TSHTF light kit

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Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2004
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Location
Northern Virginia
This is meant for some serious TSHTF time, as in when the grid goes down with no sign of coming back up.


kit_00.jpg



The contents: Malkoff M60LL in a FiveMega 3xAA body, with AA Lithiums.
Gerber Infinity Ultra, with 1xAA Lithium so it won't melt in the heat. If you have to share a lite, it's a good choice.

12 123 cells
16 Energizer Lithiums AA cells
12 Alkalines
4 Eneloops

The AA and 123 pouches can be worn on the belt.
The 123 cells are for my EDC. My GPS uses AA cells.


kit_02.jpg
 
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I like the Duracell Alkalines in those nice little boxes.

:thumbsup:


One suggestion . . . .

i would put them in a Zip-Lock bag (or two),
just in case one of 'em starts to Leak.

This would contain the problem, without spreading "gunk" all over.


Good Luck, and thanks for starting this thread !

lovecpf
_
 
A Quark (ranges moonlight to turbo) with AA and 16340 bodies would be great.
 
Hold onto that kit. Hopefully, you'll never need to use it. If you do, you'll be glad you kept it.
 
You think? My primary is Surefire 6P clone with Malkoff M60L which has a 4-hour runtime. I have enough cells for 24-hour non-stop light just in that alone. This doesn't even include the moon mode.

The backup to that is FiveMega 3xAA with Malkoff M60LL which can run for days on 3xAA Alkalines, even at reduced lumens. With 3xAA Lithiums, you should get almost a day. I chose it for runtime and also due to the fact you can get AA cells anywhere. It runs very nice on any AA chemistry, including even junk "heavy duty" Carbon-Zinc cells.

The backup to all that is that Gerber Infinity, which should generate 20+ hours on Lithium (shorter than Alk but brighter) I can run it continuously for weeks.

I thought about putting Surefire 9P in it instead of FM 3xAA. 9P can take either 3x123 or 2xAA which is also really flexible and works nicely with M60LL. (Or one of these new M61LL modules)

If that doesn't solve the problem in a TSHTF situation, nothing will. You will probably run out of food / water / gas/ etc. long before you run out of lumens.
 
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Man, that's heavy! That kit is fantastic when the power goes out but if you're doing the bugout/SHTF/TEOWAWKI thing, you probably want to streamline to one battery type and lighten up. It's very easy to have backups for backups for backups on emergency gear and end up with too much stuff to effectively haul around. I mean...you're going to have a fairly sizable backpack or duffel bag with all your other support and survival gear so having another hard case with lighting solutions to carry is going to be a big hindrance unless you're planning on staying stationary.

On my bugout bag, I kept it simple. It started out over 50lbs of gear because I wanted comfortable quantities of backup gear...utility knife, fighting knife, pocket knife, backup pocket knife, two leathermans, shovel, x change of clothes, y quantity of medical supplies, two water purification systems, etc. I've managed to shave my pack weight to 25-30lbs by adopting the "ultralight" mentality used by ultralight hikers, and about 5lbs of that pack weight is a solid week of rations/food. I'm still tinkering to tweak pack weight.

Since I'm fairly new at a lot of this flashlight stuff, I don't have anything top shelf, but I currently pack a Fenix LD20+ which isn't the best/greatest at anything, but its got low, medium, high, SOS, and turbo plus strobe, advertised for 71 hours at the lowest 9 lumen setting and just 2xAA. I have a Maratac single AA as a backup which I'll eventually replace with something that has a longer runtime. I run lithium AA's for weight savings (don't poo poo an ounce or two. It all adds up) and they'll work for sure when I need them/ I carry Eneloops and a Powerfilm 2xAA+USB solar charger.

The powerfilm solar charger folds up to the size of a wallet and its very light. You can lash it on your bag during the day and charge stuff while you're on the move. The USB charger port is good for many electronics like cell phones, GPS (assuming those still work), or morale items like ipods. You can run USB stuff off solar in the day or leave the AAs in the charger and run USB off batteries at night. A small scanner, emergency radio, and an ACR MS-2000 strobe I pack also run off 2xAA's so this will keep me going for a while. Like you mentioned, AA's of all sorts will be the easiest thing to buy/bargain/beg for in an emergency but a recharging solution is self-contained. Since some of your lights use 3xAA, Powerfilm also makes a 4xAA charger without the USB.

Here are the products in question:
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/military-products/military-usb-aa.php
http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/military-products/military-aa-solar-charger.php
 
When the SHTF you won't know who I am because I'll be the only flashaholic using a candle lantern or a Photon Freedom on minimum. Why draw attention to yourself when other (desperate) people may want your stuff, badly?
 
I hear you RE: simplify battery types

I thought about doing it all on just AA, problem is, I really like 6P size and the 6V it delivers. There is really nothing equivalent to that in the AA world. Secondly, I usually run 18650 cell in it and having also extensively run AA NiMH, I think I like 18650 better. They deliver awesome power and are more or less interchangeable with 123s (ie. my 4x123 lite also takes 2x18650)
But I hear you loud and clear - it does tend to get complicated.
Perhaps we shall see a new Malkoff module such as M31LL which would be a good candidate for a 2xAA lite.

Ignore the hard case - it's for storage only, not really for transportation. In an emergency, the two pouches go on the belt. I also have a smaller pouch for only 6x123 cells and that too goes everywhere with me.

I have a few essential devices that run on AA: Garmin GPS, Uniden scanner and a radio. The GPS will run for a day on a set of Lithiums.

Basically, if I run out of 123 cells, I still have an AA based lite that should work. But if you are worried about that, as I said above, Surefire 9P with a low-powered module will run on almost anything: 3x123 or 2xAA.

To be perfectly honest, I have never been in a situation where I needed more runtime. I never needed one of these lites with crazy 100-hour runtime and 3 lumens. I did often wish I had more lumens even with lesser runtime.
 
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carrot said:
When the SHTF you won't know who I am because I'll be the only flashaholic using a candle lantern or a Photon Freedom on minimum. Why draw attention to yourself when other (desperate) people may want your stuff, badly?
Click to expand...


Why do you think I keep Infinity Ultra in there....? Same line of thinking. I even thought about putting a red Ultra in there. You can perhaps navigate a trail or read a map without attracting attention.
 
Having more than one option for cells is probably a better idea. Nothing wrong with both AA and CR123 together in one bag.
 
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Monocrom said:
Having more than one option for cells is probably a better idea. Nothing wrong with both AA and CR123 together in one bag.
Click to expand...

This. You can produce lumens with access to two of the most common battery types around.

I'd throw in a Fenix E01 just for giggles and a wand of some sort for a lantern effect - I've been meaning to pick up a traffic wand from overready.com.

-Trevor
 
I don't think CR123 qualifies as one of "the most common battery types around". Maybe for flashlight folks but there is a particular bias there. If you're scrounging a retail store like a hardware or grocery store for emergency supplies, AA is still king, followed probably by AAA, then C as far as quantity stocked on hand. I've seen CR123s sold at "battery centers" at most retail stores, but usually in a two pack for $10+ by Duracell or Energizer and they only have one hanger of them. Sometimes you'll find them in the photo department. The only place I've seen CR123's plentiful in brick & mortar stores are some higher end sporting goods stores that might have a Surefire display and carry the 12 pack Surefire box or gun stores. One positive thing about this is if it's an emergency rush, most folks are going to clear out the AA, AAA's, etc. Since the vast majority of CR123 consumption is for devices like digital cameras, I don't think most people in emergencies are going to go out and shop for digital camera batteries. Then again, the point of emergency preparedness is having stuff on hand before trouble. A great shopping list in an emergency isn't worth it's weight in gold.

The biggest downside is one you burn through those cells, the light is dead weight. That's just my opinion though on emergency preparation. There are lots of different angles you can come from.
 
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Interesting points you make.
Resupplying via stores is not a part of the plan.. I already have all I will ever need.
 
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