Gadgets to help you through a hurricane

On this forum, anything you can touch that's not a knife is Gadgets & Gear. Of course on the G&G forums on other websites it's anything that's not a watch or anything that's not a flashlight, but here it's anything that's not a knife.

If you want to distinguish the gadgets from the gear you're on your own. :cool:
 
having my honda 6500kva generator was good. I have it set up to wire directly into the house so I can flip the loads from LINE to GEN and I am off. I burn about 3 gallons of gasoline in 5-6 hours under regular load (only one AC unit on) so the next thing I recommend is the

"Oklahoma credit card" -- siphon hose. Make it narrow and know how to get around the little defeater many cars have now. Suction pump at the top or have a son that can suck it out for you because I don;t want another mouthful of gasoline.


I have a honda water pump with the 2.5 hp motor and 2" HD inlet lines. Man that baby will haul out the H2O. Of course you need somewhere to pump it ;)

LOTS of flashlights. rechargeable are ok if you have the big generator!

Old school phone not even needed with the generator.

Duct tape and tarps. (broken windows)

Chain saw, best you can afford.

HD rope.

Bolt cutter. trust me.

Board games.

Plenty of snacks.

Extra propane for the grill.

Propane cooker.

Sense to only burn propane outside.

Lots of water.


Bleach


Axe, already sharpened.


Hip waders. Really!

Rain gear.

Plenty of towels you may never see again.
 
fracmeister said:
LOTS of flashlights. rechargeable are ok if you have the big generator!

Old school phone not even needed with the generator.
Click to expand...

Although I mentioned flashlights as well, after the storm passed the flashlights proved to be used less than I thought. I'll probably be banned for saying this here. I guess after working all day I usually found myself going to bed shortly after dark. Of course everyone still needs one for the mid night bathroom breaks.

An excellent point concerning the phone which I learned the hard way during Hurricane George. I case anybody misses the point - a phone that doesn't need POWER.
 
That's why my photons were so handy, large flashlights were a bit cumbersome, but after sundown when I took showers after a long day of cleanup (the whole time when we had no power) I just hung it up on the showerhead and had plenty of light. When I went to sleep at night I'd also clip it to my shorts or wore it around my neck in case I heard a funny noise (no windows, racoons/snakes/etc can get in) or had to go to the bathroom. The green photons with a 3 volt battery last darned near forever.
 
yoda4561 said:
That's why my photons were so handy, large flashlights were a bit cumbersome, but after sundown when I took showers after a long day of cleanup (the whole time when we had no power) I just hung it up on the showerhead and had plenty of light. When I went to sleep at night I'd also clip it to my shorts or wore it around my neck in case I heard a funny noise (no windows, racoons/snakes/etc can get in) or had to go to the bathroom. The green photons with a 3 volt battery last darned near forever.
Click to expand...

Since learning of this forum and reading many posts I've being trying to decide between the AAA Arc and Photon Freedom. I compromised ;) and decided to get both. I'm just waiting till the mail is a little more stable around here.
 
What are the benefits of the freedom again?? I've always been partial to the photon 2. Nice to keep it simple, I can get it it wet or dunk it in water without worrying about it dying on me. Don't really trust those flashy ones to work when I need them.
 
gbaker said:
Since learning of this forum and reading many posts I've being trying to decide between the AAA Arc and Photon Freedom. I compromised ;) and decided to get both.
Click to expand...

That's the spirit!

We're going to love you; I can tell already.... :D
 
yoda4561 said:
What are the benefits of the freedom again??
Click to expand...

My reason for preferring the Freedom to the II is the multiple intensity options. I can choose between brightness and extended battery life as circumstances require.

--Bob Q
 
It's also a good idea to have one of those 'shake' flashlights that don't require batteries. I have a NightStar CS and it works great. Shake it for a couple of minutes and you've got light for 15 to 20 minutes, and it's brighter than you'd think. I also have a 'Hummer' radio that I found on the Sharper Image auction site for $18. It's got a digital tuner, alarm, led light, am/fm and weather channels and it can be run by ac/4C batteries/or hand crank rechargeable. The 'Freeplay' radios are also great, hand crank/solar no batteries at all, and some of the newer models have led lights as well.
 
Low light for long periods of time is real easy and cheap. 2 D cells, 1 or 2 white LEDs and say a 10 ohm resister (not really needed unless very high temps are expected) will give marginally usable light for 1 to 4 years before the batteries wear out. 2AA will give 4 months or more of continuous light. You can usually tell that the LED is still doing "something" for almost 2 years on AA cells, but I am not sure you can call it "light" any more.

This is not even Photon brightness. It is enough to read by if the light is a finger length away from the print, and primarily means NEVER having to strike a match in utter darkness or be unsure if you have gone blind. Lights like this can be placed several places around the house for emergency navigation.

Tap lights or closet type lights that take 2 cells can have a LED bulb replacement installed and there you go. Bucck for the light fixture, buck or less for the batteries and a buck or 2 for the LED "bulbs" if you shop well.

Add a third cell and about a 35 ohm resister and you will have more light but for "only" 20 to 30 days continuous with D cells that is close to Photon brightness. About 100 hours with 3 AAs.

If batteries are no object and money is easy, you can of course buy lots more light. But for 4 bucks including batteries, a year of "not dark" is darn cheap!
 
Stormdrane said:
It's also a good idea to have one of those 'shake' flashlights that don't require batteries. I have a NightStar CS and it works great. Shake it for a couple of minutes and you've got light for 15 to 20 minutes, and it's brighter than you'd think.
Click to expand...

I've heard the LED shake lights really don't produce enough light for emergency purposes. Enough to illuminate your way to the bathroom at 2 AM, but not enough for an impromptu hike at night should your ride break down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top