Good portable emergency light?

Ah yes, you are right Dave, <digs out my lamp> it goes with my 'Coleman Duel Fuel Lamp'. <doh> ;-)

And that would all make sense (why I didn't remember having the little meths container and pre lighter thing).

Agreed.

I'll fire my lamp up when I get a moment, just to make sure it's still ok etc. I note one of the mantels [1] is damaged but is still on one piece as such.

Cheers, T i m

Tilley and Coleman lamps tend to give about the same illumination Coleman?s are easier to light had both over the years. Neither are ideal for an elderly person- pumping, fire risk. I?d recommend one or more of the LED wand lights aimed at mechanics which are rechargeable via USB. Good light you can leave on charge until needed attach to a tin box via the magnet in the base to make a table light etc. Several hours off one charge.

Same as a Primus stove. Heat the burner by burning meths, then when yiou start to pump the paraffin vaporises and lights.

A lead-acid battery, as delivered dry. Just add acid!

Bill

If the vapour doesn't light, run away in case it suddenly does!

Bill

It would be far superior to that!

Bill

Yes, you turn the body at the front and it goes from a very bright spot (I can illuminate a cat, fox, owl, or rabbit brightly at 100 yards on my nightly nocturnal walks) to a wide but even beam. I normally use it on the minimum brightness setting as I walk because otherwise it's just too bright when walking through pitch dark fields. The only thing I don't like about it is that the rear red light doesn't flash. I've had many of the sub-£20 caplamps and this is just so much better. At first I thought £50 was a bit of a rip but after using the thing for a year I realise the quality. Incidentally, in my youth I used to install TV aerials in the winter evenings, after my day job (school teacher), and my first cap lamps had ex-NCB lead-acid batteries and headsets. Dreadful things. I eventually progressed to home made caplamps using nicads and 6V prefocus bulbs.

Bill

I think they're better with larger lead-acid than small batteries.

I used to use UPSes to reduce problems with banks of sky boxes at 'critical' head ends (those serving systems where the reaction of the residents to a failure of sky reception might be to murder each other). The UPSes were fairly up market, (cost being no object in view of the murdering each other issue) and I didn't have much trouble with battery failures. That could be because the UPSes tended to be replaced every few years anyway.

Bill

energy?

Some hazy memory that they can be delivered dry and just add water but as sulphuric acid is a liquid that could well be wrong.

You'd have to construct the plates of lead dioxide and lead for the addition of the acid (of the right concentration) to produce a charged battery. That shouldn't a be a problem though.

That's good, I don't go lamping though. B-) Nor can I justify £50 for it.

I find truely pitch dark doesn't happen all that often, there's nearly always some moon and/or starlight. Enough to avoid walking into things. I find I need illumination more when in town between the sparse streetlights than out on the fields, the street lights ruin your night vision.

Indeed.And its possible to move in complete darkness as well. As any blind person can tell you. Echoes of your own breathing bounce off nearby hard objects, and by lifting your feet way up to avoid tripping on low stuff, you can even run reasonably well.

quite right brian you like colman stuff don't you .....

;-)

Cheers, T i m

On what grounds though?

Is it lighter?

Is it instantly adjustable between any head size and anything else you wanted to fit it to?

Does it take dry cells?

Is it cheaper?

How well would it fit if Mum had her hair in a bun?

Could she carry hers in a small pocket in case of a power cut?

Cheers, T i m

I believe that's how they do make them in any case Dave, for 'wet' batteries in any case, if my memories of going round the Chloride factory don't fail me.

The plate grids are packed with one of two lead pastes, baked(?) and then formed up into a dry battery. Sulphuric acid of the right SG can then be added at any time after and the battery 'activated'.

Up until quite recently, most of the motorcycle batteries I've bought came as a 'kit' with 6 files of acid in a module that you simply invert over the dry battery, allow it to fill, settle, then it's ready to go, although they generally recommend a bench charge if you can.

Cheers, T i m

I like this type of thing

Aldi/Lidl have them periodically, I think I got mine when SF had them on sale, around £15 iirc. I have had it for several years.

The Natural Philosopher formulated on Monday :

Only until you meet a deep and unseen in the dark, large drop.

Similar to the one I bought from Lidl some times ago. And very useful. Only thing I wish was the charger was built in, rather than being a wall wart. Perhaps with an IEC mains lead.

Not many of those around and even those you sort of can sense by the sound of the echoes.

Or even subtle temperature or wind changes...

Try it sometime...we are not as 'blind' as we think we are.