Emergency Light Source With Kilty Luma Twist

In this electric world where we rely so much on electricity to provide light sources at night, you need to be prepared for times when there is none. When the power does go out, having a decent light to use is key to trying to continue doing activities. While candles are OK for providing general light for moving around, they flicker and do not provide consistent light. And when there is a disaster, such as the recent tornado in Oklahoma, you will need lights at night. We have found one that seems to meet more then the general needs of providing light and has the ability to direct the light in 2 different directions. The Kilty Luma Twist may be well worth considering as your source for light in a power outage.

The Kilty Luma Twist has 2 separate LED panels which fold out for use. Each one can turn 360 degrees and be angled in various directions. And they operate independently of each other. So you can point each light panel at a different person so that two people can be reading or doing other activities during the power outage. This is something which one can deem as being a very unique light.

The two light panels on the Kilty Luma Twist which operate independently is great. And you can only have a single LED panel turned on if that is all that you need. This is powered by 4 D batteries and with everything else in this world which requires standard batteries, you have to supply your own. But the good news is that the life on the batteries is very good. When the lights are powered on high strength, the batteries should last 42 hours. When they are at low strength, they will last 105 hours. For camping or an emergency, that should provide for an extended period of having light.

The Kelty Luma Twist is 6 inches in height and 4 inches square making it easy to store and find unlike the round flashlights that we are so often trying to find. One of the places you can pick up the Kilty Luma Twist is at Back Country Edge and we are providing a video from the site showing how the Twist works. This looks like a very interesting light.

Emergency Power From Goal Zero Yeti 150

When the lights go out at home, we reach for the flashlights and then look for the candles which are buried for just this situation. But, when the power outage runs longer than a few hours, it is time to try and get back to some sort of normalcy by using technology to see what is going on. We need a power source to keep using that technology. And, if you have been in a disaster as was experienced this past week, you may be on your own for a while. You need to have something that you can rely on to charge up devices and even provide you with some light during that time. There are a variety of ways to get that and a recently released one is the Goal Zero Yeti 150.

The Goal Zero Yeti 150 was announced last January at CES and while the site is showing it as not available, we were able to locate it over at Amazon. At a price of $199.99 is is much cheaper and smaller than the larger Yeti 1250 which is over $1,000 and weighs 103 pounds. At that weight, you need two people to carry it or wheels to be able to move it around. The Yeti 150 weighs 12 pounds making it a much better choice for an emergency or even taking with you camping. And as you would expect, the life between charges is going to be less.

The Yeti 150 is a little larger than a car battery and contains a 150Wh battery to meet your needs. It measures 7.8 by 6.8 by 5.8 inches making it a compact enough for transporting. And with the low weight, just about anyone can carry it. With this smaller weight, you are not going to be able to connect up a large number of items. But, you can run your laptop on this for about a week. There is USB connection for charging up your tablet or smartphone. And while using your laptop, you can plug in a light to see what you are doing. The more things you plug in, the faster the battery will drain.

Goal Zero wants to pair the Yeti 150 with their Nomad 13 Solar Panel ($159.99). And with the Solar Panel attached, it can completely charge up a drained Yeti 150 in 15 hours. For the size of the battery, that sounds very impressive. To charge up the battery when plugged into a wall outlet will take 4 hours.

In a disaster situation, the Goal Zero Yeti 150 and Nomad 13 Solar Panel will provide you with power until power begins to return to your location. In the mean time, you can use the Yeti 150 to communicate with the outside world because you do not have to worry about charging up your devices.

The Goal Zero Yeti 150 is available at Amazon for $199.99 and free shipping right now. And you can pick up the Nomad 13 Solar Panel at Amazon for $135.61.

Is The SpareOne Phone The Best One In A Disaster?

With the recent tornado in Oklahoma, it brings to mind the need for being prepared. And one of the very specific needs is communication. Whether it be for emergency communications or connecting with family, you have to have a phone as part of your emergency plans. Without one, you are going to be isolated and will have to rely on others to communicate with the outside world. You could rely on your own cell phone, but that probably has a low battery from being used. The SpareOne emergency phone is becoming very popular after it was released this year.

The SpareOne emergency phone meets many needs you may have in a disaster. It runs on a single AA battery which so many of us have on hand and with a price of $100 is worth your consideration. What makes this different is the convenience it brings. With the AA battery, they are saying that it can sit for up to 15 years with the included battery and maintain the charge. That may be overstated, but even at 5 years, that makes this a good idea. They have included a water proof bag to hold it in. And given the current disasters with rain getting everything wet, this makes it ready as part of your disaster kit.

The SpareOne works out of the box to call 911. But that is where it stops. If you want to use it to make regular phone calls, you are going to have to add a GSM capable sim card. For those of us on Verizon, you will have to purchase one as your sim will not work. There have been some suggestions to purchase a GoPhone and use that sim card. That could work, but adds to the expense. You might be better off purchasing a phone where you just add minutes to it for a base price instead of the SpareOne. Then you only have to make sure that there are enough minutes on it when an emergency happens.

The other feature for the SpareOne is a feature that will respond to someone sending you a text message. It will reply to them automatically saying that cannot receive text messages. This is because there is no screen with the SpareOne to conserve battery life. In today's world of Social Media, the lack of an interface to text message is a huge draw back. I doubt there are few countries around the world where text messages is not a concern in an emergency. This single lacking may be the deciding factor for many as phones have long since moved beyond being used for voice and now have a larger usage for communicating via data with texting and interfaces to the web with apps.

Take a look at the SpareOne and decide for yourself as to whether it meets your needs. Or you might be better off getting something like the Eton FRX3 which can charge up your phone. If comes with a solar panel or a hand crank to keep its internal battery charged up.

Eton FRX3 - Emergency Power To Charge Up Your Mobile Devices

The events in Oklahoma yesterday should cause everyone to start thinking about what we might do in the event of an emergency because of a disaster such as this. It does not matter whether it is a hurricane, tornado or earthquake. The resulting damage and impact has far reaching effects. The first and most obvious needs are going to be food and shelter, so you need to have plans or at least an idea of what you are going to do. If you only have an idea, now is the time to put together your plan. As part of those plans, the Eton FRX3 is the one item that you need to have as part of your emergency kit. It can provide you with a number of different benefits in an emergency.

The Eton FRX3 is associated with the American Red Cross. While the Eton may not look like much, it is a multifunctional unit which will meet a number of your needs in an emergency. The big item from a technology perspective is that it can charge up your mobile devices. Your ability to communicate with friends and family is extremely important to let everyone know that you are safe. The Eton FRX3 contains a battery which can provide power to charge via the USB port. And when that runs down, you can charge it up via a car cigarette lighter. Or you can use the included Solar Panel or use the hand crank to add juice to the included battery. This will give you the ability to communicate over the web until power is restored. And that might be several days.

As in so many past disasters, phone service is disrupted for days. And that includes the cell towers as well, so with communications down, you need to have some way of hearing what is going on in the world. The Eton FRX3 includes a radio which can let you listen to AM or FM stations along with the national weather as well. A very important feature when you do not know what is going on and when services might be restored.

It is not that big of a device at 2.6 high by 6.9 long and 5.8 inches wide. And is less than 1 pound. There is an included LED light which will come in handy when there is no power. All of this in a compact package to give you some of the conveniences of life when things go wrong. And it gives you the big feature of being able to keep your smart phone working when there is no power for an extended period of time.

The ETon FRX3 is available at Amazon for $56.06. You should considering buying this for the next disaster which may happen.