mentioned here http://www.candlepowerforums.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=004358 .
The only difficulty I have is making sure the lights don't get used untill an emergency

 

[Charles Bradshaw]

One flaslight I have that is good for around the house, though it cannot stand on its tail, is the Eveready Comfort Grip:

2 C cells
battery door, instead of screw off head or tail
Wrist lanyard permanently attached (great for hanging from hook or nail)

I put a Versalux PR-2 LED bulb in it, and it is perfect for power outages. Walmart has them, and they are cheap.