In another thread, Solanar posted about a
hand crank Forever Flashlight. After our power went out recently (neighbor's house was hit by lightning :O ), and not being able to find our camping flashlight (flourecent two build monster), I decided we needed more flashlights. So I ordered one, along with a
Emergency LED Flashlight that automatically turns on when the power goes out and can still be used as a normal rechargeable flashlight, along with a
Inova X0 LED Flashlight, which is a compact, mid powered personal light.
They came in today, and it finally got dark outside, so I did some tests.
The Forever Flashlight and the Emergency LED Flashlight both put out about the same amount of light. These will easily allow you to roam around the house at night, without breaking your neck. If you are wanting to light up things more than about 30' away, these are not for you. You can use them to get around outside at night. Just don't expect to dazzle squirrels and make them fall out of trees. Both throw a wide beam (floodlight) which is good for short range, widevision.
One minute of cranking will net you about 25 minutes of full power for the Forever Flashlight.
The Inova is another beast all together. It throws a bright pure WHITE beam in a "perfect" circlular pattern. For no bigger than it is, it throws one hell of a beam. I have a 9" 2C Cell maglite that I took out with me to compare.
At appromiately 100' (33 paces), the maglite hits our back fence easily and lights it up quite well. So does the Inova. The Inova, however, lights up a larger area, in better quality light. For spotlighting purposes, the maglite is better, as you can focus its beam (the Inova is fixed). However, the Inova gives a consistant amount of light through the area it touches, and I was quite impressed.
Indoors it is like a mini-NightSun, aka that sucker is BRIGHT. This thing would be overkill for working on a car, but it is small enough to be handy there, even if holding it between your teeth for short times. I really like it.
I would recommend all three without hesitation. The Forver Flashlight because batteries suck (would be nice for camping). The Emergency LED Flashlight because of the auto on feature, and the fact it is rechargeable (and useable as a normal flashlight). The Inova X0 because it is a compact, bright mid ranged flashlight (I would guess 130-150' for its maximum useful range).
