How to make a temporary light for short-term emergencies.
“I am worried about how many lights I have to buy for emergencies…”
“I don’t want to buy a bunch of lights just for an emergency that might never happen.”
“I love handmade stuff!”
Perhaps, you think that you have no choice but to buy lanterns to prepare for emergencies? For short-term emergencies, we expect things to go back to normal within 2 weeks (we hope). So, we don’t want to light fires and use candles during this time. Using fire requires more care and carries more risk. The last thing we want, especially after a big disaster, is for our neighborhood to burn down because of an errant candle flame. We want to avoid that…
Flashlights are great if we’re moving around in the dark, or if we’re looking for something. But they’re not great for ambient light, and they’re not ideal when you’re working on something. Their light is focused, and they usually need to be held. What we need is a lantern. We can make a temporary lantern, using a small light or flashlight. This is a fun, thought-provoking activity that I think you will enjoy!
Important point
You need at least a small electric light, plus some amount of a white or clear material, made of either plastic or glass. Paper would be OK, but since paper can catch fire, let’s avoid paper this time.
Make a lantern by yourself, in an emergency.
Here is a very easy way to make a temporary lantern in an emergency. Keep this in mind!!
You need a light and a water bottle. If you use a flashlight which can not stand upright, you can use an aluminum can, cup, or the like, to hold the flashlight.
Put your water bottle on top of the can. Yay! Emergency lantern!! Or you can simply put the light next to the bottle.
We don’t need to buy many lanterns, if we can make our own water bottle lanterns.
Check this out. I’m going to simply cover a flash light with a plastic bag. Wow! it’s better.
Compare the bare flashlight with the flashlight inside a plastic bag. Look how much brighter the area looks when the light is covered! (I was worried about the plastic melting, so I used a glass cup, too.)
Or we can walk around with it.
Oops… I got carried away!
After big disaster, you might feel terrible, but this handmade lantern will heal you. Furthermore, you will heal everyone around you with your idea. Just a small light and white or clear material is all you need. You can try many different ways and feel relaxed without a lot of effort.
I will share how to make lamps and candles, in a future post.
See you next time
Remember, “Protect your life by yourself” （自分の命は自分で守る). You need to survive first, and then you need your emergency supply. No matter how well you prepared your emergency supplies, if you die, then all of your preparations will have been for nothing. First and foremost, keep your health up all the time. Build your stamina so that if you need to, you can evacuate as quickly as possible. Stay healthy.