In the middle of a Blackout right now.

tebore

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May 10, 2006
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Toronto, Ontario. CAN.
So the power is out at my house right now, it's actually out for my block.
Started at around 4PM, I get a call at work from my mother that the power is out so I tell her to head up to my room and grab some lights. She tells me she's already got them, I get back at around 6 and we end up eating dinner luminated with a L2P doing a ceiling bounce.

Everyone at home right now is carrying a light that's been modified with PR SMJLEDs.

You guy really have my addicted, first thing I did after dinner was do this post. (My computer equipment is backed up by 2 APC Units each able of providing 1.2kWh with 2 extra batteries. I have to be good for about a day if I'm just using my laptop).

What do you guys do during blackouts?
 

NutSAK

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3rd stone from the Sun
I don't have any blackouts. :( I've lived in this house for 7 years, and I'll bet the power hasn't been off for more than a total of 30 minutes.
 

kc2ouf

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Staten Island, NY
...And to think that during the blackout of 2003 I was at work and didn't have a flashlight with me when our generator failed.:mad:
 

marxs

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Philippines
i had a blackout a couple weeks ago when typhoon milenyo hit. first thing i did was grab my lights and play with them indoors. after i got bored, i went outdoors in complete darkness and started comparing throw, tint, flood coverage and usefullness. i like doing this stuff, so sue me.

mark
 

tebore

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Toronto, Ontario. CAN.
I would do some throw tests but man oh man I'm surrounded by other houses. Don't think my neighbours would light a white beam being blasted in their windows.
 

marxs

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try picking a target like a tree or cars down the road. thats good at simulating actual usefullness at the testing distance as well.

mark
 

tebore

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Toronto, Ontario. CAN.
Can't even do that outside. The area is full of cops right now because all the street lights are out and they are directing traffic. Sorta sucks to be living so close to downtown.
 

Glock40

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Kentucky
I was so ticked off the other day. I was off for two weeks and my first night back to work he power went off due to a storm. It was off for about 3 hours according to the neighbors. Never goes out when i am home.
 

marxs

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oh that sucks. well at least you have all the free time for white wall hunting and doind ceiling bounce tests!

mark
 

Art Vandelay

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Mar 13, 2006
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Hmmm. If you were looking for a cat, I suppose you could shine your lights up some tall trees.:)
 

Illum

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Apr 29, 2006
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Central Florida, USA
no total blackouts, but the power cant be used, it literally blinks, on off on off on off on off....what a great way to make surge currents, so turn off all appliances, unplug the TV, VCR, and a table lamp, run them off the 400W inverter running on a jumpstarter....watch a movie

10 years living here no blackout have ever lasted more than 20 seconds:rant:
the electricals have been too well done around here :rant:, sounds like a perfect opportunity to sabotage....throw a roll of aluminum foil between the contact knockers of the peripheral grid transformer :devil:

only kidding:grin2:
 

Lee1959

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Michigan
My wife and I read, something we both enjoy a lot, or play games or cards together using our lanterns or headlamps.
 

Hogokansatsukan

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Tucson
Last real power outage for me was 1995 Kobe, Japan. Spent the time digging people out of what was left of thier homes. Kinda sucked. What sucked more was all that I had was a minimag. Soon afterwards I got my first 6P then a 9P then a...
 

WNG

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Arrid Zone-Ah, USA
Happens often where I live. Mostly local to several blocks. black outs and brown outs for 1-6 hours, 10-20X a year. Brown outs are the worst as equipment gets damaged, and once the overload on the compressor of the fridge broke and food spoiled while I was on vacation. It smelled like a dead corpse in the place, with meat blood spilling from the freezer. It has become more of a hassle than flashaholic fun.
Only one time this past year where it was cool to lose power. I just got back from vacation, and a Nuwai light I ordered was in the mail box. I was at my desk unwrapping it, and installing batteries. I turn it on, and pop, the sound of the transformer tripping outside and the buildings go dark. I chuckled, and thought "What good timing!"
I got to beam test it, used it to dig out lights to ceiling bounce one in every room. Darkness lasted about 2 hours that time.

I haven't experienced a total black out since NYC 1977 as a child. That was flashaholic nirvana. I had my father's Big Jim lantern lighting up things 3 city blocks away.
Also had my Radio Shack 5-D plastic freebie. It was crap, but boy could it throw a beam. Those things sealed my flashlight fate.
 

Lit Up

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Jan 8, 2006
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tebore said:
Everyone at home right now is carrying a light that's been modified with PR SMJLEDs.

Some of the best handheld emergency lights going.

I hear Buffalo, NY is having major blackout trouble with all the snow that showed up.
 

TedTheLed

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Feb 22, 2006
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Ventura, CA.
I'm off-grid, solar powered, so I haven't had a blackout in 11 years. Oh, the house lights were blinking one night when I came home a few years ago; a lizard had crawled into the inverter..
..but it's dark and lonely enough here to look around the hills with my 15,000,000 cp Cyclops every evening, you know, for coyotes and errant campers and lions and stuff..
 

tebore

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May 10, 2006
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Toronto, Ontario. CAN.
Update: Power came back at 10AM. My UPS's didn't even flinch during the blackout, however I completely used up one of the batteries in that period of time. So it looks like I would have about 1-1.5 days stored. All my PR-SMJLEDs ran the night in 2 cell lights and they were just begging for more darkness.

^^Must get lonely out there in the the country side.
 

TedTheLed

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Feb 22, 2006
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Ventura, CA.
..teb, you mean a single battery in a bank of batteries went dead? They're supposed t' deplete equally, together -- sometimes the stress of long high drain will ferret out a bad battery first, though. All the batteries in a bank should be the same type and age, or else they won't charge and drain equally together, and they will die off quickly one after the other either from over or under charging, or being depleted before the others.
 
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