Gatsby
Enlightened
We've had some fairly significant weather, particularly for the southeast, including some decent ice accumulations. Our power lines are all underground so we don't have many outages, but did get a couple hours without power last night and it was a good opportunity to put some lights and plans into action. I learned a few things that I thought I'd share.
The first thing is that power outage is a different mission than EDC. This seems obvious but it is always surprising that the lights I reach for in my daily EDC rotation are often not the ones I reach for when the power goes out. Runtime becomes king and size becomes less relevant. Also, in a pitch black house much like camping in complete darkness, a little light goes a long way. I'll go through the various MVPs later and this will become more obvious.
However, having said that, when the power went out and my wife and son were both upstairs in bed reading (daughter was already in bed asleep) it was sure nice to reach into my pocket and grab my EDC light - no searching for a light in complete darkness. My wife and son both knew I had a light as I heard the calls from upstairs asking for some help! So I pulled out the Arc6 on low and navigated upstairs to rescue my wife and son (next time they chuckle about me always carrying a light I'll remind them of this...).
Kids are flashaholics too... So I got upstairs and went into my sons room - it was 15 minutes before his lights out time so I suggested he go ahead and turn out the light and go to bed. No pulling the wool over his eyes - he quickly replied that he had his own lights and could read for 15 more minutes by flashlight. So I located his AA Lumapower - an older two stage LuxIII light and he happily went back to reading. I'd be lying if I didn't have a brief moment of flashaholic pride... :thumbsup: Later, at lights out, he was happy to know he had a flashlight beside his bed in case he needed to get up in the night.
But wives aren't always... My wife was waiting patiently in our room, even though there is a Liteflux LF3XT on her bedside table and she knows it's there and how to use it, she was happy to wait for me rather than dig around trying to locate the LF3XT. Not a bad choice really as it was very, very dark. The entire neighborhood was out and due to the weather, it was completely overcast so there was zero ambient light coming from anywhere. Given other items on the bedside table she'd likely have knocked over a glass of water, etc... So for her I pulled out the Mag 2D with a Magled upgrade that I keep in my nightstand for such purposes. This goes on the nightstand pointing toward the ceiling and it not only lights up the whole room but will run reasonably regulated (after the initial drop) for a very long time. She is able to read by it and knows how to turn it off when she goes to bed early.
Since most everyone else is in bed or going to bed relatively soon after the power goes out, the multiple room needs are somewhat less pressing. I had an Energizer 4AA lantern ready and a 3D Mag with Magled in the kitchen but realistically didn't need to use them. My wife and son both had a light to use the bathroom before hitting the hay and a light close by in case they needed it so everyone else is secure for the night. The power company anticipated lights back on by 11pm (went out around 7:35pm) so I feel pretty confident.
What does a flashaholic do in an outage? I (hope) everyone will identify with this one - I tried to figure out what lights I needed and got out most of the choices for review using my EDC light. So I'm sitting in the dark with one light looking at a handful (OK, maybe more than a handful
) of other lights and counting my pockets to determine what I should keep with me the rest of the night... 
:thinking: The choices somewhat surprised me and perhaps didn't. So what did I actually use?
Novatac 120P K2 TFFC mod - an old standby but the combination of low levels and higher levels make it so useful. It is pretty efficient at lower levels in particular so I had no runtime concerns, and I've used it so long that I know it works and that it works reliably. Plus it has a PEU tritium bezel so I knew I could locate it after going to be with ease. Sometimes the old tried and true...
Arc6 K2 TFFC mod - mostly as a backup because it also has a trit in the piston so I could find it. I'll be honest the Arc6 is still new in my rotation. It's not that I don't trust it - the basic mechanical nature of the PD lights is somewhat foolproof, but I just haven't used it long enough to know the runtimes, efficiencies, and general utility in such a situation. I have been carrying it daily and it has worked fine, but am still waiting on some AW IMR cells (running it on older AW protected cells right now and it is somewhat wonky on higher levels).
Surefire E1L - a surprising choice as it isn't in my daily EDC rotation, but for campouts and situations like this it brings some things to the table and was one of the first lights I reached for. It is very efficient and runs for a long time on low (and 10 lumens is more than enough in complete darkness), and it is completely reliable.
Muyschondt CR2 Ion - runs forever on low and the flood beam is useful, particularly tailstanding it will light up a room.
Petzl Tikkina - I'm going to make a strong statement here for a headlamp. This was the MVP of the power outage, hands down (or hands free!). Headlamps are completely non-sexy and not much fun to talk about as they aren't EDC equipment (well for most that is, some might carry one depending but definitely not the stuff of day to day CPF fodder). They mostly have a limited and specific use, don't usually feature the most cutting edge technology, etc... But make no mistake, in those circumstances when they are useful they border on completely indispensable. If you don't have a headlamp, use a small portion of your budget and make your next purchase a headlamp. You don't have to spend much but it will be more useful than you imagine when you need it. I resisted for a long, long time picking one up because I wanted to use the money on something else and it just never seemed a priority. A big mistake and I wish I'd gotten one years ago (I got the Tikkinas this past summer).
The Tikkina is an inexpensive two level one (bought on sale for IIRC $15 and I got two of them) which has two white 5mm LEDs but it is well made, reliable and runs forever on low (claimed 190 hours). This was the second thing I grabbed and I used it consistently the whole evening. I used it on low to read for a few hours until the power came back on (so much better than trying to position a flashlight), used it to go to the bathroom, used it pretty much to navigate around the house. It saved battery power in my handheld lights and cast a pleasant flood through the room. Digging around in drawers to locate other lights, getting myself a snack and a glass of water, etc... it was totally practical and completely useful as doing most anything you normally do you're used to having both hands and with a headlamp it is almost seamless to go from ambient lighting to having none.
I may eventually get a Zebralight as having more levels, a lower low (low on the Tikkina could be lower for reading) and a more pleasing tint (although the 5mm aren't angry blue at all) would be nice but realistically the Tikkina was more than sufficient and affordable. Again, I used it the entire time while several Surefire's, lego's, a Milky Creemator, etc... went unused. Multiple EDC lights sat on a shelf because I could only hold one at a time - and with a headlamp I really didn't need to use the ones I did carry that often.
I was glad I had lights for outages in places where I knew where they were (Mags) with batteries I'd checked. I was glad I had my EDC. And I was thrilled to have a headlamp.
For a longer outage I have some additional plans and equipment, but the basic light setup would not change and I was pleased at how effective they were.
But don't forget to buy a headlamp!
The first thing is that power outage is a different mission than EDC. This seems obvious but it is always surprising that the lights I reach for in my daily EDC rotation are often not the ones I reach for when the power goes out. Runtime becomes king and size becomes less relevant. Also, in a pitch black house much like camping in complete darkness, a little light goes a long way. I'll go through the various MVPs later and this will become more obvious.
However, having said that, when the power went out and my wife and son were both upstairs in bed reading (daughter was already in bed asleep) it was sure nice to reach into my pocket and grab my EDC light - no searching for a light in complete darkness. My wife and son both knew I had a light as I heard the calls from upstairs asking for some help! So I pulled out the Arc6 on low and navigated upstairs to rescue my wife and son (next time they chuckle about me always carrying a light I'll remind them of this...).
Kids are flashaholics too... So I got upstairs and went into my sons room - it was 15 minutes before his lights out time so I suggested he go ahead and turn out the light and go to bed. No pulling the wool over his eyes - he quickly replied that he had his own lights and could read for 15 more minutes by flashlight. So I located his AA Lumapower - an older two stage LuxIII light and he happily went back to reading. I'd be lying if I didn't have a brief moment of flashaholic pride... :thumbsup: Later, at lights out, he was happy to know he had a flashlight beside his bed in case he needed to get up in the night.
But wives aren't always... My wife was waiting patiently in our room, even though there is a Liteflux LF3XT on her bedside table and she knows it's there and how to use it, she was happy to wait for me rather than dig around trying to locate the LF3XT. Not a bad choice really as it was very, very dark. The entire neighborhood was out and due to the weather, it was completely overcast so there was zero ambient light coming from anywhere. Given other items on the bedside table she'd likely have knocked over a glass of water, etc... So for her I pulled out the Mag 2D with a Magled upgrade that I keep in my nightstand for such purposes. This goes on the nightstand pointing toward the ceiling and it not only lights up the whole room but will run reasonably regulated (after the initial drop) for a very long time. She is able to read by it and knows how to turn it off when she goes to bed early.
Since most everyone else is in bed or going to bed relatively soon after the power goes out, the multiple room needs are somewhat less pressing. I had an Energizer 4AA lantern ready and a 3D Mag with Magled in the kitchen but realistically didn't need to use them. My wife and son both had a light to use the bathroom before hitting the hay and a light close by in case they needed it so everyone else is secure for the night. The power company anticipated lights back on by 11pm (went out around 7:35pm) so I feel pretty confident.
What does a flashaholic do in an outage? I (hope) everyone will identify with this one - I tried to figure out what lights I needed and got out most of the choices for review using my EDC light. So I'm sitting in the dark with one light looking at a handful (OK, maybe more than a handful
) of other lights and counting my pockets to determine what I should keep with me the rest of the night... :thinking: The choices somewhat surprised me and perhaps didn't. So what did I actually use?Novatac 120P K2 TFFC mod - an old standby but the combination of low levels and higher levels make it so useful. It is pretty efficient at lower levels in particular so I had no runtime concerns, and I've used it so long that I know it works and that it works reliably. Plus it has a PEU tritium bezel so I knew I could locate it after going to be with ease. Sometimes the old tried and true...
Arc6 K2 TFFC mod - mostly as a backup because it also has a trit in the piston so I could find it. I'll be honest the Arc6 is still new in my rotation. It's not that I don't trust it - the basic mechanical nature of the PD lights is somewhat foolproof, but I just haven't used it long enough to know the runtimes, efficiencies, and general utility in such a situation. I have been carrying it daily and it has worked fine, but am still waiting on some AW IMR cells (running it on older AW protected cells right now and it is somewhat wonky on higher levels).
Surefire E1L - a surprising choice as it isn't in my daily EDC rotation, but for campouts and situations like this it brings some things to the table and was one of the first lights I reached for. It is very efficient and runs for a long time on low (and 10 lumens is more than enough in complete darkness), and it is completely reliable.
Muyschondt CR2 Ion - runs forever on low and the flood beam is useful, particularly tailstanding it will light up a room.
Petzl Tikkina - I'm going to make a strong statement here for a headlamp. This was the MVP of the power outage, hands down (or hands free!). Headlamps are completely non-sexy and not much fun to talk about as they aren't EDC equipment (well for most that is, some might carry one depending but definitely not the stuff of day to day CPF fodder). They mostly have a limited and specific use, don't usually feature the most cutting edge technology, etc... But make no mistake, in those circumstances when they are useful they border on completely indispensable. If you don't have a headlamp, use a small portion of your budget and make your next purchase a headlamp. You don't have to spend much but it will be more useful than you imagine when you need it. I resisted for a long, long time picking one up because I wanted to use the money on something else and it just never seemed a priority. A big mistake and I wish I'd gotten one years ago (I got the Tikkinas this past summer).
The Tikkina is an inexpensive two level one (bought on sale for IIRC $15 and I got two of them) which has two white 5mm LEDs but it is well made, reliable and runs forever on low (claimed 190 hours). This was the second thing I grabbed and I used it consistently the whole evening. I used it on low to read for a few hours until the power came back on (so much better than trying to position a flashlight), used it to go to the bathroom, used it pretty much to navigate around the house. It saved battery power in my handheld lights and cast a pleasant flood through the room. Digging around in drawers to locate other lights, getting myself a snack and a glass of water, etc... it was totally practical and completely useful as doing most anything you normally do you're used to having both hands and with a headlamp it is almost seamless to go from ambient lighting to having none.
I may eventually get a Zebralight as having more levels, a lower low (low on the Tikkina could be lower for reading) and a more pleasing tint (although the 5mm aren't angry blue at all) would be nice but realistically the Tikkina was more than sufficient and affordable. Again, I used it the entire time while several Surefire's, lego's, a Milky Creemator, etc... went unused. Multiple EDC lights sat on a shelf because I could only hold one at a time - and with a headlamp I really didn't need to use the ones I did carry that often.
I was glad I had lights for outages in places where I knew where they were (Mags) with batteries I'd checked. I was glad I had my EDC. And I was thrilled to have a headlamp.
For a longer outage I have some additional plans and equipment, but the basic light setup would not change and I was pleased at how effective they were.
But don't forget to buy a headlamp!
