faraday flashlight

A hand generator powered light can be useful, but you need to be aware of the limitations of this style:

1. Light output is much less bright than a standard 2 battery cheapo flashlight and the beam is narrowly focused.
2. Initially 90 seconds of continuous shaking are required for 5 minutes of light, then a recharge requires about a minute.
3. If you are doing emergency repairs then someone else is going to have to keep shaking the light.
4. In an emergency situation will you be able to wait 90 seconds for light?
5. They are pretty pricey considering battery powered alternatives.

The ones I've seen are more of a gadget and a stocking stuffer than an emergency light imho. I would imagine when they first came out that Brookstone and Sharper Image sold 'em at a premium, but now they can be found at Target, ShopNBC, Frys, etc.

I agree... those type of flashlights don't have the pep of a battery powered. It all depends what your intended application is...

Professor

During hurricane Reta, we would have been proud to have one of them. Batteries were unavailable. Lights were out. What a mess.

I plan to pick up a windup radio before next storm season.

Cool, thanks for that link.

My wife and I were just out camping and saw one of those at one hunt camp we stopped in at and we were wondering where to get them. It appeared to work well. Perfect timing.

Mike