Best Lighting Options to Have When Power Goes Out

Having several emergency lighting choices is not only smart, but crucial especially stuck in complete darkness in unfamiliar territory. We all need light to navigate our away in terrain, or just having the security knowing you will never be stuck in the dark.

Light gives us the choice to be mobile and active, traveling without light can be very dangerous and the best option in that situation is to stay put. Having a wide range of lighting options at your disposal is the best decision, if you don’t have a backup generator for the home than consider these lighting choices to stock up on and put a few of these in a bug-out-bag incase you need to flee all of a sudden.

Solar Charger and Flashlight

Having a portable solar charger as an emergency lighting source is like having unlimited renewable electricity in the palm of your hands. Suntacticscarries the most powerful portable solar panels that weigh less than a pound and can easily fit inside a coat pocket, purse, or bug-out-bag, they are no thicker than an inch so they can travel with you just about anywhere to charge any USB device.

I found many LED Flashlights that use a USB connection so that they can be used in conjunction with Suntactics portable solar chargers, the most popular highest-rated brands are; LED Lenser and INOVA, they can range anywhere from $60-$100, but they are the most reliable long-lasting options for emergency lighting. Another USB Flashlight option is a headlamp from Black Diamond, sometimes it’s best to have your hands free while working in the dark.

Portable solar power provides you the option of not having to carry heavy batteries that will weigh you down during travels, Suntactics solar chargers are also water proof and extremely durable, perfect for out in the wilderness.

Candles

While wax is a good fire-starter for taking along a trip, candles are best for home use. The cheapest and most efficient candles are the ones you make yourself. Beeswax is the highest quality wax available, but you can use cheap soy wax flakes to start making candles.

You would need: Soy Wax Flakes (the most affordable wax), which can be bought on Amazon for $8 for 10 pounds. Mason jars, can be found anywhere (sometimes for free). Wicks and Tabs can be found on Amazon, eBay or craft stores for about 100 each for less than $10.

Making the candles; There is really nothing to making candles, it’s all about preparation and setting up the jars and wicks before heating up the wax. Set up the mason jars, attach the tabs to the wicks and stand them up inside the jars (make sure the wicks are taller than the jars).

Next pour the wax flakes in a large pan, put the heat on low and let the wax melt and once completely melted you are ready to pour in the jars, that’s it! You can make over 100 large candles that will last 50-70+ hours if you use a 24oz glass mason jars for only a few bucks.

Torches

Humans have been using torches for thousands of years prior to the invention of the light bulb and oil lanterns, pine knot torches are the most long lasting and preferred torches that will last for hours at night. Although candles and oil lamps are the better option, some might not have a choice to make a torch for lighting. Without a flashlight, a lantern or a torch would be the best option when walking in complete darkness.

Making a Pine Knot Torch: You would first obviously need a thick pine branch, pine is thick and has natural oils in them so it’s the perfect torch solution. You would also need either a hatchet, knife or saw to cut into the branch, and of course a way to light the torch.

First off, you would need  a thick pine branch about the length of your forearm, preferably just as thick as well. The top must be flat, a hatchet, saw or knife would do to flatten out the top. Next you would need a sharp tool to cut vertical slits into the wood, sort of like a 4 sliced-pizza and should be 4-5 inches deep. (see bottom image on left)

Next, stuff some flammable material inside the slits and on top of the torch and ignite, the torch should last a few hours depending on thickness and other factors.

Lanterns

This is the best option when you don’t have flashlights or wax, oil burns much slower than wax and lanterns can light up a whole room making them the most efficient fire option available. The most preferred lantern is the Hurricane Lantern, it is capable of magnifying light, incredibly sturdy (sometimes made out of iron), and just makes it easier to carry since they have a guard so you won’t burn yourself and it prevents winds from blowing out the flame.

But there is also a danger in having a lantern around, if it’s knocked over or broken it can start an unstoppable fire in just a few seconds. It’s best to have a fire extinguisher around when using a lantern just incase, it’s also wise to never leave a lantern on when unattended! Also make sure kids are safe and not near the lantern, and keep the lantern on a sturdy base!

There you have it, these are the best options to have incase you need emergency lighting, we are fortunate to live in the age of solar power if we can’t rely on our modern electrical grid, gas and solar generators are the only reliable options we have, yet, we can always rely on fire to light up our lives.