LightStorm SL1 Crank LED Flashlight and Lantern Review

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I've always been intrigued with the idea of a battery-less flashlight. I own a Nightstar "shake light", and even though it does not give off much light I appreciate the fact that it is a nigh-invulnerable back up to my other lights. When I read about this light with its "ultra" capacitor, I thought it would be a great item to have on hand for Cub Scout outings, power outages, etc. especially since my kids could use it without running any batteries dead!

After trying it in my dark garage at night, I'm disappointed. After a couple of charge/discharge cycles (more playing around with the crank than anything) I wound it for a full 2 minutes, and watched the light produced by the Quasar LED (spotlight mode). It was initially very bright and usable, but faded quickly. After 3 minutes, it was down to about 50% of the original brightness. After 10 minutes, it could not cast light far enough to reach the far wall of my garage. I wound it up again for 2.5 minutes and tried again with the 3 Starcore LEDs (flood mode)with similar results. The manufacturer claims up to 15 minutes of usable light, but I found that it does not meet my definition of "usable".

Additionally, it is uncomfortable to wind. The handle is a bit short. Unless you have large hands, it is difficult to hold on to the housing while you turn the crank. Because of the combination of short crank, and the torque needed to turn the crank, your fingers get tired of holding the unit. The handle is on the back of the unit, so you also end up covering the light with your hand while you hold the case during cranking. Lastly, the handle is recessed during storage, and would be difficult to locate in the dark (when you would need it the most).

It's a great idea that just doesn't work as well as I'd like it to.

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bought this and took it for camping for a tent light. Works for about 10 minutes on a 2 minute wind. Three setting, pretty good lighting, very durable, glows in the dark, can be hung from overhead, or attached to your vest. Not bad, but could be cheaper.

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I have to agree with the review by Mark Leedom. The usable light doesn't last anywhere near as long as the manufacturer states (about 5 mins max). Having said that I have used similar flashlights before and knew this to be the case before I bought this, so I'm semi happy with my purchase. I wanted something for absolute emergency and unfortunately this is the best there is at the moment!

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I've always experienced situations where a flashlight is needed and the batteries are worn out or chargeless, tired of that, I decided give it a try to this flashlight because the most notable feature is its absence of batteries. 2 minutes of cranking can charge the light up to 15 minutes but will be noticeable a dimming of 50-60% in 4 min. So, if you intend of use it for a prolonged time interval, you have to cranking it 40 seconds each 5 min. or 8 min. Of course is, the flashlight mode (highest power) will deliver less time of full light output. As another reviewer stated, when flashlight have a prolonged storage time, you have to cranking for 6 min to 7 min to get maximum performance or capacitor will discharge quickly. The flashlight mode deliver a pretty bright light output during 3 minutes.

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I have been through many shake and crank flashlights over the years. The biggest disadvantage in my opinion has been the method of storing the charge produced: batteries. If not properly maintained, batteries will degrade.

Nightstar solved this issue with the use of capacitors to hold the charge. And I'm glad that LightStorm chose to go this route, too. This light can be thrown in a glovebox for years, and will still function as it should when needed.

As to other reviewer's and their short usable light times, the capacitor needs to be initially charged for a much longer crank time than 2 minutes. I contacted LightStorm, and they recommended at least 6 minutes for the initial crank time, and the same if it hasn't been operated in a long time.

After an initial 6 minute crank and a few tests, I did a 2 minute crank and used the light to read by in total darkness. I was able to read by it for 28 minutes.