Need advice on light for earthquake kit

I've been assigned the task to find some flashlights for the earthquake preparedness kits in my office for all the employees. I am looking an inexpensive LED light, less than $25. I like the idea of using the CR123 batteries due to their 10 year shelf life but that may drive up the cost. I'm not partial to the hand crank lights or the shake lights. I will most likely need around 50-75 flashlights.

I found this one:

http://www.brightguy.com/products/Bright_Star_Razor_LED_Flashlight.php

Does anyone have experience with this light?

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Darren

I recommend an AA light due to replacement battery availability, and load it with Energizer lithium primaries (L91's) due to their superior shelf life (about 20 years to 80%).

The Streamlight ProPoly would also be a good choice for a light. Proven track record, and it's even safety rated, which is nice to have considering the likelihood of gas leaks.
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Streamlight_ProPolymer_4AA_LED_Flashlight.php
http://www.brightguy.com/products/Streamlight_2AA_LED_ProPolymer_Flashlight.php

75 good 2AA LED lights!

What kind of budget do you have? 25 each might make it hard to do.

I like the pro poly suggestion.

Maybe a Maglite 3 AA LED light or a Home Depot Husky 2D cell tactical light if you need a lot of power and range.

My emergency kit is now composed of the Coleman CREE 2AA from Walmart, $25, with a large helping of AA Lithium batteries. The CREE based lights are much more efficient, than other B&M store LEDs at the present. The Coleman MAX is bright, handy, efficient, cheap. They also have a Coleman CREE headlamp, but I haven't got one of those yet.

The Coleman MAX seems well built for a cheap light, and has an indoor friendly beam with lots of usable spill. There are plenty of lights to choose from, but for emergency use, common readily available Lithium AA cells are what I depend on -- for lights and radios.

IMHO- for emergency kits, you want a 2AA light that's not too bright, so you get very good run time with common batteries. (If it's dark, most of the bright "wow" lights would usually be overkill and maybe not last as long as you need. (If it's not dark, no worries, you don't need a flashlight.))

I didn't have a specific recommendation off the top of my head, so I was digging around my bookmarks. That Streamlight ProPoly 2AA was one I'd noted and sounds perfect. Here's a review I'd bookmarked:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/176741

Now I come back and I see a newer Coleman Cree based light recommended. That might be even better. (I'll have to go looking for one!)

Oh, +1 on the Lithium AAs!

Lastly, I don't know if you'd also want to considered "better" multi-mode lights for specially trained staff. (Fire marshal, security, whatever.) Something with at least a low for runtime and a high, just in case.

:thumbsup: Big thumbs up for the 4AA Streamlight ProPoly that Marduke recommended.

I ordered a half dozen, in yellow, the day after Hurricane Wilma hit and Florida Plunder & Loot said it would be weeks before our power would be restored.

I gave them out to family and neighbors. They have a very big, floody beam that really lights up an area. This is what you want when the power goes out. Lighting up your immediate area is usually more important than spotting distant objects. Although I gave everyone an extra set of batteries, most people never needed them. They seem like they go forever.

My last one is now a back up in my boat bag.

Stay safe.

Dan

Please note that the "Streamlight ProPolymer" comes in several versions.
The multi LED versions have a floody type beam as mentioned before, but the Luxeon based lights are tightly focused.

There are also incandescent Propolys, but I'd stick with the LED or Luxeon versions.

LED_astray said:

... Now I come back and I see a newer Coleman Cree based light recommended. That might be even better. (I'll have to go looking for one!) ....

Click to expand...

(I know bad form replying to myself, but.)

I think I need to retract the quoted thought. I found a comment:

https://www.candlepowerforums.com/posts/2695025&postcount=16

that says the Coleman Max 2AA is tuned to be very bright. So, even with a more efficient LED it would be brighter than you need for this purpose and probably not run as long.

Adding a link to a review too:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/202659

which also makes this sound like it is too bright with too little runtime for (my idea of) a good earthquake kit emergency light.

farmer17 said:

Maybe a Maglite 3 AA LED light or a Home Depot Husky 2D cell tactical light if you need a lot of power and range.

Click to expand...

Do not get a MiniMagLED for an "emergency kit". They have tempermental switches and you'll be disappointed if some of them develop a flicker or go out on you. You want a light that is going to be reliable over time despite abuse, neglect, etc.

Coleman MAX is ok. Probably get around 4 hours on a good set of batteries - it's up to you to decide whether or not that's sufficient runtime for your situation. The only way you'll really get longer is to get a multistage or one that runs on 5mm LED's.

The Energizer "Weather Ready" 4AA light seems pretty reliable (at least the ones we've used) with very long life out of 4AA's driving just one (or 2, for the newer ones) 5mm LED's. Not very bright, but useable for negotating dark hallways, etc. Only around $8 a pop, too, so there's less grief from having a few "walk away" from their kits.

Get headlamps that are compatable with lithium batteries. Think about it. When the big one hits you need hands free illumination. Whether its digging out of a bad situation or trying to cook with no power.

Princeton Tec Eos's can be had for pretty cheap these days.

kelmo

kelmo said:

Get headlamps that are compatable with lithium batteries. Think about it. When the big one hits you need hands free illumination. Whether its digging out of a bad situation or trying to cook with no power.

Princeton Tec Eos's can be had for pretty cheap these days.

kelmo

Click to expand...

This is for an office kit, not a long(er) term home kit.

Thanks for all the great replies everyone. I really appreciate it. Thinking about it some more I think I will need around 65 lights and most likely will have to go somewhat lower on price, say under $15 ea. Yeah I know.

Another question; Where can I get a large quantity of Lithium AA battereis for a good price? Also, what are some specs. as far as expected shelf life and higher percentage of power versus standard AA batteries? And will lithium AA's corode if left in a flashlight for a long period of time?

Thanks again! :thumbsup:

A regular mini-mag with a smjled sounds about perfect for this use.
Will run a looooong time on 2 aa batteries.
http://www.lighthound.com/ArcMania-...r-Mini-Maglight-Flashlight-SMJLED_p_8-83.html

DJMsLED said:

Thanks for all the great replies everyone. I really appreciate it. Thinking about it some more I think I will need around 65 lights and most likely will have to go somewhat lower on price, say under $15 ea. Yeah I know.

Click to expand...

Good luck. Maybe you can get a bulk discount somewhere. (I've never been in that situation.)

DJMsLED said:

Another question; Where can I get a large quantity of Lithium AA battereis for a good price? Also, what are some specs. as far as expected shelf life and higher percentage of power versus standard AA batteries? And will lithium AA's corode if left in a flashlight for a long period of time?

Thanks again! :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

Watch the Marketplace's Good Deals section. It seems like Sam's Club has the best retail prices, but others have sales. (If you have a Fry's they can also be good.) Since you will need a quantity you may be able to get a bulk deal. I got a 100 from Battery Station last year when they had a special.

The energy density is much better. It's here on the forums, but I don't have a pointer saved. (Hopefully search will work for you.) Shelf life is rated at 15 years. Corrosion is much less of a problem. I don't like to say never, (it's such a long time,) but the reputation is that Lithium AAs don't leak. (Certainly they're considered much better than alkaline batteries we're all used to killing our lights.)

DJMsLED:

If you're looking for style, the AAA Fenix E01 may fit your budget. The Lithium e2 AAA's are cheaper, too.

However, my choice would be the 1xAA Gerber Infinity Ultra. I lovingly refer to it as "The Tank" (detractors would call it "The Brick" or worse). It ain't pretty, but that's the light I would want with me in an earthquake or hurricane. Bright enough, but not too bright. Broad, floody beam. Reliable. Solidly constructed. Simple. And unbelievable runtimes. In times of emergency, having one of these in your pocket is a great confidence builder.

Your attention is called to the second link below ("Long runtime ...") regarding performance of the e2 lithiums vs. alkalines. Read more...

Is Gerber Infinity Ultra Obsolete?

Long runtime emergency light: Inova X1 or Gerber Infinity Ultra?

Infinity Ultra vs. Inova X1 vs. Fenix EO

You can find the Gerber on sale for $14.97, free shipping, on Amazon. I'd suggest getting the green version and adopt a green color scheme for your earthquake emergency kit. If the light gets separated from the kit, whoever finds it will more likely return it to its proper place.

.

I love the Pro-Poly 2xAA, but he kit at my house and the one I put together at my parent's house (that just survived 2 weeks of no power for Hurricane Ike!), is the Tek-Tite 3xC-Cell and the Tek-Tite 3xAA LED lights. One C-Cell has the single LED that burns for 200+ hours straight. The other has the 7-LED which is quite a bit brighter and has a very smooth beam. The AA lights have either the single LED for long run times, or the old dual LED module. The old ones only burn half as long (but still far longer that you'd ever need) but I like the idea of a back-up LED since they DO burn out sometimes. These are in parallel, so one can burn and you'd still have one working.
They are waterproof and tough as anything out there. And no electronics or anything fancy to break. Keep it simple!

Oh, and avoid mags. They always seem to break at the worst possible times for me.

+1 on the Streamlights
+1 on the EOS and I understand what Marduke is getting at but you can still hand hold a headlamp and since you don't know what form a disaster may take, a headlamp is a great idea IMHO.

I was also thinking about the Nuwai Q IIIx1-CR123A Cell and the Nuwai QIIIx2-CR123A cells. I have the ProPolymer at work on my desk, but I EDC my Nuwai QIII single cell light on my keychain. The 2 cell version has a high and a low setting and they are both available from Battery Junction.