About nine months ago, I bought a pair of Hybrid Solar Flashlights. I saw them at Costco for $20.99 for a two pack and thought that they might be good for the kids to play with without me going broke on batteries as they sometimes leave them on when they run off to do something else.
Here's what I found out that I had. The flashlights were light weight, but not small. They were about the size of a skinny 2C light or a slightly thicker 2AA light. The ABS plastic is quite tough. And it is waterproof to 80 feet.
We have taken them on probably six camping trips so far. I don't worry about the kids using them as they seem able to survive the kids playing with them.
They are plenty bright enough for most tasks at about 40 lumens and can run continuously on one charge for 10 hours.
In the time that we have had ours, I have never had either one fully discharge its battery. And more impressively, I haven't even noticed the light dimming.
I keep ours stored on a window sill as the solar panel will charge the flashlight with sunlight or even indoor lighting.
There is a cap on the butt of the light which holds two button batteries as a backup. Hence the hybrid in the name.
Battery durability is quite good. While I haven't had these lights for that long, the solar battery is supposed to hold its charge for up to three years while the lithium button batteries are good in storage for up to seven.
According to the company website, these batteries also are not as affected by cold temperatures as others like alkaline batteries.
I found out at one of our camps that a friend of mine has had these lights for several years. He leaves his on the dashboard of his vehicles. He even has removed the button batteries from his and has never had a problem with the light not working. I took the batteries out of my kids' lights too.
Function is quite simple. There is a clickie on the body of the light. One click to power on using the solar battery. Click again to engage the lithium battery. One more click to power off. That's it. A simple cycle.
A couple of months ago, I purchased four more.
To summarize, the lights are tough, light weight, waterproof, bright, affordable, and so far dependable. Although we have brighter battery lights in our vehicles and at home, there will be one in each vehicle. And one will find its way into my back pack for hiking. We already take them camping. Oh, and the price is right. Not just to purchase, but to run.
Sorry for such a long winded review. I hope it was worthwhile to someone.
Here's what I found out that I had. The flashlights were light weight, but not small. They were about the size of a skinny 2C light or a slightly thicker 2AA light. The ABS plastic is quite tough. And it is waterproof to 80 feet.
We have taken them on probably six camping trips so far. I don't worry about the kids using them as they seem able to survive the kids playing with them.
They are plenty bright enough for most tasks at about 40 lumens and can run continuously on one charge for 10 hours.
In the time that we have had ours, I have never had either one fully discharge its battery. And more impressively, I haven't even noticed the light dimming.
I keep ours stored on a window sill as the solar panel will charge the flashlight with sunlight or even indoor lighting.
There is a cap on the butt of the light which holds two button batteries as a backup. Hence the hybrid in the name.
Battery durability is quite good. While I haven't had these lights for that long, the solar battery is supposed to hold its charge for up to three years while the lithium button batteries are good in storage for up to seven.
According to the company website, these batteries also are not as affected by cold temperatures as others like alkaline batteries.
I found out at one of our camps that a friend of mine has had these lights for several years. He leaves his on the dashboard of his vehicles. He even has removed the button batteries from his and has never had a problem with the light not working. I took the batteries out of my kids' lights too.
Function is quite simple. There is a clickie on the body of the light. One click to power on using the solar battery. Click again to engage the lithium battery. One more click to power off. That's it. A simple cycle.
A couple of months ago, I purchased four more.
To summarize, the lights are tough, light weight, waterproof, bright, affordable, and so far dependable. Although we have brighter battery lights in our vehicles and at home, there will be one in each vehicle. And one will find its way into my back pack for hiking. We already take them camping. Oh, and the price is right. Not just to purchase, but to run.
Sorry for such a long winded review. I hope it was worthwhile to someone.
