The ultimate flashlight test.

[waddup]

We've had some wicked wind and rain and storms here in nor cal recently, lots of trees down and power outages where i live deep in the woods.

48 hours with no electricity and 2 kids, deep in pitch dark woods puts flashlight requirements into a whole different ballpark.

any doubt i had about spending money and buying more then a few lights in the last 12 months has completely vanished.






:candle:

 

[Dioni]

At this time we like the primaries!

I hope all is well...

 

[Jvalera]

sounds like fun, at least at night..

 

[Magic Matt]

At this time we like the primaries!

I hope all is well...

As long as the rechargables are already charged, they'd last longer in most cases than primaries.

Primaries are for when you've run out of rechargables. LOL!

 

[Dances with Flashlight]

Let's see - fire, the wheel, disposable diapers... and FLASHLIGHTS! Not so sure about the order.

Your storms are heading our way so you may have some relief before too long. Glad you had the bases covered.

 

[waddup]

sounds like fun, at least at night..

it was, :p

pitch dark from 6pm - 7am. :party:

watching my family navigate effortlessly about the cabin, bathing, cooking, playing, homework etc etc

leds everywhere :clap:


i was leik :grin2:

 

[T0RN4D0]

Which reminds me, i have to buy some more AA lights... Only have li-ion rechargables left on me.

 

[kramer5150]

:twothumbs Yeah you just can't beat the efficiency of LEDs.
I just recharged ALL my 18650 cells. They all have relatively low self discharge characteristics, so I'm not worried about that since I top them off once a month out of habit. They'll drop down too about ~4.1V after a month of inactivity, but I try to use them regularly.

I have an old 10AH SLA battery, thats still good for about 60% of that. My DSL modem runs at 13V / .7A. That paired with my laptop batteries, and I can surf CPF for ~9 hours when the grid goes down.;) I gotta get one of those smart-phones for www backup... "one is none and 2 is one".

The national weather service issued a tornado warning yesterday afternoon... here in San Jose!!

 

[waddup]

i need a case like that ^ for all my batteries.:twothumbs

*off to home depot in the AM*

 

[Dioni]

As long as the rechargables are already charged, they'd last longer in most cases than primaries.

Primaries are for when you've run out of rechargables. LOL!

Really, but how many tons of rechargeable batteries do you have? and when run out it? I said it but I dont have any primary in home... :p :candle:

 

[abladeafficionado]

Is it just me or whenever the power goes out do you guys have your EDC on within a maximum of 5 seconds. The moment the blackout hits my light is drawn and on in low mode. :D
Blackouts make me proud to be a flashaholic. :D

 

[Magic Matt]

Really, but how many tons of rechargeable batteries do you have? and when run out it? I said it but I dont have any primary in home... :p :candle:

I have enough rechargables to power lighting solutions in 3 rooms (a bedroom, the lounge, and the kitchen usually) at a low but comfortable brightness for about 48 hours (almost 10 days worth @ 4-5 hours per day). A couple of lights I have claim to run for 200 hours on 4-AAs but they're not very bright at all (more a night light sort of brightness).

....not that it stops me buying more! :D

 

[DuncanHynes]

Yeah, if I changed jeans and my EDC isn't in the right pocket, I'm sitting in front of my computer anyway at home, there is a JetBeam MKII old school LuxeonIII always in the same spot with a deep blue tritium vial glowing--from there it's a matter of getting whichever light suits my fancy and who else needs one. I think that was a nasty run-on sentence. :popcorn: I don't have 30 SureFires like you tools do, but I'm slowly working up a Fenix/JetBeam/NiteCore/Malkoff collection. Maybe will give Zebra a chance too.

 

[DuncanHynes]

Oh yeah, forgot, other day I got at Low*s at RaoVac tent camping light of sorts, runs on 3 or 4 D's. Claims 300 lumens but I'm sure that's at the emitter. I'll have to try it out and see if it will be a worthy blackout room lighter. Was only $23 and I had a gift/store credit card...

 

[fisk-king]

Is it just me or whenever the power goes out do you guys have your EDC on within a maximum of 5 seconds. The moment the blackout hits my light is drawn and on in low mode. :D
Blackouts make me proud to be a flashaholic. :D

we haven't had a good blackout since last summer:sick:. But myself and another employee were in the middle of our dam's spillway tunnel (F.Y.I. - submerged tunnel within a dam which connects the powerhouse and the lock) operating the spill gates when the lights suddenly went out. Instead of whipping out my Quark tact. neut. aa-2 I sat patiently on the bicycle ( pretty big dam) while I listened to my co-worker search for his Rayovac 1-aa light. After a min. or 2 of giggling from listening to him curse in the dark, I finally brought it out.

 

[Stress_Test]

we haven't had a good blackout since last summer:sick:. But myself and another employee were in the middle of our dam's spillway tunnel (F.Y.I. - submerged tunnel within a dam which connects the powerhouse and the lock) operating the spill gates when the lights suddenly went out. Instead of whipping out my Quark tact. neut. aa-2 I sat patiently on the bicycle ( pretty big dam) while I listened to my co-worker search for his Rayovac 1-aa light. After a min. or 2 of giggling from listening to him curse in the dark, I finally brought it out.

Quote:
Originally Posted by abladeafficionado
Is it just me or whenever the power goes out do you guys have your EDC on within a maximum of 5 seconds. The moment the blackout hits my light is drawn and on in low mode. :D
Blackouts make me proud to be a flashaholic. :D

Yeah, you gotta wait a bit first like Fisk-King did. If you're with other people and you click on your light as soon as the lights blink off, they'll all go "You're weird!!"

But if you wait and leave everyone in the dark until fear and panic take hold, THEN click on the light, it'll be: "We're SAVED!!" :devil:

 

[nfetterly]

About 15 months ago I checked into Halifax airport Hilton Garden Inn - 2 lessons learned during a power failure; 1. Preregistration - electronic keys were premade & worked 2. "high floor & away from elevator" not the best specifications for room selection I had my new McGizmo EN Al Mule - it sat on the bar tap & lit up the bar area (after Hilton supplied sandwches & salads - at no charge, could not have been better treated) through 3 or 4 AW 16340s - airplane mtce guys were amazed by my (higher end) light. Mules great for a power failure.