WW3 and Flashlights

How many of you guys believe that within our generation (next 60 years), we will see world war 3 and flashlights among other things like food, shelter, etc... will be important to our survival?

I don't know about WWWIII but a flashlight, candles and matches were very important during and for months after Hurricane Andrew. There was plenty of food but a lack of batteries and light.

John Titor?

Daddyo, who provided the food during Hurricane Andrew? Governement or your own?

I thought (not kidding) that we were in the opening phases
of WWIII right now. Time will tell, I suppose!


"Lux" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If and when WW-III does occur, having a flashlight will be of no importance. WW-III will not be a traditional war like you see today in Iraq. It will not be like what our grandparents and great-grandparents lived thru (or died thru) in WW-II an WW-I. WW-III will not involve ground troops and you probably will not even know in advance when it starts. It will be a combination of biological and bacterial assults. The only good your flashlight will do is help you identify the dead bodies at night time.

TIN-

I WISH I could say with some confidence that you were wrong.

However news stories are being released today which state that Libyan Intel Chief Musa Kussa has told US and UK intelligence that bio-weapons were sold to Al Qaida. Some went through Balkin Airports via a Brazilian Arms dealer and others went out through Sudan to Yemen.

So who knows?

For me there are plenty of natural disasters- cold snaps, fires, floods, mud slides, quakes, tornados, hurricanes that happen every year and take plenty of lives. I would like to think some of my preps for those can handle some other things but...

GregR

If world war three occurs, I believe the main focal point will be the middle east, since ever other country seems content to behave itself except Israel and their arab neighbors. (i'll leave it up to you to decide who started it)

With that said, if one was really pessimistic and wanted to prepare, I'd make sure to have plenty of food, land for growing food, extra batteries, a way to recharge the batteries if the power goes out (solar rechargers come to mind unless you can afford your own self sustaining windmill), water, a good shortwave radio, guns, ammo, toilet paper /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif some silver for bartering, and anything else that sounds common sense. Think "sam's club" ... I myself would also carry aluminum foil to take advantage of the limitless energy of the sun.

The best flashlights will probably be the long lasting LED lights like an Arc AAA head on a "d" cell battery or even the ones you shake to recharge that need no batteries. These collector/tactical lights that last for 20 minutes on 3 123 batteries will be of little use. The Arc LS flashlights using 2 AA batteries will probably come in handy... durable, waterproof, long lasting light on cheap, readily available and stockpilable AA's.

I'd try to move as far away from major cities as possible, and for those more worried about power, Texas does have their own power grid seperate from the rest of the nation.
You avoid being hit by nuclear devices this way. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Plus it's cheaper with lower taxes and better values for your money in real estate. Buy while interest rates are still low!


You can also look into other things, like solar water heaters and ovens. A piece of aluminum foil can go a very long way into doubling or even tripling the amount of sunlight entering your house during the cold season. You can find instructions for such devices on ebay... solar water heaters - water distillers so efficient that they'll boil water in the dead of winter, all made with free/surplus materials.

If you live in a downtown apartment with no windows that receive sunlight in the winter, you'd probably be screwed; same thing with finding land to grow your own crops on. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif
Even more so if you need an electric wheelchair to get around on and the elevator doesn't work and you can't find any 110VAC outlets to charge the chair in.
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I agree with Lux_Luminous. WWIII is probably already started... and I'm hoping that This_Is_Nascar is wrong on the chemical and biological war...

actually I take my previous analysis back. Given the long shelf life of 123 batteries, buying 50 or 100 along with one really good tactical light with extra bulbs or a really powerful LED light would be great for a firearm.. hopefully we have 10 or 20 watt luxeons before world war three "really" kicks off. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

ditto on the ARC AAA. I am thinking of getting a couple of Lightwave 3000s that can give light for a couple hundred hours. There is nothing more upsetting than having the light go out just as the catastrophe is getting worse.

The Government had food stations but it was not necessary for many including myself that had family jump in and help.

I'm not sure about you guys, but I'll be stocking up on AA. Plan to pickup the Impact XL once that it arrive to Canada. Portable radio uses AA, travel shaver uses AA, already have several AA lights, even have an AA solar battery charger.

However, being a CPF member, I have to own at least one CR123A flashlight...

I stock up on ALL sizes on batteries, although I just bought 8 dozen AA cells last week. You can always use them to barter with.

Although 90% of my flashlights use 123's I do have a old, nearly mint, Gold colored 2C Maglight and a 3C Streamlight twintask. I have one of Wayne's Angelux that I have grown very fond of in a short period of time and I have three Fluorescent lanterns that run off D cells.

All my handheld twinband Ham radios have extra battery holders that take AA cells, besides their rechargible packs. I also have a large 12v deep cycle marine battery. I made up a multiple 12v accessory outlet box so I can run alot of RV type portable gear off it whe connected to the deep cycle battery. Everybody should remember if you have a car you have a gas or diesel powered 12v power system. 12v accessories cords for all your portable radios and TV's are a good thing and also consider a 12vdc to 120vac inverter that plugs into a cigarette lighter outlet and provides 120vac.

GregR

Double A, you may want to look into the new rayovac IC3 NiMH. They charge in only 15 minutes in a proprietary charger. The charger can be plugged into a cig lighter. The AA are 2 AH.

The cells are not expensive at wallmart. Neither is the charger. There is a thread in the battery forum about it.

Daniel

Gadget lover-

Thanks I'll have to visit a Wallmart.

GregR