First we bought one of those all-in-one torch, radio, emergency beacon types from Maplin at £10 but when we read the small print we weren't impressed with the amount of power you got from a minute of winding... I think it was 15 minutes radio and even less for torch. I brought them straight back, got a refund and bought wind-up torches from Netto at about £3 each. They're brilliant. They seem to work for ages on just a short wind-up. Very handy to reach for at home too whenever the trip switch plunges us in darkness.
Have a pair of Indigo wind up lanterns for the kids - both have 7 LEDS as part of the lantern that have a brightness control, plus there is a single large directional LED used for reading/working with. As well as windup, they have a mains recharger, so if you charge up before you leave, you'll probably not have to worry about winding as they last for ages. But it's nice to know the winding will re-charge if required.
We've got an Eton FR200 wind up radio, this has the added benefit of a light on the front, about 1 min wind gives about 1 hr play. or use 3 aa batteries (put some in last year and they are still going strong.). it's shortwave as well so can pick up world bands (some strange channels out there) I've been to the Loire and even managed to pick up some UK stations (BBC World service and some other one on AM as well). very good piece of kit. got it from here.
I use EHU but the kids love the wind up torches for their bed time reading. However, winding up these torches during the day is fine but doing it in the night is a extremely noisy!!!
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Topic: wind-up lights, radios
