Flashlights

FWIW, any light with more than ~600 lumens should do what you want. But more is definitely better for the blinding effect especially with the flood type beams that I'm suggesting (set it and forget it). An L6 will also give the light shield effect and looks more like a traditional flashlight if that's important. Due to the large reflector and smaller tube it would have a built in up angle to point more directly into the perps eyes.

Prices? Last I knew the Q8 was $80- $100, but you'll need 4 18650 cells. Good cells can be from $5-$10 each. The L6 was ~$60 last I knew and uses larger 26650 cells. It might come with spacers to use 18650s in it, but full runtime will be achieved with the full size cells.

As with all things "tactical", one is none, and two is one. Which means have spares because when the time comes when you really need "it", it will fail, so have back ups. Doesn't matter the brand or quality or the fact that "it" hasn't failed in the past 10 years.

Hey Phil! (or anyone else)

The BLF has come up with another light that you might be interested in for power outages... It's a lantern that use 4 18650 cells*. It charges from a 1.5 USB port, portable solar power bank, or the cells can be removed and charged outside of the light. It's aluminum construction, unlike most of the plastic lanterns on the market and for that reason it's not really all that good for backpacking. But for that reason it would be great for home use.

* for that reason it's not a good beginners light. Li-Ion cells in multiple can be very dangerous... think bomb if one doesn't know what one is doing. Neither would it be a good childs light.

Anyway, if you're interested... http://budgetlightforum.com/node/44923

I have been using a light (the Q8) that the base of the lantern is based on, with many changes, for 4 years now, and it's one heck of a build. Hopefully the lantern will be as well. FWIW, the lantern is not just a Q8 with a reflector and frosted cup. Only the base is similar, the rest is built to be a lantern with LEDs above and shining down.

If you need however many you can order yourself if you become a BLF member. But don't dawdle. Member orders are limited to 3k and they're almost there now.

Brian,
Thanks for the link. It looks very interesting.

I have lots of oil lanterns - that we actually prefer. We wired the old house for a generator and purposely left the light circuits off except in the bathrooms. The charm of the oil lamps helped make power outages less of a hassle.

We are getting a whole house generator installed in 2 weeks. EVERYTHING will be powered.

ML's flashlight you recommended gets lots of use. Between that, some cheaper LED lights and our oil lanterns we are set.

Though that BLF is something. I consider myself reasonably intelligent but a lot of that goes over my head.

Thanks again,
Phil

Lest I be mistaken for one of the movers and shakers on the BLF site and in the design of those lights, I'm just one of the folks benefitting from the brains of others at the BLF.

Yup, we used oil lights also, until we had a 4+ day outage (4" of ice, no exaggeration). Modern homes just aren't designed to burn the amount of kerosene needed for energy and light. But back to the LT1, it has a continuously variable hue, yellower for those wishing that and bluer for folks liking that. We still have our oil lights but they don't see much use today. We just don't need them. I see the LT1 in use for going out to the shop and use outside on a nice summer night. It's too heavy for backpacking, but if we still 'car camped" it would get lots of use. I hated going out into the shop with a lantern that had a flame, and still do.

Yes, we went to a whole house genny also. Actually, that and a whole house solar PV system w/battery backup that I can turn on in about 5 seconds and no significant noise (slight cooling fan sound at high current draws). If the sun doesn't shine during the day the genny charges the batteries in the solar system when we need to run it for high current usage.

During the ice storm after 4 days of burning kerosene we had water dripping from the ceiling and running down the walls, so maybe we went overboard with systems, but we learned our lesson and made changes. We went from temps in the high 20s, and when the ice storm ended the temp' plummeted to -80°F with the windchill. Not the best conditions for wet fiberglass insulation, but we did better than most folks. Yeah, we learned our lesson. Note that I can't imagine that just burning oil for light would have the moisture problem even after 4 days.

During the ice storm after 4 days of burning kerosene we had water dripping from the ceiling and running down the walls, so maybe we went overboard with systems, but we learned our lesson and made changes. We went from temps in the high 20s, and when the ice storm ended the temp' plummeted to -80°F with the windchill. Not the best conditions for wet fiberglass insulation, but we did better than most folks. Yeah, we learned our lesson. Note that I can't imagine that just burning oil for light would have the moisture problem even after 4 days.

Wow, that must be annoying. What kind of kerosene lamps were they? I have been in remote locations without electricity, but never saw that problem. We used Aladdin mantle lamps like the aluminum one shown at http://aladdinlamps.com/shelf-lamps/. The mantle lamps use less kerosene than traditional wick lamps, yet put out much more light. One place I was at used a couple of Dietz Monarch lanterns, again with no condensation problems.

We are having power issues in California thanks to tinder-dry conditions, along with Pacific Gas & Electric and their poorly maintained infrastructure. Large areas of Northern California have been off-grid recently, and residents are having to adapt to the new abnormal.

Modern homes are quite tight. I assume that's why we had the moisture problem.

We had and still have 2 hanging Aladdins and 2 table Aladdins and other straight wick types. But the biggest kerosene burner was the Alpaca stove that we were using for space heat and to melt ice for washing and flushing the hopper. OK, we used it for drinking also, but after filtering it. We might have also had another kerosene space heater running as well. I just don't remember but it wouldn't surprise me. Space heat burns lots of fuel and that puts water into the air since it isn't vented.

Despite cracking a window for O2 we still had problems. When the temp' plummeted was the worst of it. We get a mini version of it every year when we go from summer humidity to winter cold. Until the air and plaster board give up their moisture we get oodles of water condensing onto our windows. Then winters dry air sucks it out and the problem stops and a new one shows up... itchy dry skin that demands moisturizer. But that's another story.

BTW, the first production run of the LT1 came in because my first light was in the first 500 on the list. Supposedly there are things to be corrected in subsequent production runs, but IMO they are minor and no one has reported anything major. I've been using mine for almost a week now, every night for a night light on minimum output and playing with it on full output to try it in various rooms doing "things". It gets turned on at 1900 and off at 0600-0700 and it still reports a full charge in the cells after almost a week. So the thing just sips juice at the light level I'm using it at. Charging the cells on the first day, they charged up from a 2a USB port in about 6 hours and the cells were taken from cold storage at 1/2 charge level. That's a lot of juice (about 7ah). I can't imagine any time when we'd use 1/2 a charge in one night. I want it to come off of full charge and when I see that (4.0v) I'll recharge and use it as the primary light for one night in our living room, using it for the nightlight for a night, and then see what charge is left the next morning to get a better idea of what it will do. I did enable all of the power feeding chips. As it comes from the factory, by design, not all are enabled. Think of it as having a governor installed.

FWIW, it's too late to get in on the group buy, but after the BLF is taken care of they will be available at retail prices. Yes, it's worth the retail price. It might not be light or small enough for backpacking, but where weight doesn't matter it's a very nice lantern and Li-Ion cells self discharge at a very low rate, so keep it in a closet until needed.

The last post in this thread mentioned the LT1. Well, it's been awhile in development, but it's finally available. I've had mine for awhile now and it's a nice lantern, typical BLF quality design and the manufacturer appears to have done a nice job with the build. It has the output of approx' a 60w light, more if a simple mod is done to it, but run time suffers since more juce is being used. It has gotten daily use since I first got it 2 months (?) ago as a nightlight in case of a power outage. Once during an actual outage at a higher output than as a mere nightlight.

It's much smaller than I thought it would be but that doesn't affect it's performance one bit. It was worth waiting for.

Check ou this company.  I have 3 of their flash lites one being 3,200 lumens

https://www.nebotools.com

TLDR ...
My favourite pocket flashlight that I own has 6 cool white LEDs around a laser.
Click the button once for flashlight only, again for laser pointer only, third time for off.
It takes 3 AAA cells.