We had some high wind gust come through the area last night. Some supposed to be in the 80mph range. Nothing too bad. We usually get at least one power outage or two per year. Last night was one such night.

The lights flickered once than go out roughly 30 seconds later. This comes in handy as we drop what we are doing and get the oil lamps and stuff ready. We light the lamps, got the scanner switched over to battery and turned on the portable radio just in time.

This past summer a local sporting good store was clearancing out their lanterns so we picked up a couple Coleman Rechargeable Retro Lanterns. These are incredible lanterns. They have a high/low/night light setting which covers a great range.



I took one out for a walk around the neighborhood and it lit up the houses on both sides of the street and one charge lasted all night.

Many of the homes had either one candle light or someone walking around with a flashlight. There were a handle full running their own generators and many in the complete dark.

I will get more of the coleman rechargables when I see them on sale as backups.

Another item I am going to buy more of is the small glow sticks. They make great night lights for little kids who panic without one!!

Anyone else go thru the blackout or other blackouts and learn from them?