Lighting

Charles W. Bryant,

lighting

Many might leave "light" out of their top 10 tools list, but darkness can render all the other tools useless (yes, even fire, if you need light in a hurry and there's no easy fuel around). Most of us don't have the courage or skill to give up most of our vision for long spells of darkness and, besides, it's always a plus to have a mobile light source if you need to venture out into the night. But there's no reason to carry around a big conventional flashlight; the batteries weigh too much and don't hold out very long, largely because even small incandescent bulbs waste too much energy as heat. Now you can have dependable, portable light by taking advantage of high-efficiency LED lights that provide nearly equivalent illumination for much longer stretches with lighter batteries -- or even forget about batteries altogether with the latest hand-crank lights that never need any power but elbow grease. One of the coolest new survival light sources combine the electroluminescent (EL) technology used in chem-lights with super-efficient energy consumption and control. These lights can double as both a focused utility light source and an emergency locator flare. (See Krill lights, http://www.equipped.com/krill.htm)