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Batteries and flash lights

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Rwy in Sight
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Batteries and flash lights

#1 Post by Rwy in Sight » Tue Sep 08, 2015 11:50 am

Over the years I realized it is useful to carry a USB key, a small pocket knife and a torch/flashlight on my keys which I always carry with me. What every one carries on his/her keys is a subject for a thread on Jet Blast at a later time.

The question here is which do you believe are the requirements for a small torch for minor emergency to always have on your person? Also should the flash light be powered by small batteries like LR44/LR41 on AAA size that can be eneloop?

If you have some experience or considerations kindly post it here. Keeping my megalomaniac tendencies I will post my solutions once this thread gains some momentum.

Looking forward to your answers.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#2 Post by 19downbubble » Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:13 pm

If you need a cell that works in a standard AA/AAA design, and you need it at some indeterminate point in the future, then I'd go for a Li-FeS2 cell: lithium "voltage-compatible" design, 10 to 25-year shelf life. Non-rechargeable. Sold as Li/FE or "lithium" cells. If you routinely check charge state every 3 years, then 3rd or 4th-generation Eneloops would be fine.You need an LED flashlight where "off" really means off, though. So no clever lights that remember which of your last six modes you were using.

I have eneloops and one Li/FE in the bugout kit. I've used the kit twice in major earthquakes. Other stuff needs to be checked/replaced every 3 years anyway (food, water), so the eneloop check isn't a problem. Kit includes a 17W solar panel, which is about the minimum you can use to recharge cells ready for the next night. The emergency stove can also generate power. Most important thing in a major disaster turns out to be bags to poop in, not batteries for flashlights.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#3 Post by rgbrock1 » Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:27 pm

What an illuminating thread topic. :)) =)) :D
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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#4 Post by Rwy in Sight » Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:18 pm

Thanks to both of you. A former colleague did send few years a ago a message saying among others a torch is a case to hold empty batteries. Ever since, every time I change the bed sheets I check my big Maglit with 3 D-cells. The same goes with the other torch lights I have lying around.

The emergency bag sounds good. I should think about it.

RGB1 Kindly enlighten us.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#5 Post by 19downbubble » Tue Sep 08, 2015 2:32 pm

If you're interested in bad times, I have a flashlight that plugs in. It turns on for 10 minutes if the power goes out, if there's vibration, if it gets dark suddenly, and if it's pulled away from the wall. Plus an on switch. Short-term survivability involves the need to see what you are doing, and to exit a building in distress. Long-term urban survival involves protecting head and shoulders against even the smallest piece of falling masonry or glass.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#6 Post by 500N » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:00 pm

19down

I would be interested in what other experiences you found with your "Go Bag",
what you used and what you didn't over what you thought you'd use.

I have yet to sort out a Solar Panel / charging kit for AA and AAA batteries.

In addition to my torches / lights that use Eneloops (AA and AAA), I have a number of different Solar lights
which at least would give me some light every night. It has been interesting buying and testing them.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#7 Post by Ex-Ascot » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:37 pm

Smart phone with lamp, leatherman, passport and credit card is all you need to go places and defend yourself. A pair of shorts if you have time sometimes helps.
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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#8 Post by 19downbubble » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:40 pm

I was in an area where people basically act decently before, during and after disasters. YMMV quite dramatically. In order of need: bags to poop in, flashlight to see things, hat/shoulder pads if you're in an urban area, leather gloves, medication for 30 days.

Flashlight: something that works no matter how many batteries are in it. That's typically a single-cell flashlight.

Emergency foil sheets plus a sleeping bag liner: used these all the time. Took up no space.

Roll of plastic bags: pooped in these. In the second event, people were queuing for 8 hours to pee/poop so the older ones would simply go to the back of the queue each time, knowing they would be ready when they got to the front.

Food & water: had a 3-day supply of both to bug out to functional civilization. In the area itself, vending machines dispense water free after a disaster, convenience stores sold out of most stuff. I wrote a cellphone number on the apartment, left it unlocked for anyone who needed it, and sodded off to a safe haven. I walked out of town for only 12 hours before getting a train. Didn't touch the 3-day food/water pack, but wouldn't want to be without it.

Business cards: for shops along the way. Name, address, multiple contact points, space to write what I'd taken from shops without queueing/paying. Again, I guess it wouldn't work in many places. Didn't use. The one shop I entered simply gave me stuff.

In our particular case, I got myself 550 km out of Dodge, plus friends with a 6-week-old baby via a different route who then returned to the US.

But: bags to poop in.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#9 Post by 500N » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:48 pm

Well, that is interesting.

I'll add even more plastic bags to my go bag ! I think a roll of "Freezer bags" might be the go.
I do need to add Leather gloves, that's a good idea.
Yet to put food together but got plenty of water containers, 1.25 and 2ltr soft drink bottles.
I just purchased about 8 of the Mylar blankets and already have a Bivvy bag from Army days.

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Bags to poop in

#10 Post by 19downbubble » Tue Sep 08, 2015 3:48 pm

I probably didn't explain this clearly: after the first few hours, everyone I met was wondering where to pee/poop. So a kit with bags plus gelling agent helped me and everyone around me. I didn't suddenly need to poop 30 times.

The 3-day food/water packs sold here are actually re-branded survival kits for US sailing boats. So I imagine it's a very common, cheap product. 500 ml water/day, plus an inedible almond/fat mix. I figure I can rob/pillage noodles most of the time.

Edit: you need hat, shoulder pads, gloves etc to prevent further injuries. That's the bit of society that gets overloaded and stops working: you need to not add to the burden. In our case, the people who were immediately impacted were kidney dialysis patients: that whole service vanished instantly.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#11 Post by 500N » Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:06 pm

19down
Which earthquakes were you in that required you to use your kits ?
I must say that maybe I should put one of my Go bags in the car !
At present they live at home.
Water - depending on where you are water is a big problem here, even where I am.
Luckily still plenty of things to kill and eat around here if needed.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#12 Post by 500N » Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:11 pm

Rwy
For my cheap torch, I purchased some Ultra cheap but good quality 9 LED torches like this.
I know they work and last and for short range light, good enough for me.
Cost me Aus $1.20 plus I have the AAA Eneloops already.

I purchased the first one but would prefer the 2nd type if I purchased again
due to the knurling on the casing.

I couldn't find a similar cheap torch that had 1 or 9 - 12 LED option but I already have a
number of head torches like that so not too worried.

Yet to do a timed test to see how long a set of 3 x AAA Eneloop batteries last in them.
Will report when I do so.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#13 Post by 19downbubble » Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:15 pm

Great Hanshin Earhquake: very unprepared.
Tohoku Earthquake: very prepared, and now I know a ***** load about radiation.
I know: "that was scary, I'll move up here."

Edit: round torches roll. You need something that doesn't roll. It's always got to be where you put it. Also, oversimplifying, anything with more than one LED is old tech and doesn't deliver the most light for the buck. Cree is the tech leader, you need to check out a Cree single-LED unit. The numbering is confusing, but the units are specced by power output and color temperature. The latter doesn't really matter for emergency use.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#14 Post by 500N » Tue Sep 08, 2015 4:57 pm

"round torches roll."

Agree and thought of that. Apart from the lanyard that stops it rolling, I have always stuck
a very small piece of hard foam onto one side.
Something I used when trying to map read at night in the military !

Agree re Cree and Single LED - that is why I haven't yet purchased a small Single SMALL LED Torch.
I have a couple (2) of the higher end (cost and spec), Single LED Torches.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#15 Post by A Lutra Continua » Tue Sep 08, 2015 5:00 pm

Pelikan make a good waterproof penlight torch. Uses normal globes but very bright and can be used underwater. Also very small and made of soft-ish plastic so easy to grip in the teeth.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#16 Post by 500N » Tue Sep 08, 2015 5:26 pm

19down
What type of "gelling agent" do you use ?

Keef

Re: Batteries and flash lights

#17 Post by Keef » Tue Sep 08, 2015 7:41 pm

Wow! You folks live in some dangerous places!

I carry a Leatherman (always - has many uses), and a small Cree LED torch with a good quality 18650 cell in it lives in my jacket. I use it most evenings in Autumn and Winter. There's a stack of charged cells on the shelf here ready for it or its brothers in M's handbag, her car, my car, my overcoat, her overcoat, my leather jacket,...

Out here in rural parts, it's VERY dark at night. Soon after I bought the first Cree, they became the "must have" and all sizes from tiny to obscenely large put in an appearance.

I still have a giant Maglite, with 5 D cells in it. It lives by the back door, just in case.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#18 Post by 19downbubble » Wed Sep 09, 2015 2:30 am

Re gelling agent, there are a bunch of commercial products, mostly using the same chemical. I don't remember the name of the polymer.

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Re: Batteries and flash lights

#19 Post by Rwy in Sight » Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:56 am

500N,

I had the same flashlights (top one) on my keys until it was "confiscated" by the son of a friend and I was unable to recover it. No I have a longer one but I am still looking to get one like the ones on your pictures. They are very good to see in a small distance very rugged and very portable
For the time to come I am in favor of the multi LED units. When I bought the first torch one led was burnt very rapidly but the remaining 8 were ok.
Regarding round ones most have a small round clip on the back so they don't roll around.
Waterproofing has not been an issue so far but I understand Murphy is around the corner and I don't want to happen since I put the eneloop type batteries on it.

Ex-Ascot how do you travel the leatherman through various airport?

Keef how often do you check the batteries on your maglite?

Keef

Re: Batteries and flash lights

#20 Post by Keef » Wed Sep 09, 2015 9:59 am

Rwy in Sight wrote:Keef how often do you check the batteries on your maglite?


Whenever I see it as I pass by on the way to the pub.

It would also be a very effective weapon if we wanted to defend ourselves, but I doubt it will ever come to that.

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