Ever since the NOLA fiasco I’ve been thinking of building a survival kit for my family. Earthquakes are always a concern (sadly, too remote of a concern) as would an attack by the Russians via Cuba.

I’ve been wondering about the usefulness of “shaker” flashlights (the jury is still out) and chemical light sticks. “Bah” I’ve thought. Four hours of light casting a useless green glow two feet in diameter?

As a follow-up to my post about my scuba diving colleague’s experience in Cozumel during Wilma, he offers some great advice about chemical light sticks. Illumination and keeping the kiddies quiet.

Most of you knew I had been down in Cozumel during Hurricane Wilma, and that I provided a Dive/Storm Report when I returned. While diving at Shaw’s last night, however, I was reminded of something I neglected to share as a great lesson learned. Some time during Hurricane Wilma, while we were in a one room “lock down” with a bunch of people, both the public power and emergency generator failed. As I previously reported, we as divers all had dive lights and fresh batteries which really helped out. What I forgot to mention was how great the chemical “snap” light sticks worked during this ordeal. Once the power failed we were using our flashlights sparingly, and after awhile many of the kids were getting restless and cranky because they couldn’t move around in the dark. One of the families apparently had a whole box of chemical lights for night diving, and passed them out to all the kids to play with. Boy, did that ever do the trick. The kids kept occupied, we lit certain dark areas that were previously unlit, we were able to conserve our batteries, and some people even used them to read. I just can’t say enough how useful they were.

Anyway, the dive type chemical lights usually last about 3-4 hours, but longer lasting ones can be obtained. Since I returned I have purchased about a dozen 12 hour chemical lights from Home Depot to use in an emergency. I have them in my vehicles and in my home. I highly recommend you all do the same. They are cheap but priceless in an emergency.

Related posts:

• First-hand Hurricane Wilma experience from a diver in Cozumel

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