I rarely wear my head lamp on my head. I wear it around my neck so it always points at the ground rather than in people’s faces. I have been doing it this way since that last century.
Emergency radios that have a torch solar and wind up charging options and the ability to charge phone etc as well as ability to listen for news/ weather repots is also very good.
@@schreckpmc If it gets to that level the only thing I'd buy is party food and alcohol to enjoy my last moments. These doomsday/prepper guys have no clue if there was an actual shtf moment....There's no way I'm going to live in a bunker etc..... but they do have a few good crossover ideas for us bushcrafty/ outdoor types.
Thanks for the great video, this knowledge is very practical. As a citizen of Taiwan, I think it might be time for us to prepare a bug-out bag with stuffs you mentioned in the video.
lol , one often over-looked resource during a power cut is your BBQ , that & my camping kettle ensured Tea & hot meals during a 2 day power cut last Autumn
I learned my lesson about having water on hand when the entire power grid went down in my region of the USA (and part of Canada) in 2003. It's one thing to have a power outage that only effects small areas. It's quite another when the entire area for miles around is without power. To top it off, my neighborhood lost its water as the pumps that bring us water from Lake Erie went down. We didn't have much water on hand and we had to find some, including for our dog. There were a few stores that had generators and people were getting pushy with each other grabbing all the stuff they needed. I realized things could get really bad really fast if the grid goes down (there's an interesting fictional movie called The Trigger Effect that's about a big power outage in Los Angeles and what it does to people). So, yeah, I keep lots of bottled water now. Also, non-condensed canned soup contains water, of course.
This is a fantastic video. Very informative and with no hype or hyperbole. I am the Ops Manager for my local Emergency Response Group and I will be sharing this video with the team to ensure everyone is up to speed at home.
I use: - some AAA battery powered motion-sensing stick-on lights, they come on when they see you at night. I managed to cover all the walkways (landing, hallway, kitchen, bathrooms) using 7 of them. - I don't use room ambient battery lights, I just point flashlights to the ceiling and that illuminates a room without dedicated ambient lights. I do keep flashlights in each bedroom, kitchen and near entrances so whole house has to-hand with 5 flashlights. I also use the Anker powerbanks you showed but currently costs £25 not £32. I'd recommend 20000mAh if you can afford. - I have a Trangia which includes the meth stoves and I'd agree with your estimate of how a 500ml will last. Does all my drinks and cooking for 5 days for 1 person. - Good idea on the radio. Mine broke so I got the model you suggested was £12 today. I could have done with it last camping trip no phone signal and handy to keep up with the news. - Aquatabs is one method but an easier way is gravity bag and straw, this passes unclean water through a filter slowly using gravity and can turn stream or rain water into drinkable. - I don't recommend buying bottled water, it is expensive, buy them once, then drink them, then refill with tap water. Once a month empty one into toilet in lieu of flushing and refill with tap water, so basically you're always drinking recent tap water. You'd refill them if water is slightly unsafe via gravity pouch+straw. Eventually you'd be refilling from rain water. - All of my kit I use for camping, not bought especially for outages but when not camping I keep a backpack with an emergency kit in the home. So if you do go camping you're not specifically spending money for the rare outage situation so costs nothing.
Experience taught my parents to keep a camping stove + gas cylinder for heating drinks/cooking basic meals (their hob was all-electric…). When their house lost power for a week in the gales of 1987, they could have hot food. Another thing to consider is that if you have to pump water to a roof storage tank, you’ll lose that ability, so wet wipes might be useful for basic hygiene. If you have a standpipe outside, not so much of an issue. You might also have to review ‘toilet arrangements’ (yes, I’ve been in that position😂😉). A final tip I saw elsewhere was to use solar charged garden lights stuck in flower pots of sand. You can charge during the day then use indoors at night.
Great video. When we lived in South Africa, which has regular blackouts, we used to need this kind of stuff more. One of the things we found which worked really well were wall lights that you plug into a normal outlet that only came on when the power went out. So you left them plugged in around the house in unused outlets like in passageways and living areas and when the power went out they automatically came on. Worked really well for us.
Good points. I live in the northeast US where power failures are sadly common. I like the fact that you included an AM/FM radio in your kit. Turning it on at the top of the hour for the news summary has been handy a few times.
As usual, common sense, realistic and well thought out points. Your videos are well made, informative and educational. After a storm had passed through my response area, damage was wide spread and power to a particular area was out for almost a week. The issues that had to be dealt with were supplying oxygen tanks or generators to people who had non working oxygen machines, water for people to drink and flush thier toilets as the area had wells and the pumps in their homes were down. Fortunately neighbors pitched in to help each other but for almost a week we had to deliver oxygen and water. Being ready ahead of time is paramount. "Prior planning provides peak performance". Thanks again...well done
Great considerations for blackout situations! We keep a 28-kWh Lithium-ion battery in the garage. One of our vehicles is an electric vehicle and essentially a massive power pack for recharging items in such conditions. Perhaps some people don't consider the alternate use cases for our electric cars. 8-) Our other vehicle is a capable all wheel drive, for excursions and adventure. Back to your video: I do keep many of these items in my hiking pack (which could be considered a Go-Bag I suppose). While redundancy isn't a bad thing, for me it is a balance between organizing kits, in a way that is practical that also useful. In my garage a few weeks ago I found an "Emergency Kit" for such occasions, that I haven't touched in 25 years. As you can imagine, it was something like a time capsule, with ancient batteries, pre-packaged water and such, and even an old AM/FM Radio which even then was a thing of the past.
We had a big storm and knocked power out for nearly three weeks. I had a 50k powerbank, several 20k ones and some old 10k and 5k ones. Workplace had a generator so brought them in with me when they needed to be charged. They helped a lot! Solar powered lights helped too. Bring them out during the day and they’re good for the rest of the night. We also used candles but I had a few usb powered light bars which proved more useful. We had a gas stove and used a lighter or a match to ignite. Mobile signal was spotty in my area so we made do with an am/fm radio powered by batteries. It was difficult but you learn to make do with what you have.
Great video Jon! I experienced few hurricanes and the last one, Maria in 2017, left me without power for around 3 months. I would add to your list a portable solar panel charger, Anker does a very good one. Charging a phone or a 1000mhA battery on solar power could take forever so rationing the power is key! For the same reason I have redundancy in rechargeable and alkaline factors, as flashlights. And golden rule! Do not store appliances with alkaline batteries in it. I always have a cheap alkaline flashlight around with batteries and the good ones stored without ro avoid terminal corrosions.
We have a solar panel on top of a garage that has no power. It is used to charge up old car batteries that power the LED lighting in the garage. The batteries may not be suitable in a car but still work with the lights.
_”Do not store appliances with alkaline batteries in it.”_ I ruined a flashlight and an emergency radio doing that. I stopped buying alkaline batteries and only use rechargeables. I bought some Duracell AA and AAA rechargeables many years ago and they’re still working. I bought 24 Eneloop AA and 24 AAAs because they can be recharged forever. I also bought 2 small Goal Zero solar panels to recharge small electronics and batteries.
Thanks Jon very well thought out. We have not had analogue phones for some time. And in emergencies mobile networks do get overloaded so the advice is not to call unless it is an emergency. We have had bushfires, floods and storms here in Australia. So there is advice on what to keep from emergency services. Depending if you stay put or evacuate. In addition keep a small amount of cash ( ATM machines were not functioning so getting petrol or buying goods was not possible. Toilet paper, a change of clothes, important documents such as insurance policies, passports. When starting out then generators ( petrol) or those who have solar battery systems can continue. Most important of all you need to have a plan since making decisions under pressure is difficult.
Thoughtfully planned kit. As a backpacker, chemical water treatment is a second choice. I recommend a small, portable, water filter like the Sawyer Squeeze. Better tasting water and relatively inexpensive. 💦
Along with that: don't keep batteries IN the devices. This applies to the alkaline variety of batters, not the rechargeable ones. The alkaline batteries will leak and corrosive material will damage the devices. I speak from experience. It pays to keep your battery operated devices in a common place with batteries separated. If you feel the need to keep batteries in some devices, keep a tickler note to remind you to rotate batteries out -- or at least check on them -- periodically. Also, it would be good to have a plan to eat food from the fridge first, then frozen items next. After two days or so, you'll have to trash the cold food -- or plan to dip into the Imodium tablets in your EDC! I typically have a couple of cold packs in the freezer. I kept them when we were ordering from a meal service. They can possibly help extend the life of the fridge for a few more hours. (I use them in a cooler when we go on a picnic.) One preparation item is to have some portable solar panels to provide some emergency backup power. It will not likely help with the fridge or heating, but it can backup up the low power items and recharge your power banks when they are exhausted. I have not looked in a couple of years but 100W panels with charge controller was not very expensive. Just over $100US, if memory serves. More expensive now, of course.
Great kit as always! I'd recommend placing such kit near a power outlet which holds one of those emergency lights. I especially liked how many products were already reviewed on the channel - which really shows that they are actually practical.
Good video, as usual. Pretty much what we had on hand in the 2003 Northeast (US & Canada) power outage. We got through the three days quite comfortably. It helped being warm, dry, weather. We did end up outdoor grilling a bit of meat as we were without refrigeration. I have upgraded a number of things over the years, however. I got myself an Amateur Radio license and handheld radios sufficient to maintain emergency two-way communication with local emergency services. It also allows me to monitor NOAA weather and emergency broadcasts. I’ve added a small, 1000Wh, portable power station. It is sufficient to power our sump pump or freezer for almost 24 hours. And I’ve added a Grayl water purifier to our kit. Easier than boiling, as well as working for camping or otherwise away from home. The Grayl bottle goes on most of our travels. I will mention that I’d lived without electricity and running water for extended periods in my younger days, so a few days without power was more nostalgic than troublesome. And I think good experience for my kids, if they even remember it.
I'm a big fan of the Manker E02 and E03 headlamps. The run on one AAA or AA battery respectively and aren't super expensive. Perfect for around the house. I would suggest to use Lithium primary cells instead of alkaline. They have a better shelf life and don't leak. That's very valuable for emergency batteries imo.
I love that Sony radio. I have one and got one for my dad. One of the best high end while basic radios on the market and still very affordable. Used for a few hours per day, it's been over a year and still hasn't needed new batteries. Admittedly the batteries are top shelf energizers.
Being a kid in the 70's/80's I remember the blackouts we had quite well over here, always have had candles to hand ever since.. Also I'd swap the portable radio for a small CB radio/walkie talkie, you can pick up normal radio stations and useful for short range communication too.
I'd like to add that many Android phones (and older iPhones) come with FM radio chips installed. For example, I have a Moto G6 phone that came with an FM Radio app preinstalled. All I need to do is plug in a pair of headphones to listen to live crystal clear radio broadcasts. The headphone acts as the radio antenna receiver. It's just one of the coolest little known features of a phone.
Useful video, for more than boiling water I can recommend a Trangia kit with two pots and a non-stick pan. We bought it for outdoor adventures, but it's nice to have the option at home as well. Your kind of spirit has a funky colour! Cheers from Denmark, hope the power outages will dwindle in number ✌
Hi Christian, yes, I use a Trangia burner outdoors, this is a cheap version - there are lots about - not a lot to go wrong and good for emergencies without blowing the budget
@@JonGadget In the trangia burner I use Bio-ethanol from B&Q. It comes in 2 litre bottles for £8, is >95% ethanol and is used in Bioethanol fireplaces. Cheaper than their meths at £9 / litre. It's clear so I added a bit of food colouring to identify it more easily from other liquids.
I have Trangia too! I've had for nearly 40 years. I am not so sure it's appropriate for a few days at home cooking as you have to keep refilling it. For regular use I'd recommend a gas stove as can burn for longer between fuel changes. At home I have camping gas stove and Trangia, I'd use the Trangia myself and the gas for others just because it's a faff to refill time the meth stove. Meth wins for less nasty fumes.
Good job Jon ,been a prepper for around 30 years now after living in the states for 15 years,they are on the ball with all of this ,I have just bought a Jackery 1000 with solar panel just in case ,good for camping to .👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@@JonGadget Can you find out if it's even possible to run say a 3 bed house here in the UK from a solar set up? I'm struggling to get an answer, let alone a straight one from the few solar panel installers who I've contacted. I've watched a couple of videos, homes in the States that have a Tesla wall system, they turned off the grid power to see how long the system would cope, one lasted around a week, the other close to a month,.....with much less sun here in the UK, I'm guessing that we have zero chance of being able to run a washing machine once a week, keeping a fridge freezer going etc without being connected to the grid??
Excellent video! I would suggest placing a headlamp against a one gallon opaque plastic water bottle for very good area lighting. I don’t know if the UK has those but in the states either milk or water is sold in them. Also, I have used the Trangia to cook many times indoors. One safety concern is bumping them and the fuel splashing on to your counter or other surface. I used a cookie sheet with a curved edge as my base. If there is any spillage it’s contained in a steel pan by the edges. One other thing: It’s good to remind people that an alcohol stove can burn with an invisible flame so be aware.
Great video, the head torches look really good value. Handy that you gave me a small lesson about fibre optic cables and the telephone exchange, should help me in my current open reach application 😂👍
Jon, I just found your channel and love it! Really outstanding quality and information. I appreciate how much effort you put into the content of your videos and the associated information (kit list) in each videos comments. Great stuff, thank you for providing content like this.
Another great présentation Jon. Thanks . Thought for future vidéo : constructing à Faraday cage. Just in case, you know, the unthinkable were to happen .
Jon, I'm a fan of all of your content and thanks so much for sharing your expertise. Terrific video--this channel deserves a million subscribers. Your presentations are so well researched, thorough and nicely delivered.
With reference to lighting. I found a really good item at Wilkinson's (Wilko). Battery powered (3x AAA) internal motion detector lights for 6.50 each. I originally bought them as my Grandkids leave all the lights on as they go upstairs at night, so bought a few of the Wilko lights and put them in strategic places (Downstairs Hallway, Stairway, Landing)so they come on and go off automatically (if they go off while you are in the area, just wave at them and they turn on again). In case of a power cut, I have also put them in my downstairs bathroom/toilet (my house has the bathroom/toilet downstairs) and upstairs toilet and also the kitchen. The beauty of the lights is they don't come on during daylight so save the batteries and are safer than candles, etc while going around the house, no need to hold a torch when carrying things. Well worth looking at. I also have a "Black out " box with camping cooker/camping kettle/ spare gas canisters, torches, batteries, also coffee creamer/ dried milk (as fridge will be off) which lives on top of my fridge. So it is easy to find, it has glow in the dark tape on the edges.
I can recommend storing water in used, and cleaned, PET-bottles in the freezer. That way the water will stay fresh for a very long time. But, remember that you should only fill the bottles with 3/4 of water as frozen water will expand and can cause the bottles to break if they are to full of water. A Trangia stove is always good to have if you are outside for any reason. Also, keep cash available as it will not be possible to buy stuff during a power failure. There will be contact with the credit card companies and also the cash registers wont work. Think back to how they managed to survived before we got electricty and telephones.
Makita tools... If you have Makita tools at home, they have the batteries. Given the instability of our electricity here, I switched my table lamp to Makita's. It has made a great change for me as I have no worry over if I have the light or not. I do have the pocket lamps, but this has a great light source, so it's been perfect. I also got one of those accessories which are mobile chargers - those come in different sizes, but the last few times it's been a great item to have. Most of our stuff is usb chargable, and as we keep our batteries charged at all times, having few extras is a good idea so you can charge your devices from them.
Two other useful devices are: 1. A handheld scanner that covers your local police, fire and emergency vehicle frequencies. That'll alert you to emergencies in your community. 2. Instead of a AM/FM radio, for more large scale emergencies (i.e. hurricanes) you might get one that covers the shortwave spectrum to follow state agencies and hams doing emergency traffic. All those will be using SSB, which sounds on an AM radio like Donald Duck, so make sure the radio can receive SSB. Find their frequencies by searching online for "state emergency frequencies."
Another great one Jon. I have emergency bag ready, with half of the thing, and the other half is spreaded around the house, but I know where everything is. Lately actually I filled up a box with canned food, rice, pasta, cooking oil etc and 15 litres of water and store them in the garage, just in case of emergency. Didn't cost me much. I think everybody needs to have such a box. Great idea for a video. Lets hope we never have to use it. Take care.
I'd avoid raw uncooked rice pasta for cooking from camping fuel, they need to be boiled for 15 minutes. Couscous is throw in boiled water and left alone takes less fuel, similarly noodles, or the packets of cooked rice where you just heating up. Everyone who's been cooking camping will know this. The shortest outages are the most common but I work on 2 weeks maximum outage. Folks in rural communities seem to suffer the most common and longest outages.
@@GeekfromYorkshire I agree with you. But Jon is using spirit burner. I actually have and use for camping and emergency if needed propane camping stove, also I always have 8-10 spare canisters of fuel. Thank you for the note. Cheers 👍
@@TheStoyanbahchevanov I have camping gas stove also, they burn faster, I have the type with a slot-in bot for simple efficient boiling water, or you can prop any kind of pot on. But the meths method has advantage of less harmful fumes for indoor cooking, and you can simmer which extends the type of food you can cook. I have a few gas canisters too. As to the probability we individually would need these in an outage, it is small (more common in smaller / distant rural settings) but the chance someone close to you has a need is higher so you may end up sharing and helping more than using for oneself.
Thanks Jon, great video and usual high production standards. I liked the budget options you included and look forward to the longer power outage video.
No one today think about a catastrophic situation like that: no news, no light, no gas, no power supply, non water from the tap: does it feel like being at war (Ucraine is not so far...)? We hope never. Btw you perfectly hit the target of how to survive in a similar situation, to solve those problems, at least to get out of the emergency. I appreciate it, I love your channel 🙏🙏🙏
Another amazing video! I’ve had the same feeling about power outage in the UK. Perhaps another disaster can be flooding because of a storm like storm Arwen. I think it would make a great video to discuss the items the UK Red Cross or the UK government recommends. The US Red Cross and US government also have a list with interesting items on it.
Love your videos and this is a very very detailed explanation and guide to what should work for various scenarios. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and sharing your knowledge!!
Excellent advice as always .I have it all covered but I did not know about the Anker power bank ( I am still such a tech dinosaur in many ways )so thanks for that I will add it to the kit. I was so pleased to read the Gadget shop was your baby as it were it was my favourite store of all time sorry but I had not heard of Red 5. So you are trustable and cool that's a damn good start..😀.Take care my friend .
Very interesting video for some sort of home preparedness. It would be interesting too if you include the total budget price of the box, just for reference. I like yours videos very much but usually you review items that are very expensive for my economy! greetings sir! 👍🖖
Love this video. A suggestion however. The bottle with spirits should be standing up and not horizontal. Caps are subject to leak over time. Great power out survival box otherwise.
Trangia is a major risk if you use them due to the spirits spilling. We have a stable butane stove we use for BBQ which is better suited for indoor use with an open window. The fridge freezer should contain several cooling elements so it will extend the natural cold storage for 6-10 hours extra. Dependent on ambient temperature. Batteries should be limited to one or two types and swapped regularly. We use AAA batteries in most and D in the one battery operated lantern (a gift from someone). Most of our gear is rechargeable, my favourite is the Luci Lux both during camping and blackouts. You can also recharge the lights and phone when using the car. I usually hang them in my schoolbus during the drive, a double point one for the phone and one for the light. I am semi retired from the army so i drive children to and from school.
If you put the Trangia on a metal tray with enough depth/width to contain any spillage there's no danger. The room will get hot very quick and you need to open a window as it will burn up the oxygen there fast though!
There are two simple inexpensive preps you can do for under $25 today that will make navigating your home so much easier even before a blackout. Line the top edge of your baseboards with 0.25-0.5’ glow in the dark tape in your hallways to guide you. Get the plain white-ish tape so it is inconspicuous. Also stick small inconspicuous glow dots on important items or areas. They will all charge with ambient daylight. Go ahead an install toilet lights on all the toilets, the batteries in the things last for months. When visitors stay at our place they easily navigate to bathrooms and kitchen in the dark without running into things or falling down stairs. Children and tech enthusiasts enjoy the “Tron” effect!😂
I would suggest swapping the radio for a baofeng UV5R, they are a two way ham radio with fm receiver, the battery’s last for ages, you can have spare batteries, can communicate with them and only cost £25
Excellent ideas here (as always). Certainly the power bank, or multiple power banks are essentials. Hopefully the transmitter mast may be working. Our phones have become the equivalent of the multi-tool - they do everything, including entertainment. Power banks of 20,000 mAh are now good value and give several phone charges.
You really do an excellent job on these kits, everything is well thought out. I just wanted to point something out that I noticed in usage. I have some flashlights, lanterns and tool work lights and have been through a couple power outages with different combinations. I prefer my Ryobi P796 compact area lights as the best option. They have a nice diffused dome that is easy to look at without being blinding and I have many 18v batteries, they can run that light for a long time. One 4ah battery will run 18 hours at 400 lumens! I also like flashlights that tail stand for room lighting if you have a white ceiling. That technique provides a more normal room lighting compared to a lantern that casts the light sideways. The Ryobi P796 pushes a lot of light to the ceiling also even though its a 360 degree design. It lights a room really well even on the 170 lumen medium mode which more than doubles the run time to 40 hours on the same 4ah battery. Work lights make excellent blackout lights since the batteries for power tools are usually large and most people have some extra tool batteries if they're on a tool platform like Ryobi or Milwaukee for example.
Hello, Jonathan - a good and practical video - thanks! Another long-range alternative might be a power gasoline generator hooked up to the house in such a way that when the power goes, the generator starts and maintains things like the fridge and medical equipment at home for patients that need it...they come in all sizes and many can be charged using portable solar panels...
Outages are so rare here, it is an issue of striking balance of spending money on prepping vs structuring what you use regularly towards an outage. I have two solar panels, the Anker 21W which is most sunny days would give around 30Wh-50Wh which is enough to keep two phones going indefinitively. As Jon says any outage longer than a few days will begin to dig deeper into comms, water, etc The really big Lithium based powerbanks cost $$$ so given the rarity of need here I have simply gone with multiple smaller Powerbanks and I cycle through them to keep them going 3-5 years and they can be charged solar.
Nice. My kit is very sophisticated for our home. We have Solar Array and two Tesla Powerwall battery storage with Tesla Gateway. This can island our house from the Grid completely, and all home functions as normal. The only bit I'm missing, is SpaceX Starlink Satellite broadband for comms.
Always interesting and informative! I recently came across the LORA protocol. Essentially a long range ad hoc network. There are devices such as the TTGO T-Beam that connect to your phone using Bluetooth, someone you want to communicate with would also have a T-Beam connected to their phone and you can then text message each other without the use of a carrier or any other infrastructure. They can also relay your GPS position. There are different apps that implement the LORA protocol which essentially is just data so could in theory send more than text and GPS positions. Along the same lines as an AM/FM radio, you can get TV receivers that work with your phone such as the August DVB-T405, paired with a decent portable aerial such as the August DTA240, they work surprisingly well, or that particular one did until the app stopped working and haven’t tried it since!
Don't mention Cyber attacks... Garden solar lights are V useful for in doors also. Just leave them in the window during the day. I use a hand cranked radio with a built in light.
Cano canned water would be great for this. It's got a two year shelf life, plus you don't need to worry about plastic leeching into it and the empty cans are extremely easy to recycle
Russia can cut the power anytime. If they had wanted to do that they would have done it already. If Russia is pushed enough to cut power, I think lighting will be the least of our worries.
Suggestion for you, UCO Clarus 118 Lumen LED Mini Lantern and Flashlight with Dimmer and Strobe, converts between flashlight and lantern almost instantly and it is small and powerful.
I was looking for a usb powered lamp and ended up getting a pack of five of these off Amazon. Yizhet 5x Portable USB Nightlight Mini Pocket Card Lamp. They are small and plug directly into a USB socket including a powerbank. They are dimmable as well.
Thought out video and well delivered. One thing I would suggest is the type of flashlight (or rather the battery type). If you have no idea what the difference is between Li-Ion, alkaline and NiMh and have no interest in learning then you should stick with the latter two. Li-Ion cells are potentially dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. My suggestion would be NiMh cells, which are shelf stable, rechargeable, safe and affordable.
Electricity suspension for hours and hours is a common thing in Pakistan, many times people have to spend whole day, whole night without electricity, but still people do not have anything like this, one of the reasons for which is Pakistan. One is the extremely limited market for such goods and the second is the lack of money, because even in the limited markets that exist, the prices of these things are beyond the reach of the common man.
I've got an older Petzl Tikka than yours: mine has 4 LEDs! It's been on my bedside table since I moved into this house 10 years ago, but I've never had to use it. It occurred to me a fortnight ago that I should perhaps check it: no light and crusty AAA batteries . Batteries replaced and it's perfectly fine for use in the house.
For lights: My suggestions: Fenix HM23 Headlamp, that runs in any kind of AA battery (from rechargable, to the Ulitmate Lithium Energizers) . Fenix E20V20 Same here but runs on 2AA, only big difference it's not a head lamp but a normal style flashlight or get a Fenix LD12 if you can still find them! Also an oil lamp like Feuerhand lamp, with a good quality oil and spare wicks. As for batteries: Panasonic Eneloop, or my Favorites Energizer 2000mAh that are actually 2300mAh in reality, they just advertise them lower for some reason. I would pick those instead of the 2300mAh Energizers. Max and/or Max Plus Alkaline Energizers, Energizer Ultimate Lithiums, are great to have some of those for back up. Also Wax candles tha last amny hours are also good to have around house! In my opinion, that's the best set up, for emergencies. Properly used, are 100% safe and proper choices, not only provide decent light, but hold for days, if not weeks of dauly use. Hope the time and money I spent. to come to this, helps others too...
Could you do something on radio in UK generally...? I lost the plot when Tony Blaire tinkered with the wiring...! What kind of radios work in UK now, and does anyone make them still...?
I think I’m pretty prepared.. I’ve got plenty of flashlights and a bunch of batteries I keep charged. No headlights, but I have some reverse clips.. No lanterns, that’s what diffusers are for. Plus I can pretend I’m a wizard.
I rarely wear my head lamp on my head. I wear it around my neck so it always points at the ground rather than in people’s faces. I have been doing it this way since that last century.
Emergency radios that have a torch solar and wind up charging options and the ability to charge phone etc as well as ability to listen for news/ weather repots is also very good.
Yeah. I purchased one when Putin threatened nukes and I started installing a fallout shelter in the basement.
@@schreckpmc If it gets to that level the only thing I'd buy is party food and alcohol to enjoy my last moments.
These doomsday/prepper guys have no clue if there was an actual shtf moment....There's no way I'm going to live in a bunker etc..... but they do have a few good crossover ideas for us bushcrafty/ outdoor types.
Thanks for the great video, this knowledge is very practical. As a citizen of Taiwan, I think it might be time for us to prepare a bug-out bag with stuffs you mentioned in the video.
@Leo Chen, I agree, China is being very aggressive towards Taiwan, they use the same rhetoric as Russia before they invaded Ukraine.
lol , one often over-looked resource during a power cut is your BBQ , that & my camping kettle ensured Tea & hot meals during a 2 day power cut last Autumn
Good idea - this could feature in a future vid for longer outages as more practical than the stove but limited to outside use!
I learned my lesson about having water on hand when the entire power grid went down in my region of the USA (and part of Canada) in 2003. It's one thing to have a power outage that only effects small areas. It's quite another when the entire area for miles around is without power. To top it off, my neighborhood lost its water as the pumps that bring us water from Lake Erie went down. We didn't have much water on hand and we had to find some, including for our dog. There were a few stores that had generators and people were getting pushy with each other grabbing all the stuff they needed. I realized things could get really bad really fast if the grid goes down (there's an interesting fictional movie called The Trigger Effect that's about a big power outage in Los Angeles and what it does to people). So, yeah, I keep lots of bottled water now. Also, non-condensed canned soup contains water, of course.
great feedback and really interesting to read, thanks for sharing
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This is a fantastic video. Very informative and with no hype or hyperbole. I am the Ops Manager for my local Emergency Response Group and I will be sharing this video with the team to ensure everyone is up to speed at home.
"Usually, around ONE candle power. " Truly made me laugh out loud. 😂
Thanks for the video.
I use:
- some AAA battery powered motion-sensing stick-on lights, they come on when they see you at night. I managed to cover all the walkways (landing, hallway, kitchen, bathrooms) using 7 of them.
- I don't use room ambient battery lights, I just point flashlights to the ceiling and that illuminates a room without dedicated ambient lights. I do keep flashlights in each bedroom, kitchen and near entrances so whole house has to-hand with 5 flashlights. I also use the Anker powerbanks you showed but currently costs £25 not £32. I'd recommend 20000mAh if you can afford.
- I have a Trangia which includes the meth stoves and I'd agree with your estimate of how a 500ml will last. Does all my drinks and cooking for 5 days for 1 person.
- Good idea on the radio. Mine broke so I got the model you suggested was £12 today. I could have done with it last camping trip no phone signal and handy to keep up with the news.
- Aquatabs is one method but an easier way is gravity bag and straw, this passes unclean water through a filter slowly using gravity and can turn stream or rain water into drinkable.
- I don't recommend buying bottled water, it is expensive, buy them once, then drink them, then refill with tap water. Once a month empty one into toilet in lieu of flushing and refill with tap water, so basically you're always drinking recent tap water. You'd refill them if water is slightly unsafe via gravity pouch+straw. Eventually you'd be refilling from rain water.
- All of my kit I use for camping, not bought especially for outages but when not camping I keep a backpack with an emergency kit in the home.
So if you do go camping you're not specifically spending money for the rare outage situation so costs nothing.
Great advice, particularly wtih regard to the water and the Millbank bag.
Experience taught my parents to keep a camping stove + gas cylinder for heating drinks/cooking basic meals (their hob was all-electric…). When their house lost power for a week in the gales of 1987, they could have hot food.
Another thing to consider is that if you have to pump water to a roof storage tank, you’ll lose that ability, so wet wipes might be useful for basic hygiene. If you have a standpipe outside, not so much of an issue. You might also have to review ‘toilet arrangements’ (yes, I’ve been in that position😂😉).
A final tip I saw elsewhere was to use solar charged garden lights stuck in flower pots of sand. You can charge during the day then use indoors at night.
some great feedback - thanks for sharing - I have a more advanced kit coming with for extended outages that will cover the issues you have raised 👍
Great video. When we lived in South Africa, which has regular blackouts, we used to need this kind of stuff more. One of the things we found which worked really well were wall lights that you plug into a normal outlet that only came on when the power went out. So you left them plugged in around the house in unused outlets like in passageways and living areas and when the power went out they automatically came on. Worked really well for us.
Good points. I live in the northeast US where power failures are sadly common. I like the fact that you included an AM/FM radio in your kit. Turning it on at the top of the hour for the news summary has been handy a few times.
Thanks Chris great feedback
As usual, common sense, realistic and well thought out points. Your videos are well made, informative and educational. After a storm had passed through my response area, damage was wide spread and power to a particular area was out for almost a week. The issues that had to be dealt with were supplying oxygen tanks or generators to people who had non working oxygen machines, water for people to drink and flush thier toilets as the area had wells and the pumps in their homes were down. Fortunately neighbors pitched in to help each other but for almost a week we had to deliver oxygen and water. Being ready ahead of time is paramount. "Prior planning provides peak performance". Thanks again...well done
This guy is pretty smart. Really well done videos.
Great considerations for blackout situations! We keep a 28-kWh Lithium-ion battery in the garage. One of our vehicles is an electric vehicle and essentially a massive power pack for recharging items in such conditions. Perhaps some people don't consider the alternate use cases for our electric cars. 8-) Our other vehicle is a capable all wheel drive, for excursions and adventure. Back to your video: I do keep many of these items in my hiking pack (which could be considered a Go-Bag I suppose). While redundancy isn't a bad thing, for me it is a balance between organizing kits, in a way that is practical that also useful. In my garage a few weeks ago I found an "Emergency Kit" for such occasions, that I haven't touched in 25 years. As you can imagine, it was something like a time capsule, with ancient batteries, pre-packaged water and such, and even an old AM/FM Radio which even then was a thing of the past.
Same here... two Tesla Powerwalls & Gateway 2... Tesla M3P Ev with Solar Array and home charging.
Just need Starlink now for Comms
We had a big storm and knocked power out for nearly three weeks. I had a 50k powerbank, several 20k ones and some old 10k and 5k ones. Workplace had a generator so brought them in with me when they needed to be charged. They helped a lot!
Solar powered lights helped too. Bring them out during the day and they’re good for the rest of the night. We also used candles but I had a few usb powered light bars which proved more useful.
We had a gas stove and used a lighter or a match to ignite.
Mobile signal was spotty in my area so we made do with an am/fm radio powered by batteries.
It was difficult but you learn to make do with what you have.
Great video Jon!
I experienced few hurricanes and the last one, Maria in 2017, left me without power for around 3 months.
I would add to your list a portable solar panel charger, Anker does a very good one. Charging a phone or a 1000mhA battery on solar power could take forever so rationing the power is key!
For the same reason I have redundancy in rechargeable and alkaline factors, as flashlights. And golden rule! Do not store appliances with alkaline batteries in it. I always have a cheap alkaline flashlight around with batteries and the good ones stored without ro avoid terminal corrosions.
Good point. I just acquired a small solar panel made by Goal Zero. It will charge a phone or power pack.
We have a solar panel on top of a garage that has no power. It is used to charge up old car batteries that power the LED lighting in the garage. The batteries may not be suitable in a car but still work with the lights.
_”Do not store appliances with alkaline batteries in it.”_
I ruined a flashlight and an emergency radio doing that. I stopped buying alkaline batteries and only use rechargeables. I bought some Duracell AA and AAA rechargeables many years ago and they’re still working. I bought 24 Eneloop AA and 24 AAAs because they can be recharged forever.
I also bought 2 small Goal Zero solar panels to recharge small electronics and batteries.
Thanks Jon very well thought out. We have not had analogue phones for some time. And in emergencies mobile networks do get overloaded so the advice is not to call unless it is an emergency. We have had bushfires, floods and storms here in Australia. So there is advice on what to keep from emergency services. Depending if you stay put or evacuate. In addition keep a small amount of cash ( ATM machines were not functioning so getting petrol or buying goods was not possible. Toilet paper, a change of clothes, important documents such as insurance policies, passports. When starting out then generators ( petrol) or those who have solar battery systems can continue. Most important of all you need to have a plan since making decisions under pressure is difficult.
Thoughtfully planned kit. As a backpacker, chemical water treatment is a second choice. I recommend a small, portable, water filter like the Sawyer Squeeze. Better tasting water and relatively inexpensive. 💦
Great selection of practical and affordable kit and also made me realise that I have many torches but no head light.!
head torch is super useful here I think
A suggestion would be don’t store wet and dry goods together keep them separate in case one leaks and contaminates the other.
Along with that: don't keep batteries IN the devices. This applies to the alkaline variety of batters, not the rechargeable ones. The alkaline batteries will leak and corrosive material will damage the devices. I speak from experience. It pays to keep your battery operated devices in a common place with batteries separated. If you feel the need to keep batteries in some devices, keep a tickler note to remind you to rotate batteries out -- or at least check on them -- periodically.
Also, it would be good to have a plan to eat food from the fridge first, then frozen items next. After two days or so, you'll have to trash the cold food -- or plan to dip into the Imodium tablets in your EDC! I typically have a couple of cold packs in the freezer. I kept them when we were ordering from a meal service. They can possibly help extend the life of the fridge for a few more hours. (I use them in a cooler when we go on a picnic.)
One preparation item is to have some portable solar panels to provide some emergency backup power. It will not likely help with the fridge or heating, but it can backup up the low power items and recharge your power banks when they are exhausted. I have not looked in a couple of years but 100W panels with charge controller was not very expensive. Just over $100US, if memory serves. More expensive now, of course.
Great kit as always!
I'd recommend placing such kit near a power outlet which holds one of those emergency lights.
I especially liked how many products were already reviewed on the channel - which really shows that they are actually practical.
Good video, as usual. Pretty much what we had on hand in the 2003 Northeast (US & Canada) power outage. We got through the three days quite comfortably. It helped being warm, dry, weather. We did end up outdoor grilling a bit of meat as we were without refrigeration. I have upgraded a number of things over the years, however. I got myself an Amateur Radio license and handheld radios sufficient to maintain emergency two-way communication with local emergency services. It also allows me to monitor NOAA weather and emergency broadcasts. I’ve added a small, 1000Wh, portable power station. It is sufficient to power our sump pump or freezer for almost 24 hours. And I’ve added a Grayl water purifier to our kit. Easier than boiling, as well as working for camping or otherwise away from home. The Grayl bottle goes on most of our travels. I will mention that I’d lived without electricity and running water for extended periods in my younger days, so a few days without power was more nostalgic than troublesome. And I think good experience for my kids, if they even remember it.
I'm a big fan of the Manker E02 and E03 headlamps. The run on one AAA or AA battery respectively and aren't super expensive. Perfect for around the house.
I would suggest to use Lithium primary cells instead of alkaline. They have a better shelf life and don't leak. That's very valuable for emergency batteries imo.
LOL As an older person, I love how you have to "explain" a radio! love this video, thanks
I love that Sony radio. I have one and got one for my dad. One of the best high end while basic radios on the market and still very affordable. Used for a few hours per day, it's been over a year and still hasn't needed new batteries. Admittedly the batteries are top shelf energizers.
I really like the outro music for this one 🙂
Excellent and informative video!! Thank you!
Thank you 👍
Being a kid in the 70's/80's I remember the blackouts we had quite well over here, always have had candles to hand ever since.. Also I'd swap the portable radio for a small CB radio/walkie talkie, you can pick up normal radio stations and useful for short range communication too.
I'd like to add that many Android phones (and older iPhones) come with FM radio chips installed. For example, I have a Moto G6 phone that came with an FM Radio app preinstalled. All I need to do is plug in a pair of headphones to listen to live crystal clear radio broadcasts. The headphone acts as the radio antenna receiver. It's just one of the coolest little known features of a phone.
Useful video, for more than boiling water I can recommend a Trangia kit with two pots and a non-stick pan. We bought it for outdoor adventures, but it's nice to have the option at home as well. Your kind of spirit has a funky colour! Cheers from Denmark, hope the power outages will dwindle in number ✌
Hi Christian, yes, I use a Trangia burner outdoors, this is a cheap version - there are lots about - not a lot to go wrong and good for emergencies without blowing the budget
@@JonGadget In the trangia burner I use Bio-ethanol from B&Q. It comes in 2 litre bottles for £8, is >95% ethanol and is used in Bioethanol fireplaces. Cheaper than their meths at £9 / litre. It's clear so I added a bit of food colouring to identify it more easily from other liquids.
Burn yellow HEET, it's clean burning and the best price for fuel in alcohol burners I can find in the states.
I have Trangia too! I've had for nearly 40 years. I am not so sure it's appropriate for a few days at home cooking as you have to keep refilling it. For regular use I'd recommend a gas stove as can burn for longer between fuel changes. At home I have camping gas stove and Trangia, I'd use the Trangia myself and the gas for others just because it's a faff to refill time the meth stove. Meth wins for less nasty fumes.
I have watched 3-4 of your videos now, Sir. Your knowledge as well as your communication skills are outstanding. I am an instant fan! 🇩🇰
Good job Jon ,been a prepper for around 30 years now after living in the states for 15 years,they are on the ball with all of this ,I have just bought a Jackery 1000 with solar panel just in case ,good for camping to .👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks Graham, I have something similar coming to test for longer outages 👍
@@JonGadget great channel mate take care.
@@JonGadget Can you find out if it's even possible to run say a 3 bed house here in the UK from a solar set up? I'm struggling to get an answer, let alone a straight one from the few solar panel installers who I've contacted. I've watched a couple of videos, homes in the States that have a Tesla wall system, they turned off the grid power to see how long the system would cope, one lasted around a week, the other close to a month,.....with much less sun here in the UK, I'm guessing that we have zero chance of being able to run a washing machine once a week, keeping a fridge freezer going etc without being connected to the grid??
Excellent video! I would suggest placing a headlamp against a one gallon opaque plastic water bottle for very good area lighting. I don’t know if the UK has those but in the states either milk or water is sold in them. Also, I have used the Trangia to cook many times indoors. One safety concern is bumping them and the fuel splashing on to your counter or other surface. I used a cookie sheet with a curved edge as my base. If there is any spillage it’s contained in a steel pan by the edges. One other thing: It’s good to remind people that an alcohol stove can burn with an invisible flame so be aware.
Great video, the head torches look really good value. Handy that you gave me a small lesson about fibre optic cables and the telephone exchange, should help me in my current open reach application 😂👍
I recommend a couple of pouches of dried water though. A pouch contains about 2 liters of dried water.
Jon, I just found your channel and love it! Really outstanding quality and information. I appreciate how much effort you put into the content of your videos and the associated information (kit list) in each videos comments. Great stuff, thank you for providing content like this.
Decathlon has some pretty good and cheap lanterns that can be hand cranked and recharged in case of light emergency
Wow. Not thought about half of this. The longer version will be a keeper video as well. 👍Thank you.
No problem 👍
Another great présentation Jon. Thanks . Thought for future vidéo : constructing à Faraday cage. Just in case, you know, the unthinkable were to happen .
Jon, I'm a fan of all of your content and thanks so much for sharing your expertise. Terrific video--this channel deserves a million subscribers. Your presentations are so well researched, thorough and nicely delivered.
With reference to lighting. I found a really good item at Wilkinson's (Wilko). Battery powered (3x AAA) internal motion detector lights for 6.50 each. I originally bought them as my Grandkids leave all the lights on as they go upstairs at night, so bought a few of the Wilko lights and put them in strategic places (Downstairs Hallway, Stairway, Landing)so they come on and go off automatically (if they go off while you are in the area, just wave at them and they turn on again). In case of a power cut, I have also put them in my downstairs bathroom/toilet (my house has the bathroom/toilet downstairs) and upstairs toilet and also the kitchen. The beauty of the lights is they don't come on during daylight so save the batteries and are safer than candles, etc while going around the house, no need to hold a torch when carrying things. Well worth looking at.
I also have a "Black out " box with camping cooker/camping kettle/ spare gas canisters, torches, batteries, also coffee creamer/ dried milk (as fridge will be off) which lives on top of my fridge. So it is easy to find, it has glow in the dark tape on the edges.
Good idea.
I can recommend storing water in used, and cleaned, PET-bottles in the freezer. That way the water will stay fresh for a very long time. But, remember that you should only fill the bottles with 3/4 of water as frozen water will expand and can cause the bottles to break if they are to full of water.
A Trangia stove is always good to have if you are outside for any reason.
Also, keep cash available as it will not be possible to buy stuff during a power failure. There will be contact with the credit card companies and also the cash registers wont work.
Think back to how they managed to survived before we got electricty and telephones.
Makita tools... If you have Makita tools at home, they have the batteries. Given the instability of our electricity here, I switched my table lamp to Makita's. It has made a great change for me as I have no worry over if I have the light or not. I do have the pocket lamps, but this has a great light source, so it's been perfect. I also got one of those accessories which are mobile chargers - those come in different sizes, but the last few times it's been a great item to have. Most of our stuff is usb chargable, and as we keep our batteries charged at all times, having few extras is a good idea so you can charge your devices from them.
Two other useful devices are: 1. A handheld scanner that covers your local police, fire and emergency vehicle frequencies. That'll alert you to emergencies in your community. 2. Instead of a AM/FM radio, for more large scale emergencies (i.e. hurricanes) you might get one that covers the shortwave spectrum to follow state agencies and hams doing emergency traffic. All those will be using SSB, which sounds on an AM radio like Donald Duck, so make sure the radio can receive SSB. Find their frequencies by searching online for "state emergency frequencies."
I’m not a gadget guy, but this channel is kind of interesting.
New video😁 yes!
Another great one Jon. I have emergency bag ready, with half of the thing, and the other half is spreaded around the house, but I know where everything is. Lately actually I filled up a box with canned food, rice, pasta, cooking oil etc and 15 litres of water and store them in the garage, just in case of emergency. Didn't cost me much. I think everybody needs to have such a box. Great idea for a video. Lets hope we never have to use it. Take care.
I'd avoid raw uncooked rice pasta for cooking from camping fuel, they need to be boiled for 15 minutes. Couscous is throw in boiled water and left alone takes less fuel, similarly noodles, or the packets of cooked rice where you just heating up.
Everyone who's been cooking camping will know this.
The shortest outages are the most common but I work on 2 weeks maximum outage.
Folks in rural communities seem to suffer the most common and longest outages.
@@GeekfromYorkshire I agree with you. But Jon is using spirit burner. I actually have and use for camping and emergency if needed propane camping stove, also I always have 8-10 spare canisters of fuel. Thank you for the note. Cheers 👍
@@TheStoyanbahchevanov I have camping gas stove also, they burn faster, I have the type with a slot-in bot for simple efficient boiling water, or you can prop any kind of pot on. But the meths method has advantage of less harmful fumes for indoor cooking, and you can simmer which extends the type of food you can cook. I have a few gas canisters too.
As to the probability we individually would need these in an outage, it is small (more common in smaller / distant rural settings) but the chance someone close to you has a need is higher so you may end up sharing and helping more than using for oneself.
Great vid. Thanks for sharing. I think it's important to have one of these, so I think I'll need to put one together.
Good stuff - thanks for the feedback
Thanks Jon, great video and usual high production standards. I liked the budget options you included and look forward to the longer power outage video.
Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated!
Great video - how about wind up radios? 👍
No one today think about a catastrophic situation like that: no news, no light, no gas, no power supply, non water from the tap: does it feel like being at war (Ucraine is not so far...)? We hope never. Btw you perfectly hit the target of how to survive in a similar situation, to solve those problems, at least to get out of the emergency. I appreciate it, I love your channel 🙏🙏🙏
Another amazing video! I’ve had the same feeling about power outage in the UK. Perhaps another disaster can be flooding because of a storm like storm Arwen. I think it would make a great video to discuss the items the UK Red Cross or the UK government recommends. The US Red Cross and US government also have a list with interesting items on it.
Love your videos and this is a very very detailed explanation and guide to what should work for various scenarios. Thanks for taking the time to make the video and sharing your knowledge!!
Excellent advice as always .I have it all covered but I did not know about the Anker power bank ( I am still such a tech dinosaur in many ways )so thanks for that I will add it to the kit. I was so pleased to read the Gadget shop was your baby as it were it was my favourite store of all time sorry but I had not heard of Red 5. So you are trustable and cool that's a damn good start..😀.Take care my friend .
Very interesting video for some sort of home preparedness. It would be interesting too if you include the total budget price of the box, just for reference. I like yours videos very much but usually you review items that are very expensive for my economy! greetings sir! 👍🖖
thanks for the feedback - I do plan to put together some budget kits too so keep watching!
Love this video. A suggestion however. The bottle with spirits should be standing up and not horizontal. Caps are subject to leak over time. Great power out survival box otherwise.
Thanks for the feedback Victor - I did think twice about this
Good ideas, Jon. As always, well thought out. Thank you!
Hi Thomas, glad you enjoyed it!
Trangia is a major risk if you use them due to the spirits spilling. We have a stable butane stove we use for BBQ which is better suited for indoor use with an open window.
The fridge freezer should contain several cooling elements so it will extend the natural cold storage for 6-10 hours extra. Dependent on ambient temperature.
Batteries should be limited to one or two types and swapped regularly. We use AAA batteries in most and D in the one battery operated lantern (a gift from someone). Most of our gear is rechargeable, my favourite is the Luci Lux both during camping and blackouts. You can also recharge the lights and phone when using the car. I usually hang them in my schoolbus during the drive, a double point one for the phone and one for the light.
I am semi retired from the army so i drive children to and from school.
If you put the Trangia on a metal tray with enough depth/width to contain any spillage there's no danger. The room will get hot very quick and you need to open a window as it will burn up the oxygen there fast though!
There are two simple inexpensive preps you can do for under $25 today that will make navigating your home so much easier even before a blackout. Line the top edge of your baseboards with 0.25-0.5’ glow in the dark tape in your hallways to guide you. Get the plain white-ish tape so it is inconspicuous. Also stick small inconspicuous glow dots on important items or areas. They will all charge with ambient daylight. Go ahead an install toilet lights on all the toilets, the batteries in the things last for months. When visitors stay at our place they easily navigate to bathrooms and kitchen in the dark without running into things or falling down stairs. Children and tech enthusiasts enjoy the “Tron” effect!😂
Thanks for sharing these ideas 👍
Good reminder to have a kit like this! Cheers for the vid Jon!
Great video n informative too
Great info, thanks, Jon.
Glad it was helpful!
coffee and new video!!!
Quality content as always! Maybe a Gateway introduction to the world of Prepping!
Thanks John, the is a bit of overlap, may be prepping lite 😁
I would suggest swapping the radio for a baofeng UV5R, they are a two way ham radio with fm receiver, the battery’s last for ages, you can have spare batteries, can communicate with them and only cost £25
Great video as usual.
I am surprised you haven't made a Bug out bag video yet.
You totally should!
Excellent ideas here (as always). Certainly the power bank, or multiple power banks are essentials. Hopefully the transmitter mast may be working.
Our phones have become the equivalent of the multi-tool - they do everything, including entertainment. Power banks of 20,000 mAh are now good value and give several phone charges.
A power outage may be local only so if you have a generator everything will still work 👍
very true
You really do an excellent job on these kits, everything is well thought out. I just wanted to point something out that I noticed in usage. I have some flashlights, lanterns and tool work lights and have been through a couple power outages with different combinations. I prefer my Ryobi P796 compact area lights as the best option. They have a nice diffused dome that is easy to look at without being blinding and I have many 18v batteries, they can run that light for a long time. One 4ah battery will run 18 hours at 400 lumens! I also like flashlights that tail stand for room lighting if you have a white ceiling. That technique provides a more normal room lighting compared to a lantern that casts the light sideways. The Ryobi P796 pushes a lot of light to the ceiling also even though its a 360 degree design. It lights a room really well even on the 170 lumen medium mode which more than doubles the run time to 40 hours on the same 4ah battery. Work lights make excellent blackout lights since the batteries for power tools are usually large and most people have some extra tool batteries if they're on a tool platform like Ryobi or Milwaukee for example.
For water, you can look into portable water filters. There are many great filters out there like Sawyer etc. Thanks for the other tips.
Hello, Jonathan - a good and practical video - thanks! Another long-range alternative might be a power gasoline generator hooked up to the house in such a way that when the power goes, the generator starts and maintains things like the fridge and medical equipment at home for patients that need it...they come in all sizes and many can be charged using portable solar panels...
Hi Edgar - yes, I have a video coming with long power outages in mind - looking at solar and big batteries!
@@JonGadget Nice! Thanks!
Outages are so rare here, it is an issue of striking balance of spending money on prepping vs structuring what you use regularly towards an outage. I have two solar panels, the Anker 21W which is most sunny days would give around 30Wh-50Wh which is enough to keep two phones going indefinitively. As Jon says any outage longer than a few days will begin to dig deeper into comms, water, etc
The really big Lithium based powerbanks cost $$$ so given the rarity of need here I have simply gone with multiple smaller Powerbanks and I cycle through them to keep them going 3-5 years and they can be charged solar.
Nice. My kit is very sophisticated for our home.
We have Solar Array and two Tesla Powerwall battery storage with Tesla Gateway. This can island our house from the Grid completely, and all home functions as normal.
The only bit I'm missing, is SpaceX Starlink Satellite broadband for comms.
Very good video. Thanks for sharing those helpful tips. Kind regards
Always interesting and informative!
I recently came across the LORA protocol. Essentially a long range ad hoc network. There are devices such as the TTGO T-Beam that connect to your phone using Bluetooth, someone you want to communicate with would also have a T-Beam connected to their phone and you can then text message each other without the use of a carrier or any other infrastructure. They can also relay your GPS position. There are different apps that implement the LORA protocol which essentially is just data so could in theory send more than text and GPS positions.
Along the same lines as an AM/FM radio, you can get TV receivers that work with your phone such as the August DVB-T405, paired with a decent portable aerial such as the August DTA240, they work surprisingly well, or that particular one did until the app stopped working and haven’t tried it since!
Don't mention Cyber attacks...
Garden solar lights are V useful for in doors also. Just leave them in the window during the day. I use a hand cranked radio with a built in light.
Cano canned water would be great for this. It's got a two year shelf life, plus you don't need to worry about plastic leeching into it and the empty cans are extremely easy to recycle
You can also make
packages,candles,stoves,toys,cups,batteries,lanterns and many more things not just recycle them lol
Excellent Jon. Very informative. During these weird times, we'd better follow your recommendations
Russia can cut the power anytime. If they had wanted to do that they would have done it already.
If Russia is pushed enough to cut power, I think lighting will be the least of our worries.
Suggestion for you, UCO Clarus 118 Lumen LED Mini Lantern and Flashlight with Dimmer and Strobe, converts between flashlight and lantern almost instantly and it is small and powerful.
Very useful and informative video. For the radio, I can have it on my smartphone if I connect any wired earpods.
💚 All the best and continued success
Good luck,
🌸 Great video, good luck and continued success
Another tip for lighting is reusable glow sticks. ~10sec with a flashlight and some can glow for ~10hrs.
Rovyvon again for flexibility! Also, regular flashlight shined into/across a bottle of water disperse the light for ‘ambient” light.
thanks for the suggestions 👍
I have so many lights that I can make my own vegas strip.
I was looking for a usb powered lamp and ended up getting a pack of five of these off Amazon. Yizhet 5x Portable USB Nightlight Mini Pocket Card Lamp. They are small and plug directly into a USB socket including a powerbank. They are dimmable as well.
didnt watch the full video but
you want ambient light get your flashlight and point it at roof or wall you just made a good ambient light
Thought out video and well delivered.
One thing I would suggest is the type of flashlight (or rather the battery type). If you have no idea what the difference is between Li-Ion, alkaline and NiMh and have no interest in learning then you should stick with the latter two. Li-Ion cells are potentially dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. My suggestion would be NiMh cells, which are shelf stable, rechargeable, safe and affordable.
Totally agree! Energizer 2000 mAh, I messured them at 2300mAh. They already where my favorite, before mesuring them, but now, I just love them!
Thanks for the tips
Electricity suspension for hours and hours is a common thing in Pakistan, many times people have to spend whole day, whole night without electricity, but still people do not have anything like this, one of the reasons for which is Pakistan. One is the extremely limited market for such goods and the second is the lack of money, because even in the limited markets that exist, the prices of these things are beyond the reach of the common man.
SOME solar outdoor lights are good. put out during the day last the night indoors.
with saying less is best.. we have 👍👍😁
Thanks for sharing Joey
I have the marauder 2 and the x9r aswell as the m2r Pro and the small mini one. I'm good for nuclear winter lol
Good stuff, thanks
I've got an older Petzl Tikka than yours: mine has 4 LEDs!
It's been on my bedside table since I moved into this house 10 years ago, but I've never had to use it.
It occurred to me a fortnight ago that I should perhaps check it: no light and crusty AAA batteries . Batteries replaced and it's perfectly fine for use in the house.
For lights:
My suggestions: Fenix HM23 Headlamp, that runs in any kind of AA battery (from rechargable, to the Ulitmate Lithium Energizers) . Fenix E20V20 Same here but runs on 2AA, only big difference it's not a head lamp but a normal style flashlight or get a Fenix LD12 if you can still find them! Also an oil lamp like Feuerhand lamp, with a good quality oil and spare wicks.
As for batteries: Panasonic Eneloop, or my Favorites Energizer 2000mAh that are actually 2300mAh in reality, they just advertise them lower for some reason. I would pick those instead of the 2300mAh Energizers. Max and/or Max Plus Alkaline Energizers, Energizer Ultimate Lithiums, are great to have some of those for back up.
Also Wax candles tha last amny hours are also good to have around house!
In my opinion, that's the best set up, for emergencies. Properly used, are 100% safe and proper choices, not only provide decent light, but hold for days, if not weeks of dauly use. Hope the time and money I spent. to come to this, helps others too...
If no landline and phone dies. What about battery/windup you could charge with solar walkie talkie? Maybe a vid on best ones would be good.
Could you do something on radio in UK generally...? I lost the plot when Tony Blaire tinkered with the wiring...! What kind of radios work in UK now, and does anyone make them still...?
Could be an interesting video - analogue due to switch of in 2025 which will leave digital or DAB - I will miss the ease of use on a tuning dial!
I think I’m pretty prepared.. I’ve got plenty of flashlights and a bunch of batteries I keep charged. No headlights, but I have some reverse clips.. No lanterns, that’s what diffusers are for. Plus I can pretend I’m a wizard.
Great video Jon, love the way you present and the editing of your video’s. Now ordering my black out kit!
If you have starlink and a large enough battery bank I think you will be fine for comms
The best way to extend mobile phone battery life is to switch it to flight mode.
Shine a flashlight onto the ceiling, or on waxed paper or into a translucent plastic bag to get the effect of an omni-directional lamp.