tebore
Flashlight Enthusiast
As I'm typing this power has been out for almost 12 hours. The house is around 12 degrees C and dropping about 2 degrees every 2 hours. Reports say it feels like -30 C outside.
I got 3 Osram GD lanterns set up on low power as area lighting. My network gear is being run off of 2 large APC UPS units. My laptop and cell phone is hooked up to a smaller APC UPS that's battery has died but I rigged it up to an extra car battery I have.
Goodthing we use gas for heating and for the range. So I can still cook and have hot water. The furnace won't work without power but at least I can warm up for a bit with a hot drink and meal or stand by the range for a few minutes to warm up.
All the emergency planning since the big blackout of 2003 has come in handy. Since the blackout is only affecting a small portion of the city my family has gone to stay with my relatives while I'm here making sure the house is fine and making sure the pipes don't burst.
The black out was fun for a while but with this weather I hope power comes back soon.
That's the sit-rep.
Here's the lighter side and what the flashoholics want to hear.
A week ago Walmart cleared out their solarpanels (The kind you hook up to your car to keep the battery topped up). Individually those panels are pretty much useless. Generating 10mA with winter skies. However Walmart cleared them out at ridiculous prices (4 of them for the price of 1) I got a bunch of them and now it's charging up my UPS batteries at about 200mA. Not a lot but after 10 hours that's about half the battery and better than nothing. Able to keep my laptop going for about 10 hours. My girlfriend laughed when I got so many but she ain't laughing no more. I can also power my WF-139 charger with this array if I needed to so that's cool.
It's true a dim light that runs for a long time is better than a bright "Flash" light in the pure untainted darkness. Besides using the Lanterns on low for area lighting I'm using my HDS EDCs on 10lms which is good for about 30 hours to walk around. Ok ok something for the big incan guys; I have my 6D Mag ROP nearby too. I keep it incase there's a "bump in the night".
Here's a really funny story. It's ~6AM, I hear a bunch of noise. I wake up to see what that commotion is and I find my mom running around like a headless chicken saying there's no power, she's can't find a flashlight that works and can't find the candles. My mom wakes up realizes there's no power, picks up her cell phone uses that to navigate to the basement to get the only flashlight in the house that just so happens to NOT have any batteries in it. She sleeps next door to my grandmother which happens to have a plastic 2D with PR2 SMJ, Osram GD lantern, Fenix L2P, 2 modded dollar store lanterns and a 9LED 3AAA sitting on her dresser. That was a serious palm slap moment.
I could tell she was really worried so I fire up my lanterns, the laptop and TV and tell her it's just this area and it'll be fine. Just head in to work and charge her cell phone up while there.
Good thing I was prepared. Makes me wonder how would my family or I react if I got caught again with my pants down like in 2003? Seriously given the story above what would happen if I wasn't prepared.
I got 3 Osram GD lanterns set up on low power as area lighting. My network gear is being run off of 2 large APC UPS units. My laptop and cell phone is hooked up to a smaller APC UPS that's battery has died but I rigged it up to an extra car battery I have.
Goodthing we use gas for heating and for the range. So I can still cook and have hot water. The furnace won't work without power but at least I can warm up for a bit with a hot drink and meal or stand by the range for a few minutes to warm up.
All the emergency planning since the big blackout of 2003 has come in handy. Since the blackout is only affecting a small portion of the city my family has gone to stay with my relatives while I'm here making sure the house is fine and making sure the pipes don't burst.
The black out was fun for a while but with this weather I hope power comes back soon.
That's the sit-rep.
Here's the lighter side and what the flashoholics want to hear.
A week ago Walmart cleared out their solarpanels (The kind you hook up to your car to keep the battery topped up). Individually those panels are pretty much useless. Generating 10mA with winter skies. However Walmart cleared them out at ridiculous prices (4 of them for the price of 1) I got a bunch of them and now it's charging up my UPS batteries at about 200mA. Not a lot but after 10 hours that's about half the battery and better than nothing. Able to keep my laptop going for about 10 hours. My girlfriend laughed when I got so many but she ain't laughing no more. I can also power my WF-139 charger with this array if I needed to so that's cool.
It's true a dim light that runs for a long time is better than a bright "Flash" light in the pure untainted darkness. Besides using the Lanterns on low for area lighting I'm using my HDS EDCs on 10lms which is good for about 30 hours to walk around. Ok ok something for the big incan guys; I have my 6D Mag ROP nearby too. I keep it incase there's a "bump in the night".
Here's a really funny story. It's ~6AM, I hear a bunch of noise. I wake up to see what that commotion is and I find my mom running around like a headless chicken saying there's no power, she's can't find a flashlight that works and can't find the candles. My mom wakes up realizes there's no power, picks up her cell phone uses that to navigate to the basement to get the only flashlight in the house that just so happens to NOT have any batteries in it. She sleeps next door to my grandmother which happens to have a plastic 2D with PR2 SMJ, Osram GD lantern, Fenix L2P, 2 modded dollar store lanterns and a 9LED 3AAA sitting on her dresser. That was a serious palm slap moment.
I could tell she was really worried so I fire up my lanterns, the laptop and TV and tell her it's just this area and it'll be fine. Just head in to work and charge her cell phone up while there.
Good thing I was prepared. Makes me wonder how would my family or I react if I got caught again with my pants down like in 2003? Seriously given the story above what would happen if I wasn't prepared.
