What light would you carry in evacuation from hurricane?

[picard]

I just carry my dereelight, Gladius and 4 X 18650 batteries & 8 CR123 li-iion.

 

[Sinjz]

Something that's water proof. Seriously, anybody here near Gustav's path and evacuating, only carrying ONE light?

 

[Daylo]

If I could take 2 lights they would be my Surefire L1 and Ra Twisty. If I could only take one I guess I would probably choose the Ra with the Pelican case and extra batteries.

 

[kramer5150]

Surefire 6P + DX14442 and an extra DX module as backup, and a Surefire diffuser flip lens.
Fenix E01 + shirt clip

Wrist lanyards for both.

Spare primaries for the 6P, spare Lithium AAA for the E01.

That will cover all bases:
50~180 Lumens throw or flood with the 6P, with backup cells to extend run time.
10 Lumens of smooth flood and long run times with the E01.

 

[popcornpicker]

Bud Light

 

[PayBack]

If I could only take one light it would be my TK11 and my P1D CE.


Hey two is one and one is none right?

And my batterystation Xtreme carrier with 30+ CR123s.

HK USP 45, Mossberg 12 gauge and Mini-30 and ammo, my Cold Steel Tanto, Lifeboat rations, water... ok this could go on forever...

 

[zipplet]

I've never had to think of this because I'm lucky to live somewhere that never gets hurricanes (UK). However I think I'd take (assuming I dont have room to take others):

- Surefire A2. Good combo of flood LED and high intensity incan.
- Fenix L2D-RB100. Mid-range lighting tasks mostly with the ability to go brighter as needed.
- Fenix E01. Long run-time emergency light.
- Surefire L1
- MA02 + box of CR123As + AAs + AAAs

This would satisfy most lighting tasks.

 

[Citivolus]

Five lights stand out in my mind as the "most useful in an emergency" lights for me:

Jet-III Pro Ti & ST, Jet-I Pro EX, LF5XT, L2D

Oh, and an H50 if I could remember where I put the damn thing.

I'd use the Ti & ST until I ran out of 18650's, then fall back to the AA lights.

I got practise last night during a two hour power outage, and both the ST and EX really did prove to be quite useful, especially with an F04 beam diffuser.

Least useful: Anything RCR123/CR123A powered. 18650 beats them with capacity, and AA beats them for "can buy it anywhere" replacement cells, at least in Australia.

To be honest if I wasn't pressed for space I'd probably just grab my container of demo/tester lights, which has one of just about every Fenix, Nitecore, and JETBeam model made in the past year, all with fully charged batteries. It is small enough to not nitpick about wasted space in the car. The Pila IBC would of course come along, using the DC adapter.

Regards,
Eric

 

[sORe-EyEz]

if i am in such a situation, a headlamp (my Streamlight Argo HP, Luxeon) mounted on hardhat or pack strap for floody beam & long batt life. 2 handheld lights, 1 for throw, the other for close-up tasks. loads of batteries.

 

[thermal guy]

An HDS would have to be top on my list.The new twisty is a great light that has taking everything i have thrown at it so far and still works like the day i bought it.Also some of my older hds lights for the way long run times on low.What ever light you chose just make sure it has proved to be absolutely reliable and bring extra cells.

 

[Gatsby]

An interesting question. I live in North Carolina but in the Piedmont - hurricanes are a definite factor where I live but by the time they get here our biggest issue is winds and downed power lines. Not flooding so I am not likely to be evacuated - consequently my hurricane preparations focus more on long running lights that I can put in strategic locations. We get a lot of ice storms as well so something like the NiteIze drop ins for the mini mag and the C/D cell lights is pretty useful for providing an inexpensive and long running light. Lots of lumens is less important.

Anyway - if I were being evacuated and could only take one light it would probably be my Novatac 85P with some spare cells. I can choose a level that will run for something like 45 days IIRC on a primary - so with a few spare cells I've got the best combination of runtime and some oomph if I need it. But I admit that a CR123 based light would make me slightly unsettled - a AA is so much more practical since you can pirate them out of just about anything...

 

[maxspeeds]

Bud Light

I'm more of an import man myself, but you can't go wrong with a few beers. That's for sure!

 

[Art Vandelay]

.

 

[fireboltr]

I would prolly go with my Surefire U2A. witch would cover most lighting tasks from low-low to high.....
Not to mention as many batteries as I could carry.

For backup (redundance) prolly my E1L, or C2 Malkoff, or A2. Dont know I guess were more worried about quakes than hurricanes here in cali.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

If I had to choose one light, it would be the Fenix L2D CE Q5 with the spare P2D body and tailcap. You never know what batteries will be available where you go. It's best to have a light that takes AAs (most produced battery in the world). During disasters, sometimes the AAs are the first to get bought up so it's nice to have a light that takes the hardly used 123A battery. During the Witch fire, I found out quickly that rechargeable batteries are useless in a disaster in the long run. They require you to stay in one place for a while to recharge them (not possible in a disaster that requires moving to a safer evacuation site constantly). They constantly take up space in your car that could be used to save something more valuable. Most rechargeables don't work in adverse weather conditions (cold). During the Witch fire, I think I did take most of my collection of small l.e.d. flashlights. The big ones stayed at home. I also did take my collection of rechargeables and a few chargers. Unfortunetly, I left my Freeplay Radio and Sherpa flashlights at home. A crank radio can really help during an emergency, but if you leave it at home like I did, buy a alkaline battery powered radio. Radios with built in rechargeable batteries are useless. They don't work for about a day and won't be functional at all hours. A Freeplay radio with the solar panel, crank, and A/C charger can be a lifesaver, especially if it has the weather bands and an l.e.d flashlight. Just remember, the best light for the job isn't the best light you own, it's the one you have with you now.

 

[The Sun]

so true. no recharables unsless you will be in the same place for awile. i have all my lights with me now, but i made sure i had a lot of primary CR123's. it didn't really matter if i used 123's, AA's, or AAA's, because where i'm at i had to stay behind while everyone evacuated and absolutely nothing was open. My office stocks both CR123's, AAA's, and AA's so it worked out anyway. but, you have to plan that even though AA's and AAA's are common, in a situation like a hurricane there may be nothing open anyway due to evac. we're gonna get all that we have got at this point as far as gustav goes. but, now they are talking about ike, and T.D. #1 off the coast of africa, so we may have to do this all over again in a week or two, maybe twice...lets hope not. so far i have used a SF E2DL, a LED Lenser T7 (the T7 takes 4xAAA's but both lights to cut through the rain), and 120P the most. i think i will keep all that the same if i gotta do it again with my trusty TK11 on my belt as a backup, and leave the rest in my office if i have to do this again in the near future.

 

[Art Vandelay]

It can be very useful to have a flashlight and rechargeable batteries with a car charger stored in your car. A 72 hour kit would not hurt either. A 72 hour kit should have what you (and those you are responsible for) would need to survive for 72 hours. http://www.dola.state.co.us/dem/public_information/emergency_kit.htm

 

[nitesky]

Driving or walking? Something that uses AA's such as a Mini Mag with Nite Ize module. Maybe a Streamlight 3C TwinTask (with AA adaptors). Those are already in the car in a kit for road trips that go bad, so I might grab that as a starting point and keep the total package light enought to carry. It also has a first aid kit, couple of water bottles, toilet paper, duct tape, etc. Other lights and items are possible, but I would also wonder about items relating to insurance and personal ID such as your social security card and passport. Any thoughts from the group on those last items? I have thankfully never had to evacuate from such an event but it seems you would want that info around.

 

[GPB]

I think a lot of this depends on where you are evacuating to and under what conditions. If you are going to stay with relatives out of town, you lights are just going to be an issue of convenience. If things are a little more uncertain and you don't know where you are going, it makes sense to chose your lights based on your battery supply. If you have other stuff like Walkie Talkies, Camera, AM Radio, etc that run on a particular battery, go with a light that uses the most common type of battery for your collection of gadgets.

Some of the most important stuff you can take with you is information. You certainly want to have a copy of your insurance policy and contact information for your agent or claims office. Its also a good idea to have lots of pictures of your property. When I lived in Florida, I would take a tour of my house with my video camera periodically showing my house, its condition, my appliances, furniture, workshop, etc. Then I would mail it to someone far away for safekeeping. ( they also had copies of my insurance info as well )

Good Luck to everyone who is using this thread as more than an academic excercise.

 

[The Sun]

- nitesky you are correct. we insisted that all evacuee's take i.d. and insurance documentation. good call!!!:thumbsup: