Yea! Power Outage!! Lights that work...

Wow! Finally! A big tree took out the power lines in the neighborhood and PGE is estimating TWO days without power!! Yippee!

So as darkness fell I started to gather the lights that I thought would be useful. These are/were the lights available to me currently.

Flashlight Selection for 2-night power outage (runtime in parenthesis)
Fenix L1P 2.0 1AA (4 Hrs)
Fenix L2P w/2stage mod and fully charged NiHMs 2AA (4 to 40 Hrs regulated)
Petzl Tikka Headlamp 3AAA (40 to 80 Hrs to 50% with 3-levels)
Petzl Tikka XP Headlamp 3AAA (40 to 80 Hrs to 50% with 3-levels)
OSRAM Golden Dragon Lantern 4AA (25 to 100 Hrs unverified??)
River Rock Lantern 4AA ( ?? Hrs )
SL 4AA PP Luxeon (5 Hrs Regulated)
Uk 4AA eLED (19+ Hrs Regulated)
Arc AAA (???)
Arc AA (9 Hrs)
Pak-Lite Super 9v Lithium (80 to 1200 Hrs)
SMJLED in 2AA Minimag 2AA Lithium (36+ Hrs to 50%)
Eternalight EliteMax CPF Edition 3AA Lithium (6 to 1400 Hrs)
Ethernalight Marine 3AA Lithium (6 to 1400 Hrs)
Tiger11 (1/2 Hrs)
MiniTrois 4AA NiMHs (1 hour)

I grabbed my new waterproof emergency Otter case (on sale at batterystation) and pulled out two Tikka headlamps (loaded with lithium AAAs) one Fenix L1P 2.0 loaded, one loaded MiniMag with SMJLED, one Pak-Lite Super lithium and 8 Energizer L91 Lithium AA batteries. I started out by slapping on Tikka XP headlamp in flood mode and finding my Golden Dragon lantern, which I set on low and hung above eye-level. This worked very well.

Next I put the Pak-Lite on the fridge and left it there all night on low. Only another 1190 hours of runtime left, sheesh. I placed the Marine on the 300hr runtime level which lit up the livingroom for navigating. Then I set the SMJLED in the bedroom. All of these three lights were ceiling bounced for nav-lighting. I experimented in the hall with an Arc AAA but it died around 5hrs which was a surprise so I will test it again tonight with a new battery but I think the hall could use another Pak-Lite on low.

Next I put at least one light next to each of the ambient running flashlights. This included the Arc AA, Groovy! and L1P in the bedroom, SL 4AA PP Luxeon in the Kitchen and L2P in the livingroom. The hall just had the Arc AAA. I also have a Tiger74 in the bedroom and a MiniTrois in the livingroom. I eventually bought a RR Lantern from JimH when I borrowed his 1K generator around 10PM. Big Cheers to our CPF'r and friend Jim!!! Although he was sooo jealous that he didn't have a power outage too since we're about a mile apart LOL. The RR Lantern ended up in the bedroom and did an effective job.

I ended up walking around the neighborhood to see if anyone needed a flashlight, but most were well prepared.

So after Night-1 here is my observations
I liked the EliteMax, which surpised me because I hadn't cared too much for the Eternalights. I set the EliteMax on the bright unregulated 4th setting which is good for 140hrs of runtime. This light performed really well. It was easy and comfortable to pocket carry and it was a nice feeling knowing that it would run a very long time. It just didn't tail stand easily.

The Arc AAA pooped out to my surprise. Maybe it was a dead battery so we'll give it another chance tonight, maybe.

The Pak-Lite Super, rawked! :rock: This thing was really bright on high with an 80hr runtime!! On low 1200hr runtime it did a great job of making the area easy to navigate. It tailstands like a rock and takes up very little space to store in the Otter case. :twothumbs: Two thumbs way up for the Pak-Lite Super Lithium. I went online and ordered 3 more last night and I'll give one to JimH since he doesn't have one, another surprise.

My wife seems to like the L1P 2.0 as it's all I've seen her use so far. I guess it's easy to use, bright and tail stands without much thought.

I also took a liking to the Fenix L2P with 2-stage mod. Lots of runtime and really lights up a room on high with the 2-NiMHs getting 4hrs of full regulation at 800 LUX.

I also realized I needed a thrower and that's where the SL 4AA PP Luxeon really ehem, shined. This is one sweet light. Lots of output and a great medium thrower with 3000 regulated LUX and 4hrs of runtime. Not the best tailstander though.

The MiniTrois was also a great thrower at 7000 LUX but until I get that FatFlex from George80, it will get only 1hr runtime at best.

The Tiger11 and the SL 4AA PP Luxeon worked really well together while doing the neighborhood watch patrol. 500 Lumens is a real attention getter. :naughty:

So if I could have a couple of Fenix L1P 2.0 and modded 2-stage L2P's along with a couple of SL 4AA PP Luxeons, a couple of Pak-Lite Supers or Eternalights and of course a couple of TacTikka Plus headlamps which are a must, I would be ready for pretty much anything. Also it's a good idea to have a few tail standing AA lights and headlamps for the neighbors.

I'll keep an ongoing update while the outage lasts.

PS I surf CPF on my phone while standing in line at Starbucks and sometime I use it as a modem for my laptop. That's how I'm able to post this right now

...

nice read.

I am especially interested in all-night-lights. like the paklites and lanterns.


just had a short intense storm here in Indiana, which reminds me that I need to get my bugout kit packed up again. got plenty of flashlights

I get power outages all the time in Turkey though they only last 30 minutes to 8 hours. The lights I use are my family's "bike lights" or Aurora 2AA Jupiter lights. Roll the bikes in and fire them all up and bounce light around. They run about 3 hours on a set of rechargables and usually my sons shut all of them off but one and take the batteries out for the L1P lights.
I then remove the Fenix L1Ps from my helmet and electric bike and fire them at the ceiling in our bedrooms. My wife grabs her Peak AA brass 5 LED light to walk around with my boys using the L1Ps. Pull my Mediterranean out of the holster and go get my nFlex LuxeonV Mag out and set it to the lowest setting for the living room. Sometimes I remove the head and put it on level 2 for 20 hours of runtime in flood mode.
If we are faced with a 2-day outage, our plan is the nFlex LuxeonV in flood mode level 2. The cameras, 4AA bike light, CD players and other devices will get raided for their 16 AA batteries to feed the L1Ps. I'll thow in my Matterhorn, Arc AA and X5 if need be if the outage goes longer.
I cheat though, the looooong running lights are generally not used since work is only a mile away. They have backup power generators and I can charge AA batteries 24 at a time in two hours. In my desk is were I keep my lithium AA and lithium AAA cells and have 4 to 6 spare NiMH AA batteries laying around.
When I was in Texas, the Arc AA was the light of choice during power failures... I think L1P lights would be perfect with the 10 ohm two-stage switch for two nights worth of power failure.
In 17 months I return to the states with power failures fresh on my mind. The Pak-lite Lithium 9 volt lights seem to be the perfect lights for power failures. I can mount one in each room since my sons "borrow" flashlights and seem to lose them. Maybe throw a Peak AA single 5mm snow LED light on lanyards and hang them off the wall... those things run a loooooong time on a single AA.
The nFlex 8AA LuxeonV Mag sips 35mA of current on eight lithium AA cells on it's lowest level. Considering they have 2900mAH of capacity, this equates to 80 hours of runtime or enough for two weeks of use (6 hours per day) My next light is a BAM 4 K2 Luxeon light with the low pulling only 120mA from a 7.2V battery pack. This would make a great backup light to the nFlex.
Your post got me thinking about longer range power failures... I should look into the LED lantern thing when I get back across the pond. The main thing is to keep a store of lithium cells to ensure when needed, you have the power to run everything for a long time.

Yes, the nFlex in a mag with a 5watt is good long runtime flashlight.

Well we have the power back on and I'm just putting the house back in order. I have a lot to update in this thread and some surpises on my final light choices and why. Stay tuned

.

I'm more impressed at how you typed such a long post on a PHONE browser! Which one do you use, btw? Good story...

This is an important and interesting topic. I think we sometimes forget about the need for long duration lighting. I do have a few LED lanterns (too cheap) and several old Lightwave 4000 lights. I've never really tested their runtimes. I will look into the Eternalite's and similar lights. Look forward to hearing other ideas etc.

fieldops said:

This is an important and interesting topic. I think we sometimes forget about the need for long duration lighting.
.
.
Look forward to hearing other ideas etc.

Click to expand...

As a big gun collector (Costco HID, X990, USL, custom 50w HID, Havis Shield, etc, etc) my disaster (mainly earthquake) preparedness program could be no less. After all, my motto has always been "anything worth doing is worth overdoing"

Lighting:
- 3 gas Coleman lanterns & plenty of propane canisters
- half a dozen each LED and flourescent lanterns
- more flashlights (LED and incan) than I can count
- all of my normal 110v table and work lamps

Power:
- 3 deep cycle Marine batteries (~ 110 Ah each)
- 3 SLA car jumper type battery kits (12 Ah each)
- 7 Ah batteries in each of half a dozen Thors
- mucho primary flashlight batteries (including a minimum of 50 CR123's)
- mucho rechargeable NiMh and Li-ion batteries
- all sorts of battery chargers and inverters (up to 1 kw)
- 1 kw Honda generator with minimum 2 gal gas on hand (I wouldn't want to miss that 49ers game on TV just 'cause the power went out -)

Cooking:
- travel type 2 burner gas grill and 2 20lb tanks of propane
- 700w microwave that will run off the generator

Cold storage:
- spare refrigerator that auto switches from electricity to propane
- half size chest type freezer (mostly full) - cold air stays in when you open the lid

There's a lot more, but that covers the really important stuff.

CromagNet said:

Although he [JimH] was sooo jealous that he didn't have a power outage too since we're about a mile apart LOL.

Click to expand...

Now you can understand Tony's comment about me being jealous . I guess what they say is true - the chances of having a power outage are inversely proportional to how prepared you are for it.

I also have a good deal of disaster preparedness gear like JimH. Its the small flashlights with really long runtimes (over 100 hours)that I have not thought of extensively. I just have used single or 4 LED clusters in kits I have designed for emergency response (mostly for communications). I agree 100% on the mucho primary lithiums (50+). JimH has done a great job. I wish more people would prepare, but they don't. Even after 2 years of Hurricanes in FL, I still remember seeing people on TV lined up at Lowes or depot for flashlights.
If they didn't have flashlights by that time, they get no sympathy from me

In the past I built little 1-2 led lights for use on 9v batts with a resistor. Got 5 days of useful light out of them (one 1 led). Slight dim after 24 hrs, more at 48. Always good to have some around. gave them out to friends and co-workers during hurricane season two years ago. Some actually got use (and compliments/thanks) during power outages.
I feel you an get buy with a minimum of throwers but for dark enviroment with no ambient lighting long running leds will be of most use for indoors.

liteboy: I used my phone as a modem for my laptop which had a full battery. I can also hook it up in the car and surf all I want since the phone gets recharged with the USB. It's a bit slow but it works fine

Here are my observations ad nausium :green: Please do add your two cents so we get as many views as we can.

The UK 4AA eLED lights up a room about the same as a modded EternaLight ErgoMarine with 26K LEDs or the EliteMax CPF edition on #2 or #3 setting. The Eternalights however are far more versatile and use 3AA instead of 4AA. Amazingly the Pak-Lite Super 9v is in the same output category, being just a bit lower output than the UK4AA but runs about 40 hours to 50% on high where the UK does about 19 hours of regulated light, just like the EliteMax on levels 1,2 & 3 with level 1 having noticably higher output than the UK but running for about 10hours. It will be nice to try the 4-die 5mm LEDs in the EliteMax when EternaLight has them available, which will be very soon. Should add another level of higher output.

The Fenix L2P is a little brighter than the highest level #1 on the EliteMax CPF. The L2P however runs about 5 hours regulated compared to 10 for the EliteMax CPF.

Having experienced all these I didn't find the UK4AA eLED to have enough output for a decent ceiling bounce and definately not much use outdoors with ambient light polution. I really appreciated the highest level on the EternaLight EliteMax CPF Edition which had that extra punch of lumens over the UK4AA when needed. Having the ability to drop down to the lower levels for just the right amount of light for conserving battery life, make it an excellent, real-world power-outage light. I hung it in the hall on a very low setting as a nightlight, slid it in my pocket to investigate the hugh tree that took out the powerlines down the street and ceiling bounced it in the dining room as a reasonable area light.

The Eternalights aren't the best at tailstanding but they're not as bad as a Minimag, UK4AA eLED or even the SL 4AA PP Luxeon. Speaking of which, the ProPoly Luxeon was a great performer for throw as I used the 3000 regulated LUX to run a security check down my street. It pierced the night like a lightsaber and exposed all the dark corners and bushes around my neigbors homes. It's an excellent light and a perfect inexpensive, medium range thrower for a power-outage. I keep it in the car with my earthquake kit.

I was so impressed with the little Pak-Lite Super. When it came to having an indoor job to do it really, ehem, shined. I used it on low as a nightlight on top of the fridge. It lit up the kitchen wit enough light to navigate. If I needed more light it was easy to grab and switch to high for a lot brighter kitchen. I could even take it for a look through the garage to find some stored springwater jugs. The high level has a surprisin amount of useful light. And with runtimes to 50% of about 40-hours on high and 600+ on low, I didn't really think much about battery life. It is also waterproof and takes up very little room when stored. The new Pak-Lite Super is an excellent power-outage light.

The Fenix L1P 2.0 has more throw, smoother beam and definately more output than the UK4AA. It throws about 70ft compared to 45ft for the UK. Using a single L91 AA battery I would estimate the runtime at least 5-hours to 50%. So that's similar runtime to the UK4AA if you add up 4AAs for the Fenix. It's good EDC size, easy clicky operation and easy tailstanding make it a good power-outage light for n00bs. In fact, it was the light my wife comandeered for her needs throughout the 48hr outage.

I managed to get the two lanterns some use during this time. The Osram Golden Dragon and the River Rock Lantern. If the claims are true about the 100hr runtime on low and 25hrs on high, then this lantern is a big winner. Both lanterns a pretty small but not small enough to have in a B.O.B. IMHO, so I think they stand sentinal on the Flashaholic display shelf until called for duty. The Osram's low level was used more often since it was just a bit lower in output when compared to the high level. I doubt it is a regulated lantern since they claim 100hrs runtime. The high level is similar to the UK 4AA eLED in output. I moved it around and it saw use in the bedroom, den and kitchen while the RR Lantern got to see the livingroom pretty much, since it output more light than the Osram. I think it has 8-hours of regulated output which I would like to test and verify. The thing about these is that you either want to place them way above eye level like on top of the fridge or tall furniture, or you want to place them on the ground since their eye-level glare can be distracting. They perform well with careful placement.

Then there were the unsung heros... the headlamps. I used the Petzl Tikka XP and the Tikka as well as a 35k modded old energizer 3AAA and the new 2AAA River Rock. I kept the Energizer and River Rock headlamps for a potential neighbor-in-need, even though they did the job done well. The simple Tikka 3LED that I won at our CPF Get-together raffle was excellent for ease of mobility and hands free operation. The Tikka XP was also excellent with the diffused flood mode or even the spot mode. Both lights almost gave the sense that there was no light outage because they were so comfortable and had soft smooth flood. With runtimes to 50% of 40 to 80 hours and their compact single strap design, these lights are real winners for a power outage. I am waiting for the new 80% brighter Petzl Zipka Plus and the new 80% brighter Petzl TacTikka Plus to be out in a couple of months at which time I'll get them both and relegate the XP to the XP and 3LED to the cars along with the Ghost II which is also a great power-outage and give-away light. I also tried my Aleph A19 with 5w BB400 using a single R123 and 2-stage tail, and it was a fantastic light. It put out a lot of lumens on high and a lot on low but it suffered in runtime and the use of LiON rechargables, which can actually be a plus since I can recharge them in my car but 45-minutes on high and 2-hours on low is not what you want for extended power failures.

It will be nice when they improve the output and efficacy of LEDs so all these lights get improvements like the EliteMax CPF edition and the new Petzl headlamps which will definately happen. Until then, these light operated very well in this power-outage and any to come in the not too distant future.

::Small Flashlight Category::

Excellent lights for extended power-outage use: (all lights with lithium batteries)

Pak-Lite Super 9V Lithium
EternaLight EliteMax CPF Edition 3AA
Fenix L1P 2.0 1AA (L1P 2.5 with 2-stage resistor mod is even better)
Fenix L2P 2AA (with 2-stage resistor mod is even better)
Streamlight 4AA ProPolymer Luxeon
Petzl Tikka Plus 3AAA (New TacTikka Plus with 80% power coming 03/06)

Good lights to lend out or give away during disaster:
River Rock 2AAA Headlamp
Ghost II 1AA
Pak-Lite 9V


PS I'm working on getting a bunch of accurate runtime tests to firm up these figures. I already have LUX readings for all of these if anyone is interested.

.

So I guess no one uses candles anymore then.

You know I remember the days when the only use of a flashlight was to find the candles and matches before the batteries went flat. Actually, they were usually flat to start with so you had to find the candles quickly.

I have used the LED candles from http://www.ledtronics.com for providing enough light to find my way around a room. The web site indicates 27 DAYS of runtime from 2 AA batteries! I have several of the AAA and AA candles and they do simulate DIM flickering candles (when in their frosted glass/plastic holders).

I tend to use Milky Candles, of course, powered off everything from 1x123, 2x123, 4AA, on through 6V lantern batteries... the latter capable of running continuously (day and night, never turned off) for at least 9 months, fully regulated, heh heh.

Anyway, although the above it true, the sales pitch is a tease! Sorry, couldn't resist. I also use those Energizer single D cell LED lamps that Target was selling last summer... they came in a 4-pack, if memory serves... those seem to last a very long time, look nice, and can sit on any flat surface or hang from a hook. I think they're weatherproof, too, although I've never used 'em outdoors.

Another good candidate might be the River Rock 2C light that Target sells... guessing it would run for 8-10 hours or so, and has a flat base for tail standing.

Whoever above said so is right: long runtime IS a useful trait in a light that we sometimes forget about around here... but as soon as the power goes off, you quickly remember!