A Million Duracell Quantum Batteries Donated to Power Equipment for Quantum Heroes & Other First Responders #MC

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Duracell. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.

It is amazing how much batteries have become part of our lives. I think I have come to this same revelation over and over for decades. Still, our use and dependence continually grows and it does not look like it will change anytime soon. What is changing, however, is the quality and performance of the batteries we use.

I can’t even count how many devices in our home require batteries, if it was 100 or more I would not be surprised in the least. For many of those devices that require batteries, performance is not that big of a deal to me. The battery-powered jet fighter with lights and sounds that gets played with once every two months can use cheap batteries or, better yet, partially used batteries. For frequently used items, such as remote controls, our children's tablets, wireless mice, cordless headphones, and compact cameras, only a high performance battery will do.

Devices like alarms, smoke and Co2 detectors, flashlights, and high-powered electronics most definitely deserve a good battery, or even the best available. Learning the low quality of your batteries after the power goes out is a problem that most of us have experienced at one time or another.

Ideally we would all use rechargeable batteries, but rechargeable batteries require us to manage their charge at all times. I simply do not have time for that kind of chore in my life at the moment, especially with the sheer volume of batteries I would have to manage. The ideal battery is one that is powerful and holds its charge for a long time.

The new Duracell Quantum battery line does just that. The Quantum battery is the longest lasting battery on the market today. The core of the battery is denser than any other, allowing a long life of use. The Duracell Quantum’s PowerCheck indicator lets you to see exactly how much power is remaining. There is no more wondering if your battery has enough power for the task, it is right on the battery.



If you think your battery needs are demanding, imagine the battery needs of emergency personnel. Duracell donated one million batteries to first responders across North America this year to power their critical and life-saving equipment. Duracell also created the Quantum Heroes video series hosted by Tim McGraw on YouTube, which highlights all the wonderful things emergency personnel and first responders do for us every day. You can see the series here.

Make sure your critical electronics and tools have the best battery right now, because the next time you think about it, it may be too late.  Just look for the signature red color of Duracell Quantum batteries.

How to Prepare Your Household for Emergencies

Now that I am a father and homeowner, I often think about how prepared I am (or am not) for an emergency or disaster. At the end of the day it is my job to protect my family and property. In the last 2 years it seems there has been disaster after disaster and I can't help but wonder what I will do.

Having a good emergency plan is critical, and so is having the right supplies. Having the right types of foods for survival and plenty of clean water is priority number one. Most professionals will recommend having at least 3 days of food and water, but that seems too little for me. Five days to a week seems more realistic considering some of the actual circumstances Americans found themselves in in the last couple of years.

When considering what emergency foods to buy and how much, you need a great resource and supplier. One place where you can buy emergency foods is buyemergencyfoods.com (duh right?).

Once your food and water needs are taken care of, you will need to equip a large duffel as if you were going to camp for at least 5 days including something to start fires, keep warm, first aid, batteries and lighting, baby wipes, clothing and toiletries. A good hatchet and pocket knife are always a good idea to include in your emergency kit as well.

If you are open to firearms, a small caliber handgun with the proper training and licensing is a great way to help you feel secure and safe when so much may be out of your control. And probably the very most important thing to have ready in an emergency: A good plan that the entire family has memorized.

Do you have any helpful tips to share?

Feeling Particularly Unprepared the Past Few Months

We live in New England, where we see very few storms that can cause  substantial damage.  Of course there are exceptions, such as flooding and Nor'easters that bring 4 feet of snow.  Still, we are just accustomed to that type of weather and rarely need to do anything special to prepare other than buy extra bottled water.

A few months ago, a hurricane-turned-tropical-storm really had me nervous.  We do not see many hurricanes and we did not know how far we had to go to be truly prepared.  Did we need to purchase dried food so we would have an emergency food supply?  All we ended up doing was buying a variety of crackers and breakfast cereal.  Of course, we did not end up losing power or anything from that storm.

Then in October, we had an unseasonable Nor'easter.  I thought it was not that much snow, but because it was so heavy, so many people lost their power, heat, and hot water from a few days up to a week.  That was completely unexpected.  Without power, our refrigerator, stove, and oven were out of commission.  Luckily, our power came back fairly quickly, but we were not so luck with the heat and hot water.

Just a few days ago, our refrigerator stopped working.  It made me question my decision not to have long term food storage arranged when we were facing that storm.  Although I like the occasional surprise, this is not the kind of surprise I like to get.

Giveaway: Energizer Emergency Power Kit [CLOSED]

When we experienced the enormous amount of rainfall in recent months, although our basement flooded multiple times, we were very thankful that we did not lose power. Many homeowners in our state were not as fortunate. For cases like these, Energizer recommends that every household keep an emergency kit handy containing items such as a flashlight, a battery-powered radio, an Energizer Energi To Go mobile phone charger, and a supply of extra batteries.

Below is an example of an emergency power kit. Of course, Energizer offers a wide variety of LED lanterns, flashlights, and more in addition to what is shown in this example.

Thank you to Energizer for providing the prize for this contest and for sending us an identical emergency kit as a thank you for sharing this information.

What you can win:
One lucky reader will receive an Energizer Emergency Power Kit (a drawstring bag, an LED flashlight, a cell phone charger, a compact radio, 3 packs of batteries, and an antibacterial wipe).

Limitations:

This giveaway is open to U.S. entries only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:

Leave a comment telling me where you think would be the perfect place to keep this emergency kit. You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND Energizer.com . Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

4) Friend me on Facebook. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Facebook profile.

5) For 2 extra entries, share the link to this contest post on Facebook. Then leave TWO separate comments with the link to your Facebook profile.

6) Follow me on Twitter. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your Twitter profile.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

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(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)


Random Drawing:

This contest will be closed on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.

Good luck in the drawing!