High Stakes Survival: An unexpected garden ornament lights the way ...

Explanation:

OL was in chat earlier today and a fellow member [sugarcookies1] had a power outage and I was able to quickly link THE POWER GOES OUT - What should you do? (by r2d246 posted on 10-10-2012 @ 11:33 PM) [ATS Survival forum] .

In the course of the subsequent chat conversation they mentioned they would simply use their Solar Powered Garden Stake Lights ... and I was very impressed by this as my front door light broke a while back and my brother has since adapted with some of the same devices and I noticed just the other day just how handy they would be added to any BOB or just taken for general use in camping.

I did search ATS and the only thing I found that was similar was this post looking for Portable Power devices to survive Martial Law (Thread by admriker444 posted on 9-1-2008 @ 06:57 AM , reply by BlackSatinDancer posted on 13-11-2011 @ 09:27 PM) [ATS Survival forum] .

ok... next thing... i have been playing with little solar stake lights for your driveway... you can get them for a couple dollars a piece. they make neat little night lights for small spaces that use no power after the initial purchase... i have no idea how long those little batteries last inside them though. it's enough light to see to sit on a toilet... and anything is a help... more than one can produce more free light. they have sensors that make them come on at night only. you can take these apart and connect old pc fans to them for night time running fans unless you disable the sensor i guess... not sure how to do that and they make tiny solar fans that just run when the sun hits them but they more expensive.... but the little battery in it.... it's being charged daily. can this battery be used in other things? that might prove handy if you have some around and have run out of regular batteries but i need to learn more about them, they are essentially little chargers!

And so I wanted to highlight that and expand on it as much as possible.

Here are the potential at face value uses I see ...

1] Obvious Torch Light Is Obvious!

2] Can be used to stake out tarps, tents and pathways.

3] Can be used as improvised hand held weapon, either as a clubbing and or stabbing tool.

4] The solar panels could be rigged to provide charge for other portable electrical devices.

5] Can be used as a gardening tool such as a seed hole poker or for digging small patches of soil.

Here are some of the interesting varients I found ...

There are some that come with motion sensor activation and these ones can be improvised to include an alarm that both distracts the intruder and simultaneously alerts the camp.

Features
Solar garden light
Motion sensor
Modern design
No electricity bill
Environmentally friendly
Easy to assemble
Large solar panel charges the lights
Great for lighting up pathways, gardens or flower beds
Suitable for use outdoors
Dimensions: (Diameter) 13cm x (H) 38.5cm
Package Contents
1 x Solar lamp
3 x Rechargeable batteries
Screws
Instruction manual

Motion Sensor Solar Garden Light ($49.95) [oo.com.au]

Solar powered spotlight ...

SOLAR LED Garden Light Specifications

Solar Panel (4V/240mA)
8 x White LED Globes
3 x 1.2V AA 1500mAh rechargeable Ni-CD/Ni-MH batteries (batteries included)
Automatically turns off in the Day and on at Night
Totally Waterproof Design
Fully Adjustable tilt Head & Solar Panel
2 Mode Installation - Garden/Wall
Item size: 16.5x13.8x58.8CM

Premium SOLAR LED Garden Light (Price: $26.40 (including 10 % tax)) [ledcentral.com.au]

Stake this chain of three uplights into the ground, let them soak up the solar energy during the day, and light up your nights! Chain of three solar powered uplights, $9.99 in Black. Article Number: 701.774.39

SOLIG Solar Powered Uplights and Accent Lighting
[ikeafans.com]

Metal solar powered stake ...

26" Tall Copper Plated Select-A-Color Solar Bubble Tube Garden Stake. Select and fix the LED as your favorite color: red, blue, white, green, or rotating colors, or set the light to change automatically to a different color every day. The LED light makes the bubble tube glow from top to bottom! Auto-On at night/off at dawn.

26" Tall Copper Plated Select-A-Color LED Solar Bubble Tube Garden Stake (Item #44317-C $19.99) [mrlight.com]

More ... Solar Garden Stakes [mrlight.com]

Smaller hand held memorial stake ...

Memorial light with an illuminated acrylic block and a three-dimensional lasered image of praying hands with a cross. Can be used as a stake-mounted memorial light or as a prayer light placed in a quiet corner.

Features:
•3 white LEDs
•max. burn time approx. 12 hours when fully charged
•AA NiMh accu (1.2V)
Measurement:
•diameter: 60mm
•height without stake: 100mm
•height with stake: 260mm

Praying Hands Memorial Light: Solar-powered memorial light (€ 19,95) [solarcosa.com]

So can my fellow members think of any other uses these awesome devices [or any varient] may be used for if and when SHTF?

Personal Disclosure: These would be perfect for anybody seriosuly contemplating any Z-Day scenerio.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


It's a good idea. We have some, but our experience with them in the garden has been that the batteries really don't last for much more than one season if you leave them outside. Perhaps with more care, they might last longer.

Anything that is solar powered obviously has advantages over battery powered or electric gizmos in a survival scenario.

Here are my Garden Lights. Never thought they would come into use for survival needs. Don't know how powerful they would be or how long they would last. Good idea.

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We have few solar one's at our entrance, they work great....and if I recall were pretty affordable.....would have never thought about taking them camping or with us in survival scenario....but it's a great idea !

It would be more effective to get a large battery, and use a solar charge controller to power an led light. These garden lights are essentially the same thing but on a smaller scale, and don't have much useful light output.

Originally posted by JustSlowlyBackAway
reply to post by OmegaLogos

 

It's a good idea. We have some, but our experience with them in the garden has been that the batteries really don't last for much more than one season if you leave them outside. Perhaps with more care, they might last longer.

Anything that is solar powered obviously has advantages over battery powered or electric gizmos in a survival scenario.

NiMh batteries will only last so long, and that is what usually goes in these solar garden lights. A lot of these lights don't have very good solar cells either, and are enveloped in plastic, and after time this plastic is damaged by uv, and the light can't get through to the cell. Supercaps can replace these cells and won't die like normal batteries.
There's also battery conversions which are possible, and can extend the life of the battery significantly, but these conversions have to be done by the user, as they are not available to buy. Battery companies develop their cells to purposely die after a set period of time, or their profits would dwindle. The best NiMh I've found is eneloop, but the diy conversions far surpass any cell you can buy, as far as longevity, although the nickel/iron cells are said to be pretty good, and a few places do sell those.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


I don't have the pics, but I bought two sets of Solar powered strings lights 3 years back from Target. (12 bulbs per string) I hung 'em up on my apartment deck.

They have been exoposed to the elements here in Ohio the entire time and still work quite fine.

Even on a cloudy day, I still have my starlight.

I have a perimeter of these lights around my yard and anyone walking through at night I can see. Unobtrusive, yet their charge often won't last all night unfortunately. Still, it's one small component of my home security.

OmegaLogos
I'm glad you liked my idea..I have about 30 of these lights i use them all over my yard and around my barn they seem to keep the unwanted critters out like raccoons..

There nice because at night i can see who is walking up my path there like my security lights..

But we have many power outages around here i just take the lights off the stick bring in about 15 of them and place them all over the house and presto i have enough light to get around my house if you put about 6 of them together it puts of enough light to read by..

They last about 6 hours or longer in the house then in the morning just take them back outside and let them charge up again..Ive never had to replace any battery's in mine and many Ive had for over 3 years but i do bring them inside during the winter because we have brutal winters and snow but many just leave them out year long..Great thread S&F peace,sugarcookie1