Emergency Flashlight

I remember all those years ago (about 8) coming across a flashlight which used a chemical reaction between water & an unknowen component (Can't Remember) to produce the power for the light.

If I remember properly (Not a sure thing) you could use any liquid as long as it's base was H20.

Has any one seen anything like this, and who could point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance

The only light I remember working like that were the ones on airplane life jackets.

I haven't looked into such commercially available products lately.
IIRC, they were single use.

I remember (about 15 years ago) reading about salt water based batteries that could light a small incandescent bulb for about 6 hours. it used a special salt in a packet that came with it and the user supplied the tap water. All batteries rely on a chemical reaction to produce power; a car battery uses sulfuric acid mixed with water reacting with lead plates, for example. If I remember correctly a salt-water battery wouldn't produce much power, which is why you never hear much about them. I own both the NightStar and NightStar CS shake lights, which use a magnet moving past a wire coil to charge a capacitor to light an LED. As an emergency light they would be a far better option in my opinion. On the other hand, if you are looking for one to collect you might try eBay first (they have tons of flashlights on there!) I hope this helps a little, at least!

Dr Jekell said:

I remember all those years ago (about 8) coming across a flashlight which used a chemical reaction between water & an unknowen component (Can't Remember) to produce the power for the light.

If I remember properly (Not a sure thing) you could use any liquid as long as it's base was H20.

Has any one seen anything like this, and who could point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Guess the chemical reaction is starch in potato reacting with water.
You should be able to get one of this toy from Toy r us.

You may be thinking about a carbide lantern, although it produces a flame, rather than lighting a bulb.

We had a few of these when we were kids. Lots of fun.