LED-Flashlight Improvements No 2: Major Blackout - Flashlights + Bike Inner Tubes = Awesome
by confu in Living > Life Hacks
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LED-Flashlight Improvements No 2: Major Blackout - Flashlights + Bike Inner Tubes = Awesome
In advance of some predicted meteorological disturbances (aka the first winter storm in the EU this year) I checked our flat for its "major blackout capabilities".
Seemed fine so far, enough candles, lighters, matches, food and water, even plenty of (recharcheble and single use) batteries for most devices. I also found a camping stove and gas cartridges.
So even if a blackout would last for several hours or even days we would not have to sit in the dark and starve.
BUT:
All the useful things mentioned above were scattered around the flat and the basement.
Finding a flashlight or a lighter and a candle seemed to be no problem, even if you don´t see anything. Christmas time and candles everywhere. But where were all the stockpiles? I didn´t want to use the last match in the box to light a candle and go searching the next candle or a full box of matches, a flashlight and spare batteries, or use up the flashlight to find the camping stove and its fuel... and so on...
So I somehow organised things more efficiently:
A flashlight on the nightdesk with spare batteries attached (so you can search for hours for the other stuff), a flashlight at the fusebox (did that some time before, came in pretty handy during the last minor blackout), camping stove, kerosene lamp, spare fuel, candles, lighter(s) and matches at some central point in the flat. And really powerful headlamps in my "workshop". Only the obligatory crowbar is still missing ;)
But now some suggestions how to store your spare batteries for your flashlight(s) with some biycycle innertubes, see the pictures, pretty self-explanatory.
PLUS: Using a backup-battery for cell phones as emergency lighting. This device can give your smartphone about four full charges and/or can be used as a long lasting light-source. Simply attach some 1$-LED-laptop-lamp to it. This should provide at least four full days of continuous (!) emergency light (if you dont charge your phone and even longer if you just use it, when it´s really dark...).
This device provides 7 Ah if fully charged (and there are bigger ones available) and a "super bright standard LED" draws 0.064 W.
And I doubt that there´s a "super bright" LED in those China-Imports, so it would even work longer.
Hint: This device (EasyAcc-Power Bank) does not recognize the current of a single LED as "charging something" when connected to the 5V1A-Port, the LED will light up, but will turn off after a while until you press the "Charge"-Button again. If you connect it to the 5V2A-Port, it won´t turn off.
Seemed fine so far, enough candles, lighters, matches, food and water, even plenty of (recharcheble and single use) batteries for most devices. I also found a camping stove and gas cartridges.
So even if a blackout would last for several hours or even days we would not have to sit in the dark and starve.
BUT:
All the useful things mentioned above were scattered around the flat and the basement.
Finding a flashlight or a lighter and a candle seemed to be no problem, even if you don´t see anything. Christmas time and candles everywhere. But where were all the stockpiles? I didn´t want to use the last match in the box to light a candle and go searching the next candle or a full box of matches, a flashlight and spare batteries, or use up the flashlight to find the camping stove and its fuel... and so on...
So I somehow organised things more efficiently:
A flashlight on the nightdesk with spare batteries attached (so you can search for hours for the other stuff), a flashlight at the fusebox (did that some time before, came in pretty handy during the last minor blackout), camping stove, kerosene lamp, spare fuel, candles, lighter(s) and matches at some central point in the flat. And really powerful headlamps in my "workshop". Only the obligatory crowbar is still missing ;)
But now some suggestions how to store your spare batteries for your flashlight(s) with some biycycle innertubes, see the pictures, pretty self-explanatory.
PLUS: Using a backup-battery for cell phones as emergency lighting. This device can give your smartphone about four full charges and/or can be used as a long lasting light-source. Simply attach some 1$-LED-laptop-lamp to it. This should provide at least four full days of continuous (!) emergency light (if you dont charge your phone and even longer if you just use it, when it´s really dark...).
This device provides 7 Ah if fully charged (and there are bigger ones available) and a "super bright standard LED" draws 0.064 W.
And I doubt that there´s a "super bright" LED in those China-Imports, so it would even work longer.
Hint: This device (EasyAcc-Power Bank) does not recognize the current of a single LED as "charging something" when connected to the 5V1A-Port, the LED will light up, but will turn off after a while until you press the "Charge"-Button again. If you connect it to the 5V2A-Port, it won´t turn off.