Gaye Levy
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Next up the in the current Backdoor Survival Book Festival is a Q & A with Ron Brown, the author of The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight. As always, there is also a giveaway; this time for three lucky readers!
I first became acquainted with Ron when he asked if I would take a look at his book on CD, Lanterns, Lamps & Candles. I did and I was impressed. After reviewing the book on CD, I encouraged Ron to move it over to an eBook format. Well, as things would happen, that is still a work in progress but over time, Ron helped with a few articles here on Backdoor Survival and we became friends.
When he asked if I would be interested on a 2000 flashlight, I jumped on it.
The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight is the result of research Ron did to make a longer lasting flashlight out of a standard, off-the-shelf lantern-style flashlight. He recruited me to do some testing as well as some proofing of his soon to become e-book and I in turn, recruited Shelly – who is also known as the Survival Husband around here – to test out the mechanical side of things.
Long story short, Flashlights, as Ron and I call it, is currently available on Amazon and is a huge success.
Enjoy my chat with Ron and be sure to check out the details of this week’s giveaway below.
A Chat With Ron Brown
Ron, what was your motivation to build the 2000 flashlight?
Well, one thing leads to another I suppose. In 2003 there was a major power outage in the Northeast. It inspired me to research and write Lanterns, Lamps & Candles, a 70,000-word guide to non-electric lighting. That exercise took several years because I didn’t just copy what other people said or what manufacturers claimed. I actually experimented and compared lamps and recorded the results in a spreadsheet. I did my homework.
As a sequel to Lanterns, I planned a book on electric lighting (evaluating home generators, solar panels, etc.). I began with a chapter on flashlights. And very soon tripped across the notion of adding a resistor to a flashlight circuit. Doing so cuts light output slightly but increases battery life dramatically. After some experimentation, I realized that, “This is just too good to wait. I gotta tell people about it NOW.”
What is up next on your book/DIY agenda?
That question is likely more profound than you intend.
Mark Twain said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” To be honest, I’ve spent most of my 70-something years on the second half of that quote, wondering why.
The answer seems to reside in my writing. In the years I have remaining, there are three things I want to write. One is a book entitled The Kearney Fallout Meter Revisited. Considering Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima, it’s time for an update. Some of the materials Kearney specified (the size can, for example) are difficult to obtain today plus there are actually better materials (the desiccant) and methods than what he used.
The second book I want to write is a book on poultry, oriented towards off-grid living. Today, hatching is TOTALLY dependent on electricity. And today’s poultry books are romanticized. You do realize, do you not, that you must first – up close and personal – remove the chicken’s head, feathers, and entrails before you eat it? We live in a Walt Disney world where pigs and chickens are grown to win ribbons at the county fair. That’s the purpose of their existence.
The third book is on vegetable gardening. You cannot garden for a year or two and think you know how to do it. Every year has a new disease, a new problem, a new surprise. Rabbits, raccoons, possums, woodchucks, birds, bugs, deer, and various other small, furry creatures are all creations of God. And they are all your Enemies.
So that’s what I want to do. What I will do, of course, is totally different. What I will do is spend most of next year converting Lanterns, Lamps & Candles to Kindle from PDF. It’s a chore that just won’t go away. Hopefully, the next nuclear emergency will wait a bit and nobody will need a fallout meter before then.
The Book Giveaway
Three copies of The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight have been reserved for three lucky readers. Here is this week’s quiz question:
What is your favorite flashlight (type, brand or style)?
My answer? Heck, I have a flashlight fetish but I still consider the Blocklite my favorite. It is not at all tactical but it is handy, the 9V battery lasts forever, and it is easy to stow in a pocket, in the car, on the nightstand – just about anywhere.
To enter the giveaway, you need to answer the giveaway question by responding in the comments area at the end of this article. The deadline is 6:00 PM Pacific on Thursday. The winners will be notified by email and announced in the Sunday Survival Buzz. They will have 48 hours to claim their prize.
Note: If you are reading this article in your email client, you must go to the Backdoor Survival website to enter this giveaway in the comments area at the bottom of the article.
The Final Word
We have built 5 of these amazing flashlights and will probably build some more. I hope you will enter the giveaway to win your own copy of the The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight e-book – that way you can build some too!
Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!
Gaye
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Spotlight Item: The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight
“The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight” will show you how to add a cheap resistor to a cheap flashlight and create a light that produces useful illumination for 2000 hours on the same battery. There are detailed instructions and 54 illustrations to guide you in completing this half-hour project. No soldering required! A free chapter from “Lanterns, Lamps & Candles,” a different book by the same author, is included as a bonus.
Note: I wrote the forward and provided feedback to Ron during the development of this great little e-book.
Bargain Bin: Today is all about books. Listed below are all of the books in the current Backdoor Survival Book Festival. There are both fiction and non-fiction titles and a bit of something for everyone.
THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – NON-FICTION
Backyard Cuisine: Bringing Foraged Food to Your Table
Home Remedies
Living on the Edge: A Family’s Journey to Self-Sufficiency
Make It Last: Prolonging + Preserving the Things We Love
Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills
The Pocket Guide to Wild Mushrooms: Helpful Tips for Mushrooming in the Field
Good Clean Food
The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight
Recipes and Tips for Sustainable Living
The People’s Apocalypse
Go Green, Spend Less, Live Better
THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – FICTION
Going Home: A Novel of Survival (The Survivalist Series)
Surviving Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
Expatriates: A Novel of the Coming Global Collapse
The Border Marches
Rivers: A Novel
After the Blackout
The End: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)
The Long Road: A Postapocalyptic Novel (The New World Series)
3 Prepper Romances: Escape To My Arms, plus 2 other e-books (your choice)
Prepper Pete Prepares: An Introduction to Prepping for Kids
THE BACKDOOR SURVIVAL BOOK FESTIVAL 4.0 – LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS
The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
Escaping Home: A Novel (The Survivalist Series)
Living Ready Pocket Manual – First Aid: Fundamentals for Survival
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The monthly specials at Emergency Essentials feature discounts of up to 35% off sometimes a bit more. I have a monthly budget and each month I add a bit more FD products to my long term storage – always making my selection from sale items.
There are a lot new items that are put on sale each month – be sure to take a look.
Note: I earn a small commission on your purchase making this a great way to support Backdoor Survival which will always be free to everyone.
Shop the Emergency Essentials Monthly Specials
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48 Responses to “BDS Book Festival – The Amazing 2000-Hour Flashlight by Ron Brown”
I have a variety of solar/crank flashlights. I chose solar/crank because batteries burn out so quickly. Inside the house I use lanterns that I purchased from Lehman’s.
I found the 3 way flat cheap led flashlight that has several LEDs on the side, a few for more focused on top edge that has a hook and are cheap enough to hang everywhere I might need light.
My favorite so far is my MAG-LITE XL-50 mini lite. I hope to soon obtain a Blocklite (based upon yours and others recommendations). I have two 6volt lanterns and a couple of 8 “D” cell lanterns and I am very interested in Ron’s book. Specifically if there is a resistor than can be used to extend the lifew or usefullness of the D cell lights.
My go to flashlight is a medium hand held led flashlight without a brand name on it. I wish I knew what type it was as I’d get more. It was a gift several years ago and still works like new.
I do not have a favorite flashlight per se. I like the little ones with LED lights that shine brightly. My one problem with flashlights living in northern Wisconsin is that the batteries do not last long in the long cold winters we have here. I am very interested in any ways to save the batteries (other than keeping them in the warm house) while outside. I would very much like to win the book featured on your website this week. I enjoy reading your blogs and hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.
I have plenty of flashlights all around the house. I don’t have two of any kind. I have had power outages and found out that the big most expensive ones I thought were going to be my go to flashlight didn’t last long enough for a bathroom run. But! I do have one little teeny weenie flashlight from LL Bean called the Splashflash. It holds one AAA battery and uses one LED. It is attached to my key chain, so it is always with me, and has a lot of other emergency tools. It gets banged around daily and has never let me down. I don’t think I have ever changed the battery. The directions came with a recommended amount of usage from one little single AAA battery running on one little LED light and decided I wouldn’t probably never have to worry about a new battery it was such a long usage time. This little flashlight is used more than I ever thought it would be. It also does SOS! Just impressive…
My favorite is the MTW-825 CANN-KS 2.5 Million Volt Stun Gun Flashlight. I have only got to use this as a flashlight, but I guess that is a good thing that I have not had a chance to use the stun gun part. I did try to get my adult son to volunteer but I got a “……. NO!”
The best flashlight is the one that is affordable and available! I keep 3 1/2″ mini LED flashlights in handy locations for everyday and emergency use: In the bathroom, in the bedroom, here at my computer desk, and in the car, to mention a few. When there is a power outage, I feel my way a few steps to the known location of one, and dealing with a blackout is then an adventure, not an emergency. When there was a neighborhood blackout on a moonless night, my bathroom flashlight saved me the inconvenience and danger of searching for light in total darkness.
I love my headlamp lite, use it all the time. Also maglite with LEDs.
We have a multitude of flashlights on hand but our favorite is the Blocklite. Living in the part of East Texas known as “Tornado Alley”, we experience high winds with most, if not all, storm systems. Couple with falling tree limbs and the occasional intoxicated driver and well, you end up with frequent power outages that last several hours! We keep the Blocklites scattered throughout the house, so that no matter where we are…when the power fails, we are prepared! Along with a battery charger that will recharge 9V, we are set.
Our power went off a while back, I used a headlamp.(flashlight) It was great, I could still use my hands.