Hand crank flashlights

Three weeks after the power has gone out, and all of the batteries are dead, survivalist will be glad that they invested into some kind of hand crack flashlight – also called a dynamo powered flashlight. Whether its a type of lantern, or flashlight, it does not matter, these things are good to have around.

Hand crank lantern

The basic principle of a hand crank lantern is that it does not need batteries. Even though these devices say they do not “require batteries”, they have a couple of AA rechargeable batteries to store the charge. A few cranks of the handle is enough to charge the batteries for for several minutes of light.

Some of these flashlights / lanterns have a built in radio. However, with the radio on, the batteries can go dead rather quickly. Most of these types of combo units (lanterns with built in radios) have very limited range and may not be able to pick up even near by radio stations. So do not consider these as a primary radio.

Power button and radio controls

In the picture above, notice that there is no frequency indicator. In other words, there is no way to know what radio station that the unit is tuned to. Units like this are only good for a back up radio position. When looking for a hand crank flashlight (dynamo flashlight), make sure the unit uses LEDs instead of regular bulbs. LEDs will extend the life of the batteries and will require fewer cranks.

5 LED Flashlight

In this picture the crank handle is visible.

Hand crank flashlight