At Wally World they had flourescent battery operated lanters on sale, with spare bulbs, for an insanely cheap price. I took advantage and stocked up. The only gripe about those lanters that I got is that the original bulbs that come in the lanters, for some odd reason, seem to conk out after periodic use (they'll light up on "high" mode, but only half the bulb will light up on "low"). I put the spares in though, and they work just fine.

Also, at my local Target some Energizer Hard Case flashlights of the AA variety also went on sale, for about $2-3 each. I stocked up on those too, and bought four in all, marking numbers on them from #1 to #4 with a Sharpie. Now part of my contingency plan for a blackout is that I take those four flashlights, leave one for myself, and give one each to my three neighbors in our apartment building to borrow. When it's all over they give them back. It's a good way to get invited to a grill cookout when the power's out. After all, sharing means caring...

I've also got one of those portable battery chargers with built-in outlets. Works pretty darn good and once we used it for a film shoot to run a camcorder through the outlet for a few hours! It won't do anything crazy like run the refrigerator or light the whole building but it'll recharge the battery on my laptop or other handheld devices for a little while, if need be, which is all I would really want it for. Wouldn't it be possible to divert power FROM a car battery, and not just charge it with one of those things? Just curious.