emergency kit light

Greetings all, I am looking for a light to go into an emergency kit. I want a combination of reasonable brightness and long runtime. My initial thoughts were X5 (20 hours run time) or possibly the X0 (8 hours, but brighter).I want to use lithiums, either 123's or AA due to shelf life and would pack a couple of spare sets. Are there any other lights I should consider? All advice grearfully received.

A UKE 4AA eLED gets about 18 hours of runtime on four lithium AA's and costs $20 from brightguy.com. It's regulated and will be about as bright through the whole run as an X5 with fresh batteries. Plus, you can run it on ordinary AA's, for 12-13 hours on alkalines. An X5 will run that 20 hours, but needs 123's and will be pretty dim at the end.

Hello again Quazar and welcome back. For about the cost of a new SF-E2e I'll PM you some less than expert advice. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif paulr's advice sounds on the money.

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jayflash said:
Hello again Quazar and welcome back. For about the cost of a new SF-E2e I'll PM you some less than expert advice. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif paulr's advice sounds on the money.

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Sounds like a bargain, only I've just spent my allowance on a KL4. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

You got the better deal. Neat light, huh?

I have an EternaLight Ergo 3 with lithium AA's for one of my emergency lights. It's plenty bright for most tasks, plus the dimming feature allows the batteries to last a long, long time. Since it also has strobing, and S.O.S. features, it is even more suited for duty as an emergency light.

what about the opalec newbeam? i received mine yesterday and it rules!

The Minimag + Opalec combo is a nice light, but considerably more expensive than the UKE, only about half as bright, and has less runtime per set of batteries because of its less efficient step-up converter and because it uses two cells instead of four.

I actually would find even the UKE on the expensive side for an emergency kit (I read that as a box of stuff intended to be put away for years and hopefully never used). I think I'd just put in a generic incandescent flashlight, with lithium AA's if I was concerned about using it for long periods in cold weather, but otherwise ordinary alkalines that I'd check once a year or so. I'd put in some spare bulbs, and a couple of LED coin cell lights for use in changing bulbs or whatever.

Cheers guys, I probably should have added that I keep an emergency pack in the van and that is where the light will be kept.

Agreed with Paulr on the UKE as well. Also, now that you mentioned that it'll be sitting in your vehicle all the time, I'd like to suggest that you look at a light that has
1) as little moving parts as possible and
2) as little rubber parts as possible
The UKE that paulr mentioned seems ok for the job, as most of it is made from ABS plastic.

Ideally, I'd like to think that something like a 3x123 battery tube (Vitalgear?) on a KL1 would be perfect. Firstly because its a twistie, no switches to fail, and secondly, no rubber parts that will deteriorate (bezels, switch, etc) if left under the hot sun for a long time. Also with the battery tube, you can use 2xAAs if you run out of juice on 123 batts. On a KL1 you'll get approx 8-10 hrs on 3x123s as well, so thats an added advantage.

Apart from that, another suggestion I'd like to make is also the Inova 24/7, which has blinking/strobing features, etc similar to the Ergo that BigEd mentioned.

Personally, I would go for the longer runtime (X5/X5T), unless you emergency needs required longer throw.

Agreed Charles, however Roy's runtime charts for the X5t showed something like 4 hours+ before the output drops continually to flat around the 13+ hour mark. If I didn't know that I would've agreed totally with you. Unfortunately Inova's 20+ hours claim seems to be overstated... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Stanley, that could be due to a weak battery also. Of my 123A only lights, the X5T would be used the most where runtime was of greater need than brightness.

Ditto, Charles. No argument there, my X5t is also my first go to light for most tasks, as I'm confident that its one light that I can afford to keep 'playing' (read as 'using') with and not worry about batteries going flat too quickly. Did I mention I'm still on my first set of batteries with my X5t? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Let's just say that I'd have more confidence again in it again if the light lives up to its manufacturer runtime claim.

I can't argue with your reasoning, Stanley.

The Inretech 2AA adapter (white) that goes in a 2AA Minimag, and uses 2 Lithium AAs, would also be an excellent choice for this emergency kit.