Power outage must have lights

I live in a large American city and in the last 14 years I have lived through a 9 day and a 13 day period wth no electricity. Most of the city was out during those times. The first was due to an ice storm and the second was a freak windstorm. These are the lights I have bought since, to get me through the next multi day power outage.

Pak Lite - Two small 5mm LEDs run by a 9 volt battery. PAL lights are very similar. These make great night lights for beside your bed. When you wake up, you are not in the dark. Run it all night, they run forever and they tail stand great. Pak Lite says it runs for 600 hours on low. I don't believe that but 2 or 3 extra 9 volt batteries will get you through several nights. You need one for each bedroom.

Fenix E01 - Hang it around your neck and leave it on. Your hands are free and you will have plenty of light to walk around with. This is the best idea I ever had for a power outage. This works great. They are advertised to last 11 hours on one AAA battery. Don't forget extra batteries. Everyone in the family needs one of these.

River Rock lantern, or any lantern - This will light up a room. Three AAs that are advertised to last 50 hours on low. You may need at least 2 of these from Target for $25 each.

Some type of headlight - This is a must to keep your hands free while doing any kind of work or cooking. Not a lot of fun to wear all the time, so use your Fenix LOD the rest of the time.

A flashlight that fits in your pocket - I am sure most of you have one of these.

SureFire M6 - This is THE ultimate "bump in the night" light. It will be very comforting at a time like this. If you ever need it, it won't seem so expensive. It also runs on batteries which are replaceable. Your High Output rechargeables will not be able to recharge. The power is out. I was stuck in the last power outage with a partially run down 1 Million candle power spot light for my very bright light. That was not real comforting.

Don't forget the radios. Get at least one that picks up TV broadcasts. The local Noon, 6 and 10 news, on TV, will have more information than your radio usually.

Stove - Get a small stove that runs off a butane can. These can be safely used indoors. I found mine for $25 at a restaraunt supply house. The butane cans are $2 or $3 each. Remember, hot food is better than cold food and cooked food is better than raw.

forget the tv band on radios..... unless you wanna pay a bunch for the new bands right now the old tv bands vanish feb 2009 and I have a cd walkman with tv on it.... lol worthless band soon.

Lynx_Arc said:

forget the tv band on radios..... unless you wanna pay a bunch for the new bands right now the old tv bands vanish feb 2009 and I have a cd walkman with tv on it.... lol worthless band soon.

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I also have a soon to be useless Radio shack mini tv. I think ugrey has everything covered.

Great post ugrey.
One point about the headlamp: if you get a Zebralight it won't be so uncomfortable. They are so small that they are much more comfortable than any other headlamp I've used. They are very efficient, so the runtime on a single cell is very good. Mine uses an AA cell, so finding replacements is easy and AA gives you the option of NiMH, lithium or alkaline.

Wow...those are some lengthy power outages !!! Other than a widespread disaster ( like a hurricane ) I've never seen a powerfailure last more than one night. I lived in South Florida for a while and had 2 hurricanes make landfall within 30 miles of my house and the power was only out for 8 days on one and 2 on the other one.

If you are very into rechargeable batteries you might want to pick up an inverter that will convert power from your car's cigarette lighter plug to 110 v AC. These devices don't generate a lot of power, but they'll certainly be able to charge rechargeable batteries, a cell phone, etc. I have also used a battery booster ( a device that allows you to jumpstart your car without another car ) and an inverter to get power for a while. Black and Decker makes a little gadget that's about the size of a paperback novel that is a battery and inverter built in. It has a USB power port and a 110 outlet on it. Again, it won't run a 32" TV or anything, but it runs our portable DVD player for 2 hours so it would also be able to run a small radio, battery charger, or cell phone charger.

pak lite on a lithium 9V is one of THE best indoor emergency lights!

Saving this space for later!

In addition to flashlights, radio, etc, I would also make sure to have a regular analog phone that does not use an external power source. As long as the phone lines are not down, they still work in a power failure.

I have found that the puck lightsare very handy also. They act like candle in areas like bathrooms. I have some right next to light switches in many areas so you are reaching for the same basic spot you are used to.

My cell phone gets FM stations. I also have a weather alert radio. Those are usually in the bedroom when I am.

In the bed room, I have a cheap Rayovac Sportsman Extreme flashlight. It is a decent performer and I use it occasionally if I hear something.

In the basement, I store most of my flashlights and hobby equipment. So there is always light, batteries, ect. We also have most of our camping gear there too. So there are guns, propane stoves, battery powered radios. We also have the pantry in the basement, with always at least a few days worth of food. I also keep a couple gallons of water down there "just in case".

Of course, my hobbies (electronics and flashlights) naturally help me be prepared. But I just wish the average person would spend $100 and get a good radio, some food, good flashlight, water and a couple blankets.


I live in Kansas City, in 2002, we lost power for 3 days during an ice storm. Last year, some parts of the city lost power for a week during a storm. So it definitely can happen.

I might also recommend keeping a couple older analog transistor radios around. I've found these don't use near the juice of the digital displays and processing on many of the newer radios. I have a 1962 Toshiba transistor that will run over a month on a 9v in normal use, and a 1964 GE that sounds much better and will run a month (maybe two) on four AA's in heavier daily use. The Channel Master seems similarly efficient. Love my Kaito, but it'd be dead in less than a week without recharging or replacement cells.

Good point about the phone. I have an old AE40 for this use, but I should probably add something with touch-tone. Hard to beat the old Ma Bell equipment for shear durability.

As for blackout lights, I keep a set of cheap single AA lights from Kai that have very similar specs to my L1D-CE. These should run around 20 hours on low, and I find this sufficient for ceiling bounce. Also a couple single AA headlamps (ROV). You'll notice I prefer single cell lights for the most part (other devices too, where possible)... It's easier to scrounge cells if need be, if they don't have to be in sets.

one of those cheap dropins for the mag's. they run forever on d-cells.

a handful of fauxtons for neighbors who want to borrow

I have several CMG Pheonix camping lanterns that I find handy.Picked them up cheap when they were being discontinued.Although they only have a single incandescent bulb they provide plenty of light for the bathroom or negotiating around the house.What makes them nice is the fact that they have a motion sensor and will turn on automatically when you walk in the room(auto-off as well).I suppose I could switch the bulb to a screw base LED replacement but they have served my needs so far.I am not sure if Gerber is still offering the same light(they took over CMGs product line)but an LED version may be available.
Another vote for the Pak-Lite, very usefull around the home.The C&D cell Mag-Lites with LED modules are also nice for thier long runtime.

ugrey said:

Don't forget the radios. Get at least one that picks up TV broadcasts. The local Noon, 6 and 10 news, on TV, will have more information than your radio usually.

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Problem, current radios that receive TV signals will stop working after Feb 2009 when we go 100% digital.

The useless TV radio is not entirely useless small lower power stations are not effected by the new digital law.
https://www.dtv2009.gov/lowpower/

ZMZ67 said:

I have several CMG Pheonix camping lanterns that I find handy.Picked them up cheap when they were being discontinued.Although they only have a single incandescent bulb they provide plenty of light for the bathroom or negotiating around the house.What makes them nice is the fact that they have a motion sensor and will turn on automatically when you walk in the room(auto-off as well).I suppose I could switch the bulb to a screw base LED replacement but they have served my needs so far.I am not sure if Gerber is still offering the same light(they took over CMGs product line)but an LED version may be available.

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:shrug:
Name: Gerber Balefire™ Camo Lantern L.E.D.
Product Code: G80123
Says it's got a cree LED and that it has a 45 hour runtime.

AH, I'd fel better with the Rayovac Lantern Plenty of pleased CPF'ers with this one.

Always a good idea to have supplies for emergencies.


Depending upon yer' location, one could easily be "powerless" for several days.


A little preparation can go a long way.


( naturally, most CPF'ers already realize this fact )


_

The good old maglites with magLED work well. They have great run-time and can be ceiling bounced or used in candle mode. I've got 4 or 5 of them set-up just for power outages along with River Rock lanterns and HID's for when I need more light.

Thanks to ugrey for starting this thread. I just learned quite a number of great ideas.

Wish I knew about the LOD or the other battery vampire AAA lights back then during our last major blackout. In addition, I did not know anything about R123 primaries have higher capacity than Energizers until I found CPF. For my family uses, I do not see anything that requires an M6 during a blackout, but I certainly would use my 123 stockpiles to fire up a couple of those 2-cell (C2, 6P, etc) for target illumination uses.

Almost immediately after our last blackout (almost 18 hours), I bought two of these Stanley tripod 369 lights from Costco. Just for peace of mind, my family actually did a lights-out night with these just to practice living without power (well, we did not get food from nor power off the fridge though). They are not "wow" lights, but they are very useful. For the least, they beat tail-standing a Maglite.


I do stock up on AA and D cells, but I need to figure out a schedule to periodically refresh the supplies by perhaps slowly using up a couple of each every so often. I don't think any of the Duracells or Energizers claim to have 10 years shelf life like the SF 123s.

Thanks again for everyone participating in this thread and please keep the good ideas and your valuable experiences coming.

With Aloha,

Clarence

I am the original poster and I would like to add a few more things.

You all are right about the radio TV band. Will there be no way to pick up the digital signal?

M*g 4D LEDs are great. I do have one. It is normally in my car but I would definately bring it in the house and use it for ceiling bounce in a prolonged power outage.

I used to use chem glow lights for night lights in the bedrooms but they are now $1.50 each and my local source went out of business. It is cheaper and easier to use the Pak or Pal lights. I get 9 volt batteries at the Dollar store at 2 for $1. They have plenty of juice in them and are of recent manufacture. Either chem lights or Pak lights are much better than candles, especially around kids or old folks. House fires are exciting only for a few minutes, and then they are no fun for years. Trust me on this.

Get a 4D battery run fan from Campmore (sp?). A cold shower and one of these fans will keep you almost comfortable when you have no A/C in the summer.

"Bump in the night light" - I am a little paranoid to begin with, and no electrical lights at night kicks that paranoia up a few notches. Seeing the EDC weapons pictures on this board, from time to time, lets me know I am am not the only paranoid on this board. I am a SureFire M6 fanatic. I do not see how or why anyone who keeps a weapon at home does not have an M6. I will paraphrase Forrest Gump, "Pistols and M6s go together like peas and carrots". It is hard for me to imagine one without the other at home.

Finally the real reason I started this thread was to spread the word on how incredibly useful it is to hang some sort of light around your neck in a power outage. The first time I did this was a real eye opener. I wondered why I had never done this before. Hang it around your neck and leave it on. You will never walk into a dark room. You will not have to dig in your pockets for it. You will not forget where you put it. It is much more comfortable than a headlight. It is ALWAYS right there on your chest. The new efficient LEDs make leaving a small AAA light on possible. The run times are so amazing and the output is good enough for a dark house. Fenix E01s are my choice, but I also have an old ARC AAA, a Fenix LOD and a Gerber Infinity that work great and have long runtimes. The ultimate light around the neck may be a SF A2, E1L, E2L, E1B, L1 or L2. You could leave it on in low mode and have high mode instantly accessable. I am scratching my head over this option. For now, a Fenix E01 left on, with a cheap AAA, around my neck, works great. Try it tonight.

Thanks for all the nice comments. I have learned a great deal from this board. I just wanted to share some hard earned experience. Thanks Sasha.