Emergency lighting presents an interesting dilemma.  You need a light that is bright enough to actually be usable, has a long run time, can act as a signal, and has a LONG shelf life.

In today’s world of available lighting, head lamps seem to make the best work lights. They provide light were you are looking and allow you to have both hands free.  Hand lamps work but you seem to end up holding them in your mouth half the time.

Bulb technology has also made large advances in the last few years due to the introduction of high intensity light emitting diodes (LEDs). Today LEDs provide the same light as good incandescent bulbs but with far less power draw. The LED allows lamps that are the same size as incandescent ones to have the same brightness with much longer run time. The greatest advantage of LED lamps is that they can be much more compact and still provide very usable work light. LEDs normally last for over 100,000 hours of use so you don’t have to worry about the bulb burning out.

Both LEDs and Incandescent lamps can act as a signal. The advantage of LED lamps is many have an electronic control circuit. The circuit provides voltage regulation to control how bright the lamp is and in many cases will provide an emergency strobe function. While the LED is not super bright the clear white light can be seen from a long distance away. In the outback when a strobe light is seen in an odd location at night it warrants investigation.

For an emergency pack, shelf life is very important for any battery powered device. Of all battery technologies, Lithium cells provide by far the best shelf life. Expect at least 10 years or more for a lithium cell and less than 7 for standard alkaline batteries. Be sure not to mistake Lithium cells for Lithium Ion rechargeables.  There are a number of lithium cell sizes. One of the most standard used for lamps is the CR123A 3Volt cell. There are also some smaller lamps that use 3.6 volt Lithium coin sized batteries.

I also like to look at the weight of the lamp as well when making a choice.

Listed here are a few options and the light that I chose for my kit:

Pelican makes 3 or 4 LED lamps that use CR123 Lithium cells. The PM6 3330 has a run time of 40 hours and looks to be a bight lamp. The lamp utilizes a push button switch that can either be momentary or click on.

 

 

Sure fire offers the same type of lamp in the G2 LED Flashlight.

 

The light that I use is designed by Petzl for emergency use.  The Petzl® e+LITE is a very compact lamp that uses three LEDs + 1 red and CR2032 Lithium batteries.  The switch allows you to select High, Low, Red or flashing. The light will run for 35 hours on high and 45 hours on low. The red LED is great for situations where your night vision needs to be maintained.  The lamp comes in a case that can be put on a pack strap so the light is easy to access. The e+LITE is also waterproof to one meter so using it in the rain should not present a problem. The lamp weighs in a less than 1 ounce with batteries install. Add an extra set of batteries in your first aid kit and you have almost 100 hours of light. Best of all the lamp costs about $25.00.