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Emergency Lights

This is just the first few items of a remarkably useful article on emergency lighting from Cheryl titled "Bright Ideas to Keep the Lights On"  Get the full blog here.

"Bright Ideas To Keep The Lights On”

When the power goes out having alternative lights will be invaluable.  We need to have different types of lighting available for different uses and lots of choices ready at our finger tips.  We need to ask ourselves the question…do we want to light up a whole room or have a bright beam to a specific area?

If what we have to  use for light requires something to light it with we also need to have items stored like butane lighters, flint and steel, Sparkies or Blast matches and matches on hand?  For matches I prefer the "Strike Anywhere” type. I also have waterproof matches in my Go Bag

Here is a list of options for lighting. These are listed in alphabetical order.

CANDLES:
Candles provide a soft, low light. Candles are cheap and easy to obtain and to store. The open flame presents a fire hazard and does consume a small amount of oxygen use withcare. Candles do not give off enough light for reading by.  Do not leave unattended or have near drafts. Candles have an indefinite shelf life. Store in a cool place.
¾” diameter x 4” burns about 2:20 hours
7/8” diameter x 4” burns about 5 hours.
2” x 9” burns about 75 hours
Tea light burns 2-4 hours

The Red Cross does not recommend using candles during a blackout as they have proven to be a major source of fires during an outage.

COOKING OIL: Emergency candles can be made from cooking oil. Take a piece of string, lay one end in cooking oil and allow the other end to hang over the edge of jar. Light the dry end. Use 7-8 stings for more light. These are very smoky and should be used only when nothing else is available.You can use new, rancid or used strained oil. 

*Floating wicks are available to use in oil and make this method much safer.You can purchase these on Amazon

BATTERY  LANTERNS: Nice for general lighting. Available with florescent or LED bulbs which make the batteries last much longer.
 
They are usually battery operated but there is also a hand crank model available with LED bulbs that claim to last for 20 minutes after 60 seconds of cranking. They are usually not very bright and do require stopping every 20 minutes or so a crank it up again.


EMERGENCY CANDLES (also called 100 hr candles): Come with a plastic base that is filled with liquid paraffin. It is smokeless, odorless, and has no hot wax to make a mess. It may last for over 100hours. Stores for 10+ years.
 

FLASHLIGHTS: They provide a quick, reliable source of light and are available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. A2-battery flashlight with new batteries will work for @ 6 hours. For long-term storage: don’t store batteries in flashlights. Store extra batteries and bulbs.
Always buy quality.
 
What to look for in a flashlight (adapted from survivalblog.com)

1. Small and lightweight: They use fewer batteries and can be carried in a pocket.
2. Use a common battery size: Most use: AAA, AA, or D cells. Smaller charge faster.
3. Uses a variety of battery types: alkaline, lithium, or rechargeable batteries
4. Fewer batteries is better: fewer used=fewer to store
5. Simple to operate
6. Well constructed: Bulb protected, shock resistant and water resistant/proof, and that won't accidentally turn on while in your pocket or backpack.
7. LED/Cree bulb: Lasts 10,000 hours, shock resistant, brighter
8. Good compromise between output and run time: 8-12+ hrs per battery/charge
9. Quality of light beam: wide beam vs. bright spot. What do you need it for?
10. Lanyard hole/clip: Loop w/cord or ring to attach to you to prevent accidental loss.
11. Caring for your light: Unless using lithium’s, don’t store batteries in flashlight.

Very important! Periodically check your flash light and batteries to make sure that they will work when you need them.We found out the hard way that the new batteries that we had stored for a year in our 72 Hour kits (not in the flash lights) were low on power.

Stock up on LOTS of batteries if this is your choice for lighting.  Stores run out quickly in an emergency.


Many many more options are covered in the full blog: See it here




Tags: emergency lights  lighting  candles  flashlights  emergency preparedness  power outages  

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