Monday again… I hope everyone had a Great Holiday, giving lots of Thanks! The Prepper family had a good trip to visit family in Central Oregon and got spend a night at the BOL too!

 

   The BOL is well into the wet season and the associated mud issues… Even with the addition of many loads of rock, the driveway is still on the soft side. I guess we’ll just have to wait out the needed TIME to allow all the settling to take place. I say “I guess”, since I’m growing weary of dumping load after load on only to see it get pushed deeper into the ground? I have good access and as long as I’m careful I don’t tear anything up to bad but it would be nice to not have to fill ruts next spring…

 

   We normally see lots of deer on any given trip but this last weekend there seemed to be an abundance. Not that this local herd wouldn’t be easily wiped out if the SHTF, it is comforting to know they’re there now. I saw some real nice bucks this year on our property and the surrounding land! I’m currently not a hunter but still in my wanna-be stage. I have the gear and requisite shooting skills but no hands-on experience. I hope to fix this in the near future.

 

   Alright, enough of the small talk… I was going to bring up the subject of the back up lighting in today’s post…

 

 

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   I would guess that many if not all of us have the standard camping lantern in the garage. Probably even a couple of flashlights scattered throughout the house and cars too. Is this the extent of our plan for backup lighting? It might be alright but I suggest giving this a few minutes thought. We’re coming into the winter months and its better to have thought these things over sooner than later!

 

   I have a project coming up, probably next spring, to add 12 volt lighting in the BOL. This will be a long term solution to an everyday need. I have a couple of solar panels now that aren’t being utilized very well and I’m going to get those setup to start producing for me.

 

   What I wanted to discuss today was the options we might want for that shorter term power outage type of situation. Any of the solutions I will propose could work long term but I don’t think they are best suited for that use!

 

   As you see in the photos, I have a few examples of the items I suggest. You also will notice that I have been neglecting these tools the last couple of years. I did some clean up on them to have them better prepared for the coming winter but like a moron, I took the pictures before I cleaned them up rather than after… I wonder about me sometimes too! These have been stored in and around my previous BOL. The place isn’t used a lot now by its current owner, a good friend of mine, I just hadn’t made it a priority to get these items brought up to snuff…

 

   All of these lights today, are of the Kerosene fueled variety. They would also work with the more expensive paraffin lamp oil. I stock kerosene as this is a more economical choice and I need it for our back up heaters too. As a side note, I suggest shopping around before making a kerosene fuel purchase, prices very greatly in my experience. There is a range of possibilities in these lamps, lets take a look at a few…

 

   First are the Dietz brand lanterns, these are the old fashion looking ones. They’re a good choice but be sure to get actual American made - DIETZ brand. There are an abundance of CHINA knockoffs that are of poor quality and will leak almost 100% of the time from the tank seams. I like the looks of these lamps in particular, which of course is not that important. They’ve served me well on several occasions that I’ve used them for an extended period of time. The brightness isn’t anything to write home about but they are sturdy and will produce a nice calming steady light source inside or out.

 

 

    Second, are the “Plain Jane”, glass oil lamps. I also use Kerosene in these, it burns a bit dirtier but the recommended paraffin lamp oil is to pricey. I do have some in my stocks but I can’t imagine what I was thinking when I bought it. I checked the price on this at the local grocery/department chain and it was over $21 a gallon yesterday. These lamps run somewhere around $10 dollars a piece and are fairly attractive for sitting on a kitchen counter or even a dining room table.

 

   When burning kerosene it goes without saying that care must be taken when filling the thing as it isn’t a pleasant smell you want soaking into your wife’s table cloth. Just like with a kerosene heater, it can be a good rule of thumb to light and extinguish these lamps outside to minimize the odors.

 

   The third possibility are the Aladdin Brand lamps. These are quite the product! Some offerings are quite decorative, almost to decorative. They come in many variations from Victorian style hanging chandeliers to more humble wall mounted cabin style lamps. These have a proprietary mantle that is required versus the standard woven cotton wick that is used with the other two lamps. This special mantle is what creates the super bright light that is characteristic to the Aladdin line of lamps. 

 

 

  Over 10 years ago I purchased a low end, aluminum tank model. This was still over $100 dollars at that time but I had heard many good things about these lamps and wanted to see for myself. I was impressed with what I received, a beautiful lamp that put out the equivalent of a 60 watt electric light bulb. No false advertising on their part!

 

  I like these lamps and would consider them well worth their price! However, it takes a little fine tuning of your technique to get their operation correct. It isn’t that they’re hard to operate but if you’re not careful they’ll get overheated and I cracked one glass chimney before I realized what I was doing wrong. Also, these special and very delicate mantles do break easily. Both of these two parts are something that a prudent prepper should have spares for and in abundance!

 

   I’m like most everyone else and love the gadgets… I feel pretty well covered with my battery operated light sources! However, as I get older and see where I’ve been shortsighted in the past, I want to go back and recover some old ground. I have these lamps already but if I didn’t I would purchase a few to have on hand… Batteries will eventually run out or a situation could arise at the worst possible moment… Say when the battery supply was JUST ABOUT to be restocked… Sound familiar? I guarantee very little but I will guarantee you this – Unfortunate circumstances WILL COME and at the worst of possible times! Mark my words, add redundancy now when it’s easy – it is only money!

 

   I can hear my hecklers already, “Light sources - how boring”, why doesn’t he talk about the latest M-FORGERY accessory, all the cool kids just bought… That’s alright, call me old fashion but I like to have options. As with just about everything I discuss with all of you, this is just the stuff I have running through my head. I want to always be encouraging my brothers to do their fine tuning now while its convenient. If you have this area covered than don’t give it a second thought… If you don’t, well you know what to do! Get out there and DO SOMETHING!

 

See ya tomorrow!

 

Prepper