Shakelight reviews?

Seem pricey to me for what you get.

I grabbed a couple "imitations" at the local Walgreen's (two for ten bucks) and they're OK.

They come in a box with no obvious way to tell who makes them, and all the text is in Direct Translation From Some Chinese Dialect To English By Someone Who Speaks Neither; near as I can tell the brand name is "THE NEW PRODUCT COME INTO THE MARKET" and below that text there's an illo of the thing shining a beam onto more text: "Environment-protective torch for 21st century". (There's a list of "Features" on the side of the box that reads as if you're _supposed_ to laugh out loud while reading).

The light itself is in what looks and feels like a fairly strong clear plastic case with rows of little bumps down the sides, and it's easy to see the two CR2032 batteries in it...

Still, take the batteries out (unscrew cap, pluck lens _with o-ring_ off, shake until guts slide out in one piece) and you still get a good ten minutes of light after a minute or so of shaking which (considering the circuit comprises the induction coil, diode bridge, 5.5V .2F cap paralleled with the batteries, and a 150 ohm load resistor for the single bluish-white LED) ain't too shabby.

And not just "enough light to find a real flashlight with" either; I can see across the street with it.

IMNSHO a decent stocking stuffer, even if the box looks like a deliberate stereotyped Oriental-product joke.

Mark L. Fergerson

How about those lights that are charged by hand-crank? Walgreens has one called the "Illuminator" or something. It's supposed to work for an hour without cranking. I just wonder if the crank will break.

How about those lights that are charged by hand-crank? Walgreens has one called the "Illuminator" or something. It's supposed to work for an hour without cranking. I just wonder if the crank will break.

More like ten minutes or so, with one of the three LEDs lit. With all three, about two minutes.

And I broke the handle off the crank when I dropped it. Gorilla Glue fixed it fine.

The Shakelight clone is a better deal IMO especially as I use it as a bike headlight bungeed to the handlebars; shake as you go!

Mark L. Fergerson