No battiries flashlight

[Preacher Dude]

I have one with a crank handle that has 3 halogen bulbs that give off a very bright light. crank it for 1 minute and it stays charged for an hour of continuos burning and it has a push button on/off switch. The drawbacks are that it is 5 1/2 inches long X 2 1/2 inches wide X 2 inches deep and it weighs 7 ounces. I have gone through several head lamps that have all quit working...thus no light regardless of the batteries ....and to preserve the batteries I have carried votive candles....so anything that does not require batteries is well worth it to me since I read a lot at night when I hike. So by the time you add up the wt. of the headlamp and band and the weight of extra batteries plus the weight of the candles....it is just about awash with this light. It is called the "Illuminator" but I don't have the name of the company or a website. My wife who is a teacher bought it from a bookseller and paid $10.00 for it. If I find out more info about it, I'll post it on this thread.

[JohnG]

I've got one that weighs 3.1 oz...

Nightwalker -- where did you get yours? at 3.1 oz, that's not much more than many headlamps... Are you still satisfied with it?

-john

[BigToe]

Probably not possible??? Have you tried one???
I got one last week for $2. Took it down to Lazee's (eckville shelter here in PA) and we shook it for exactly one minute. We turned it on, it was pretty bright and we left it on for 2 hours. After we 2 hours, we decided to turn it off as we'd seen enough. The only problem was that the batteries can slip out of their holder so we stuck a toothpick in there to make sure it didn't happen.
They are not the lightest weight. but at least as light as any flashlight that would take 2 AAA batteries. Id' still prefer my photon II light as it weighs 1/5 of an ounce and is bright enough for me.
But these shake em flashlights are very impressive. I bought 12 of them and gave them out for christmas presents. Kids love them.
Maybe you should try one before replying iceman.

Be careful - there's a lot of fakes out there apparently. I don't have one but saw this guide on eBay about fakes:
http://reviews.ebay.com/Fake-Shake-l...AT:-1:SEARCH:1
- hopefuly that's not what you picked up.

[atraildreamer]

I bought one of those lights at Wally World a couple of months ago. Cost about $10. It is about 8 inches long and uses a magnet in the case that slides back and forth thru a coil of wire as you rock the thing back and forth (no hand cranking needed). It uses a whiter LED instead of an incadescant bulb. I shook the thing for about 200 back and forths to charge up the light and left it on. It went about 3 hours before starting to get dim, but still produced usable light. It is no lightweight, probably weighs about 5 ounces, but no batteries required. I saw the same thing, on another trip to Wally World, but with a smaller companion light, both for $16, but did not get the set. I tried to get the smaller light working in the store, but without success. I would not put the thing near a compass, or magnetic media, as the magnet in the light is quite strong, and not shielded.

I saw this on the web:

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1513938.html

and thought that it might be adapted for hikers who stay in shelters. Maybe the shelter mice could be bribed with a little food to do some running!

[DLFrost]

Those little crank ones are cool.

Crankers are more efficient than shakers. WalMart has just started carrying a 3-led crank-to-charge light priced at a few dollars. The switching allows 1 or 3 led illumination and it's fairly lightweight for that sort of thing. I'd get one of those before I got a shaker.

Doug Frost

[Doctari]

I have a shaker from Walgreens, $5.00, I shake it for a few minutes, have left it on for 30, jsut to see how long, I just turned it off, didn't wait till it went out.


I may carry it. May not.


Doctari.

[Gray Blazer]

Not off the subject.....did you all see the Mad TV skit about these shake and shine flashlights? Too funny....... !

[Hana_Hanger]

We bought a few of the crank style when Costco carried them. The kind Preacher Dude mentioned above. Out of the 6 purchased all failed in a very short time as far as holding a charge for one hour that is.
Yet in a pinch they will still light up for a few minutes. So we kept them, scattered here and there around the house and cars.

Sad thing is we bought all our children and friends these...thinking great hurricane gifts to have....oh well. Called the company, they agreed they had a problem and the next series out is suppose to be fixed and fuction properly.
For the 6 to 7 ounces they weigh...I guess if no batteries were available at all...the flashlight would be greatly prized.

[wacbzz]

Right up front, I'll make 2 things clear: I am a flashlight nut and I am NOT a gram weenie. I have purchased flashlights on and off for about 2 years. Most of my purchases have been because of reviews from this website...www.flashlightreviews.com I am fascinated by light in the darkness and what it allows you to do. There are 2 lights that I would NOT be without on any overnite hike. The first is my headlamp - a Petzel Tikka XP. For an LED headlamp for close up work around camp, there is none better. For all other lighting, I carry the Surefire G2 Nitrolen. At 65 lumens and 4.10 ounces, there is none brighter. I have a high-output lamp that goes with this light that ups the lumens to 120 though battery life drops from 1 hour with the regulare lamp to about 15 minutes. Talk about blinding. No need for a knife to protect you from animals... There are various debates about Xenon vs LED, but as you can see, I carry both. Being able to see is a very important part of my camping experience. There are brighter lights and smaller (weight) lights out there - I have many of them - but these two I trust.

[Doctari]

One problem I just discovered with my walgreens shaker light. I used it last night doing some backyard camping, for the first time, the case is clear, so the entire flashlight lights up, Very brightly, the problem is: holding the light in front of you, reduces the efectiveness of the "beam" because the light is also shining in your eyes. I am thinking of covering (the top at least) it with duct tape.

I still like it. Yes, it's a bit heavy, but for $5.00 and NEVER having to buy batteries for it, seems a great idea for a thru hike. An option I would love to see on it is: the ability to charge my other electronic stuff, especially my digital camera. Which, come to think of it, besides my flashlight is the only other electronic stuff I carry.

I'll talk to my Bro-in-law see if he can come up w something.


Doctari.

[papa john]

Has anyone tried out the dehydrated water yet? All you have to do is to add water and away you go...

[gumby]

My wife and I bought a couple of those shaker flashlights for emergencies. We live in Florida in "hurricane alley". We bought them for emergencies only. They weigh 3 3/8 ounces or 96 grams. I'll take it for an overnight with very little hiking, but not for the long haul.

We also have 2 of the radio/light combo with solar/crank charger that Patrick mentioned. Too heavy for hiking, but good for power outages. Don't know how much they weigh, can't find them. (Good thinking during hurricane season, huh?)

[blackbishop351]

I don't know if there are different brands of the 'shaker' lights out there, but a friend of mine brought one on a hike not long ago and it SUCKED. He had to shake the thing for 5 mins to get any light out of it at all, and then it went out after about 30 seconds.

[RockyTrail]

One thing to consider with the mechanically powered lights is that they still contain batteries that can wear out or fail. The crank action simply charges a (Ni-MH nickel-metal hydride) battery that is used to power the light. And the cranking generator has a lot of mechanical parts that are also just waiting to fail when you need them. I too have an emergency crank radio/light in my basement, but I don't expect it to work if I really need it.

If you store these lights for extended periods (i.e., several years for emergency use) they may let you down. For example, I have Ni-MH camera batteries that wear out after only a couple of years use. The older Nickel-cadmium batteries (now mostly superceded by Ni-MH) can last 10 years if used regularly but can die if you let them drain down to zero. In contrast, alkaline batteries can stay relatively "fresh" for many years and have no moving parts to break.

I like alkalines for their reliability.
Just something to consider...

[atraildreamer]

My patent idea is hooking a battery up to your exercise bike. The companion piece would be a TV that only ran off it. Imagine a world where you had to ride five miles for every hour of TV watched...

I read (quite a few years ago) that a guy rigged up a 12 volt TV to a exercise bike that spun an auto generator. He told his (lazy) kids that if they wanted to stay in the house and watch TV, instead of playing and getting some exercise, they would have to pedal to power the TV.

I have 2 of the shak-em-up flashlights. The one I got at WallyWorld for $9 works pretty well and goes for about 3 hours when you shake it up about 200 times.

An identical unit that I bought at another store (Ocean State Job Lot) for $5 doesn't hold the charge too well.

Quality control seems to be a problem with these lights.

[One Leg]

[QUOTE=L. Wolfe]I have several amish friends that use these lights for a quick trip to the pot but they have to continually shake it to keep enough light. It is too much work for what it gives out.
QUOTE]

Maybe they were looking at an Amish Girls Swimsuit Calendar and didn't want to commit sin, so they "shook" the flashlight instead?

If you're a hiker who also happens to suffer from Parkinson's Disease, think about it-!! You'd never run out of light-!!!!!

Yeah, I know, that was bad... I repent.

[soulrebel]

If i hear you shaking that thing at 2am for your potty break, I will kick your ass (exception: you are getting whiskey out of your bag) much love. get a .25oz coincell led w/ hatclip, screw petzl they cost more and once again invade upon your whiskey weight...

[Time To Fly 97]

I read an article (Pop Science?) about a backpack that could generate power for lights, MP3 player, etc. The pack's up and down motion while walking made it gently slide up and down a special frame. This motion powered a small generator. I don't know if this was heavy or could be felt while walking...pretty cool though.

TTF