Several Survival Flashlight

Let there be light. In cities and towns, we're
bathed in light all day. Street lights at night,
and all the electrical devices in the house. We
take light for granted these days. But in the
woods on a dark night, during a power outage,
or--most importantly--in a long-term survival
situation, you'll quickly learn just how
important light is, and how important it is to
be prepared.

Here are my opinions about what makes for a good
survival light.

First, there is no "one light" that will do every
thing. Any more than "one gun" or "one knife".
You wil need several.

I propose that the following list of lights will do most of
the jobs a survivalist needs.

1. Pocket light.

A smaller flash light is the one you have with you
at all times. A squeeze light on your key ring is
there when you need it, or a light to put in your
pocket. I carry a 2AA mini mag with LED conversion.
It is a compromise between size, convenience, and
light output. But, it's with me all day.

Some are bigger due to marketing, or poor design.
Many rubber flash lights run on two AA cells,
are twice the bulk of a Mini Mag, and don't work as
well as the Mini Mag. Bigger flashlights are heavier.
They may or may not have longer runtime.



2. Distance light.

When you're trying to figure out what is that noise on the
far side of the field, you need a bright light that shines
at a distance. I've found few lights that are better than a
4D cell Mag light with a Krypton bulb. Until they came out
with the Mag light with the LED bulb, that is. The Garrity
LED bulb is no where near as bright as the LED original
equipment bulb.

3. Area light

When you'r eating dinner, or walking down a trail, or
walking around the living room. It's not convenient to hold
a flashlight in one hand (or between your ear and your
shoulder) while you use two hands to cut and eat your food.
At t his moment, an area light is what's needed. I like the
fluorescent camping lanterns from Walmart, that run on 4 D
cells. These lights don't work well in cold weather, which
is when the Jeep lights come in handy. 20 LED bulbs, and
runs on 3D cells. Not as bright as the fluorescent lantern,
but it does work when it's cold.




Uses a common battery size
Currently, the most common flashlight battery sizes
are AAA, AA, C, and D cells. A few lights use 9-volt
batteries or lithium photo batteries.

That leaves AA- or AAA-cell lights are the most
convenient for pocket carry. C and D cells for in
the truck. For occasional use when more light
power is needed.

Using a common battery size is important for price,
and for getting more batteries if you need them.
Depending on the scenario, the easiest battery to find
at stores is C. You may be able to buy or barter
for AA, AAA or D cells. I just don't know about the
lithium photo batteries. They may be in stores after
a crisis, or may not.


7. Well constructed
Look for lights where the bulb is reasonably protected,
that are shock resistant and water resistant/proof, and
that won't accidentally turn on while in your pocket or
backpack. Clickies are most prone to accidental
activation. This can usually be prevented by rotating
the tail cap counterclockwise while the light is on
until the power cuts out, then clicking the clickie
button off.


8. LED versus incandescent
No contest here. A flashlight that uses an incandescent
bulb is simply not a primary survival light. Period. If
the bulb itself can burn out or malfunction due to shock
(broken filament), then you don't want to trust your
life to its operation. While light emitting diode (LED)
"bulbs" technically don't last forever, a 5,000-
to 10,000-hour use life is close enough to "forever"
for survival purposes. LED bulbs are a heck of a lot
tougher than other bulb types. Over the last few years
LED technology has improved exponentially, to the point
where they now can out-perform most other lights. The
newest and brightest LEDs will do what you need. The
LEDs put out blue light Many people find this blue
objectionable. Some folks are willing to put up with the
bluish tint due to its superb runtime (80+ hours of usable
light on just 1 AA battery). Not to worry. The newer
LEDs have a crisp white white light. Luxeon is like this.


9. Good compromise between output and run time
Run time is arguably the most important criterion, and
it's what separates true survival lights. The longer
the run time, the better. Super-bright "tactical"
lights are great for impressing your friends, but
will usually suck batteries dry much more quickly.
Also, the darker your environment, the less light
you need to see well enough. Brighter lights can
actually be a disadvantage, because they more readily
attract unwanted attention, and can also impair your
night vision. Again, we're talking about survival lights
here, not tactical (super bright) lights.

It's OK to also take along a super-bright light for
"tactical" use (e.g., disorienting or disrupting the
night vision of a potential threat), in most cases
these lights will not be used very often.



Q: What about headlamps? Can these be used as survival
lights?
A: Very handy items to have. The light shines right where
you look.
Including smack dab into the face of the person you're
looking at.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't much care for light in my
eyes when
I'm trying to preserve my night vision. They might also make
a handy
head-shot target for hostiles. Let's put it this way. While
most small
flashlights can usually be rigged to serve as makeshift
headlamps
(with the aid of a pocket clip or headband, for example),
most
headlamps cannot readily be used in the same manner as one
might use a
flashlight. Headlamps could possibly serve as back-up
survival lights
(if they use only one or two batteries), but I would not
recommend
them as primary survival lights. A flashlight will, in most
instances,
prove more versatile.
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