Flashlight or Glowsticks for Your Car?

Recently we have been discussing preparedness kits for your car. In several of those posts, I mentioned the kit that my wife put together to be prepared for winter. Then I talked about a year-round kit.

As I was reading a post on a Yahoo forum, the writer talked about putting glow sticks in his car kit. This sparked a discussion with my wife on the pros and cons of glow sticks and flashlights for the car.

I realized that I did not list any sort of lighting device in the year-round kit (and only barely -- disposable lighter and candle--in the winter kit.) Part of the reason for that is because my flashlight lives in the glove-box of every car we have. When we replace a car, the flashlight comes out of the old one and goes straight into the new one. As a result, I don't think of a flashlight when I put together a car kit, as I already "know" that a working flashlight is in the vehicle.

But not everybody does. I know that. But I don't always remember it. So, I am glad to have these reminders. (Together we will be better prepared than any one of us, alone.)

So... in the interests of preparedness, I am augmenting the kit list. Please add a flashlight to your list. Any flashlight (so long as it works). In another post (or possibly in an article on the website), I will deal with the pros and cons of the different kinds of flashlight. But for now, please put a flashlight in your car. It can be cheap or expensive. It can use regular batteries, alkaline batteries (recommended) or lithium batteries. It can be a regular bulb, a halogen bulb, or an LED flashlight. Any of those are better than no flashlight. So, please, put a flashlight in your car if you don't already have one.

Now, what about glow sticks?

If you can get them cheaply, then toss a couple of them in your car emergency kit. They can certainly augment it. But they can't replace a flashlight. Especially in winter.

Why not? Because glow sticks are temperature sensitive. The chemical reaction doesn't work very well when it gets cold. They are not useless, but they might have to be prewarmed a bit for best illumination.

They also don't provide bright, spot illumination (it is very hard to work on the engine of your car using a glow stick.) Their provide a dim, area light. This can be useful for moving around your car when there is no other light (say a cloudy night in the country.) They might illuminate your trunk enough to help you get your kit out and see to change a tire... maybe.

Their best use might be to mark out the location of your car (to assist rescue personnel). But there are better tools. (Reflective triangles, reflective tape, flares, LED flares (but these are expensive).)

Remember, too, that once activated, you cannot shut them off. They are single use items. They will glow for up to 10 hours (which can be good in certain circumstances) whether you want them to... or not.

My recommendation?

Get a good flashlight and put in your car. If you have the opportunity to get some glow sticks cheaply then put a couple of them in your car kit. (I have seen them in the dollar stores at certain times of the year.) If you do get glow sticks, then please opt for the yellow-green ones or the orange ones. These have repeatedly been shown to give off the brightest, most usable light.

Technorati : Preparedness, car, disaster, family safety, light, security, winter storm
Ice Rocket : Preparedness, car, disaster, family safety, light, security, winter storm
Buzznet : Preparedness, car, disaster, family safety, light, security, winter storm