National Preparedness Month Is Here

September is National Preparedness Month – if you’re reading this it’s probably because you’re someone who doesn’t want to be caught with your pants down when SHTF.  September is the perfect time to get ready for hurricane season as well as other devastating natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes.

So what are we looking for here? At Battery Junction, our primary concern is with managing power outages. When your power goes out, you have no idea how long it could be for, and it’s in your best interests to assume the worst. Even if you have a generator of some kind, you’ll want to save that for the absolute essentials, and let your lanterns and flashlights do the rest for you.

Batteries:

Make sure you’re stocked up on batteries – If you’re like me, you’re a rechargeable guy. I have my 18650’s and eneloops for my day to day life. It’s important to keep in the habit of keeping them all charged up and good to go. But obviously in a disaster situation you’ll want to make sure you have enough single use batteries. Make sure you have some CR123A’s for your high end LED flashlights, C and D cell batteries for lanterns, and plenty of AA and AAA batteries (as the most common battery you’ll probably need a lot of them – even for devices that you might not have thought of).

Flashlights:

You’ll want to have a high end LED flashlight for yourself – there are lots of great options, but I would recommend the new Nitecore P10. It’s compact, sturdy as a rock (A rock made of aero-grade aluminum alloy), and can be used in self defense situations. Of course, it’s also extremely bright, with an 800 lumen beam and 193 meters of throw for long distance searching.

Make sure to have another powerful LED light for the family. The Sunwayman F40A is super bright at 880 lumens and conveniently runs on AA batteries. Best of all, the F40A has back up Red and Blue LED’s to preserve night vision.

Lanterns are invaluable in power outages for their area lighting abilities. A few good lanterns can bring a sense of normalcy in a time of distress, and can make recovering from a disaster as painless as possible. The Rayovac Sportman has been one of our most trusted and popular LED lanterns on the market, you can’t go wrong with this guy.

Planning:

Lastly, remember that in a disaster situation, nothing can bring calm and speedy recovery more than a solid plan. Sit down with your family and make sure everyone understands your safety procedure and their role within it. Come up with escape routes from your home in case of a fire or evacuation, and rendezvous procedures in case you’re separated.