I found a battery operated "lantern" at a discount store. Since it was about $10.00, I decided that it was worth a try. It turned out to be so good that I bought a second one for this house and sent several off to family members living in hurricane prone areas.

The lantern is made by Qualstar, and uses 4 D cell batteries. What I really like about it is that you can easily read by its white light.

One family member used hers when they lost electric power for more than a week (hurricane), and she loved it for the same reason I do.

Candles and (Dietz) oil lanterns can help you to see how to get around, but they don't always make reading and close-up work easy.

We must own several billion flashlights (give or take), but it seems that we always have to search for them when we have a sudden need for one. <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />