posted
Being a product of a childhood filled with too much TV, I love commercials for the most part. I have recently been fascinated with the commercial for the flashlight that never needs batteries, the Faraday Light.
You know the one, the flashlight that runs on Faraday's Principle:
The principle that if anyone is stupid and gullible enough to stand around shaking a flashlight to hopefully make it work, that some benevelont god somewhere in the cosmos will grant the poor knuckle-dragging loser the power of Light.
Well since I have seen this crack-fest of a commercial, the gear-head/nerd in me has been dying to get some, but I hate to order from the TV ads. So the pharmacy I work for just got them in and I am in heaven...
Does anyone else have them, and are they as cool as they look? Lemme know!
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
They do...JCPenney's sells them around the holidays. They use a bluish light that doesn't use much power, and are pretty bright, at least as bright as most flashlights are most of the time.
They are great for emergencies, and for places where having one is essential but they aren't used often so remembering to change the batteries is difficult, like campers and boats. We could have used one several times in our boat growing up, as we had a few breakdowns happen, and the batteries were usually weak due to age whenever we needed the flashlight we kept in the glove box of the boat...
They won't replace regular flashlights any time soon, but they are very cool, and they have some pretty good uses, like for hurricane emergency kits and Boy Scout camping trips.
posted
The batteries in the regular ones we had on the boat...they were usually dead, which is why I think this newer type of flashlight is a good idea, at least for some applications. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Also good in that if ya drop an old-style flashlight when it's lit, odds are the filament in the bulb will break.
The new-style flashlight's LEDs will easily survive such simple drops. Bought Durapro's handcranked version from Costco, myself. And from what I've heard from others, it lights for a lot longer with a lot less time spent cranking than the time ya hafta spend shaking the "shake"flashlight. Can't find a picture -- perhaps Costco ceased carrying them -- styled kinda like a StarTrek:OriginalSeries hand phaser though.
posted
Sharper Image has a flashlight that runs on batteries, but has the coild there in case the batteries run out...and it uses several bulbs, so with battries it is very bright for a flashlight.
Also, the bulbs last a LOT longer with normal wear and tear.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
4-H division 2 electric is now a battery less flashlight, they get a kit to make one, it's $10 so I'm going to buy one and build it myself (when I did division 2 electric it was an extension cord or trouble light you wired yourself).
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
aspectre, I love that in your link they suggest a product for safeguarding the chickens of a household where there are no men and everyone is bald.
The situations that some bald women get themselves into!
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I had one of these (lost it in a move a few years back) and they were great. The light lasted longer than I thought it would. I made sure to try it out in the store before I bought it. I was the worst about keeping fresh batteries around so it was awesome. Come to think about it, I'd like to have another. Also, if you feel stupid shaking it about, you can shake for less than 10 seconds to have a shorter burst of light.
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Jeniwren, We only got one in, and I bought it. I decided to give it to my son for his birthday, but I still shook the package like a goof and tried to switch the flashlight on, which of course, had been thought of by the manufacturer. So I couldn't even try the one I bought...
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I am told by a friend that about 30 seconds of shaking affords you about 6 or 7 minutes of light.
I used to do a little cave exploring, climbing, and spelunking, and one of these would have been a nice insurance plan...
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
A little more than that, usually, although not by much.
I just saw them last night at work, we are sellign them at JCPenney again this winter...but they are $35. With the sale we are having this weekend it was about $22.
That's a lot of money for a flashlight...
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
This is ironic considering I just sold two of them for $2 in a garage sale this morning. My father and my husband both got this flashlight for Christmas last year from my grandmother. My husband's did come on but you had to shake it for a pretty long time to get it to do anything. My dad's never worked and we all took turns shaking it.
It is a great idea but if I were ever in an emergency, I would probably not want to spend all my energy shaking this dang thing to get a minutes worth of light. I'll just have extra batteries on hand.
Posts: 1319 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I got one for my brother last Christmas. Seems to work pretty well. However I tried one out in a Brookstone store and it didn't work, so we took one out of the box, and that one didn't work. So maybe avoiding the Brookstone brand might be a good idea...
I find it reassuring to have something like that. I wish I had bought myself one.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't think they work that well, a friend of my friends has a couple in his car, and if you shake it for 30 sec or so, you get a minute of weak light.
Posts: 879 | Registered: Apr 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
The DuraPro handcranked model from CostCo works extremely well, casts a very bright light for more than 10minutes on twenty seconds of cranking. I can't tell ya how many minutes more cuz frankly I ain't got the patience to wait for it to quit.
Before this flashlight, I've broken the filament on more than a few bulbs by dropping or knocking the flashlights off the counter/etc while they were shining. And as often as not, the batteries were dead when I tried to use one.
So while this handcranked LED flashlight costs more than a couple of bucks, when I want a flashlight, I need a flashlight. And having a flashlight that doesn't have filaments to bust or batteries to burn out is WELL worth the investment to me.
posted
I was going to say that I think the crank models would work better. Good to have confirmation of that.
It's a cool gadget, but you can get better and more reliable flashlights by just keeping a spare set of fresh batteries near your flashlight.
Mine runs for hours a set of 4 D cells. If I keep 8 D cells in the house, I could probably have at least one night of light, if not two for almost nothing.
And my flashlight can be seen from space, I think. It's so bright, and has an adjustable beam. And, in a pinch, it can be used to conk someone over the head without any loss of functionality. The the flashlight, that is.
posted
Hey, when I arrived at work yesterday I found one of these flashlights on my workbench. I never asked for a flashlight, but I can attest to it being adequate for PC repair needs.
Now, this isn't a 'crank' style flashlight, there's no crank to turn. You actually have to shake it to recharge it. You can imagine the jokes that ensue amongst a group of guys when one of them starts shaking this flashlight up and down repeatedly. Posts: 1813 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Tstorm: Hey, when I arrived at work yesterday I found one of these flashlights on my workbench. I never asked for a flashlight, but I can attest to it being adequate for PC repair needs.
Wouldn't you want to keep a flashlight like that away from PCs?
Posts: 2149 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
I have the hand crank one too. It works great. It's extremely bright and very handy when the power goes out.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
My dad has one. It works but it isn't really powerful. However, it would be great if you had to go somewhere in the dark for a long time so you didn't have to waste batteries.
Posts: 306 | Registered: Jun 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I know from experience that the crank models work better too, but they are usually bulky. For emergency lights in cars, boats, campers, and what not the little ones are more than adequate. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
The crank model I have, which I got from QVC fits perfectly in my hand, it isn't bulky at all. I don't remember what it cost though, that could be the trade off.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
