What experience does anyone have with either the shake flashlights or the crank ones. Does one work better than others? Just haven't seen any of these discussed.

Charles

I've tried a few different "shake" flashlights, and they're pretty poor performers and don't seem very practical. The light source is usually a single (sometimes a few) 5mm LED focussed through a lens, so the beam is too tight at close distances and too dim at longer distances. But, if you need light--ANY light--then at least you'll always be able to generate some light

Then there's the magnet. Apparently it's strong enough to damage magnetic stripes on credit card if you hold it close enough. Definitely don't shove it into the same pocket as your wallet! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I love my crank Freeplay radio, but crank flashlights never impressed me either. It's a lot of work for not much light.

For flashlights, I'd say it's best to stick with batteries. They're cheap, and LED flashlights can make them last a long time while giving off lot's of usable light. Rotate the supply regularly or consider lithiums for longer term storage.

I have a small shake flashlight, a bit bigger than a mini-mag. A lot of work to get the light operating, even the kids lose interest in shaking it. Once you do get a sufficient charge it seems to run OK with a few shakes occasionally. Not sure how long the charge stays while the light is off. Charge-ability of the larger form factor lights might be better (Bigger magnet). Certainly a last ditch light source.

I have a crank light also, purchased pretty cheap at the local home store. I find that it works better than the shake light, the cranking was not as much work. Has 3 LEDs and 2 options, one light on or all three on. Brightness is not bad. This light does have a chargeable battery internal that holds the charge from the cranking. I found a review at Flashlight Reviews. Not the same crank light I have, but looks very similar (mine does not have a blink mode).

We've looked at them and will probably be doing an article on them later this year. However, given the long life and reliability and 10-year shelf life <!> of small pocket-sized and key chain-sized lithium battery powered LED flashlights and compact LED lithium battery powered headlamps, I personally believe them to be a solution looking for a problem. While the latest generation are more practical than their original predecessors, I still don't see them as truely practical given the more easily used, carried and often less expensive alternatives. Perhaps I'll change my mind after testing, but...

I’ll echo Doug’s opinion.

I’m wary of things that crank unless they’re near-mil spec construction.

I’ve broken the crank mechanism on two crank-for-power radio/flashlight combos from different manufacturers (for earthquake kits in California) that were used only sporadically. Knowing they were cheaply made, I treated them with kid gloves the couple of times I used them, but the crank mechanism still broke.

I confess this may be an unfair indictment of cranking flashlights (and radios) in general, but I’ve shifted my emergency/back-up flashlights over to decent quality 1 watt LEDs that use AA batteries backed up with an ample supply of 10-year lithium AA batteries. Likewise, my small emergency radios use AA batteries. I feel a bit more confident not relying on a mechanical device.

For everyday use, its rechargeable 2500 mah AA’s for flashlights and small radios. Over time, it’s proven to be cost-effective for me.

I'm riding the fence. My shake flashlight also has batteries, so I can use either. The light is not bright from shaking, but it's sufficient at night to light your way and has the added bonus of not trashing your night vision.

I still carry several small LED button lights, though. I'm helpless when I see them. A small voice in my head whispers," You NEEEEEED thiiiiissssssss......"

That is *so* weird. I can hear it too!! My wife can't, though. Amazing!

I have one of those Grundig hand-crank shorwave radios with a light built-in. That is as far as I am prepared to go for a hand-powered light. That little unit will run for many minutes (best guess is 15-20) with both the radio and the light going after cranking it for one minute.

I also have a shake-light that is relegated to a kid's toy, in spite of being one of the $25 "Hummer" branded ones. It is too gimmicky. It might be useful if you were being banished to an island for 20 years with no batteries available. However, for any sort of real emergency, I think that I would rather have a Gerber Infinity. Heck, even a $6.00 Dorcy AAA LED light from Wally-World would be better. And I bet that you could pack one of those lights and a half-dozen batteries in a smaller space that a full-sized shake-light, and get more (and more consistent) light in the process.

With that being said, I have seen those lights for $3 at a flea market. For that price, you might want to pick one up just to satisfy your curiosity (and because you can never have too many lights). But don't let owning one stop you from buying something better.

As an aside, the SideWinder has a small, built in light that charges while you are charging your phone.

Also a flashlight junkie, I recently purchased a medium sized shake flashlight for $6.00 on a whim. We use flashlights two or three times a night to take our dogs out. Normally I use a small LED AA light. One night I grabbed the shake light as I went out the door. Surprisingly I like it. It is extremely light weight and provides ample light for my simple requirements. I still keep and use my other lights but it seems to me that in a longish term situation it could be a useful thing to have.

Actually, dog walking is the one situation where I was thinking a shake light could actually be worth it. I see that you think the same way. If you walk your dog in pre-dawn/night conditions, day after day, then that's a decent amount of time where you need a bit of light. Enough light to see the poop to pick, enough light to warn bicyclists and motorists of your presence, and enough to keep from walking off the side of an embankment. You're moving around anyway, so shaking the light isn't much of an extra burden. Wonderful! Now, if I only owned a dog...

The shake lights are more a novelty than anything else. You simply can't get a high enough emf to generate without making the magnet/coil oversized. Something akin to swinging a baseball bat-sized tube.

On the other hand, the crank jobs have improved considerably. I started out with one of those Xenon bulbed 5 lb crank jobs, which was okay, but not what I wanted to be toting around inside a cave, just too darned big. Then I got one of those Grundig radio/lights with the crank. I found that replacing the akaline AAs was more convenient than cranking the gyro every 5-10 minutes.

Then I happened on a pair of crank handhelds at Costco that looked like the new model phaser guns from Star Trek-TNG. I decided to give them a try, and was impressed with how long the three primary LEDs ran on a 2 minute crank-up. The pair accompanied me to Baghdad, one by my bedside for those mad scrambles to the bunker, the other in my BOB. I used the one by my bed regularly, gave it a two minute crank once a week, and never had a problem. It got tossed around, stepped on, dropped in the toilet (clean water fortunately), and dropped on the deck often. It never broke, the case never cracked, it never failed to provide light, and if the charge was going away, I could give it ten quick cranks and have full light again for a couple minutes. That was the best $29.95 I've spent on lighting in quite a while. You won't get that kind of performance from a shaker. Three LEDs is enough light to get around inside a lave tube with, which is a demanding environment for adequate lighting.

Shake light : interesting to teach a few physic/electricity facts to kids.
As others have said, the output is rather feeble, but you can find uses for such a light. + new models are more powerful.
Caution : strong magnetic fields....

Crank light : I have one in my 72h (or more) kit, along with battery LED lights and spare lithium batteries. I don't use it, it stays in the kit. IIRC the output level was not very bright, but much brighter than the shake light. + the run time was much better too.
OTOH, I use a crank powered radio every day (that's my daily physical exercise... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />). 30 sec cranking gives about 20-30 minutes radio (not too loud), depending on the time of day/weather as it also includes a small solar panel.
Seems to work fine ; nothing broken up to now.

For Christmas I got a Chinese-made version of the shake light. It's pretty bright, and still has it's charge now. The body is clear plastic, which I guess could be a help...but it's also a burden. I used it on a dark night to walk to my brother's house, and I found the glare from the flashlight body distracting enough to finally keep the body itself concealed in my jacket sleeve so that I could focus on the beam itself!

Why not wrap it with electrical tape or duct tape and that way you will have some if needed?

Thought of the same idea. We must have great minds! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Ahh...great Idea!

-KP

I have a similar flashlight to the one you described, but I'm not sure if it's the same one.

I wanted a backup that didn't rely on batteries in case I ever found myself in a LTS situation or in case I had depleted my entire stockpile of batteries for use with my primary light.

Thus far this crank flashlight; called The Illuminator, Wind 'N Go, Dynabrite, Dynalight, etcetera (depending on place of purchase and if they are indeed the same light); has performed better than I expected.

Mind you my experience with flashlights is limited, and I haven't used any other crank charge flash lights to give a comparison...

The light has both 1 LED and 3 LED modes depending on the number of times the button is pressed, has a crank that folds over into the body and is locked in place by a magnet, and is both water resistant and shock resistant.

In a test I got about 20 minutes of bright to moderate light in the 3 LED mode after only 2 minutes of cranking. The flashlight continued to provide light for another 40 minutes albeit at a constantly diminishing intensity. It probably could have provided light for longer than that hour, but frankly I became bored of walking around the house in the dark trying to determine if I could still navigate using the light as it continued to diminish. At an hour of total run time, it was still fairly easy to get around with.

Please note my test was hardly scientific... LOL

I haven't tried out a shake light myself, so I can't compare the two.

Also, I saw a similar model that included a cord to charge cell phones with.

Allow me my 2c worth.....Isee a pretty good use for the shake light....my 6 year old. In recent power outage situations, it would have kept him immeasurably contented to "have something to do". Don't get me wrong...he has stuff to do and he does have his own other flashlights...some incandesant-most LED. The shake light gives him some 'entertaining' way to provide light.

The one shake light I tried was at a fire scene. One of the FF had one and I was pretty impressed with its output. I still won't go giving up on my other lights though!

How about some photos so we can see exactly what everybody is talking about? Thanks for the info, but I don't think that I will get good results from "Do you carry flashlights that look like phasers?

I gave you the names that the particular crank flashlight I have were sold under... LOL

The Illuminator

Wind 'N Go

Dynabrite

Notice that each one has a different description and within list different durations after one minute of cranking. It may not in fact be the same light. It looks like them though.

I tracked back the actual model I purchased... thank goodness for email invoices...

It's the Kaito TF-301, and though yellow in the picture, the one I have is sliver like the others.

Here's a link to the light on Kaito's site:
Kaito TF-301

After checking out the company, and noting it's a Chinese conglomerate of electronic manufacturers, all of the lights listed above are probably basically the same model.

These look quite similar to what I have. Mine's function is a bit different. It has a selective pushbutton switch as well, the first depression and the three main white leds illuminate. The second depression and the three main white leds and two amber side mounted leds strobe continuously. The third depression and the lights are extinguished. If I crank mine for two minutes, I get at least a good half an hour of bright light from the three main leds. Mine have been going strong for quite a while now, rather impressive for a chinese mfr.

Regardless the configuration, this is a very good light to have for emergencies and as backup. I use mine more than any other flashlights, including the little photon in my pocket.

shake light : Nightstar

crank light : Freeplay's Sherpa

and many others : index page

I like my Nightstar II shaker flashlight and use it all the time. I'll probably use it in a few minutes when I go to bed. The subdued light is actually a plus when my wife has already gone to bed or I'm checking my son. Keeps me from stubbing my toe on something or walking into a door end-on <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> . It is considerably brighter for the first few minutes, then tails off to a longer less-bright level; I'm too lazy to shake it more frequently.

I keep a couple Mag-Lights handy for when I need something brighter. But using the NightStar keeps their batteries fresh. (BTW it's January, my time to annually replace batteries on emergency items whether they need it or not.)

Not to sound like a commercial but the NightStar is the original and the one to get IMO. The repulsion magnets at the ends work much better than the rubber bumpers on others. I think I have the generation 2 model. If the newer Gen-3 ones are brighter as stated in the review to which someone else linked, I might have to get a second one.

Do beware about the strong magnet, though. Last week I noticed my Suunto wrist compass (migrated to my keychain) had REVERSED its magnetization. I bet the shaker flashlight did it.

Lastly I have a crank (actually windup clockwork) FreePlay flashlight, too, and think it's great also, just different. A little heavy/clunky, but it gives a brighter light for a longer time. The shaker flashlights are elegant in a simplistic bulletproof way. I'm leery of the crank flashlights that use rechargeable batteries -- does anyone make a crank flashlight that uses a capacitor like the NightStar?

Steve

Thanks for the links, Frenchy.

The one I have is reviewed there under yet another name... LOL
MVP Everlight

The test there, which is a tad more scientific than me walking around the house in the dark, is pretty consistant with what I noticed. LOL

As an aside...
Does the reviewer often go to great lengths to test a light and then drop the rating because of things that weren't tested, but were "reported" (or in this case not even reported in the light in question but reported in similar lights)?

It seems to me to be somewhat similar to a movie reviewer going to see a movie, reporting that it was great, mentioning that other people hated it, and in the end giving it a bad review (or in this case liking a movie but giving it a bad review because he doesn't particulary like the genre). LOL


I can understand bringing up concerns about one type of flashlight or another based on the class of light and common problems that some might have, and I would certainly take such a warning into consideration especially when voiced by someone I would consider to be somewhat of an expert. However, to downgrade a rating in such a manner seems a bit unfair.

I already have the light, so this particular review is moot as far as purchasing one based on said review is concerned... Eh, I still like the light so far, so I guess it doesn't matter... LOL

This may be the type of light you have, benjamin. It sounds similar, comes in a 2 pack, and the reviewer mentions Costco.

Bingo, that's the one!

Yep, if I had more time to look, I might've found it. I went to the Costco site to look but it's not a regular stock item anymore.

Of course, since I got mine at Costco, if it ever fails, for any reason, or I just plain get tired of it, I can return it for a full refund (the wife keeps all Costco receipts for just that reason). Though I doubt that either will be the case. This little light is one tough bugger, and does exactly what it is supposed to do. I like things like that. It gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

I also love a store with a nqa return policy.