Shake or wind up flashlight for the homestead?

I've had a crank up flashlight for over a year & received a crank lantern for Christmas. They serve a purpose...better than wasting batteries or getting stuck somewhere after dark with dead batteries. You won't be lighting up the neighborhood with one but it will do just fine if you need a little light.

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CJ

Solar powered...I hadn't heard of those. Thanks for the tip!

Thanks everyone for your comments. I think I'll stay away from the shake lights. I was looking at them on eBay and they are selling dirt cheap. I guess there's a reason for that....

I have seen some decent shake style flashlights, but they weren't cheap. We have a couple of wind-up ones, the last one that I got for my wife's car has NiMH batteries in it, and the winder charges them, very nice bright multiple LED bulbs too. For most of our flashlights we use LED bulbs and rechargable batteries. The older ones are nicads, but the newer batteries are NiMH as they seem to last longer, hold a charge longer, and are less toxic when they need to be recycled. Some of the LED flashlights will put out usable light using batteries that won't even make a regular incandescent bulb glow at all. Not sure what draining a rechargeable battery that much does to them, but so far we have no problem.

Has anyone had any trouble getting a decent charge out of a crank flashlight after it has completely drained? I received two for a gift last year and once they completely drained it takes forever to get enough light to use - and it's completely dead once it has been turned off.

Or you could just use rechargeable batteries in regular flashlights -- we even have a solar battery charger to use if we have a power failure.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ

I'd rather use a LED headlamp... great for "hands off" operation. mine has 6 LEDs...a spot light mode, wide, both, and red for tactical... uses 3AAA rechargeables that i recharge either with the solar setup, generator, or off of the truck battery. lasts for dozens of continuous use hours between charging.

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The Journey -IS- the Destination

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, Its about learning to dance in the rain....

Lowe's carries the solar lights too. Good enough for a path or driveway. Not much light, but you don't always need much. 3 or 4 for like $16 or 17

Got a couple of windup flashlights that work great

I helped a neighbor lady one dark night in the snow, and she had an LED headlamp. It did not even reach the ground, and she isn't tall. It had 3 LEDs. I'm sure there are better lights out there.

We like our wind up light just fine. Ten cranks will run it 3 hours, and ten more cranks charges it right back up. It is a cheap model, nothing special.

I agree with you. C Crane sells the best. I have the Indigo lantern, the Sherpa flashlight and the Freeplay Plus radio, all wind ups and I love them.
I'm getting the battery charger and solar panel next. These things are not cheap but you don't want to get stuck with cheap equiptment when you need it.
By the way, Target sells the Indigo and Sherpa cheaper than I could find them on line at amazon where I reviewed both. J&R has the Freeplay Plus cheaper than most and it got here in two days.

thanks for the tip on Target...
I don't ever go there. Who knew they had "Freeplay" items??? LOL.

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No matter what type of flashlight you have, batteries are the heart of them. All else is secondary. If the unit has high quality batteries, it will last a long time no matter if it is a shaker or winder. Look for the ones that have the newest proven battery technology. Once you have the right stuff in batteries, then look for the other features such as construction, type of illuminators, etc.

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Some days are not worth gnawing through the restraints

That's not exactly correct.

Some of those flashlights have capacitors.

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