ENERGY

Technolithic Recommends:

Since there's an almost complete overlap in equipment, this is one instance where combining STAYING PUT and EVACUATION makes sense. All of the following products can be used just about anywhere, although I admit that carrying the heavier solar power units for an extended period may not be much fun. I also have to qualify what I just said above about liquid fuels. Although I would never depend on it as a sole fuel source, I like ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) because it has the quick, dependable light of other liquid fuels, but without the toxicity and fumes. It may not burn with the brightness or heat output of petroleum fuels, but ethanol can be mixed with water to stretch fuel stores. And besides, after the curtain falls, I'm sure there'll be plenty of moonshine stills popping up in the neighborhood where I can replenish my stocks. I've already got some leads!

First Essentials, or make sure you have the following on hand:

1) An emergency, hand-crank powered radio with built-in flashlight, siren and cell phone charger. I have the Eton FR250 version endorsed by the American Red Cross, but there are other similar models available, especially several made by Grundig. These versatile, inexpensive devices are often included in prepackaged emergency kits, but check your kit to make sure one is included.
2) Wind-up LED flashlights with hand-crank power that provides about an hour of light with 60 seconds of winding. Numerous versions are available, but check out my favorite, the three-bulb LED Illuminator.

While were on hand-crank power, there's also an excellent hand-crank table lantern made by Freeplay. As with all new technologies, there are many cheap, poor performers out there, especially with wind-up devices. Typically it's because there's too much cranking and not enough light. Well that's not a problem with Freeplay's Indigo lanterns -- they have the same crank efficiency as the best wind-up flashlights!

By the way, Freeplay, a UK company with a strong humanitarian bent, also makes a superb heavy-duty crank-powered portable energy source, the FreeCharge Weza. The only reason I don't own one is a rumor that if other recharge sources are unavailable, it requires at least five hours of foot pumping to get the Weza's battery up to a full charge. A full charge is not necessary for jobs like jump-starting a car, but I'd prefer not to have to work so hard if I needed it to run an appliance. On the other hand, if I were living in some perpetually overcast place like Seattle, crank-power might be better than waiting for the sun to stay out. In any case, I'm not casting stones so I still encourage you to find out more about the Freeplay product line.

Next up: create your own portable "mini-grid" with the latest in solar power.

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