I have several of them - not sure what brand. They all have both batteries and "shake" capability. The light is not bright, and the "shake" light doesn't last real long - but a minute of shaking gives you some light for a bit.

Remember that these are not meant to light a football stadium at 1 am. They are meant to provide enough light to get by in an emergency - and for that they are, IMO, just fine!

I have used rechargables...my problem was that I only had enough for the lights they used, and if they would need a charge right before bedtime...
Was going to get some more last time I went to WM, but couldn't seem to find them...

The problem with rechargables for this kind of thing is that rechargable batteries don't like to be discharged to zero. The kind of thing that likely happens when they fall asleep with them on. So, this wouldn't be a good idea unless the light had an auto-off.

-john

I'm aware of this, but in my own experience, I'm not sure it's really something to worry about in this particular case. And I'm talking about regular AA NiMH that you might buy at the supermarket, not something like more exotic rechargeable Li-ion batteries, which I would be very careful with in terms of charging or deeply discharging.

I use some Engergizer AA NiMH in a weather radio that is always on in stand-by mode. I continually let the batteries drain until the radio dies, swap with an already charged pair, and then put the depleted cells in the mini-recharger that it came with. I repeat this cycle about twice a week and I've been doing this for a couple years on the same set of batteries and have not noticed any appreciable decrease in runtime compared to when the batteries were new. Of course, maybe the radio doesn't discharge the batteries quite as low as some energy-sipping LED flashlight might, so maybe it's not a good comparison. The kids could get incandescent flashlights, which will still drain the batteries, but probably not down as low as an LED would.

In any case, while I would generally want to heed the advice that the longevity of NiMH batteries is related to the depth of discharge, I'm not sure I would worry about it with the kiddies' flashlights. In fact, I would think that they would grow bored with wanting to play with flashlights every night before the first set of rechargeable batteries eventually wore out. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My experience is that they are just fine when you first get them. A shake now and again provides plenty of light to walk the dogs.
Unfortunately; They don't hold up. At some point you begin having to shake the heck out of them to get any light at all. I suspect they have a capacitor that wears out (fairly quickly) or goes bad.
Gave up on them for batteries.

Jon

Keep in mind, though, that a regulated LED flashlight will simply turn itself off when the voltage drops below a certain level, leaving what should be an ample charge left in the NiMH batteries.

That would be weird if the capacitor wore out. Y'know the maddening thing about many shake lights? They're actually run on button batteries! It makes the LED look bright when you're in the store and when you first use it. I don't remember the particular lights, but I remember reading about this somewhere. Oh, I think it was on the Nightstar website. It's possible that your light was primarily run on batteries, and had a really cheap, essentially useless "shake light" mechanism for show. So, shaking it really didn't do much, although it might have generated a tiny amount of power, so technically it was a shake light. But once the batteries run down, you're out of luck

Without trying to sound like a commercial, NightStar is way better than the other shake lights. They claim to be the original and that others are infringing on their patents. I have one of the full-size older ones (newer ones are said to be brighter) and love it. It uses a capacitor. It uses repulsive magnets at each end instead of clunky rubber bumpers for the main magnet. It's solidly built, feels well-made. Completely sealed, including the switch, which uses a magnetically-activated reed switch. It is decently bright, which means it is fine for navigating around the house or back yard or walking the dog. Would I like to be brighter? Last longer? Sure. But for what it is I am very satisfied.

Steve

Disclaimer: I have no relationship to NightStar in any way other than being a customer.

Some may use a battery as the storage method. Regardless of the reason, the ones using batteries should probably be avoided in favor of the more reliable and longer lasting capacitor.

-john

Okay. I dug out one of my shake lights. It doesn't have a brand name on it, and I've long since discarded the packaging. I bought it at a surplus store (on Morse Road near Cleveland Ave in Columbus, if you'r interested) and it came with a keyring LED that has a carabiner-style spring clip.

Patent No. 5,347,186 is stamped on it, but that number refers simply to a Liner Motion Electric Power Generator so I can't give you a manufacturer name.

This light runs EITHER on batteries or on shake charge. If I shake it up good, the shake light lasts for a few minutes, and a few seconds of shaking thereafter keeps it going.

It contains two wafer batteries, and I have no idea how long they'll last.

The switch is a push-button three-state. On (with batteries), On (with shake) and Off.

The bulb is a single LED with a magnifying lens.

All-in-all, it provides me with enough light at night using the shake mode, and the battery mode is more than sufficient to read by - at least until the batteries poop out.

I have seen "shake only" lights that don't seem to work very well. So the real answer is that some shake lights are a joke and some are not. Buyer Beware.