Posted: 10/4/2007 6:00:01 AM EDT
| All I have right now for SHTF situations are a battery powered lantern, flashlights & candles. I'm curious what you guys suggest is the best way to go? Was thinking something along the lines of an oil lamp for the home? Any advice would be appreciated. |
| my family has always used oil lamps. good oil and several spare wicks and you have light for a long time. you can even use canning jars and olive oil in a pinch. i have a link somewhere to buy the parts for the olive oil lamps. i will see if i can dig it up. only problem with oil lamps is if its hot and no breeze it gets even hotter very quickly. candles are nice for lighting up a small area like a bathroom but i usually just light one when i need to go and blow it out when im done. makes the candles last a good long time. get plenty of batts for the lantern and maybe get a few LED lanterns and LED flashlights. the run time on them is HUGE compared to anything else. |
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We use Aladdin mantle lamps (example here) They put out a WHOLE lot more light than a regular wick oil lamp, and are built like tanks. They're expensive, though... ymmv |
Hard to argue with that. You've already got some candles. Look for sales at Target or WMart or garage sales or wherever and get more. Also consider the little tea light candles at Target and WMart. You can get maybe 100 for $4 and they won't tip over, unlike their taller cousins, and each one burns for over 3 hours. The tea lights aren't very bright, though. The next step up, expense wise, is probably kerosene lanterns. Skip the WMart $% cheapies and get two or three $15 Dietz models here, or at a garage sale or whatever. Get a spare wick (or two) for each lantern and maybe a spare globe in case one breaks. Buy the same model of lanterns, or at least models that use the same globe, so the spare globe will fit all your lanterns. The width of the wick will more-or-less determine how bright the lantern is, and how quickly it uses fuel. Then buy some kerosene. You can either buy blue containers and pump it yourself, or buy sealed containers of kero at farm stores or lots of places. Make sure you use K-1 kero. Ten or fifteen gallons will keep your lanterns burning for a looong time. There are also some kero lantern models that are super bright (Alladin, Petromax), but they're very expensive and also use fuel much more quickly. You can also burn liquid parrafin oil in lanterns. It burns cleaner and gives off less of an odor, but it's a lot more expensive than kero. Don't switch back and forth between kero and liquid parrafin in the same lantern (or more correctly on the same wick). The next most expensive level is probably propane lanterns. I only own one, so I'm kind of winging it here. Generally speaking, the propane lights are a lot brighter than kero lanterns. Many are adjustable so you can control the brightness and fuel usage. Some use one mantle and some use two mantles; the two mantle models are obviously brighter (too bright for most SHTF situations in my opinion) and also use more fuel. Most will run off the 1# propane canisters you can find anywhere, or you can buy a hose and adaptor to use 20# propane tanks. Be sure to buy some extra mantles because you will break the mantles periodically. In my experience, a small propane lantern at a low-medium setting will last about 6 hours, maybe a bit longer. The final option, which isn't necessarily more expensive, is LED lanterns. You can go to Target and buy a couple River Rock lanterns for $15-$20 each, and a bunch of AA batteries, and get hundreds of hours of light. The light certainly will not be overpowering, but it's functional. I've read that the light is actually better if you wrap some Scotch tape around the globe, but I haven't tried that. The LEDs themselves will basically last forever, and they don't give off any (measurable) heat, they don't give off any CO, and they don't create any fire risk, unlike the other options. There are plenty of other options besides the River Rocks, and I'm sure many of them are even better, but the River Rocks aren't bad. The only reason I put this option last is that, depending how long you're preparing for, the batteries can start to get expensive or else you have to get rechargeables and a method of recharging them. Now that I think about it more, if you're just preparing for an event of a week or two, the LED lanterns are probably the best idea, along with a bag or two of the cheap tea lights just because I like them and they're so cheap. ETA: As long as we're on the subject, you can also get something called Krill lights that give off just enough light to keep you from bumping into things and last a long time on a set of AA batteries. I've never seen one, but they're supposed to be about as bright as the basic chemical light sticks. |
I would have to second this in a big way. The Aladdin mantle lamps are the way to go if you are to resort to liquid fueled lamps. They give off as much light as a traditional 60W electric light bulb. c0 98% of the population is asleep. The other 2% are staring around in complete amazement, abject terror, or both. falloutshelter653.org |
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A followup - when I mention LED lights bright and dim (not counting the car headlights in a box I also have because I like them), I would note that I use a reasonable approximation of the minimum light necessary at any given time - I try to spend power like a miser. During multi-day power outages, I use a Gerber Infinity Ultra most of the time. With fully dark adapted vision (overcast sky during an area wide power outage... for example), standing (delicately) on end, it lights up the whole kitchen. It was still on the first NiMH AA the third day, when I got power back. For "medium" and variable use, the Fenix L1D CE works very well, almost always on low power - this is my EDC, since it sits right under my wallet in my pocket. For limited time security lighting, I like the Elektrolumens Stunner - though I have the older and cheaper K2 version. This is also useful to light up transformers which appear to be catching on fire. Note, for reference, my favorite advantage of the LED/rechargeable combination - I can flip these on and off once every day to check for dead batteries, and not have to worry about maintenance (blown bulbs, buying new batteries). |