It's that time of year again. It's dark when I get up and feed the chickens and it normally getting dark when I go out and close them in for the night. Time to change the batteries in the torches and make sure they're all working again.
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| As soon as I got the batteries out Ev brought up her toy little camera for me to put new batteries in. I thought she's forgotten about it - the blinking thing is so loud! "IT'S PICTURE TIME!" it shouts at me about 75 times a day! |
I've been buying mine in "bulk" off eBay 50 at a time. It works out much cheaper, they have a long expiration date (2020) and it's nice to know we've got some spares if the power goes off for any length of time.
My wife does tease me when parcels turn up at the moment though "What's this now? 50 boxes of matches?"
As for the torches I've got four reasonably good ones: two head torches, one largish torch and a small one that's easy to slip in your pocket, none are rechargeable as I find when you really need they they are nearly always flat! I had a good gun lamp but that needs a new rechargeable battery before I can use it again and as it's so large it's quite expensive so I haven't got around to it yet.
What does everyone else do when it comes to torches and batteries?
How many do you keep about the house?
I have a small torch in every room. we live in a rural area so black outs can happen. who wants to be caught in the bathroom with no light.
ReplyDeleteI keep our solar light in the bathroom for middle of the night visits. It has the added bonus of not being too bright and waking me up 100% ;)
DeleteI had a solar light in the shed which was pretty good. none in the house though, maybe I should look into that.
DeleteI always have my mobile phone on me, that has a torch on it so I can see if it goes out when I'm caught short!
ReplyDeletehave you seen this one about the flashlight app for your smart phone Kev?
Deletehttp://youtu.be/Q8xz8xKEFvU
No but I just watched it and I might be deleting it and slipping a torch in my pocket.
DeleteHave you thought of ordering and using rechargables? Recharging takes roughly 1.5 - 2 hours ;)
ReplyDeleteP.S. They have rechargable batteries in all sorts of shapes and sizes now - and they're even available in this country LOL
DeleteI haven't as I'm terrible at loosing things, also I'd need power to charge them and I bet they'd be flat by the time I wanted them. Maybe if I got a solar charger for it.
DeleteWe have 5 torches and 7 candles ready to be lit. We also have a paraffin storm lamp if we go outside to the cattle when the electricity goes off during the gales.
ReplyDeleteWe've a bag of candles for power cuts. Something lovely about candle light and monopoly coming out in a pwoercut
DeleteWe have a torch in every room. We are off grid and generate our own electricity with a pelton turbine. Oddly enough we have less blackouts than our on grid neighbours across the valley. We're in the middle of nowhere in mid Wales. We also have 5 paraffin lamps and about 30 litres of paraffin on hand. Our heating is wood fired and some electric. The turbine generates a lot of power, being Wales we never run out of water!
ReplyDeleteWe have an auto closer on the chicken run which closes 15 mins after sunset. I check every night though but often use a pair of NVR goggles to see if mr fox and mr polecat are sniffing around. Mr Polecat gets a warning shot, Mr Fox gets a terminal one. Unfortunately we are inundated with them. We also have a family of hedgehogs who troop across the garden every night. When I can I leave food out for them though.
I'm lucky with my wife she likes me to order in bulk.
Your place sounds amazing - shame you haven't got a blog! The night vision goggle sound like they could be good fun - great for lamping without the lamp! I bet it makes it easier to get a bag of bunnies!
DeleteYes Ro, you should have a blog; we'd all like to hear about these things.
DeleteWe have just bought 32 from 7dayshop.com. lol all the remotes have been done and our head torches.
ReplyDeleteThese were from eBay and about £11 for 50 AAA
DeleteAs I'm a paranoid freak we have torches in every room and two wind up lamps besides the head torches, candles, emergency back up lighting which lasts for two hours..... I did say I was a paranoid freak didn't I lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me to check the batteries though xx
You sound like you are much better prepared than me! Our house isn't very big so it doesn't take much to find a torch.
DeleteLots of torches here, oil lamps at the ready as well as candles, in my beside table I have a wind up torch, I like the wind up as it dosent need batteries and gives off a great light.
ReplyDeleteI'd always worry I'd burn the place down with an oil lamp. We've a couple of wind up torches from when we used to do a lot of camping.
DeleteWe have torches somewhere but I know not where, so you have given me a timely reminder to get them found!
ReplyDeleteYou have to have a torch to hand!
DeleteI have a huge collection of rechargeable batteries for everything. I then rotate them around and charge the used ones off my solar panels. The solar setup I have in my shop is specifically dedicated to battery operated devices and tools.
ReplyDeleteThe wife especially loves my setup. She just hands me a battery and I go get her a fully charged one. She is notorious for never having batteries she needs anyway so this way they are totally off her plate.
I've not bothered with rechargeable but maybe I will in the future. At the moment it's the cheapest way to make sure we can see in the dark!
DeleteWe call "torches" flashlights. I keep a bunch of them in the store room in the main house. I watch the Sportsmans Guide catalogs and buy them on sale. For instance, I got six of the NATO L shaped flashlights we used in the Marines for a good price. They're all down in the storeroom against the day I need them. Power failures are very common here, so I have smaller lights hanging all over the house, by the shower for instance, so a power failure doesn't cause me much trouble. Batteries I buy at Walmart. I get the Duracell batteries with 10 year shelf lives. I have a lot of equipment that runs primarily on grid power, but I need batteries for all of it in case the grid goes for a long period of time.
ReplyDeleteI have looked into solar rechargeable battery systems, and that's something I need to quit being nonchalant about and get going on. It makes more sense than just storing the batteries and then throwing them away when they run out.
I could do with buying a few more "flashlights" for having around the house and in the car and van. i go for LED ones now as the batteries seem to last a lot longer and the range is so much more on them. Good head lamps are the best as it leaves your hands free.
DeleteI have two wind-ups....I shall buy two more today, thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDelete