yep, a cordless drill to charge a cranklight, i figure i’m simply transferring energy somewhat less efficiently than hand cranking, but it’s more fun than hand cranking, power tools make anything fun 
silly, yes
pointless, yes
inefficient, yes
fun, you bet!
plus, i can put some blue cellophane over the LED lens, slap the light on my drill and simulate a police lightbar, a wobbly, out of balance, inneficient lightbar, yes, but it can be done
if you keep in mind the purpose of cranklights/shakelights and don’t set your expectations too high, they’re decent enough, they’re not meant to be throwmonsters, they’re designed to be there to help you get to your better flashlights, or for when all the batteries in your main lights crap out
the initial brightness quickly tapering off to a more constant dim state is normal for them, par for the course, they’re a “light of last resort”
the secret to not having to rely on a cranklight, that’s simple, multiple flashlights with different batteries, odds are at least one of them will be charged…
i have readily available to me;
my “high performance” EDC (Every Day Carry) lights;
Inova X0 1 watt Luxeon LED light is my “distance” and “blinding beam” light, good for anytime i need a bright, intense beam of light, it throws a reasonably tight spotlight pattern, no match for my 6D Maglite, but it’s not meant to be
Inova X5 “spotlight white”, the X5 is more of a floodlight, good for close in work
both lights are LED based, and very rugged and well built, the X5 looks to be more rugged than the X0 (claims to be able to withstand a 2,000 pound crushing force), but that’s because the X5 is essentially a milled chunk of aluminum and has no “delicate” lens assembly to get damaged, like the X0, that said, the X0 doesn’t seem fragile at all, very solid and well built, the X0 outthrows the X5, but the X5 is more durable…
then there are my “normal” lights
2 “cranklights”, one in the car, one in the house, both are the “find the better flashlights” flashlight
my Grundig dynamo powered AM/FM/Shortwave emergency radio has a single LED as well, so i guess i can count that one as a “find the better lights” light as well
Mag Lite 6 d-cell, my throwmonster and/or club
Coleman flourescent lantern (6D)
Husky 12-volt worklight (for roadside emegencies)
2 “one million” candlepower rechargable spotlights (that incidentally need to be charged up)
1 stock black incandescent Mini-Mag Lite (my “electric candle”)
2 Minimags with NIMH AA rechargable batteries and “Nite Ize” 3 LED retrofit kits, one in my PowerBook case, one on the nightstand, the Nite Ize kit (thei nead tu hyre sumebuddi tu teech thym haw tu spull…) gives a much purer white light than the stock incandescent bulb, there’s no filament to break when you drop the light, and it vastly increases the runtime of the Minimag, the only real downside is you lose the ability to focus the minimag from spot-to-flood, but you don’t need to, as the light is very uniform
instead of the useless “shakelights”, why not go to your local wally world (ugh, i hate reccomending this) and pick up a Minimag ($8) and a Nite Ize kit ($5), pick up some lithium AA batteries (long shelf life, less affected by cold weather than alkalines) or NIMH AA rechargables, and you’ll have a light that will outperform and outlast a cranklight/shakelight for about the same price
just to give you an idea of the Nite Ize equipped Minimag’s output, check out the linked picture below…
one light is my $40 Inova X5
the other is a $12 Nite-Ize equipped Minimag…
Which one is which?
the $12 Minimag is on the left
not bad for a light half the cost of an X5, eh, the X5 is cooler though…
here’s a comparison of pocketable lights
from left to right, stock incandescent Mini Maglite, Minimag with Nite-Ize upgrade, Inova X5, Inova X0, and yes, they all have fresh batteries, the stock incandescent Minimag is that yellow…
