Your challenge, should you accept it....

[jennyjj01]

Andy,
As our go to guy on lamps and torches, do you have a good grasp on which lamps run longest and which are a dead loss.

High intensity led lamps be it cob (chip on board) or the really bright torches aren't the most energy efficient and suck the life out of standard batteries

The 'Speriment has begun.
So far, I'm stunned by how quickly my dual COB lamp expired. I really REALLY can't believe how bad it was.

[genzbulk]

so first draft is split into items that are one per kit and then one per person. I've included costs, with anything that doesn't end .00 is an actual price from tesco or home bargains.

One per box
15.00 - Power bank + charging cables
3.99 - LED lantern
3.00 - Roll of bin bags
5.00 - Disposable plates/cutlery/cups
20.00 - Camping stove + butane
20.00 - portable radio
4.79 - batteries for the radio + lantern
10.00 - camping kettle
2.00 - hand sanitiser
2.00 - Wipes
3.00 - matches
3.75 - 80 tea bags
0.99 - toothpaste

One per person
3.99 - Hot Water bottle
2.99 - Head lamp
1.00 - emergency blanket
6.99 - hat + gloves
2.40 - 6 batteries for the head lamp
0.67 - 2 rolls of toilet roll
2.00 - 1kg of instant oats
1.19 - honey
2.25 - 12x500ml bottles of water
0.40 - toothbrush

base kit comes to £93.52 and each person comes to £23.87, so call it £125 in total for one person and then £25 per person after that. For an absolute bare minimum kit I make it just over £30:
2.99 - Head lamp
1.00 - emergency blanket
6.99 - hat + gloves
2.40 - 6 batteries for the head lamp
0.67 - 2 rolls of toilet roll
2.00 - hand sanitiser
2.00 - Wipes
0.40 - toothbrush
0.99 - toothpaste
3.00 - Roll of bin bags
6.00 - 8 nature valley bars
2.25 - 12x500ml bottles of water

That’s a solid and practical list. Splitting it into “one per box” and “per person” items makes the budgeting really clear.

You might consider adding a small first-aid kit and maybe a backup flashlight to the box. The food choices like oats and honey are also great since they’re cheap, filling, and easy to prepare.

Overall, £125 for the base kit and £25 per extra person seems very reasonable, and the £30 bare-minimum option is a good starting point for anyone on a tight budget.

[GillyBee]

If you want a laugh take a look at the price of this "blackout box" being advertised online! The only good thing about it is that it is based on wind up and solar rather than battery hungry devices.
And it is only covering first base. Lights, radio and a power bank.

[Yorkshire Andy]

If you want a laugh take a look at the price of this "blackout box" being advertised online! The only good thing about it is that it is based on wind up and solar rather than battery hungry devices.
And it is only covering first base. Lights, radio and a power bank.

Even half decent wind up stuff in a pita the cheap stuff doesn't seem to charge or hold a charge or the internal battery just dies..,

Worth noting these need regular charging and a bit of use to exercise the batteries worst thing you can do is stick it in a box and forget about it till you need it then find it's dead...