Just catching up on a few overdue things …
Santa has been extremely, extremely good to me. Yeah, I know it seems sorta late to mention that, but not really. Apparently Santa hasn’t even finished with me yet.
I wasn’t expecting any gifts this Christmas. Really, none. I was in such a non-Christmassy mood that (regrettably) I didn’t even send out any cards and only got gifts for a couple of people. Yet, somehow, the Santa energy keeps pouring in my direction. Yes, clear into mid-January.
So thank you to some Santas A.G. and D.A., who arrived before Christmas. And Santa S.W.A.T.. And Santa Furrydoc who turned up on Christmas day not only with goodies for all the critters and me, but also the largest bag of the special dog food that’s helping keep my old boy Robbie from losing his marbles.
Then came Santa M.J. with a large box brimming with dried fruit — and tucked in among them the coolest carry flashlight I’ve ever had, a Nitecore P16. Shazam, that is one powerful and versatile light. It’s “tacticool,” too. 🙂 And came with a bunch of extras.
Then just yesterday Santa W/J. B. arrived with two tins of some of my favorite treats in the whole world, cinnamon rolls made with pie dough, just like Mom used to make. Now, somebody please tell me they’re paleo …
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Also in the box with the Nitecore light was a pair of very light, flexible work gloves. And this combo made me decide it was time to update my “walking around” prep kit. Did that today.
I’ve been carrying a Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack with a few prep items in it and attached to it. This afternoon I added the Nitecore flashlight, extra batteries, those gloves, a couple of reflective thermal blankets (courtesy of A.G. Santa), a little dried fruit, a bag of almonds, and a small first-aid kit. It already contained a knife, water bottle, small screwdrivers and an awl, a sewing kit, spare TracFone, and … other stuff (some contributed years ago by Commentariat member Scott).
Now I just need a small donkey to carry it. But I feel ready for anything whether I’m walking in the woods or I get caught in town when the Big One hits. (And even without the donkey, the straps on the Maxpedition pack are pretty good at distributing the weight.)
Is it neurotic to run around everywhere you go prepared for disaster? Or it is normal but nobody knows that any more?
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I promised some photos of the flood we had last week. Unfortunately, none of the ones I took looked all that impressive. A street running with 18 inches of water or a bunch of trailers standing in a lake look dramatic when you’re trying to walk to the post office, but not so much in pictures. Oh well.
I did like this one, though. You can’t tell that the house is two feet deep in that lake and not just next to it. But that “lake” is normally a road and a wetland with just a few watery channels running through it.
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Finally, since we’re still in the midst of Christmas hereabouts, you might enjoy watching 13 shelter dogs — and one cat! sharing a holiday feast. (H/T Karen, with thanks for the laugh)
If you’ve laughed at those European videos of dogs dining formally, you’ll like this. And there’s a how-we-did-it video, too.
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Cheers!
960 lumens … I’m getting an inferiority complex already.
“Now I just need a small donkey to carry it.”
Oh, hell. Let me find that tracking number and see what happened…
They’re paleo.
I hear you about needing the donkey. I started out years ago to collect supplies and equipment for a small “field hospital.” As the designated nurse for the FSW campouts, I wanted to be prepared for everything possible. Add to that the real possibility it would be very handy come the crunch, or whatever.
I made the mistake of buying a really big, heavy duty duffle bag for the collection, and then proceeded to fill it over the next year or so. It is now much too heavy for me to lift, let alone carry. And that didn’t end the expansion, of course. Since I couldn’t lift the “field hospital” bag, I knew I needed to have trauma and emergency supplies in a bag I could lift and carry, so I got a nice big backpack, then wound up buying quite a few duplicate supplies and things because… and yep, it is now so heavy I can hardly lift it and couldn’t carry it much farther than the car if I had to. sigh
So, I now have a “fanny pack” with quick clot and some dressings, a flashlight and other bare essentials. THAT is the bag I take to the range and keep in my car. If the crash or asteroid strike happens, maybe someone will lend me a donkey to carry the rest of the stuff to wherever it is needed. I’m glad I have it, but otherwise the folks who need help will have to come to me.
jed — If it’s any help, it also has a one lumen brightness setting. Seriously. (And a strobe light and a setting that automatically emits an S-O-S.)
Bear — 🙂 Maybe the postage fell off in transit. It never does stick well to that pesky donkey hair.
A.G. — Thank you! I just knew those cinnamon rolls would have to be paleo. You’re a gem for confirming it.
“… so I got a nice big backpack, then wound up buying quite a few duplicate supplies and things because… and yep, it is now so heavy I can hardly lift it and couldn’t carry it much farther than the car if I had to. sigh”
Oh, isn’t that just the Curse of the Prepper, MamaLiberty? And it seems doubly so in the case of somebody like you who’d be expected to provide specialized skills to benefit others.
I’m glad I got the Maxpedition bag. It’s just a “man purse” (and no one has ever looked twice at a woman carrying it, even in town). So there’s a limit to how much I can overweight it. It’s heavy enough that I definitely feel it, but not really uncomfortable even with all that stuff.
As ML notes, any bag will get filled, just as any space in a house would, etc. Parkinson’s Law really applies to a lot more than work. http://www.economist.com/node/14116121
Is a “walking around prep kit” the same as “everyday carry”?
The way I carry all my “stuff” is on my belt and in my vest. I have all the normal things- knives and sharpeners, fire starters, “bang tools”, etc., but I also carry things like a mini-USB cable to charge my phone (and a small car adapter and a small wall adapter to plug it in to), handcuff keys (not so much for me, but to rescue kidnap victims if necessary), safety pins, various medications in sealed straw segments, and a lot more. My vest is an old western style with four pockets, but I also pinned a few pockets to the inside for extra capacity. Plus I have the things on my belt (knives, spy glass, pouch with wallet and scissors and spare keys, etc.).
I may carry 10 pounds of stuff on me, but have done so for so long I don’t notice, and the stuff has saved my hide more times than I can count.
The one thing I don’t carry, that I should, is water. I do have a few gallons in my vehicle, which is usually nearby, but none on my person.
Maybe I should do an “EDC” post on my blog and share the insanity with the world. LOL!
A handcuff key? Wow, I think you win some kind of award for thinking of that!
I love the idea of vest and belt carry & always keep my eyes open for fishermen’s vests & such at thrift stores. But I’ve also always ended up giving them back to thrift stores after finding that their pockets aren’t big enough for some of my items. Besides, women who wear the same thing all the time (or who have gear dangling from them) get noticed, where women carrying a purse (even if it’s really a Maxpedition bag) are unremarkable.
But for distributing weight, belt and vest carry would be just wonderful.
The downside of those powerful little pocket lights is that the batts for them (or mine anyhow) are $13 a piece and it requires two. On an elder walk-off search one night I went through two of them. My old 90’s era Maglight is big and heavy but it gives out a nice wide search beam (and it can be a pretty good club too, if need be) but it only needs a 3 C cells and for which I can recharge. Still have and use them both.
This seems apropos.
When I was looking for a get-home backpack, I deliberately looked for something small. I’m way guilty of overloading.
I’m already significantly invested in rechargeables, so those sorts of flashlights make sense to me. Rather than 2 CR123 primary cells, I assume it’d run fine on LiFePO4 cells. And once the initial purchase is over, you save a lot over time. I’d run that particular light on 18650 cells, as I already have those, and a good charger. The LiFePO4 cells take a different charger, or one that smart enough to figure out what cell type it has in it. I think those exist now, for lithium chemistry batteries.
Short battery life is the price you pay for high lumens. Bought in bulk, the price of CR123A cells isn’t too bad. I wish I had some particular knowledge of the various brands to pass on.
KenK — OUCH! That would suck. Fortunately, the situation is much better with the Nitecor P16.
It uses either a single 3.7V li-ion rechargeable — and those can be gotten 2 for $11, including charger
WorthTrust 2 x UltraFire 18650 3000mAh 3.7V Rechargeable Battery + Charger
… or a pair of CR123s that cost only $2-3 apiece.
CR123 batteries
Definitely no good for using this as a club, though. 🙂
Bought a terrific “Energizer” slim flashlight that runs on two AA batteries, the lithium type I buy in bulk at Amazon. I carry it on my belt opposite the gun, along with the spare mag and keys. Only one problem… it takes two hands to get it out of the nylon pouch that came with it… Just too tight. Have a new pouch coming that may well hold both the light and the spare mag. Will be glad to consolidate a few things since my belt is getting to look like I’m going into combat or something.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CP0SSC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I have seen CR123 batteries at Dollar Tree for . . . yep, you guessed it, $1.00 each. I haven’t tried them, however, so I can’t vouch for how good they are.
Claire, just be careful with cheap lithium chargers. Not saying the one that comes with those batteries is a bad one, but a lithium fire is nothing to sneeze at. FWIW, if you want to go rechargeable, stick with known good brands for your cells, such as Panasonic and AW. There are reasons why a Pila IBC charger is $45 and an Ultrafire is $10. Sure, I know someone who has used a cheap Ultrafire charger for years without issue, but if you go reading at candlepowerforums.com, you’ll find no love for them. I have a cheap Ultrafire charger — took the cover off and looked at it, and I was not impressed with the build quality. I used it only a few times, when the wall-wart running my Pila charger went south.
And yes, those negative reviews at Amazon aren’t just sour grapes. I’ve read lots of reports over time of companies over-rating their batteries. The Sony VTC5 is 2600mah. The Panasonic CGR18650 is 2250 mah. Those I believe.
If you really want to go rechargeable, then please either buy quality, or at least get a charging bag. I haven’t looked at chargers since I bought the Pila, but I’ve heard the Nitecore chargers are good. See what brands are getting good comments at Candlepower Forums.
Also, with lithium cells other than Li-Poly, there are 3 chemistries in wide use. Li-Ion* is a cobalt chemistry, and it’s the dangerous one. Lithium-Manganese (LiMn) is much much safer, and batteries using it are typically labeled “IMR” as in IMR18650. LiFePO4 is a 3V cell (3.2V?), as opposed to the other 3 being 3.7V, and is also considered a “safe” chemistry. The disadvantage to LiMn is a lower energy density, so in an 18650 size cell, you might get only 1800mah.
If you decide to go with Li-Ion, get protected batteries.
If you want to learn more, go to Battery University and do some reading.
*Li-Ion is really too broad a term, as technically, it would also apply to manganese and ferro-phosphate chemistry, but in practice, it seems to be used to refer only to the cobalt chemistry cells.
All CR 123’s aren’t created equal. http://www.surefire.com/battery-warnings-handling I once heard a Surefire rep say that it costs 19 cents (I think) for the built in fault and heat protection. I also read somewhere that batteries designed for photographic use don’t work well in flashlights.
I believe that in general, if a flashlight has more than one mode, it’s better that the mode control not be on the end cap but instead on the side somewhere, since in an emergency situation one could easily put the light in the wrong mode by using the end cap.
Surefire http://www.surefire.com/ is arguably the best, so of course it costs generally more. But their G2 series is reasonably priced, the P2 series is more costly but still not unreasonable, and the P3 is priced acceptably for what you get, especially if bought on Amazon or other discount seller.
Streamlight flashlights http://streamlight.com/en-us are very good and still extremely popular with police, so they have to be durable.
Fenix lights http://www.fenixlight.com/ are also very good and priced quite acceptably. I personally happen to like their PD35.
Powertac http://powertacusa.com/ probably aren’t as good quality as Fenix, but a dealer who sells both told me that if there are any problems, the repair facility is in one of the Carolinas and that the company fixes any problems. I have one of the old (Gen II) versions of their E3 model, which uses a single AAA battery and has served me extremely well.
Olights http://www.olightusa.com/temp.html have some lawsuits against them, or so I’ve been told. I never bothered to check it out, as I have had an Olight go bad.
jed and Shel — Thanks very much for the info and the cautions. Good to be aware of. I didn’t know.
Shel, FYI, the mode control on the Nitecore is a separate button on the side. The button on the end controls only the usual things — on/off and brightness.
Also, the manufacturer’s instructions specify the acceptable kinds of batteries and the lithium CR123 is one of the recommended types.
Shel, that’s not surprising news. Patent infringement in the world of flashlights? Yeah, bound to happen, given the large number of players. I came very close to buying an O-Light M something or other. Oh, and that’s not the only suit I found with a web search. The O-light suit is/was apparently about recovery of money.
In re. modes and buttons, one big factor that made me go with the Nitecore SRT3 is that the mode is set with a ring around the … (right term here?) crown … bezel .. front-end part. I can check/set the mode without turning it on. I mentally juggled the possibilities of which mode memory I wanted, until I found the Nitecore. Also, it’ll run on AA, 14500, CR123, or 16340. I normally run it on an IMR14500, of which I have several, due to using them in one of my e-cigs. So I just rotate it out periodically.
Surefire is the grand-daddy of the modern high-output flashlight. Never owned one. Hard to justify the money when for my purposes, Fenix makes a great product. Can’t complain a bit about my Streamlight either.
I’m not understanding this “mode” thing. A flashlight is either off or on, far as I know. What more would anyone want from a belt flashlight?
ML — While I agree it would be very easy to overthink and overdo flashlight features, there are a fair number of useable “modes.” The light I got includes a strobe for disorienting & dizzying someone and two slower flashing modes to help locate/assist you if you’re in trouble. You could activate either of the latter two modes if, say, you were on the verge of passing out or if you were lost at night. One is specifically to ask for help; the other just to let somebody know where you are.
Being able to change the level of brightness (while probably not considered a “mode”) is a nice feature, too, both for useability and for conserving battery power.
But yeah, it’s also important to keep a flashlight simple so that you’re not going to screw up and hit a wrong button at a wrong moment or forget how to activate one of the features.
[Now I just need a small donkey to carry it.]
I usually carry mine in my car. 🙂
You guys are all tacticool with your lights. I have a couple of fairly good ones but if they aren’t AA or AAA I don’t even consider them, except for weapon-mounted lights which don’t get used much. What I did just buy recently is this:
http://www.amazon.com/Mag-Instrument-Mini-Maglite-2aaa/dp/B00938T182/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421339452&sr=8-1&keywords=mag+lite+AAA
Slim enough that it fits in my pocket, 2 cells so rechargables work pretty well (the one-cell batteries seem to need the higher voltage of alkalines). I use this one multiple times per day. Old eyes…
But yeah, I don’t intend to blind a burglar with my wimpy flashlights. I just need enough light, with night-adapted vision, to see who to shoot. 🙂
I have some nice lights too.The Mrs loves her maglight LED multi function that uses 3 AAA batteries,eneloops pf course for the best rechargeables Ive ever used.
I prefer AA in eneloops.
Also the one I use most of all is a Sipik,or its even cheaper knock off.Only about 5 bucks (knock off even cheaper),uses one AA eneloop rechargeable.Just a good working little light,cheap yet bright,doesnt matter if you lose it.
http://www.dx.com/p/sipik-sk68-cree-q3-wc-120-lumen-convex-lens-led-flashlight-black-1-aa-1-14500-39585#.VLgcQSj7tTA
Love my little fenix lights,pricy but such good quality in the 20 dollar range.
Button style batteries are dirt cheap and free shipping from deal extreme.