Long-runtime lights, in case of power outage

I live in Florida, and it's hurricane season! Last year I had a roof torn off, yet (because the power lines were buried) I didn't lose power for so much as five minutes. This year I'm in a house that had the opposite - power out for two days but no damage. Some were less fortunate... many areas had no power for over a month. Needless to say, I want to be prepared. This thread reminded me about how little stands between me and no light whatsoever.

I saw reviews for the Lightwave 3000 and 4000 lights that piqued my interest, with 600/700+ hours of runtime and enough output to make a dark room light enough to get stuff done. Obviously an interesting solution, especially the C version (since those suckers always seem to stick around on store shelves.) Still, it's only one option, and it *does* use fairly dated technology (not even regulated, even.) Is anyone familiar with any other lights or lanterns that can provide obscene runtimes with a minimalist battery supply?

Try www.superbrightleds.com here for some inexpensive pr bulb dropins for standard flashlights.
You should be able to stock up on a dozen good led'ed lights for less than $100.
Keep all these cheap lights around the house and just move onto another light when the batteries in the one you are using finally give out.

That's not a bad idea, and it would lend some flexibility and the ability to say "Sure, Dad, you can have mine" without wondering what kind of damage will occur. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

OTOH, if I want to keep something I can rely on in my car, that's not gonna be an elegant solution. Though my trunk would look pretty badass with like ten flashlights lined up in it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Hi /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif,

This is what I got for myself....

http://www.techass.com/el/el1.php

justsomeguy

One thing to keep in mind is that you will not need light 24 hours a day. When we lost power last year for five days the first time and four days the second time, we used a lot of lights but only for several hours in the evening and an hour or two in the morning.
I have a couple of these lanterns and on low and even medium, they last a lot of hours and provide minimally adequate light LED lantern .

I also used a headlamp quite a lot for hands free light while doing tasks. Especially handy for reading or making coffee in the morning, that sort of thing.

There are some refurb Eternalight specials on the forum now that would provide the many, many hours of useful light you asked about. These are mulit-output lights and can be used as a nightlight on low without breaking the battery bank.

The handheld flashlights I used most were the Elektrolumens Hyperblasters. Wayne has them on pre-sale for $30 and you get a lot of light for 8 hours on two D batteries.

These are my current first choices and what I stock for extended power outages.

Eternalite should do it. Mine lasted two months putting out useful output on three lithiums at the lowest setting.

Wow!!!!!! that's a Great Idea!!!!!!!!

ETERNALIGHT

Works for me

Non-ultra CMG Infinities are still available here and there ( Batterystation or do google search) for about $10. The greenies are plenty bright and run like 35+ hours on a cheap AA. And they are ultra reliable and bullteproof.

The Blasters from ElektroLumens would be a great choice. The Eternalights are very nice and a lot of fun. The Inova X5 has good runtime. I love my Princeton Tec Attitude for a cheap long running LED, it also happens to be very waterproof and durable. They can be found very reasonably online. There are a ton of great choices out there!

As I started getting into flashlights my first goal was to get together some lights for long runtime. I got an Inova X5T and an Eternalight for that purpose. I also added Terralux LEDs to a AA and AAA minimag (I have more of those I am going to modify). I found a great price on the Eternalights, getting an EliteMax 4X for $45 in a closeout from a dealer on the web. I am still looking to get some of the folding lanterns if I see them around.

Although now that I have the long running time things a bit under control Im moving to new areas of flashlightdom, like Surefires /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Ive found 2 lights that would be ideal for long term blackout,

http://www.newlite.com/ makes a SOLAR rechargable light that they claim runs for 20+ hours on 6hours sunlight, they have a few beam shots on their site to. now thats good advertising /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

http://www.nightsearcher.co.uk/acatalog/ is the other site that i found to have great products, go to the rechargable fluro floodlights and theres a few further down, the Nightsearcher 900 looks good has n extending pole. again i havnt used, but the build quality looks good

[ QUOTE ]
nerdgineer said:
Non-ultra CMG Infinities are still available here and there ( Batterystation or do google search) for about $10. The greenies are plenty bright and run like 35+ hours on a cheap AA. And they are ultra reliable and bullteproof.

[/ QUOTE ]

I bought one of the green Infinities and they do have amazing runtime. The beam is ringy, but I use mine as a nightlight on a stairway in my house where there aren't any outlets. I feed it used AA's that are too weak to run other devices.

UK 4AA LED
about 10 hours runtime
totally water tight,
small for a 4AA light.

http://www.jtice.com/review/lights/uk_4aa_led/

Very timely topic. I have been considering the same need recently. I live in rural NC where outages are not frequent, but have on occasion lasted for days.

While I have many flashlights, including an Eternalight, they are all flashlights. This means they have to be held and pointed, or set flat or stood on their tails. None of this really works well for general room lighting.

Some type of small fairly inexpensive lantern that could be bought for each bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area would be ideal.

For me this would probably be:
LED powered by AA. Most of us always have a bunch of these at all times and also rechargeables (if precharged) could be used.

Dorcy makes such a light(about $12), but I have not seen any in stores yet. I would like to pretest something before ordering five or six of them.

We really only need decent light for dressing, essential bathroom operations and general moving around. Any more demanding or detail work can be handled by more powerful flashlights.

Any suggestions?

Mark

You may find this thread to be of interest:

Multi LED retrofit bulbs for D size [email="M@G-lites[/url]"]M@G-lites[/email]

Also 2nd the UK 4AA LED suggestion.

I find in a power outage you need a few low power LED lights/lanterns to spread around in well traveled areas. If you cover most areas well you don't even need to have a light on you to walk by but I wear a headlamp and carry a brighter light in my pocket in case I need more light.
A cheap low output headlamp is nice, something with 1-3 5mm LEDs that will run for awhile you can turn on and off easily when you need hands free or to navigate by.

I have a 4LED modded taplight in my bathroom which uses overdriven 5mm LEDs and is rather bright, enough light to do your bathroom activities, you can even read by it.

The energizer accent lanterns and folding lanterns are both good candidates for sprinkling around the house to light it up. I adapted one to use 4AAs instead of a D cell and use it in my room at night instead of a 15 watt fluorescent and leave it on when I go out for an hour so the room is lit up when I come back. I try to stay away from C and D cells for lights I use often as the cost is prohibitive and LEDs like AAs fine, and you can get quick chargers that even run off 12vdc so you don't have to go to the store two days later to restock your depleted battery supply.

Any of the famous variable power lights. The HDS series is known for its unbelievably long runtime (hundreds of hours) on lowest mode, on a single CR123 with instant access to high beam if you need it.

Hoping their AA battery tube comes out soon and then you can use alkalines and NiMH, leave the other unregulated incandescent 2AA light behind /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

If I was riding out a storm and I did not know how long my batteries would last me, I would definitely get something I can dial down. For me that's the U2, 48 hours on two cells while still putting out a huge amount of light. I also have the HDS.

Stock up on CR123s in advance.

Another vote for the Energizer Accent and Folding Lanterns. Very long advertised runtimes (200 hrs.) and enough light to navigate a dark house. Recently these have been found at Big Lots for less than half the original prices.

Geoff

As a general advice I'*d definitely go LED as those won't burn out when needed the most AND get more and more efficient when driven at low levels, so you make the best out of the little energy you have in your batteries.
Then ... a multi-level light is nice since it can combine a long-running light with a bright light in one single tool which will reduce your weight on your body and make room for other tools needed in bad situations.

As to specific choices ... many where brought up and I won't add to them ... just one thing: you may want to decide wether the light should be able to serve as a nightstand-light and be able to be attached somewhere or if it should just be a long-running torch used by hand only.

bernie

The Lightwave Pro series, which is already mentioned is a good choice. Eternalights too, will run for long periods.

Streamlight TwinTask lights in the various sizes and battery types (AA, C, D) would serve well too. The TT series also have the xenon bulbs should you need brighter output for short periods...just watch that they aren't left on in xenon mode since it drains batteries big time. The 2D SL TT will run for 80 hours (advertised) on the low LED setting (5 LEDs).

As far as headlamps go, a Black Diamond Zenix IQ would be a good one. Multiple brightness levels, and the choice between Luxeon or a pair of 5mm LEDs. On 'low' the advertised runtime of the 2 5mm LEDs is 70+ hours. There's also a locater LED blinker to help you find it in the dark, and a battery indicator to show when you need to change the batteries.

A Princeton Tec Yukon Extreme may seem like overkill, but for a headlamp this one earns its name. It's a hybrid xenon/LED with a separate 8AA battery pack which you clip to your gear/harness/belt etc. this gives you great output and runtime, and keeps the weight off your head. The low LED setting will run for 200 hours.

The ever popular PT Eos would be pretty good too. On low it runs for 60 hours, and it's regulated.