i live off the grid in the wilderness so i EDC 2-3 small flashlights, all using a single AAA battery.

my theory about any seriously important survival gear is that it has to be on me 100% of the time, so being very tiny is important, and even more so because i carry multiple units.

runtimes are also important to me so i've been keeping track of any runtime tests conducted over at CPF that involve 1xAAA 'lights.

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here are the current winners:

Liteflux LF2XT - 42 hours of useful light on alkaline

ReVO - 43 hours of useful light and finally going dead at 55 hours on alkaline (82 hours with a lithium)

Fenix E01 - 55 hours until dead on alkaline

Mako - 63 hours on alkaline of useful light (79 hours with lithium)

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currently the $60 LF2XT is not in production but used ones show up in the BST boards. because its a clickie its a bit larger and kinda complicated compared to the other three.

the $50 revo has three brightness levels and is a particularly useful having such a bright beam when needed, but its not as tough as the Mako or E01 as a survival unit.

the best-buy of the four is the $10 E01 which is inexpensive and super tough and can be easily be purchased on amazon.

the $125 Mako was a very limited run of around 100 units that sold out instantly. this handmade light is a masterpiece in design.

i've owned all of these and prefer Mako due to titanium construction, gold (non-corrosive) battery contacts, and because its super dependable and tough. i buy any used ones i find so i always have a few extras laying around, just in case...

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final thought: a 40-plus hour, non-flammable light that you easily carry 24/7 on your keychain, in case of blackouts etc, is way more useful than bigger/brighter/fanicer items left at home. and even better is that additional AAA batteries can be scrounged almost anywhere on the planet, ie: out of remote control units, radios, kid's toys, etc

Found a nice keyring sized solar 3 led light on ebay -- For about $1 us.
Very nice solution to longer term light

I agree that the Bullfinch gas handilights suggested in the above post are excellent.
I have two of them and would recommend them, especially to UK members of these forums.

Unfortunately production has now ceased, but only recently and some distributors should still have stocks. I would therefore urge that anyone wanting one of these lights should purchase now. Used or NOS handilights turn up regularly on UK fleabay.

(and yes I know that this is a very old thread, but discussions about long term emergency lighting in general, and these gas lights in particular are still relevant)

picked up a 30 day ( electric) lantern for testing.

It's possible to lose power here during T-storms. To date the longest the power has been out was about six hours. We have had some bad ice storms that disrupted the power for longer terms but luckily not at my house. My approach to light is to have a lot of lights combined with a ton of spare batteries. But I also keep a crapload of beeswax tealight candles as well as a couple cases of liquid paraffin lamp cells (the 8 hour size). I've got a couple of UCCO Mini and Micro candle lanterns that will use the paraffin cells so I'm good on light.

As the torches go I have a fair number of hi lumen "tactical" type lights, a few hi power headlamps and them some lower lumen lights with better runtimes. All of my lights are LED. I have a Pelican Nemo that's only about 65 lumens but it runs for 50 hours of so off of 3 C-cells.

my AA family portrait... all running on Sanyo/Panasonic Eneloop AAs... the Coleman 3AA high tech lantern is my immediate response area light, but for very long duration, fire up one a kerosene lantern... most likely a smaller Feuerhand as the light transmission is less yellow than from the Deitzs... I EDC a AAA Fenix E05 also running on Eneloops... the 123's are on firearm and high intensity hand helds

Ditto the kerosene lamp advice. An additional benefit - you can refill it with cheap oil if you run out of kerosene supply.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JBq5rEk3ww , also you can cook with it to some extent, and heat your shelter.

I have used coleman lanterns (the white gas ones), i have used propane/butane lanterns, old fashion oil lanterns. But i have came to the conclusion, that a proper LED lantern is smaller, lighter, safer, has no maintaince, no replacing any wicks/mantels and a lot cheaper to run (i use rechargables).

True in many cases, but I would not want to be without oil or LPG lighting as well as battery light sources.

Oil or LPG lamps put out a lot of heat which is a decided advantage in winter especially if other heating be unavailable.
30 kilos of oil or bottled gas contains a lot more energy than 30 kilos of batteries, keeps longer and is cheaper.

Battery lights are safer for portable use esp in the presence of kids or pets, but in a long power outage a gas light connected to a large LPG bottle gives a lot of light and some warmth for a week if lit 24/7 and several weeks if used only in the evenings.

i'll second what adam said about heat.i take a small Gaz lamp on canoe trips now and i no longer have to plow thru wet brush for firewood on cool wet evenings in camp.
in the tent or Baker shelter, sitting in a folding chair with the lamp as low as it will run, i'm warm and cozy without the hassles of a fire under a tarp.