Survey: How Many Emergency Flashlights You Have and Where Do You Keep Them?

xcel730 · Mar 29, 2008

Most people I know only have one or two flashlights at home. They bought it for emergencies , but never changed the batteries. So usually their flashlights are nothing more than dead-battery holders, and more often than not, fail on them when they need it. Well a few years back during the Northeast blackout, I was glad that I had my three Inovas (my best flashlights at the time), my Maglite with Terralux drop-ins, and my Petzl headlamp.

So, just out of curiosity, how many and where do you keep your emergency lights? I know some of you may have over 100 flashlights, but they are stored away somewhere without batteries. So, this survey is limited to "must be functional when you need it, and it's always in the same location where you could find it in the dark."

For me:

(1) Photon Freedom Microlight - Keychain - I've had the Microlight for many years ... going from version 2, 3, to Freedom. I recently purchased the Rex, which is rechargable, but it's a little buky and I want to test it before I put it on my keychain.

(2) Fenix L0D - Keychain - just bought it recently. Plan to replace my Photon, but I may just keep both. This is my, "on me at times when I'm not at home" flashlight.

(3) Surefire E2L (replaced my Inova X5) - inside my jacket pocket or backpack (if I'm carrying one). This is my primary flashlight outside of home, but I do take my jacket/backpack off, so unlike my keychain lights, it is not always with me.

(4) Inova T2 (older model) - Car - It's only 40 lms, but bright enough for what I need to do.

(5) Petzl Myo 3 - Car. If I have to change a spare tire or need both of my hands, this is what I use.

(6) Mini Maglite with Niteize LED - Car (trunk) - I keep this only because it takes AA's.

(7) Mini Maglite with Terralux drop in - office. I don't really need to have it since I have so many flashlights with me, but I really didn't know what to do with it

(8) Maglite Solitaire with Tektite drop in - bedside. When I'm half sleeping, I don't want anything too bright (even the solitaire is a tad bright)

(9) Inova X5 - Bedroom - when I need a brighter light than my solitaire

(10) Fenix L2D - Living Room - that's where I spend most of my waking time at home.

(11) Maglite 3D LED - mounted on the Kitchen wall.

Well, there you have it for me. I live in an apartment, so basically one flashlight is enough for me at home, but what the heck.

thermal guy · Mar 29, 2008

I keep a sf g2 by every entrance/exit in my home thats 4.And all my other lights are all with in reach if i need them all stoked with fresh batteries.I don't have any lights that just sit on a shelf.

Valpo Hawkeye · Mar 29, 2008

Not sure how many are "emergency" and how many are simply "around" when I need them.

Bedside: SF A2-YG, L1 w/ F04

Bathroom: Fenix L1T v2.0 R80

Car: G2 with Malkoff

Wife's Car: SF A2-WH

Backdoor (taking dog out): Fenix T1 and SF A2

Always on me: Fenix P2D Q5 olive

On Keys: Arc AAA-P DS

EDC Bag: Fenix P3D Q5 olive, Arc AAA-P CS

BOB: Inova X5

guyg · Mar 29, 2008

I`m screwed! I have several lights and they get moved from place to place in the house. If something happens, I`ll probably have to borrow one to find the others.

jayhackett03 · Mar 29, 2008

G2 with P60L - is my workhorse.

L1 Cree sits on my desk. i take it out for serious stuff, camping, outdoors stuff.

ROP - (my first maglite) novelty. sits on dresser. take to outdoors stuff rarely

lighthound.com free keychain light on my keychain, i always forget i have it though.

4 cheap Eveready's to handout these to friends for whatever outdoor events we have. alot of these are always in my car for some reason, but i never use them.

SL PP 4AA LUX - Girlfriend's car

stitch_paradox · Mar 29, 2008

I got a better job recently so I just started assembling my emergency stuff.

I have:

@ 3aa Maglites in rooms. Attached at the door frame, but I wish I could replace it with SF G2s with LED drop ins.

@ 3aa Maglites in cars. Since I always carry pretty bright lights with me on my edc. This are just for back ups and never leaves the car.

@ Malkoff 3D Mag at the hallway

@ Elektrolumens Monsterthrow IV Mag, Malkoff M60 SF lego, and Fenix P3D at the BOB.

@ Malkoff SF and Ledean 18650 aspheric Mag with out the aspheric lens at the night stand. I just love this lights they are my favorites and my goto, all around lights.

@ SF 3 cell lego ican and Fenix P2D for edc. I chose these because I need a compact light the has more than 300 lumens when driving at night. I used to carry a ROP but it's just to bulky. The SF is compact enough to fit a fanny pack. P2D is for my pockets.

jssp78 · Mar 29, 2008

bathroom digi-tac 2
car proton
gun bag g2l yellow/black head and e2e body w/kl4
tool bag task force 2c
bed pelican 2410 stealth led 3aa mag led
carry l4 body with single kx2 photon x-micro

pbs357 · Mar 29, 2008

For me:

Nightstand - Inova X5

Bedroom - the Light box - an aluminum case that holds my humble collection of 6p+Malkoff, 6p+Dereelight Q5, Z2+Malkoff, G2Z+ Malkoff, G2+DX P4, NDI, Modded Q-III

Bathroom - Sylvania 4AA lantern

Pocket - Fenix P2D Q5. I live alone so this guy is always with me and can get me to more/brighter lights or lanterns if the power goes out

Backpack - Fenix P3D Q5 + SF SC1 carrier w/6 cr123

CAR - MagLED 3D (couldn't take it if anything more expensive ever got stolen! Plus, makes for a nice bat "just in case.")

Keys - DX fauxton

xcel730 · Mar 29, 2008

I'm glad I started this thread, made me realize that I don't have a light in my BOB. :ohgeez:

NeonLights · Mar 29, 2008

I keep 2-3 lights in each of our four cars for emergency use. In each case a MiniMag with LED drop-in and AA lithium cells, and a brighter incan powered by 123 cells (SF G2 in most cases). I also have headlamps in a couple of the cars.

I carry several lights with me on most occasions, but I'd refer to that as my EDC, not for "emergency" use.

Sway · Mar 29, 2008

Like any flashaholic I have many lights of various flavors for different uses and occasionally simple indulgence but I try to keep the herd thinned down to what I will actually need and use.

For power outages I use fixed backup lighting in the house along with a few 1D 5mm LED tap lights for "nightlights" and some D cell florescent lanterns for area lighting where needed.

I have placed Sylvania Golden Dragon under cabinet lights "link over door ways in my bathrooms, closets and kitchen, you just wave your hand over them and they turn on high, wave again for low and again for off…..Simple and fixed so they are always in the same place, just use them like a regular room light turn it on when you go in and off when you leave. One note, I'm 6'5" so reaching these light over a door is no problems for me but you may need to place them lower for others to reach it just keeps them up and out of the way for me

I have some of the Sylvania night lights with battery back up that turn on when the power goes out, they will run for hours but start to dim noticeable after 3 hours but still provide useable light for getting into the house and finding your way around as I found out a few weeks ago when my power was out when I got home from work at midnight, link

I found the Sylvania under cabinet and power failure night lights at Sam's Club both in a 3 pack.

For main lighting I modded some under cabinet lighting in the kitchen using 5 UBin LuxIII"s, yeah I know out of date LED's but they were the best at the time, MaxFlex driver powered by a 12V 35Ah SLA. It will run for days on low continous and supply several nights worth of room lighting on high in the kitchen and dinning room, no problem setting down to read the paper or a book. The light spills into other rooms of the house so I really don't need to carry a light or EDC with me……but I do :grin2:

Old pic with 4 LED's using an AA battery pack, it's much brighter than it looks.

I'm set up for blackouts in a way that works for me YMMV having fixed lighting in place with a few portable lights lets me focus on other problems at hand like why haven't I bought a generator yet to keep the frig cool and do I have enough beer to last through the night

Later
Kelly

chaosmagnet · Mar 30, 2008

All of these lights are live, recently tested with fresh batteries. Nothing is sitting on a shelf unloved. Incans all have spare bulbs in the tailcap, including the Maglites with LED upgrades.

EDC: Fenix P2D Premium Q5. I keep it in my left-front pocket holstered, so it doesn't scratch up my phone.
Handgun safe (with my cocked and locked 1911): Streamlight Scorpion Xenon with an added wrist lanyard
Main gun safe (with my 9mm, on safe with a round up the spout): River Rock version of Rayovac Sportsman Extreme
Nightstand: 3D Maglite with Mag's LED upgrade
Dresser: Cabela's version of Rayovac Sportsman Extreme
Wife's Dresser: 3D Maglite with Mag's LED upgrade (mine is black, hers is red)
Desk in home office: Inova X1
Laptop bag: 2AA LED Mini Maglite
My car (glovebox): 2AA Mini Maglite (this one I've had for a long time, it's like an old friend)
My car (trunk): 2C Maglite (it has a Chevy Trucks logo on it -- it was incredibly expensive but it came with a free Chevy Blazer), with spare bulb (in addition to the one in the tailcap) and extra batteries
My car (bug out bag in trunk): MegaBRITE Self Power LED Flashlight (it also has a 12 volt cigarette lighter outlet for charging cellphones)
My car (bug out bag in trunk): L1D body for my Fenix P2D, with a new Duracell Ultra Digital battery, lanyard/O-ring/tailcap boot kit, the waterproof cap, and diffuser. I also have 4 additional Duracell Ultra Digital AA's, 8 Energizer Lithium AA's, and the Titanium hard-shell case with 12 fresh Titanium CR123A cells in there.
Wife's van (glovebox): 2AA Mini Maglite
Wife's van (spare tire compartment): 2D Maglite, with extra batteries
Wife's bug-out bag: 2AA Mini Maglite (with 8 additional Duracell Ultra Digital AA's)
Main Emergency Supplies: 2D Maglite (and a boatload of fresh Duracell Ultra D cells)
Main Emergency Supplies: 2AA Mini Maglite (and a boatload of fresh Duracell Ultra AAs)
Main Emergency Supplies: Wind-up two mode LED light with built-in screwdriver kit and cellphone charger adapter (with no plugs to make it work)

We have a few other lights that aren't in my regular test regime.

I've ordered two Fenix E01s; I'm going to replace the Fauxton on my wife's keychain with one of them, and keep one for me. As I use up AAs normally I plan to replace the ones kept in bug-out bags and emergency supplies with Energizer Lithiums.

craig333 · Mar 30, 2008

Flashlights without functional batteries? People do that?
My vehicles have multiple lights at the ready. I have an led lantern on the nightstand I use for light to see where the other lights are. I'd keep more around the house in strategic locations if weren't for the likelihood of them walking off. Besides, the edc takes care of most eventualities.

Extended outage would be tough. Do I fire up the propane lanterns or fire up the honda generator.

phreeflow · Mar 30, 2008

Sway said:
For power outages I use fixed backup lighting in the house along with a few 1D 5mm LED tap lights for "nightlights" and some D cell florescent lanterns for area lighting where needed.

Cool stuff @Sway! Let us know when you get that generator for the fridge and we'll all head over for a cold brew during a blackout :drunk:.

By the way...what the heck is a BOB????

stitch_paradox · Mar 30, 2008

phreeflow said:
Cool stuff @Sway! Let us know when you get that generator for the fridge and we'll all head over for a cold brew during a blackout :drunk:.

By the way...what the heck is a BOB????

BOB is the guy you go to when all things fail and the world is in alot of trouble. He'll take care of you. :thumbsup:

roguesw · Mar 30, 2008

All my lights currently go where i go, so if i am at home, i have all my lights at hand.
On hand, Surefire M3-T with SSC P4 tower module, L4, McLux Pr-T with SSC and Mclux PR with Lux v.
Stashed around the house and my various bags are CR 123 backup batteries. Looking for a low low output light for reading and general lighting,

Cydonia · Mar 30, 2008

2 Photon's in small side change pocket and always EDC.
2 MiniMag's (2AA) with SMJLED's and Eneloops in nightstand drawer.
Mag85 + 2nd fivemega pack (all with Eneloops) on big flat dinner table / computer table.
2 4C maglites with modded MagLED's in nightstand drawer. Carton of C alkalines. Adaptors PVC pipe to use AA's in place of C's. More Eneloops.
Inova X1 Gen 1.0's tucked in open sides of big BOB that dominates the dresser top.
Inova X1's Gen 2.0 in various drawers around the place.
Photon keychain lights attached to "everything". Too numerous to list locations.
Inova 24/7 on BOB. Inova X5 Red LED inside BOB with more photons, X1's, home made generator battery free light, lithium primaries etc.,

Sway · Mar 30, 2008

phreeflow said:
By the way...what the heck is a BOB????

BOB is a "bail out bag" that you put your most needed essentials in used for disaster planning or when stuff hits the fan....

Later
Kelly

xcel730 · Mar 30, 2008

phreeflow said:
Cool stuff @Sway! Let us know when you get that generator for the fridge and we'll all head over for a cold brew during a blackout :drunk:.

By the way...what the heck is a BOB????

BOB is known as either "bail out bag" or "bug out bag". It's an emergency bag that you can grab in a hurry in case of ... well, emergency. If I had a choice, I would call it "Bail Out Only Bag" or BOOB.

momonbubu · Mar 30, 2008

let see, one fenix p2d q5 in my pocket,
one m*glite 2aa with teralux k2flip dropin in my belt,
in my workbag one surefire 6p with solarforce r2 dropin, and 6 new primary 123a batteries in my bag.
one vb16 q5 in emergency shelf in my room,
and one m*g 3d with malkoff dropin in the emergency shelf in the living room.

I check the battery every week, recharge if necessary. i use Tenergy 900mAh RCR123a 3.0v for every 123 type flashlights that i owned. and use eneloop for my minimag.
I have for emergency, 12 primaries 123 in my room emergency shelf (and 6 in my workbag), 8 litium aa size primary batteries. and a dozen of d size alkaline for my maglite 3d in emergency shelf in the living room.

Giandi

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