I saw these on sale at Big 5 Sports for $15 and wondered if anyone has any experience with them:

www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/everlife_flashlight.html

These are zero-maintenace emergency flashlights with LED bulbs and a Faraday electric charge system: shake them for 30 seconds and get light for 5 minutes. Supposed to last forever.

What's the verdict? I don't want them for anything "tactical"; just something I can give the womenz to keep in their cars for emergencies, without having to worry about keeping fresh batteries.

probably good for the SHTF when batteries are hard to come by, or in a survival situation. But in my experience they dont give off enough light.

www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=440392

I have one of the Dynabright Flashlights. It work very well and is fairly bright for what it is.

We keep some in our contingency contracting kits at work.  It meets our requirements and can be shelved without needing to maintain a stock of batteries.

BEWARE!

There are cheap copies of these flashlights out there!!!

I saw the above post here, and went out to ebay to find a few for around the house & cars. I ordered two and received them in about 5 days.

Let me first say that I work on/with/in electronics, and have for the last 27+ years. I do my own designing of some stuff, and repair some of the "State of the Art" stuff in the automotive/computer/instrument field(s) on a daily basis.

The copy "Shaker" flashlight DID NOT, WOULD NOT & COULD NOT "Recharge" it's batteries in any way, shape, or form.

It was, for all intents and purposes, a simple battery powered (LED) flash light.

It had some stuff that at a quick glance would look like it "Might" recharge itself, but on a closer look, I could see that it was just "Window dressing".

In order for these lights to "Charge", they must move a magnet through a coil of wire. This will generate a voltage, that is then available to be used (With some simple circuitry) to "Charge" the battery (Or Capacitor).

This light had a piece of totally un-magnetized metal (for the "Magnet"), a poorly wound coil of wire (the coil), and absolutely no connection to the battery, no circuitry, no possible way for this thing to do what it was supposed to be able to do.

I got my money & shipping back, but like I said....BEWARE!!

Tall Shadow

Igot one last christmas, and indeed it never needs batteries. But man it's awfully dim. Still though, nice to have if you get hit with a prolonged power outage or the zombies come calling.

Quoted: Igot one last christmas, and indeed it never needs batteries. But man it's awfully dim. Still though, nice to have if you get hit with a prolonged power outage or the zombies come calling.

+1 dim but it works

Probably good enough to get you to a better light source when in total blackout conditions.  Kind of like the wind-up radios, good for real emergencies when nothing else is available, until you can get the real thing up and running again.

They are not feasible in the long run, unless you got a kid thats nutso about shaking them all the time.

www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/everlife_flashlight.html

Is this one ok?

Quoted: Probably good enough to get you to a better light source when in total blackout conditions.  Kind of like the wind-up radios, good for real emergencies when nothing else is available, until you can get the real thing up and running again. They are not feasible in the long run, unless you got a kid thats nutso about shaking them all the time.

not only that but I wish they would have put a small piece of rubber on either end of the tube that the magnet slides in or it just goes clackity clackityCLACKITY

zombies will come from miles around just to see what the noise is.....

Quoted: Quoted: Probably good enough to get you to a better light source when in total blackout conditions.  Kind of like the wind-up radios, good for real emergencies when nothing else is available, until you can get the real thing up and running again. They are not feasible in the long run, unless you got a kid thats nutso about shaking them all the time. not only that but I wish they would have put a small piece of rubber on either end of the tube that the magnet slides in or it just goes clackity clackityCLACKITY zombies will come from miles around just to see what the noise is.....

As long as I still have plenty of ammo...who cares?

Besides I thought zombies were attracted to the smell of brains and not sound. Lucky me, I drank myself stupid through college.

Hmmm...I guess I'll have to buy one to see for myself...but it sounds like it should do what I want it to: give of a bit of emergency light in the hands of people who can't be trusted to keep fresh batteries installed.

That wa a pretty funny story, Tall_Shadow! I wonder how many people will never know the difference...until they need it in an emergency that is

I like mine.

My five year old saw the commercial when I was in Iraq and emptied out his piggy bank to have one sent to me.  It really came in handy on night ops.

Quoted: I have one of the Dynabright Flashlights. It work very well and is fairly bright for what it is.

I have one of these as well and they work well, are pretty sturdy, and reasonably bright.

Quoted: Quoted: Probably good enough to get you to a better light source when in total blackout conditions.  Kind of like the wind-up radios, good for real emergencies when nothing else is available, until you can get the real thing up and running again. They are not feasible in the long run, unless you got a kid thats nutso about shaking them all the time. not only that but I wish they would have put a small piece of rubber on either end of the tube that the magnet slides in or it just goes clackity clackityCLACKITY zombies will come from miles around just to see what the noise is.....

Buy one of the slightly more expensive ones that has magnetic buffering on either end.  Much smoother, even than the rubber-buffered models (which are about $10 at wally world now).

The $30 "Night Star" here is one, a friend of mine has one and it's very nice.  I have one of the cheaper rubber-buffered ones from wally world, and it's still quite smooth.  Not as smooth as the magnetic buffered light, but it's decent for the price.

Jim

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Probably good enough to get you to a better light source when in total blackout conditions.  Kind of like the wind-up radios, good for real emergencies when nothing else is available, until you can get the real thing up and running again. They are not feasible in the long run, unless you got a kid thats nutso about shaking them all the time. not only that but I wish they would have put a small piece of rubber on either end of the tube that the magnet slides in or it just goes clackity clackityCLACKITY zombies will come from miles around just to see what the noise is..... Buy one of the slightly more expensive ones that has magnetic buffering on either end.  Much smoother, even than the rubber-buffered models (which are about $10 at wally world now). The $30 "Night Star" here is one, a friend of mine has one and it's very nice.  I have one of the cheaper rubber-buffered ones from wally world, and it's still quite smooth.  Not as smooth as the magnetic buffered light, but it's decent for the price. Jim

The one I have around here somewhere has the rubber bumpers.  This is probably better for a good reason:  forcing magnets together in a buffer fashion (N to N, or S to S) will cause the magnetic fields to weaken, making the light less effecient over time.

Quoted: The one I have around here somewhere has the rubber bumpers.  This is probably better for a good reason:  forcing magnets together in a buffer fashion (N to N, or S to S) will cause the magnetic fields to weaken, making the light less effecient over time.

I think the effect would be almost unnoticeably small unless you have the flashlight in a paint shaker for a few months out of the year.

Nd magnets seem to be extremely resistant to loss of field strength.

Jim

I have several... Not the brightest flashlights in the world, but they work. I think everyone should have at least one in each car, and in his/her house at all times.

That said, it will never, in its current state, be a replacement for Maglights and Surefires. They all have their places, keep some of each accordingly.


By the way, mine does have the rubber stoppers on each end, so no 'calckity clackity' to attract zombies for me.

One thing to be noted: Like all flashlights with LED bulbs, these flashlights have EMP sensitive components in them. So if you plan on using these in a possibly-post-nuclear SHTF kit, make sure it isn't your only type of flashlight, or you may end up seriously screwed.

my mom has one. it works in a pinch, but i wouldnt use it as a primary backup. more like the backup for when the real flashlight runs out of batteries

If you want one I suggest you just go your local Target and get one of the "name brand" Nightstar models.  Target has the full size and a compact model.  Not only are these better made in general than the cheaper ones, they have the opposing magnets setup so the large magnet doesn't bang around in the tube (or even impact rubber that while quiet still makes for a rougher shaking design) and are significantly brighter than the cheaper ones as well.  Unlike these, Alot of the cheapies don't have any kind of reflector for the light beam and such and waste alot of light out of the sides of the light.  There are probably some decent higher dollar copies too but most of the lights you see on the Net or on TV are nearly total crap IMO.

I have the fullsize Nightstar and really like it, I keep it in my car and I have light whenever and where ever I want it without worries about batteries.

Even a good one like the Nightstar is not as bright and doesn't "throw" the light like a traditional light though (ie you can't really take it out and shine it across your backyard too effectively).  But it's more than good enough for emergencies or casual use, especially indoors or in your car, etc.  They're great for that kinda stuff IMO.  But I have a thing about not buying batteries and all my wall charging flashlights have always crapped out on me so I really like my Nightstar...  I may try one of the better made, better reviewed copies though to keep on my nightstand or for another car or something though.

Quoted: One thing to be noted: Like all flashlights with LED bulbs, these flashlights have EMP sensitive components in them. So if you plan on using these in a possibly-post-nuclear SHTF kit, make sure it isn't your only type of flashlight, or you may end up seriously screwed.

On the bright side, that EMP should charge the crap out of the capacitor.

LoL, I've got one and it works well...Just don't expect a SureFire. You have to be careful as some of them aren't actually wired up... The lights just work because the cells have charge from the factory. Yes, I said cells.... There are three button cells in series that power the light. No capacitors.

I've got the 5$ walgreens version and it works fine

Will the magnet in these things screw up compasses?

Quoted: I like mine. My five year old saw the commercial when I was in Iraq and emptied out his piggy bank to have one sent to me.  It really came in handy on night ops.

For some reason, that story kinda touched me. Thanks for your service.

Quoted: Will the magnet in these things screw up compasses?

Any magnetic field, other thatn the earths will mess up a compass, at least when you are trying to find North.  Not so sure about permanent effects.  I wouldn't store a compass near the light.  If putting together a BOB, I would put them at opposite ends just to be safe.

It's also a good idea to keep compasses away from any metal, especially while in use as it will affect its accuracy.  Also, overhead power lines will affect them too.  (I've seen this.)