A set of lights for a world downfall.

Yea. I think you are right about the S65 needing 6 batteries. If I were to choose a light for a SHTF situation then I would look for a light that required no more than 4 AA's. Personally, I would save two lights for a SHTF scenario and here's why. The first would be a light that ran off of AA bateries for the most obvious reason of them being the most popular. The second light would be one that ran off of no more than 4 AAA's. The reason for the AAA powered light is because I could pack away 20 or so AAA's without them being too heavy. Triple A's themselves are pretty easy to find as well. I have a Intova Fire Light that has a rotating head so it can be used either as a right angle flashlight or a regular flashlight. It's compact, runs off of 3 AAA's, has a burn time of 4 hours, water resistant to IPX4 standards and packs 220 lumens. Tovatec fire-light

I forgot to add that they sell the same light in a black version.


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ObsceneJesster said:

Yea. I think you are right about the S65 needing 6 batteries. If I were to choose a light for a SHTF situation then I would look for a light that required no more than 4 AA's. Personally, I would save two lights for a SHTF scenario and here's why. The first would be a light that ran off of AA bateries for the most obvious reason of them being the most popular. The second light would be one that ran off of no more than 4 AAA's. The reason for the AAA powered light is because I could pack away 20 or so AAA's without them being too heavy. Triple A's themselves are pretty easy to find as well. I have a Intova Fire Light that has a rotating head so it can be used either as a right angle flashlight or a regular flashlight. It's compact, runs off of 3 AAA's, has a burn time of 4 hours, water resistant to IPX4 standards and packs 220 lumens. Tovatec fire-light

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I understand your point of view, but I have very often both hands occupied and the headlamp is a must. Secondly the small (1 or 2 AA) thrower will be more like an EDC as well as will be very usefull in ransacking small, closed areas. The strongest light will be used to run for a long distances and in large closed areas. I plan to use Eneloops and solar chargers.

Dont ever buy lights with different batteries. AAs are most common - far more common than triple As andf they also have a much higher capacity.
If you buy lights with different Battery-types you WILL at one point run out of batteries and wont be able to use some from the other light.

Shorty66 said:

Dont ever buy lights with different batteries. AAs are most common - far more common than triple As andf they also have a much higher capacity.
If you buy lights with different Battery-types you WILL at one point run out of batteries and wont be able to use some from the other light.

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I dispute your findings,in the UK and Germany(yes i lived there) AA&AAA are equally as popular.I could and can buy AA&AAA anywhere in all combinations.Near on all TV remotes run on AAA,all the German supers stock them plus electrical stores like Saturn etc do.

Shorty66 said:

Dont ever buy lights with different batteries. AAs are most common - far more common than triple As andf they also have a much higher capacity.
If you buy lights with different Battery-types you WILL at one point run out of batteries and wont be able to use some from the other light.

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I as a self proclaimed prepper I have to disagree with your point of view. You are automatically assuming that you will constantly need both lights working at all times. In a desperate "end of the world situation" you're going to want flashlights that use different types of batteries. One in AA and the other in AAA. Doing so will increase your chances of always having a working light. You never know what type of battery you're going to come across and chances are the battery you are going to find will be one of the two listed above.

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I also forgot to add that you could carry a light that used a lithium rechargeable and was capable of being charged through micro usb. Then you could buy one of those solar charging pads. That way you would always have a light whether you found batteries or not. Just make sure you pack away a couple extra lithium batteries in case they were to die on you.

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cxax said:

A set of lights for a world downfall.

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I've been pondering the same thing lately, and while I don't like headlamps, because in the dark I tend to stay put and use a handheld light when I need to illuminate something, the concepts are the same - having usable light for as long as possible.

I am building a light kit that will include the following:

- long runtime, dual mode CR123a LED light
- incandescent CR123a light with spare bulbs
- lifepo4 rechargable CR123a batteries with charger and solar panel
- AA dual mode led light
- incandesecent AA light
- AA rechargable batteries and charger that work with the same solar panel

I do this not so much because I think I'll have to use it, but because it's fun to buy gadgets and gear and cases to organize it in

Whilerechargeable batteries are great, with long life lithium batteries now it should be years before they're needed if we buy them ahead of time and rotate them out ever few years (I plan on selling my 10 year shelf life batteries every 5 years to people I know that use a lot of them regularly, and replenish my stock). A dual output LED light with a 50 hour life on one battery, combined with 50 batteries, gives me 2,500 hours of light or enough light for 3 years if I use it for 2.5 hours per night (if I feel like carrying around 50 batteries). By that time I'll be dead or accustomed to going on without electronics or things would be back to normal, I'd think.

ObsceneJesster said:

I also forgot to add that you could carry a light that used a lithium rechargeable and was capable of being charged through micro usb. Then you could buy one of those solar charging pads. That way you would always have a light whether you found batteries or not. Just make sure you pack away a couple extra lithium batteries in case they were to die on you.

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There's solar panels that work with car charger adapters, which many chargers come with.

You can easily use most AA lamps with triple As by using a spacer. That spacer can easliy be made of any conducting material. It certainly works with Zebralights.

At least in the german towns i lived in (6 till now) AAs were always more easy to come by.

I think diversity is best, like the Gerber Omnivore, runs on AA, aaa or cr123 battery, 10-20 lumens so you'll have a long runtime.
Zebralight sc80 runs on AA or cr123 batteries

i don't recomend the sc52 if your planning on scavenging cells, they don't recomend alkalines at all for this light. It's turbo mode draws too hard, and may cause leaks. Nimh, energizer L91 or 14500's are what can be used.

Quark AA or aa2 with xpg2 or the Thrunite Archer 1aa or 2aa are better survivalist lights in my eyes

100% Modular parts for TEOTWAKI I think are more important than a "specific type of battery light," IMHO.

Example: I have some tolerant led showerheads that light up just fine on 4V-15V. I like to pull one out during power outages and play with different battery combos. It could run on stacks of just about any available battery, I'm fond of using rechargable power tool batteries. There's nothing stopping me from feeding a pile of AAAs to them. I run them on old replaced 9v smoke alarm batteries all the time. They look like something like a MacGuyver-reject in Mad Max land, so I have had zero not returned yet.

Who would steal a strange-looking part with no "on switch" that they understand? Does that thing even make light? What *IS* that thing?

Just a thought.

Aside from that, I'd pick anything with a super-low mode, meaning hundreds or thousands of hours of emergency runtime. I can wire an external battery pack, so battery limitations really don't apply much as far as I can see.

Take a look at the Peak Logan 17500, and a set of battery spacers. These lights will run on anything that can fit in the tube!

Another long runtime option is a Safelight; hundreds of hours from a 9v battery, which most homes have a few of (smoke alarms).

I agree. The world is certainly more stable today, and the collapse of society far less likely, that it was even in the middle of the last century, but it's fun to buy gear.

MatthewSB said:

I do this not so much because I think I'll have to use it, but because it's fun to buy gadgets and gear and cases to organize it in

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dusty99 said:

I agree. The world is certainly more stable today, and the collapse of society far less likely, that it was even in the middle of the last century, but it's fun to buy gear.

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The Roman Empire lasted over 2,000 years before it fell. Some governments in the world today are far, far younger than 250 years. History provides a good perspective.

Even so, gadgets are definitely fun.

In the final analysis lights are just tools, at least in an emergency event. So for me it's just a matter of figuring out what I must accomplish and what lights I need to that end and then to get them.

I think some make this too complicated.

In a complete breakdown of society, law and order and basic morality, I'd be suprised if 10% of people here survived the first three months,
So it's really not worth worrying about.

Unless you want you and yours to be among that 10%
who survive...ymmv

Well put, Sub_Umbra.


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Of course, but the fact is, until the situation arises you have no idea how you will react/respond.
The majority of people will perish. I'm sure we all THINK we'll survive, we are all survivors by nature as a species,
but only a few will make it, and they will be mainly military with the odd 'natural' thrown in.
As a rule, people tend to survive in groups/tribes/clans whatever, very few make it on their own.
This idea of 'me against the world' is very romantic, but entirely impractical.
People should be finding each other for a scenario like this, not preparing to reject each other.

If that moment of SHTF ever comes, I'll be grabbing my fav's and batteries for them. When I run out of batteries and have to salvage, I'll have wished for a capacitor powered shake light.
I'll be packing ten lights. I won't be too worried about throw, just reliability and runtime since warranties will be out the window.