Saturday, October 7, 2017

see the light


SEE THE LIGHT

As nice as room lighting is, sometimes it isn’t the best choice.  I talk a lot about solar panels, all agog at how insanely low the price is even compared to just three years ago.  But, really, are they any good for AFTER the collapse?  They are great for living off grid.  In fact, being so cheap, you’d be a damn fool to not enjoy them.  At a mere 4 watts, you can comfortably light up an entire room, going through a long ass storm of no solar output, during the winter when you need light eight hours a day, OVER two weeks before the battery is even drained half way.  No reason to resort to weak lanterns or weaker candles, holding flashlights or chaffing the skin on your forehead wearing a headlamp all the time. 

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But a 12v off-grid system is also resource intensive, with the short life batteries ( don’t you DARE say Edison Batteries!  Don’t Do It!  Rich Bitch Prepper Item Only ) and the outdoor electronics that eventually fail.  It is all well and good to have a replacement battery waiting for you down at Wal-Mart, it is quite another to have them in storage where you’ll also need a generator to give the dry battery with added acid its initial high power charge.  12v Marine batteries are a cheap solution for off grid living but don’t last long enough after the collapse.  And the much higher cost alternatives are a very high price to pay for electronic goodies.

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You can buy very inexpensive batteries for each e-device, and the cost effective ones aren’t going to last long enough to matter.  Okay, right now for, say, a laptop replacement battery, you spend $20.  Or, you just run it directly off a solar panel ( probably through an inverter, or another method, to prevent damaging surges ).  Then print off all your e-books and stop farting around with a laptop altogether.  So, as of this writing, batteries are cheap.  Oversupply due to reduced employment and worldwide economic contraction.  But WHY?

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Why do you need most of these devices?  Music player?  Why?  How do you stay alert for danger, listening to music?  Why do you need a computer after the collapse?  For your stupid ass spreadsheet?  Buy an armload of notebooks every back to school sale, brand name pencils ( NEVER generic, they are utter crap ) and an old school manual rotary sharpener and use the old method of writing out crap.  You want to spend hundreds of dollars to maintain an electronic infrastructure to keep a spreadsheet going?  If you have that much extra cash to waste, I trust you are sending some my way.

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After the collapse, you can run certain items directly off panels ( say, a pair of hair clippers, or a drill ) and the rest are not needed at night ( I assume you aren’t all high tech security devices and are manually on alert ) except for illumination.  And for that you just need AA rechargeable batteries.  They might not get the maximum charges a 12v battery would, but they are pretty close.  And they cost a mere two to three times what a disposable AA battery would.  Or, the same, if you are buying high cost retail brands.  As low as a buck each.  Or, spend three times that for twice the performance.

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I’d buy a few dozen of the $1 each and a dozen of the $3 ones.  The cheaper can be charged a thousand times.  Have two compact solar chargers and one or two that run off the big solar panel.  Electronics are simply not built to last all that long, even though they are cheap enough now so it doesn’t matter.  Until after the collapse.  So have more than one back-up.  If you have enough AA batteries, and enough middlin price LED lighting devices, your children or perhaps even grandchildren can postpone the need for beeswax or tallow candles for light.  So don’t go hog wild using up enough lights to duplicate on grid living-conserve.

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Always stockpile more $1 garden lights.  They are enough to see what you are doing.  Back in the ‘80’s I had a buddy who lived off grid.  To go to the bathroom at night you felt your way down the hall to the toilet tank, found the box of matches by touch and lit a candle to urinate ( I imagine the gals could do it without light ).  With a garden light, you have a steady light most of the night to replace that nonsense.  He also had propane lights for the kitchen and living room, but those are also problematic to say the least.  Now, just use a LED lantern.  Don’t get one so insanely bright it drains the batteries in two hours, or so weak you can’t do anything by the light.

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You want a group activity like a board or card game, I would wager you need several lanterns at a minimum 60 lumens each.  You could all wear headlamps, and they are useful for many things, but I hate wearing them too long.  If you are reading, duh, a clip on book light.  Those four lights, plus the odd flashlight, should cover most needs.  Don’t rush down to Wal-Mart, as they get to choose the brand and quality ( other than the garden lights ).  Go to Amazon, type in your item, then go to the left of the page and type in price, lumens, and top rated items.  You’ll get a better selection to choose from.

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You can’t store 12v batteries long term.  You can AA batteries.  Which are the standard for the bulk of LED personal lights.  $3 a battery might be a bit of a shock to your wallet.  But if you are using a LED light that gets thirty hours use per battery and the battery can be charged two thousand times, that is almost TWO generations-about forty years-of use.  These solar rechargeable AA batteries are one of the best deals of the oil age to take into the post-apocalypse future.  They will far outlast your industrial grown wheat or steel case ammunition stockpile.

END ( today's related link http://amzn.to/2jQWTO2 )
 
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39 comments:

  1. Tip O' The Day

    I may have mentioned this before.
    Small, maybe 5" tall x 3: wide, LED lanterns that use (3) AA batteries (I use rechargeable Eneloops and EBL brand) and cost about $4 at the FAMILY Dollar store. Other dollar stores may have them but I got mine at FAMILY.

    My mutt stays out here in my detached office/workshop all night and I leave one of those lanterns on so she can see to get a drink. It is on from 11:30pm til 6:am and runs about 2-3 weeks before needing a charge. That's a minimum of 90 hours per charge.

    Now, you're not going to read by that lantern as it is not strong enough but when the power goes out here in my 12' x 24' office I turn 4 of them on and place them about 6' away from me and I can read fine.

    I also have a Photon Freedom flashlight (tiny, button cell) that came with a device that clips onto the bill of a hat and the Photon snaps into it. This device swivels in any direction and also has a small magnet on it. I have clipped it to my hat many times and it can be swiveled very precisely to pinpoint accuracy. I haven't tried this but now that I'm thinking about I will, but you could probably bread tie one of them small AAA LED flashlights to the swivel and get better longevity out of the battery, plus AAA's can be recharged as long as they are the rechargeable type. Again, Eneloop or EBL.

    I use the XTAR VC4 model recharger for all of my small battery charging as it reconstitutes the battery each time, erasing the memory. Costs a little more but you make it back with the extended battery use.

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    1. Damn, I was just in Family $. The old one in town did a remodel-lots and lots more crap stuffed in there. They sent a coupon in the mail for 10% off. Spent $50 in sheets and covers for a better mattress we switched to. Different size. And of course, TP. Best price per square foot 2ply TP anywhere. I like to keep a years worth on hand. After that, I have bundles of newspaper.

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    2. "Best price per square foot 2ply TP anywhere."
      ===========================

      OK, I'm gonna check that out. Been getting all paper products at Wally but I go where the deals are.

      Those small lanterns are in one of the inner aisles that has stuff like screwdrivers, nails, extension cords, etc. I have 3 different colors, black, blue, and silver. May be more colors but those are the only ones I've seen.

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    3. Family is 120 sq ft for $1. Last time I bought at Wally it was a $5 pack for 400 sq ft ( a twelve pack-pretty sure I'm remembering the price correctly ).

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  2. Why not just go the Musk method and have large banks of small rechargeable batteries ?
    Of course ,as I've mentioned before. Battery science is not that of rocketry. They can be made from recycled old lead acid ones. Gonna always be tons of them around for the picking after the die off.
    Just gotta keep a few of us engineers alive to learn ya heh heh...

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    1. Hell, we don't learn from engineers now. Lawyers, instead. :(

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    2. Yes there is much truth to lawyers rule. That and accountants force engineers to design products which barely qualify to work when purchased, then shortly fail asap.
      Do keep in mind however that without engineers, nothing new gets built.

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    3. Anyone walking under ancient Roman structures can thank engineers it doesn't fall on their heads.

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    4. Fact, engineers whether backyard variety or University trained are the reason everything man makes exists.
      This country thrived , when we valued engineers...

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  3. I know some off gridders that use them usb-charged lithium battery lights. They haven't discovered the short battery life yet. Hint from two to five years - even if you never use it!

    I'm currently using 10+ year old aa's in my flashlights. The trick to insuring long life is to use them with a slow solar charger as opposed to a quick 110v charger that overheats them.

    I put white duct tape to cover the black box of my solar charger to reduce heating.

    Stevelo.

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    1. Hard to find the old school solar chargers, the paperback book size that takes all sizes. I have two, but I'm backing that up with a 110 unit I can run off the panel. Prefer the slow charge, but two is only one, right?

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    2. Solar charger - if you're talking about this one it's still available on amazon, about $24.99:

      https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BKS3Z2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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    3. Okay, appreciate it. Like I said on my response down below, the search results are starting to blow. I put in "solar charger AA batteries" and I get plug in and USB and NOT for AA batts. Bad enough the pages now take forever to load. You almost wonder if they are trying to knock the stock price way down to do buy-backs.

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    4. Search functions everywhere blow and suck at the same time. The other day on amazon I was looking for a flashlight mount for my 12ga and they had kids car seats come up. Car seats? WTF????

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    5. Well, an "s" and a "t" in both, right? :)

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  4. How about adding a few UVPaqLite units in the mix. Completely non electric, supposedly lasting a lifetime (yours or theirs - not found in the reading :^) I keep a couple of them hung on my ceiling fan, ambiant light before lights out charging them up. Good for about 4 -5 hours before light is pretty useless, but until then, you can get around okay. If you need to recharge them, a flashlight lighting them up for around a minute does a good job of freshening them up for a few more hours of decent light. Pro Tip: scotch tape one of these on the bottom of your toilet lid. Gives you something to aim below when you pee at night. Or just sit down like the ladies do and take care of it.

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    1. I've gotten used to sitting at night even though we have LED nightlights in every room. So tired I don't wake myself up trying to aim or stay aloft. I completely forgot about the UVPaqLites. I have three or four, plus really high lumen flashlights to recharge them as suggested. I like the idea of them. I'd have a whole drawer of them for use and barter but, well, always other priorities.

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  5. I was going to mention paper pads and pencils, but you already covered that. Consider saving all paper sheets that aren’t printed on both sides, as well purchasing some now while it’s still low in price. If you have an old typewriter, consider hanging on to it. Look into paper and pencil manufacturing as a possible cottage industry, especially now as marijuana is legalized in many areas (hemp paper).

    I still think that it’s a good idea to have on hand, candle wicking and wax, as well as oil lamp accessories, as there will come a time when it will once again become the standard. You can recycle wax over and over, as there’s always some left over after burning candles. Eventually they will be made from animal lard.

    Consider picking up a few of those flashlights with the Dyno generators (and ideally solar too). Sure, the battery will eventually give out, but you can still crank it and use it for temporary bursts of light when needed. Don’t know how hard it would be to set up, but an old bike harnessed to a small generator would be nice to have for when the sun isn’t shining. Though this assumes that you can spare the calories. I recall when batteries could be purchased dry, and the electrolyte added separately, but I don’t know if that was the case with the deep cycle batteries. I would think that a good solar setup could charge a battery from fully dead.

    https://www.amazon.com/dyno-torch/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Adyno%20torch

    https://www.amazon.com/Dyno-Mechanical-Flashlight-Battery-Charging/dp/B003M3YFPS

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    1. I'm no mechanic or skilled in much other than scratching my ass as I think, but wouldn't the dynamo be a moving part that could break whereas solar panel and rechargers don't have that issue as much?

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    2. Yeah, the dynamo was just a suggestion for an additional accessory, not as a replacement for solar.

      Some years back I got one of those 40 LED lanterns from the sportsman’s guide. I think it takes 4 D batteries. Well in either event, I can’t recall the last time I changed those batteries, as it was years ago. I use it in the bathroom of my RV and use it a little every day, but not a lot. Still, I’m kind of impressed.

      One thing that I’ve noticed over the years is that we’ve acquired more than a few of those large bedroom set mirrors, and in many cases gave them away. These mirrors increase the lighting efficiency of candles or other lighting by quite a bit, even more so when you have them adjoining one another. Really, the more, the better. Something to keep in mind before throwing one out.

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    3. I bought one of those 4D lanterns about twelve years ago. Compared to today's offerings, they blow. Nature of LED's-but it still sucks. They do so poorly I just decided to focus on the A sizes. Still, I have D rechargeables from about the same time and solar recharges so I kept the lanterns. Even the crappiest is better than candles.

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    4. Awhile back I heard somewhere that you can grabe a discarded treadmill that someone threw out by the curb, take the motor loose and mount it on the otherside so that it runs backward, turning it into a generator, then get on it and start charging some batteries. Supposedly an electric motor and a generator are basically the same thing but each are designed to be more efficient in their designed role but can perform, though less optimal, in the opposite.

      Now, if you got ahold of an old, but working, pre-1966 car generator and hooked it up to that treadmill, and used 10 sp bicycle gears to make it run faster you could fill batteries left and right, then watch TV all night long with power to spare!

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    5. Interesting hack. I think my experiments with bike generated lights dates to about 1974 or so.

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    6. Yeah, I also have a 4AA lantern with a Dyno crank, but I haven’t broke them out of the box yet.

      One nice thing that I’ve noticed about devices that use D batteries, is that unless you use them constantly, they last a real long time; sometimes even years, such as my lantern, but only for occasional use. Now that I think about it, the D batteries in my GE Super Radio have been in there since 2013 and are still good as well. If you had some high quality alkaline D batteries and electronics set aside for the collapse, this could buy you a couple of extra years of not having to resort to using your smaller solar items.

      @ghostsniper; thanks, that sounds interesting and is worth investigating.

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    7. Nice to know about D's. Perhaps they aren't as useless as I envisioned.

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    8. I removed the 110 volt AC motor from a treadmill and hooked it to my drill press set on the lowest RPM setting to see what the voltage would be. It produced around 16 volts. It could possibly used on a windmill to charge 12 volt batteries

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    9. Another alternative Jim is the lead acid battery in the link below, since they’re much cheaper than a standard deep cycle, and they’re good for powering less demanding electronics. For mine I rigged a simple car cigarette female end with the proper connectors and used it to power all 12v cigarette adapter devices. I purchased one of these from the sportsman’s guide and used it for years. I think that the only reason that it finally went bad was that I let it drain and it sat that way for a long time. In my experience this seems to kill batteries permanently.

      For Kindle and other 5V USB devices, there is the portable panel in the link below. There are now many devices that will work off of USB, such as fans for example. If your power needs are really minimal, say your kindle, a radio, and a few LED lights, then this might be all that some people would need. In my case I plan on getting one regardless since it is my hope to spend as much of my remaining years as possible living out of a backpack in the woods, and I would need portability in such a scenario.

      12V 7 Amp EXP1270 Rechargeable Lead Acid Battery

      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003S1RQ2S/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=IHTJH4SX8W6LS&colid=2P9H5MHEI5D99

      Nekteck 21W Solar Charger with 2-Port USB Charger Build with High efficiency Solar Panel Cell

      https://www.amazon.com/dp/B017GQ7OEA/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I2J0XQ0NHQMA96&colid=2P9H5MHEI5D99

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    10. I like your idea on the small battery. Since a marine batt is $100 and only lasts two-four years, and this is $18 for two years minimum, you just need to reduce usage to a bare minimum as you suggest.

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  6. I've had really good luck with the d-lite lanterns available through Amazon. They give off a good amount of light -- enough to read by. So far they've lasted for over four years on their built in rechargeable batteries.

    Idaho Homesteader

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    1. I couldn't find anything listed under d-lite.

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    2. This one's $14.99 on amazon.
      https://www.amazon.com/d-light-S20-Rechargeable-Lantern-Camping/dp/B00BJELHS0?&tag=amazon-19-20

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    3. Are you kidding me? I searched 'd slash lite' and got nothing. I needed 'd dot lite'??? I've notice Amazon's search results were a bit off lately, but that seems ridiculous. Especially since I put in both the brand name AND the description. Perhaps when they refused to list any holocaust denier books recently the removal software from a 19 year old Indian immigrant threw everything off.

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    4. I just highlighted her "d-lite lanterns" above, then right clocked and chose "search google for..." and the amazon link was about the 4th one down. Lehmans has them too but I didn't look at them.

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    5. I think Lehman's has turned to a LOT of junk now. No longer as impressed as I used to be.

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  7. I have something similar to these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GWLVR9O/ref=ox_sc_imb_mini_detail?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=slickguns-20

    It uses 3 AA batteries and has a long life. I've got one on the ceiling of my loo and it provides plenty of light. I also have one set up outside my rear door & in my garage. Again, plenty of light.

    I have Streamlights "The Siege" in AA. It's pretty awesome. Lights up an entire room. Plenty of light to read by.

    I think a lot of people got caught up with wanting torches with insane lumens and throw. I have two of them. Dang great fun. But the batteries of course pose problems when it comes to post oil age. But to be fair, until then I can light up a bad guy at 475 meters should I choose to! (or have a torch with 480 odd hours life)

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    1. I never thought about a motion detector light in the bathroom. Duh.

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    2. My wife gave me a Seige type lantern (don't remember the name, maybe Coleman? She said it was highly rated on amazon)a few years ago and it's actually, get this, too bright. Uncomfortably so. And yes it will eagerly fill a large room with very white light. It takes (4) D batteries and they seem to last a long time. Because the thing was so bright I used aluminum foil to shield half the lens to keep from blinding myself and make it some what directional. Also, the one I have has a clear lens where as the Streamlight one appears to be opague, so that in and of itself may make it less harsh. Mine wasn't very expensive, around $20 I think.

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    3. Hmmm...my LED collection might be about 80% too far out of date. Wouldn't kill me to upgrade.

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  8. The one strategy to actually know is to get tested.

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