Becky and I are slowly acquiring things that will help us in an emergency. Light is something we mostly take for granted. In the Far North of New Zealand, however, the power goes out on a semi regular basis. This has accentuated the point for us: Do not wait to get reliable, backup lighting.
There is no shortage of options. While we all know about candles and lanterns, which should be a part of your plans, I would encourage you to strongly consider acquiring at least one high quality LED headlamp. Becky has owned a LED headlamp for years. I found myself borrowing it quite a bit. I decided that it would be a good idea for me to have one as well.
I wanted an excellent quality light. I wanted something that I knew I could rely upon, something that would last a LONG time. After researching the topic at length, because there’s so much Made In China garbage out there, I decided to go with the Petzl Tikka Plus.
The Petzl Tikka Plus LED Headlamp
Overall, the Petzl Tikka Plus is an incredible headlamp. It exceeded my expectations. The brightness, at full power, is roughly double what I had expected it to be. It seems impossibly bright, actually, for the size of the unit. There are three intensity modes, plus blinking, all controlled by a single button. I found that the ‘low’ setting is easily bright enough for any indoor task. The lamp will operate for 150 hours in the low intensity mode on a single set of three AAA batteries.
The build quality is excellent, it’s weather resistant and, while I haven’t subjected the unit to punishing treatment, it seems very durable. The Petzl Tikka Plus is made in France, by the way, for those of you who like to avoid buying things that are made in China when possible. (See Cryptogon references on Chinese fascism.)
It’s simple and inexpensive to stockpile batteries, or, better yet, get yourself a solar battery charger and a few sets of rechargeable AAA batteries. It will be easy to confront the darkness, with just a bit of preparation and forethought.
Kevin,
Not too sure if you’re aware, but there’s a device out of Adelaide called the SunCube that might be useful as a redundant power supply as well as lowering your reliance on the NZ power infrastructure. Here’s the link to the page.
http://www.greenandgoldenergy.com.au/
Cheers, and thanks for the work from both you and Becky on Farmlet as well as Cryptogon. I sincerely appreciate it.
That is swell. One more thing for my wish list, eh? Here’s something I want for preparedness and can never find: I want to know if I can install some sort of manual pumping system into my existing plumbing so I can draw water if my power goes out. Know of anything that will do that? I don’t want a special well or line, just something in conjunction with the existing pipes to draw the water up (it is a shallow well) if I have no electricity (hand pump, bicycle pump, whatever).
http://simplepump.com/prod_specs.html
Made in China isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I’m providing a link to a very bright headlamp that has 19 LEDs. It’s one of those that shines near-natural-colored light and cost me 12 bucks total. That includes the shipping.
LED headlamp