Last year we had a power outage of several hours, due to a fire on a nearby mountain. I decided to drive to a store that still had power and look for a lantern. Lo and behold, what I found turned out to be one of the best emergency preparedness items we now have in our inventory: A great emergency lantern! OK, maybe that doesn't sound too exciting, but stick with me here.
This lantern has multiple ways to be powered: You can plug it into a regular outlet, plug it into your car, you can put in 3 AAA batteries, or you can charge the internal battery with the hand crank.
What do you get out of it? You can get a nice amount of light off the 20 LEDs, and that light is somewhat adjustable with a dimmer built into the switch. It can also flash a red light to signal for help. It has a built-in AM/FM radio and antenna, and even allows you to use the internal battery (and the crank) to power or charge devices like your cell phone or other small DC devices. All you have to do is buy an inexpensive set of DC conversion jacks somewhere like Radio Shack, and then make sure you have whatever your device requires for charging, and you're set. It has a nice handle, with a hook to easily get it up high where it can brighten a large area.
For less than $40 to get a new one, it is a great item for your emergency kit, or even for camping. It is the Garrity 20 LED Rechargeable Crank Lantern, but there are several companies that make similar ones. I'd give it an 8 on a 1-to-10 scale (which is really high for me) and would highly recommend it to anyone.
