Shake Light

As a kid I had a certain fascination with flashlights. I used to keep one beside the bed, usually a Radio Shack model that I got for free courtesy of their flyer in the Sunday paper. At bedtime I used to shine it on the ceiling in circles until the batteries died. So when Geeks offered me the chance to look at the “Shake Light”, a clear LED flashlight that doesn't use any batteries, and claims to be weatherproof as well I jumped at the opportunity.

Inside the colorful “Shake Light” box comes the flashlight itself and a small instruction sheet detailing its use. According to this sheet the box is also supposed to contain a wrist-strap. There wasn't one in my box, though. I would recommend you fashion one out of a shoelace or something similar. Why will soon become apparent.

To use the “Shake Light” you simply shake the flashlight, horizontally for thirty seconds and then turn it on. You should avoid shaking the flashlight vertically as it may cause the charging magnet to hit the end of the flashlight, possibly damaging the unit. You should now have light. In my case the “Shake Light” worked for five minutes and seventeen seconds on a thirty second shake.


At 1.5-inches diameter x 7-inches long though similarly sized you won't mistake the brightness of the beam coming from the “Shake Light” with the one from the Maglite mini I normally use, it is bright enough to be serviceable though. Also, subjectively speaking, I would only judge the first two minutes or so of light coming from the “Shake Light” bright enough to perform any real work.


Depending on what tasks you use a flashlight for this might be a serious limitation, or no limitation at all. For instance, unless I am just goofing around, what I normally use a flashlight is for things like looking for my keys during the all-too-frequent Spring power outages here. Or finding that thumb screw I just dropped in my case (or maybe the floor), and for some reason can't find. I think one of the cats may be hiding them from me, [grin]. Two minutes of light is usually plenty for that chore. My nephew correctly pointed out though that this would be a terrible flashlight to take on a camping trip. “Can you imagine being out in the woods on a nighttime hike with this?” he said. I would guess you would end up with an awfully sore arm the next day from the frequent shaking you would be doing if you wanted to keep the light going.

(Editor's note: Warning!! Boring educational content ahead in the next paragraph. Recommend user abort!!)

For those of you still reading I figured I would take a moment and explain how the “Shake Light” actually works without the use of batteries. Briefly speaking, what happens is this: shaking the flashlight causes a magnet to pass rapidly between the rings of the coil (tightly wound copper wire). This motion generates a small electrical current, which then charges a capacitor (component which stores electricity). As the capacitor discharges it provides the power to light the LED. All of this works because of something known as Faraday's Law Of Induction.

Conclusion:

The Shake Light is a neat looking clear LED flashlight with no batteries that does what it claims: provides five+ minutes of light with 30 seconds of shaking. However, if you are looking for a flashlight for extended continuous use, the “Shake Light” is probably not for you.

Pros:

Five+ minutes of light for thirty seconds of shaking

Rugged attractive design

All around neat addition to your gadget collection

Cons:

Not well suited for extended usage

Although claimed no wrist strap included

I would like to thank Computer Geeks for providing us the "Shake Light" for review. This item can be purchased for $7.49 at Computer Geeks.

Added: June 25th 2005
Reviewer: Jim Adkins
Score:
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Language: english