No Battery Flashlights

Subjective, of course, but I think a "no battery" light can be a good idea for very long, unsupported hikes. However, in my own case (and I think this applies to the vast majority of hikers who are still working for a living) — my hikes are limited to overnighters, weekenders, and some week-long hikes. In this case, carrying an LED plus an extra set of batteries makes more sense because of both lighter weight and better convenience. Indeed, it's rare that I use up all the juice of the working set — so the extra set is really just for "insurance".

Hiking aside, I live in earthquake country and here, most all of us keep an emergency kit at home. I've thought about stocking a few "no battery" flashlights/radios… but in the end decided against them. A packet of batteries will easily last 10 years in storage — and replacing them once a decade is no big deal at all. In an emergency, I'd rather have fresh sets of batteries and not be wasting time cursing at the hand crank for breaking or not working or not holding a charge long enough… YMMV of course.

Hi Michael,

To make a compelling argument in favor of these lights, you have to figure out how much the charging mechanism weights and compare against equivalent batteries.

At some point (days, weeks, month…?) you'll get to a crossover point where the extra weight pays for itself in batteries not carried.

That all presupposes the flashlight in question performs as well as a battery-powered equivalent, which I've yet to see myself. The best rechargable performer I've used was a clockwork windup flashlight that charged an internal battery. But it was strictly car-camping sized, not for backpacking.

The absolute worst has to be the Russian squeezy flashlight that illuminates only as long as your hand muscles hold out.

Probably better is a flashlight with onboard solar charging, which dispenses with a mechanism, or simply toting a solar charger and NiMH cells to use in a standard headlamp.

As Ben notes, completely self-contained flashlights make more sense for emergency use or perhaps stowed in your car trunk, so you never need worry about batteries.

Painful. I will gratefully stub my toes in the dark for 2 hours as I search for spare batteries.

These ‘shake’ and wind-up lights I see good as a last resort, and I mean last resort as when the sun will never rise again.

If they sit too many months, the shake lights take a long time to get going. And charging a NiMh that has set for a year will take sooooo long to get going. I’m with Ben, it is so much easier to have a stash of batteries than depend on the dim wind up. And it’s much lighter on a backpacking trip to have a 2oz light and 1oz spare battery.

Plus it is safer. In an emergency, I don’t want both hands tied up charging a dinky battery. I want a bright light on my head so my hands can be doing more productive work. And when backpacking, I need my hands for camp preparation and not shaking or cranking.

Just my thoughts…
-Barry

I use a small shake light and find no problems with it. Weighs like 3 ounces. Some kinds are better than others. I just shake it for a few minutes every month or so to keep it good.

This is a squeeze type torch that remains charged for weeks. It charges up with a few presses. The output is about the same as the PT Eos on the lowest setting. 75g (2 oz and a bit)
Maybe the output could be improved by installing better LEDs (?)
It is my stay at home torch.
Franco
Sony AAA for proportion