A survival light question that's not what you might expect

[brighterisbetter]

I know full well that this topic has just about been beaten to death already, so I hate to rehash old memories. However, what I'd like to know, I'm not entirely sure has been addressed previously, so I'll ask it here, and feel free to stop reading at any time.

I was watching "RealWorld/RoadRules: The Island" tonight before bedtime, and it got me to thinking about the very first season of "Survivor". Yeah I know, waaaaaaay back then, and the only season I've actually watched for that matter. If I recall correctly, each cast member was allowed one luxury item to take to their destination. A few chose a photo album, or a Bible, or a machete.......doesn't really matter for my question what they took; let's just say for the sake of the thread that we as flashaholics would take a flashlight.

Here is where this thread differs from those of the past hopefully. Being that you're gonna be on the island, or in the jungle, or whatever for an extended period of time (perhaps a few months), what light would you take? This criteria really narrows down the list of possible lights.

Even the loooooooongest runtime and most efficient of lights out there surely couldn't last on one set of batteries for the duration of the trip, with your one light more than likely being shared amongst the other castmates. So at this point, I'd imagine that we've narrowed down the field of potential lights to either the wind-up LSD emergency lights found in many automotive safety kits, or a light with a solar panel built in for recharging purposes. I seriously doubt that one luxury item means: one flashlight...............and a whole bunch of primary cells, know what I'm saying?

So that brings me to the question I'm most interested in hearing responses to:

Are there any good quality wind-up/solar-powered/shake lights out there that you'd trust with your life if it came down to it?

I see so many different cheapies on ebay, in drugstores, and all that jazz; but are there any top quality ones? Your reasons for throw/flood/water-resistance/etc I'm sure will vary quite a bit from one individual to the next, so I'll leave those qualities up to you to decide. Have at it everyone!!!

 

[Burgess]

How about a Cigarette Lighter ?


Would provide both Light and Fire.


Two very handy "necessities".



Just a thought . . . .

:candle:
_

 

[Sgt. LED]

I keep looking at a particular solar light that is part of some buy one give one to a 3rd world country program.

I keep thinking it must be pretty tough, but I still can't make the jump to buy it without more CPF feedback.

Specs look good, can swap out rechargables, and it's orange!

http://www.bogolight.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=BoGoGeneralSL2

 

[Guy's Dropper]

I'd bring a survival knife, a fire starter, or some combination thereof, depending on where it is. I love flashlights, but if I could only bring one thing, it would not be a flashlight. If the goal was surviving in an urban environment, a flashlight would be more useful. This is due to urban environments being darker than natural environments. Depending on where it is, a house, apartment, or even closet can be almost impossible to see into at all without electronic lighting, even during the day. In a natural environment, fire and moonlight can be satisfactory.

 

[StarHalo]

I've never seen a solar or wind up light that comes anywhere near the level of engineering the common CPF user expects in even a basic EDC light.

It should also be noted that in an actual survival situation, the amount of time you need to use your flashlight is perhaps at most a couple of hours in an evening, far less if you have a source of fire. Even going by the generous two hour figure, some of the current LED flashlight offerings are entirely viable - a JetBeam Jet II IBS, for example, will provide roughly *half a year of light with only five batteries.* Bother to pack a trio of 2x123 primaries and you're good to go for a couple of seasons..

Regardless, I'd want a Firesteel or something very similar to start a fire, the flashlight would be secondary to that.

 

[qwertyydude]

This looks to be the best made of the shake lights, durable and completely waterproof as in hermetically sealed. http://the-gadgeteer.com/review/shakelight_nightstar_led_flashlight_review

 

[HoopleHead]

yeah, flashlights in a true survival situation are a luxury, not a need to have. a knife and fire starter, as noted, are definitely priorities before a light.

that said, definitely curious to hear peoples suggestions!

 

[DM51]

It is an interesting idea. Going with the OP's question, let's assume we already have a means of starting a fire, and that for the sake of this exercise we MUST choose a light. For this purpose, let's leave the other essentials we might choose out of it.

My immediate thought would be to rule out the wind-up lights as having too many moving parts that are likely to break or go wrong.

There may however be a solar recharger reliable enough for this. There have been a few threads about solar in the Batteries sub-forum, but I haven't really followed them and I don't know if there is a really good solar solution available. It would be interesting to know.

 

[SYKO]

I'd want a helicopter so me and Wilson can leave
the island.
😛

 

[DaveT]

I think almost any of the Eternalights could do the job:

http://www.techass.com/

 

[kromeke]

Skunklight/skylight swiss.

Basically the same light, Solar powered, keychain sized. The construction quality seems very high. Fairly durable, the solar cell does have glass over it, so you could break it, if you were careless or particularly rough with it.

I have several, and they have always worked when I turned them on.

I already trust it as a backup, if I had to, I'd pick it for an extended survival situation.

 

[Solscud007]

I think one of those micro led lights would last a long time. but months, hmm I dont think I would need a bright light but how would a Malkoff M60LL handle on runtime? Have a small pelican case of primaries n spares carrier and M60LL and M60. just in case you need 225lm of light.

 

[M@elstrom]

Those wind-up torches aren't too bad but I've already had to replace one of the LED's (x3 configuration) in my Son's wind-up torch, though to be fair it does get a heck of a lot of use! 😉


FWIW there isn't a great deal of moving internals just primarily a wind-up generator, I don't believe you'd have an easy time getting such a setup water proof (resistant perhaps), this particular variant is about as bright as 3 of those tiny LED keychain lights 😀

 

[firefly99]

I've never seen a solar or wind up light that comes anywhere near the level of engineering the common CPF user expects in even a basic EDC light.

Totally agreed.

I think a Fenix would be an ideal light for this situation.

 

[Flashlight Aficionado]

Totally agreed.

I think a Fenix would be an ideal light for this situation.

So a Fenix would lasts months on one battery? I think you need to reread the OP question. Here is the important part;

Here is where this thread differs from those of the past hopefully. Being that you're gonna be on the island, or in the jungle, or whatever for an extended period of time (perhaps a few months), what light would you take? This criteria really narrows down the list of possible lights.

 

[kromeke]

I think I could stretch out the battery in the Novatac up to 3 months.

Doesn't really matter, humans did pretty well in the pre-flashlight era.

 

[firefly99]

So a Fenix would lasts months on one battery? I think you need to reread the OP question. Here is the important part;

I do not need to reread the OP question.

I feel that wind-up & solar lights are very filmsy, not as reliable as a Fenix.

I made the Fenix recommendation based on the assumption that in a survival situation, there will means to build campfire and the campfire will provide all the light you need. There will be very little need to use any flashlight at all. The Fenix should last a long time.

 

[OceanView]

If I had to choose between a solar powered, wind-up, or "shake" light, I think I'd choose a quality shake light, like a Nightstar.

Sure, the output is rather feeble by CPF standards, but you'll be on a totally dark island and you don't need long-distance spotting to see predators. It is totally waterproof, very shock resistant, one moving part, and no delicate glass solar array to shatter. Plus, although the sun rises every day, whether you're in a position to capture that sun is another question. What if I have to leave my solar light on the beach to recharge while I'm working in the jungle? Someone could steal it! Willlllll-son!

Fortunately, since we won't be carrying our credit cards with us on Survivor Island, no worries about demagnetizing
all of our cards. 😳

 

[brighterisbetter]

Maybe I should just rephrase my original question, seems this thread is heading down the wrong road. I agree with many of your posts so far. I too would prefer a firesteel to a flashlight. I too could likely stretch the battery of a Novatac to 3 months, hopefully. Your rationales for each decision are noted and I appreciate the feedback thus far, but for the sake of discussion, please limit the responses to either recommendations or links to top-quality wind-up/solar-powered flashlights.

Are there any good quality wind-up/solar-powered/shake flashlights on the market?

 

[brighterisbetter]

If I had to choose between a solar powered, wind-up, or "shake" light, I think I'd choose a quality shake light, like a Nightstar.

Sure, the output is rather feeble by CPF standards, but you'll be on a totally dark island and you don't need long-distance spotting to see predators. It is totally waterproof, very shock resistant, one moving part, and no delicate glass solar array to shatter.

Exactly the kind of response I'm looking for, thanks OceanView.