Hi Sherpadog,

If you are going to purchase some additional rechargeable AA batteries, then you may want to get the Sanyo Eneloop type. They really do make a difference when compared to ordinary rechargeable NiMh cells since their self discharge rates are much lower. Typically an ordinary NiMh cell will hold its charge for only a few months. The Eneloop cells will hold their charge for a few years.



AA cells have limited power but are useful for powering flashlights and portable devices such as SW radios etc. If the emergency is home based then portability and the use of AA cells is of secondary importance. Lighting and limited heating using candles could potentially be very dangerous if the candle is not used within a candle lantern. Then of course there is the combustion products from the candle itself. Ventilation now becomes an important consideration especially if dozens of candles are used at the same time. A variable camping gas light may be a worthwhile purchase instead of using candles. They are also useful in providing some limited heating. Again the same ventilation issue arises. If lighting and heating a room for a 4-6 hours during the evening for 3 days is required then a couple of gas lamps with half a dozen 500 gram canisters would be sufficient. The number of AA cells will depend on what number of devices require AA cells and what other methods you are using for powering your lighting. Communications and entertainment systems can be powered from a standard 12V car battery. You can get one of these in the form of a UPS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply .
You could use one to power your wireless cable router and use a portable wireless device to maintain modern communications such as email and web browsing as modern smart phones and wireless PDA devices are becoming increasingly more common in the home.

You could possibly also power a couple of table lamps from the UPS as well if using low energy bulbs such as a replacement Cree LED bulbs for example. http://www.easy-led.com/big_01.php?mod=LB1201SW01P&name=Power&name2=&id=137

"Question for the forum, how many batteries and candles is "enough"?"

When you have a situation, and end up with some left over.

Sue

I think the average tea candle lasts about 4-5 hours and a few can light up an average sized room. Lets say you use 10 a night (thats probably more than needed) and you've got 20 nights worth of light on tea lights alone. AA alkaline batteries used in efficient LED lights can easily last at least a week with moderate daily use, probably a lot more. I think the Gerber Infinity Ultra will give you something like 40 hours of useable light on 1 AA. And there's also glow sticks, which I like to have on hand as an alternative. The Cyalume insdustrial lightsticks will give you at least 5-6 hours of useable light. Don't forget that when your eyes become adapted you only need very dim light to see your way around. When camping I usually wind up using the dimmest light I've got, even an Infinity ultra is too bright. FWIW I really like the Skylight solar light because it's perfect for dark adapted eyes. And of course you could always go for one of the combo crank/solar Freeplay Lights and/or radios. From your setup though it sounds like you're pretty much set.

I found a very handy little light this week -

a Coleman "Micropacker." It has 2 LEDs with reflectors, runs on 3 AAA batteries, and says that charge will run it for "up to 125 hours." It is about 6" tall, very slim (sorry, no digital camera for photos) and has a pop-up loop for hanging. Those 2 LEDs really throw a lot of light, and for only about $8 seems a pretty good buy.

I plan to use one in the home emergency kit, and buy two more, one for the car, and one for the BOB

Is this it?


(From coleman's page at http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5319-700&categoryid=1045 for $13.49, and it says it runs on 3 AAs.)

On sale at amazon for $10.88 (http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-MicroPacker-Compact-Battery-Lantern/dp/B000EH0NLK).

That's it! I got mine at Meier (a grocery-and-all-in-one store, like Walmart or Target) and when I checked my receipt, I paid 9.99.

- Bought 6 pair heavy wool socks, brings the total of new and unused still in the package socks to 30+.

- Bought 4 pair of favorite pants to add to emergency inventory.

- Bought 4 more long sleeve synthetic shirts to add to emergency inventory.

- Bought 2 more pair of good winter gloves.

I believe there is now enough clothes for all to go 2 weeks straight without having to do laundry in a worse case situation.

- Canned 32 jars of soup and chili

Stocked up on:

- 20 or so cans of pasta, chic peas, kidney beans.

- 8 lbs dry pasta

- 4 large tubes of toothpaste

- 8 deodorant sticks

- Case of 100 large garbage bags.

- Rotated water

- Reorganized BOB...this never ends.

Thats it for this week...

I bought one of those a while back and put it in the DW's BOB, for the price its ok, I like my River Rock from Target better.

Ordered the P2 body to match my Fenix L1D CE head. Gives me the ability to run 1 AA, 2 AA or CR123.

Made a 1400 mile (round trip) run to visit our gun safe (and take care of some other business), picked up my Ruger 10-22, scope, and a few bricks of ammo. Lotsa stuff to shoot at in the desert...