What's the Latest and Greatest in Home Emergency/Flash Lights?

TexasBob said:

Ryobi One+18 Volt hand flashlights that I swapped out the bulbs with LED's, you get a super bright light, with a tons of spare battery's on hand I can Also use them with the Ryobi Portable Fans if the powers out until I startup my Portable LP Generator. Made in USA good luck with that.

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I second this idea. I have Ryobi 18 volt tools and several batteries. they have 3 or four types of lights that are part of the 18v series. i have one of them and one battery gives me about 6 hours run time. enough light to light up the whole room. So any battery tool system is a good idea!

Harrys said:

It is my .50 caliber S&W BFR revolver, In an emergency it makes a big flash of light. Also acts as my security system 7 days a week you pick the days.

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Yeah really, sometimes that momentary flash is all you need and then you can go back to seeing in the dark again.

Kerosene lamps work great and was what was used until the 20th century along w/ candles. If you have a Kero heater, one fuel for heat and light.

If you want to go cheap, you can procure wick assemblies that screw onto Mason jars to make as many lamps as you like. Good prep item.

Gilo said:

I second this idea. I have Ryobi 18 volt tools and several batteries. they have 3 or four types of lights that are part of the 18v series. i have one of them and one battery gives me about 6 hours run time. enough light to light up the whole room. So any battery tool system is a good idea!

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I got the one that can be hung from a 2x, it pivots, and has three settings. The brightest setting with the light pointed at the ceiling in a dark room provides enough light for me to do anything I want within reason. Ryobi's One+ 18v system may not be professional quality tools, but they are more than good enough for me. I also have several USB rechargeable headlamps and normal battery flashlights, including the four D cell Mag-lite that sits bedside. The Cree LED replacement made it a whole new light and it still swings with as much authority as ever.

Gilo said:

I second this idea. I have Ryobi 18 volt tools and several batteries. they have 3 or four types of lights that are part of the 18v series. i have one of them and one battery gives me about 6 hours run time. enough light to light up the whole room. So any battery tool system is a good idea!

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I use the same. Plenty of batteries, and a 12v auto charger if the need arises. Use whatever platform you already have, there are most likely a ton of them available. Not particularly small, probably not the best light output, but you have a power source already.

chuck said:

I use the same. Plenty of batteries, and a 12v auto charger if the need arises. Use whatever platform you already have, there are most likely a ton of them available. Not particularly small, probably not the best light output, but you have a power source already.

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Eh. I am all in on Ryobi (just not the cheaper of their tools). But the runtime and brightness per watt hour isn’t near as good as most decent dedicated lanterns or flashlights. If I have to go a long time, I’d rather something that uses as little energy as possible for the light output.

Not a terrible option, just for me not ideal.

I prefer battery vs rechargeable (built in battery) since you can still use rechargeable batteries (e.g. lithium ion or NiMH) and don't have to throw the flaslight/lantern away when the internal battery is worn out. Plus you can swap out with charged batteries vice having to plug the light in for however long it takes to charge. And you can use top quality batteries vs whatever unknown quality battery is built in. Also, you know what battery technology you are using, e.g. that you aren't using potentially unsafe lithium polymer.

Unfortunately all of my flashlights except the Maglites are made in CN. For simple everyday use I have had good luck with the Jobsmart flashlights sold at Tractor Supply. My current favorite is the 3216 model. Advertised as 3000 lumens (probably not), 2x18650 lithium, aluminimum construction, plano convex lens to allow a sharp focus at long distance if desired. The included charger is fragile/junk but any lithium ion charger will work. A spare set of batteries is handy for swapping out. For full featured flashlights the UniqueFire lithium ion flashlights are pretty well made. I just don't care to cycle through 5 modes just to turn a flashlight off on an routine basis.

For lanterns I regularly use a pair of the GE Embrighten lanterns I picked up at Costco a few years back. 4 or 8 D-cells, led, about 500 lumens on high (they have models ranging from 360-600 lumens.) Batteries last a long time, especially if you use 8. Again, made in CN though.

As a backup/for extended power outages I also have a few old 6v lantern battery table lamps which I picked up on Ebay. These were made in the USA back in the 70's as camping lights and I updated them with 1156 style 6v led bulbs and 5 Ah rechargeable Ray-O-Vac sla batteries (both of which are made in CN.)


And as a backup for those I have a couple of Dietz kerosene lanterns. Made in CN nowdays.

And when I really want/need a hellish light I can break out the Coleman white gas lanterns. Noisy though. Still made in the USA but have some chinese components.