Emergency lighting and blackout preparedness - Part 1/3 - the keychain light (fenix e05ss and Nite Ize INOVA microlight)

In Singapore, power failures are exceptionally rare. The last time it happened, it affected only a small portion of Singapore it lasted at most 2 hours. That was more than a year ago. Blackouts are so rare and short in Singapore that there isn't much cause for worry even when it happens.

But it pays to have some standby lighting and torch lights around when blackouts occur. It is nice to be be able to carry on with life's daily activities during these scenarios. Most of the time, when a blackout occurs, it is due to some faulty equipment tripping the circuit breaker. This is an easy fix. Removing the culprit and resetting the circuit breaker would do the trick. However, if it was a bigger issue affecting the entire neighbourhood, the fault may only be rectified by the authorities, and you will be left with no choice but to wait while work is being done.

I would like to introduce you to the concept of having emergency lighting. When preparing torch lights and lanterns for this purpose, it is important to choose wisely as most batteries will fail even before the next blackout happens and torches will go missing or kept in places that are difficult to find in the dark. That would be terrible.

Keychain Light:

Firstly, it is important to have a small reliable torch with you or within easy reach. One of this example would be a keychain light. In other countries such as the USA, this type of lighting is often referred to as the Everyday Carry (EDC) light.

A good candidate for a keychain light should possess the following qualities:
- Small and light enough to keep on a keychain (either running on coin sized batteries or single AA/AAA)
- Some way of preventing accidentally turned on while in a bag or pocket (preferably uses a turning action to activate than a button)
- Can stay lighted without having to continuously press it (constant-on mode for hands-free operation)
- Uses batteries that have really long shelf life (lithium batteries are best as they have a shelf life of 10 years and more when left alone)

One good example is the Fenix E05SS. I've used it for many occasions for other purposes due to its high brightness of 85 lumens. Who cares even if it is specified to last only 45min on high setting. Most of the time, I only need it for a maximum of 5 mins.

Its performance exceeds what I require of such a light and it doubles up as a mini work light as I work on my car.

Given its small size, I am impressed that it has the ability to maintain the same brightness while the battery discharges. This extends its usable time on a single AAA battery. Personally, I rather the light remains constantly bright instead of leaving me with a long duration of low light as the battery is used up.

Another good option is the Nite Ize Inova Microlight. It meets all my requirements. You might point out that it uses a button and may get turned on accidentally. True enough, I had mine turn on in my bag and only noticed it when I took out my keychain later in the day. By then, the batteries are almost drained. I would recommend this only if you intend to hang in on your bag, or keep it somewhere visible so that it is easy to see if it was turned on.

The Inova Microlight is a small, flat LED light that has 3 modes - high, low and flashing (in that sequence). Practically, I use the high mode most of the time and I was really glad I carried this with me before I had my Fenix E05SS. Once, I had to walk through an unlit underpass in uber-urban Orchard road and needed some light to see the stairs. No one else used it other than my friend and I.

You'll never know when you need to be self-sufficient in this aspect. Lighting and electricity may be in abundance in the city state of Singapore, but you can never be too careful.


While the keychain light can be very useful, it is not the end all, be all light. The next lighting category I will discuss is the workhorse torch that is brighter, longer lasting and made for more light-intensive purposes.

Meguiars Lens Correction Kit review and 1 year update

My family's 9 year old Toyota Wish has headlamps that are turning rather yellowish and blurry due to its age. It seemed to be a common problem with most cars of this age as the clear plastic headlamps deteriorate due to exposure to heat, UV rays and contaminants from the years of usage.

At 9 years old, the car would have 1 year of life left before the expiration of its Certificate of Entitlement (COE), the dreaded expensive piece of paper that bestows the car a regulated lifespan in Singapore. With the COE and car prices going up and up in the recent years, it makes sense to extend your car's statutory lifespan rather than to buy a new car. I tested a few Japanese cars and frankly, it does not seem like much of an improvement from my 9 year old trusty Toyota Wish. In comparison, the new Toyota Wish is upwards of $130,000, that is a lot of money to part with for little noticeable improvement compared to an old car!

European cars have generally benefited from their fuel efficient turbo-mated engines, while Japanese cars have insisted on their humble Naturally Aspirated tradition, which translate to lower power and efficiency. So, my family decided to extend the car's COE.

One of the pressing issues was to restore the headlamps' usability as a blurry headlamp results in lower transmission of light and diffused focusing. We considered sending the car to a workshop to replace the entire headlamp assembly but it was expensive and the workshop was not confident in being able to procure the same headlamp for my car.

Instead, I bought the Meguiar's Lens Correction Kit. It is a small self contained do-it-yourself kit that is said to restore yellowish and blurry headlamps. It did not require any power tools, which meant that elbow grease was needed. Using the kit, it took me 1 hour to go through the 4 sanding pads provided. It was hard work, I tell ya.

But at least, it worked. It looked as though it was a new lens! Was gushing with pride as I took a before-and-after picture of my car.

Sadly, the joy lasted only a year. Now, my headlamps was starting to turn yellow and blurry from being exposed to the elements and I have to use the kit again. Honestly, 1 year is too fast to get blurry. The clean, sanded plastic had lacked a protective layer that seals it from the air.

The next time I will try out another method I saw on youtube, involving the use of cheap paint lacquer to help smooth out the lens and coat it with a protective layer.

Until next time!