Garrity Power Lite 3 LED Crank Light (Titanium Silver/Black) Reviews

• A better wind-up flashlight than The Illuminator

  
  By AOEAD7DPLZE53 on 2007-01-22
  I own both the Garrity Power Lite and the ILLUMINATOR wind-up flashlights. They have the same basic design, but with the following differences:
  
  1. Size: The Illuminator is about the size of a man's electric shaver. It is easier to hold and to crank. The Garrity is bulkier, mainly because of the extra plastic lenses in front. It is also less comfortable to hold because rubber grips on the sides are shorter (see my Customer Image for size comparison)
  
  2. Ease of Cranking: The Illuminator's handle takes very little effort to crank. However, you need to turn it virgorously (2-3 turns per second) in order to charge up the battery. The Garrity's cranking presents more resistence and is noisier. But the good news is that you only need to turn it at around one turn per second to charge up the battery.
  
  3. Light Output: Both flashlights use 3 white LEDs, and have the option to turn on either one or all three. As far as I can tell, the LEDs are identical. The main differnce is that the Illuminator's light output is diffused, while the Garrity added three plastic lenses in front to produce a well-focused beam.
  
  4. Light Duration: When fully charged up, the Illuminator gives out brighter light initially. However, its light dimmed down within a few minutes. After ten minutes, the light becomes barely visible (see my Customer Image above). The Garrity, on the other hand, produces fairly consistent light output for at least one hour!
  
  Based on longer light duration, I would recommend the Garrity over the Illuminator. The Garrity is also cheaper when you order it with free super-saver shipping. (Be carefull when ordering The Illuminator, because some places offer the flashlight for $8-10, but charge another $8 in shipping!)
  
  [The following Info for geeks only]:
  Why does the Garrity produce much longer light duration than the Illuminator?
  
  The Illuminator uses one 3.6V Lithium-ion rechargeable button cell (capacity unknown, probably around 30mAh). The Garrity uses 3x 1.25V NiMH cells rated at 80mAh. In my opinion as an electrical engineer, the NiMH design is much better because:
  
  1. Each white LED needs about 20-40mA at 3.6V to produce sufficient light output. Three NiMH cells provide a consistent 3.75V throughout most of the discharge period. The Li-ion cell may provide up to 4V when fully charged, but its voltage drops quickly during discharge to 3.6V and below. This explains why the Illuminator produces a brighter light initially, but dims down much faster.
  
  2. NiMH cells are more robust and can withstand over-charging better than Lithium-ion cells can. Think about it: there are chargers that can fully charge up NiMH cells in 15 minutes (that is, charging at 4X), but there are no chargers that can do Li-ion cells in less than one hour. In this case, since you can charge up the battery in one minute and then use it for up to one hour, that means the battery is being charged at 60X! This kind of abuse is not recommended even for NiMH, and it can be murderous for Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries.
  
  [Update on April 9, 2007]
  Warning: Don't crank the handle virgorously when you have just the middle LED turned on. This is because the voltage across three NiMH cells can be as high as 4.5V when being charged. At this voltage, excessive current can flow through the LED and burn it out - as I have found out for myself. Luckily I was able to replace the middle one with an ultra-bright greeen LED. (It looks really cool, too.)
  
  [Update on Nov 6, 2007]
  Please check out my review on Duracell Crank Light 3 in 1, 3 LED Flashlight, Radio, Charger. I feel it is even better designed than the Garrity.
  
  Look what I just discovered today: a user by the name "Tea Lover" ripped off my customer images for Duracell Crank Light and uploaded here as his own. Some people just have no shame!
  
  

• A wonderful flashlight, updated design even better

  
  By AROLKE5KY0ANW on 2006-09-30
  I purchased this flashlight for emergencies. Haven't had one yet but it's seen a lot of causual use. It's great not having to worry about changing batteries. Turning the crank is quite easy. You get many minutes of light after ten or so seconds of cranking. Also, if the flashlight is turned off after cranking it holds a charge for quite a while.
  
  I liked it so much that I bought a second one, which now has a slightly different design. Unlike some reviewers, I prefer the new design. The crank is even easier to turn. When you first press the on button the 3 leds come on as before, but now the second click of the on button reduces it to one led, while the third click turns it back off. The new "one led" option allows the light to stay on longer, for the same amount of crankng. It is good for times when you don't need a bright light.
  
  The feel of the on and off button in the new design is a positive click; the first version felt mushy to me. The crank locks into place in with a more positive click. The crank has been shaped so that when it is locked into place the grip of the flashlight is more contoured and fits into my hand better.
  
  The old design does put out a whiter light than the new design, but when I tried both lights on the same text I found that I could read better with new design. Also, when looking at something at a distance I find the pattern of light thrown out by the new design to be more even.
  
  

• Best little flashlight on earth

  
  By AWGHWPIOUK85B on 2006-07-03
  This past Wednesday, the Southern Tier of New York State and Northern PA experienced major flooding, the worst this area has ever seen. We were one of the lucky ones. Our home sustained absolutely no damage, but we were without electricity for over 3 days. My husband just got this flashlight as a birthday present the Saturday before the floods. This proved to be very handy. The light is bright and it illuminates for quite a distance. Also, the LED light is truer for color. When our other rechargables were used up, this one was still going strong. I plan on buying several more, one for each vehicle and three more for the house. I will never be without it.
  
  

• Maybe I just got a lemon?

  
  By A2K7ALDEY8565S on 2007-03-10
  Based on the reviews of this flashlight, I believe this is probably a very good value. However, on the one I received, the crank mechanism broke after testing it a couple of times. Other than that, it appears to be well designed and I might even buy another one and see if I have better luck. All of the good reviews can't be wrong. I just thought my experience was worth documenting.
  
  
  
  

• They changed the design.... it is not as nice

  
  By A2KBZFY37K8M8Y on 2006-09-08
  I am new to the crank light system so I bought one of these to see what it was
  like. I liked it so much that I sent for three more.
  
  The design has been changed slightly, I do not like it as much, I took one star away for that.
  
  So, I like the first design VERY MUCH! and if you never knew
  the first design you probably will be VERY happy getting this light.
  Even if it is a bit clunky.
  
  Okay okay... It could be 5 stars...
  
  How wonderful to pick up a flash light and not worry about
  the batteries being low or dead. And not having to collect old
  batteries to "dispose of properly"
  
  
• BEWARE: Not As Advertised!!
  By A32DBINYW6A0JL on 2006-11-29
  I ordered two Garrity Power Lites based on the reviews here.
  BUT the packaging on the lites I received says "Up to 30 MINUTES of light" and NOT the 60 minutes of light as advertised in Amazon.
  
  
• Amazing light
  By A1AYX4H7X1OU7V on 2007-05-12
  I really like the idea of cranking this to get temporary light. I like better the idea of freedom from batteries, even rechargeable ones. I like the idea of turning the handle and getting light. As long as I have a tiny bit of muscle power, I can get light. Strange though that when switched on it first goes to extreme brightness - instead of stepping up. To get low light, I have to press the power button TWICE. Odd.
  
  
• A great thing to have in an emergency
  By A3AUZCDKYES7D1 on 2007-03-11
  One minute of cranking for an hour of light. What a great product! Well made and works great. The light has both a bright and low setting. Bravo!!
  
  
• Great emergency flashligtht
  By A1UA3WMN5YLXUM on 2006-11-09
  I bought three of these flashlights for when we lose power at our house. I never need to worry about batteries, with a couple minutes of winding the flashlight I get many minutes of light.
  
  I highly recommend these power lites for anyone looking for a great flashlight, for any occasion.
  
  
• Pays for itself
  By A2W5K1J5D3AP on 2007-02-16
  It will quickly pay for itself with no more having to buy replacement batterys... Its a sturdy well built flashlight made of a durable silver colored plastic... Its slightly heavier but I find it comfortable to hold and operate much like a tv remote... There is a small amount of resistance and noise from the gears as I turn the crank to charge up the flashlight... It almost sounds like my electric can opener. The light is bright white on maximum and slightly dimmer when using 1 bulb... Its not a narrow beam but more spread out lighting up more area... I've tested my flashlights ability to hold a charge and I'm very impressed... With only 3 minutes of turning the crank and having it set with maximum light (all 3 bulbs) on, it gave light for 1 hour and 50 minutes then it dimmed down, then 15 minutes later was exhausted...
  I'm sure each flashlight will perform differently but I seem to have a pretty good one... I'm very happy with my purchase
  
  
• A best buy in wind-up flashlights!
  By AEJAGHLC675A7 on 2008-06-26
  Did a bit of research on wind-up flashlights before this Crank Light from Garrity was ordered, and have no regrets about this choice. Was simply looking for a reasonably priced crank or wind-up emergency flashlight without any frills, but one that was built well and might last a few years.
  
  Came very close to buying the Dynamo Illuminator Wind-up LED Flashlight, but checking with "friends in the business" found that it didn't seem to have the battery life of the Garrity. That was backed up by some of the reviews found here.
  
  The product features from Garrity say "easy-to-wind crank-light provides up to 30 minutes of light with one minute of cranking." Further down the product description says: "With just one minute of cranking, this flashlight will provide up to one hour of bright light with its three super bright LED bulbs." My personal experience has been that 60 seconds of cranking (60 complete cycles), this Crank Light provides decent illumination for over an hour... and longer than that if you use it in the single bulb mode.
  
  The only thing to watch out for, as has been noted by another reviewer, is to not crank the light with it turned on in the single bulb mode, as too much current could flow through the LED and burn it out.
  
  Others you might want to consider are the more costly Duracell Crank Light 3 in 1, 3 LED Flashlight, Radio, Charger with its extra features, or the Wind 'N Go Flashlight.
  
  
• Good for casual uses...
  By A1XFHYGPSSHLVM on 2007-01-06
  Bad: The flashlight is not very bright unless you're cranking it while it's on. As soon as you stop cranking it, the light turns noticably dimmer. Cranking is a somewhat noisy process that sounds like a radio control car--so cranking is not good when silent operation is important. The rear of the handle should've been flat so that you can stand the flashlight upright pointing at the ceiling, but it's round so you can't do that.
  
  Good: The power charge lasts a very long time and is bright enough for very casual uses. Light is free from hotspots.
  
  
• Good product
  By A1X5F5UX0QCQXU on 2007-03-26
  
  I have received this flashlight and I'm very satisfied about it. It holds power for a long time and the light is bright and clear.
  
  I would recommend everyone to purchase this product.
  
  
• Bright Idea, Not So Bright Light
  By A1LAGS8H4A2DR7 on 2008-05-07
  I bought this because I was tired of replacing batteries in my flashlight. It works as advertised and I'm glad I have it, however, the light is not as strong as a traditional battery powered light (at least when the batteries are new). It's a good compromise, though. The LED lights cast a nice wide and even light. It is not a strong light, but more like a bright glow. It's works fine for me to see my way to my office out back. But what I noticed is you cannot see specific things that well. For example, if I want to see if the lock on my door handle is in the locked position, shining this light on it does not reveal such a small detail. It brightens up the whole area but you can't focus it on a small area. I wish I could focus all 3 LEDs to one spot, but you can't. I knew in advance this light wasn't going to be super bright by reading the packaging. It plays down the brightness of the light and sells the battery-less feature. I am satisfied with my purchase, but be aware of it's limitations.
  
  
• 3 out of 4 work okay
  By A333FAXVOV0QO9 on 2007-01-19
  Bought 4 for self, family, and friend. Three work fine and hold charge well. One works some of the time. Still holds charge, but switch appears faulty. Cost was too cheap to deal with sending it back, but not so cheap I won't complain a little here.
  
  
• No More Batteries
  By A21KYUBWESZPEG on 2007-08-25
  We own two of those. Just a few days ago we had a tornado warnings, and we lost the power almost a whole night. We were so glad to have the light. It gets dimmer in time, but you can crank it again and back to the brighter light. If you have little kids, they would like it and it might be helpful for distracting them from the fear of darkness. We will probably get lantern or oil lamps, maybe candles for hand free lights in case of longer blockout, but definitely recommend this one to start with.
  
  
  
  
• Light switch
  By A1DKO4957FXWL5 on 2007-12-29
  I purchased the light and the switch worked only a few times, we hadn't even removed it from the packaging when it quit working. I think I would have liked it but I really didn't get to find out because the switch quit working so quickly.
  
  
• Works as it is suppose to
  By A28QV6KGME3VN7 on 2007-04-04
  Well there is no rocket science or aesthetics involved in this product. This a simple product which every house hold should have as a back-up emergency light.
  
  The product works fine and is bright enough to make its worth. It is simple and no fancy shmancy.
  
  
• Cool batteryless feature, but weak light output
  By AZAVADIPQN8Q3 on 2008-07-10
  I bought this flashlight for my husband. While he loves the wind up feature and never having to replace it's battery, I noticed that the light output is not strong. While at first, it is bright, the flashlight quickly dims and the light output is very weak. Unless you continuously wind it up (which is bad for the flashlight), there is no strong light.
  
  I noticed this when we were renovating our bathroom. When you're looking in dark places (in between walls) at pipes, this flashlight was sort of useless because even with it on, one couldn't really see details like screws and such.
  
  While this might be a great flashlight if you're just walking outside and you don't mind a dimmer light source, this flashlight dims in comparison to the normal standard flashlight in light output.
  
  I am a little bit disappointed by this fact since I bought two of them. I rate this product 3 stars. Nice idea and design, but needs to improve in the light output category.
  
  
• Low Price, Great Light
  By A3OXHLG6DIBRW8 on 2007-01-05
  We just bought 3 of these for use in our home (prone to power losses) and for our shop. We are very pleased with these and are likely to order more. Here are the Pros and Cons:
  
  Pros:
  Very bright well designed lens focuses the 3 LEDs into one spot
  "1 LED" option saves power/winding, but still bright enough to read by
  Long lasting, seriously lasted for over 2 hours on one winding
  
  Cons:
  A little bulky
  
  This is an excellent choice for a battery free flashlight
  
  
• works just as it is advertised
  By A2L2B07UXA1U6O on 2007-01-13
  I got this for my husband for Christmas. It works well without too much cranking and the light stays on for a while. I'm pleased with it so far.
  
  
  
• Happy Camper
  By A2NI6TDI2DC2MA on 2007-06-14
  I haven't had to use this for prolonged periods, but for the few times that I've needed it I have no complaints. How long it lasts, or how long it keeps it charge for I can't comment. But, it is reassuring to know that when I need a flashlight I won't have to run out to the store for batteries.
  
  
• Good gift
  By A2H9CLGJ9E5XGS on 2007-07-19
  I bought this product for my brother as a birthday gift. He actually enjoyed it and says it's a good light.
  
  
• works as described, two modes are nice
  By A1IPHU7URJ99H6 on 2007-08-28
  Plain and simple, this is good value for the money. I paid under $10 for this and although it was meant only for use in an emergency kit I find it quite useful to keep in a cabinet for those rare occasions when I actually need a flashlight. I bought a radio equipped model for use in the emergency kit, but will buy another of this model to keep in the trunk of my car. I always used to keep a flashlight in the car, but used it so infrequently that the batteries were invariably empty on those rare occasions when I actually had need for it.
  
  
• BAD SWITCH OR BAD PRODUCT?
  By AS16T6QQUCVAL on 2007-11-21
  I switched on the flashlight a couple of times & the switch got stuck. I sent it right back & got a new one today. I switched it on a couple of times & so far so good...
  
  
• Good, reliable, crank flashlight -- I've tried several brands, this is the best!
  By A3QIVVCQYZLOA5 on 2008-01-07
  Before I discovered the Garrity Crank Light I had tried the "shaker" flashlights and several other brands of crank-powered lights. The Garrity is by far the best of the products.
  
  One great advantage of the Garrity design is that you can crank whether the light is on or off. With another brand, cranking while the light was on sharply decreased the ability of the battery to take a charge after that -- basically ruining the unit. The Garrity crank is also much "tighter" than the other brands I have tried; my new rule of thumb when examining these lights is if the crank has significant play before it starts to engage, stay away from it! The unit is large enough for a comfortable grip without hitting your knuckles while cranking, and the crank handle can be used to prop the light up at several different angles while changing a tire, etc.
  
  I have one of these in each car, one in my hiking backpack, and one in the house, and I watch for sales because I want to give one to everyone I know. (I have a campaign to convince other people to switch to rechargeable batteries and not send more "disposable" batteries to the landfill. But also, I think this is a good tool which everyone could use and appreciate.) Based upon my experience with these lights, I am going to try the other Garrity products including the lantern.
  
  Highly recommended.
  
  
• Great Lite But WARNING!
  By A1P44H47JT2PJ2 on 2008-08-21
  Light is great. The reviews here are very accurate. Very bright, easy to 'wind' up. However, be warned that many purchases I have made from Amazon direct (not their affiliates) has come with very little inner box padding or packing material. They shipped my flashlights (3 of them) bouncing around inside a big box with very little padding. This is the 3rd time. What is it going to take to insure that my purchases are packaged properly? I want the idiot(s) in shipping to get written up for this. Sorry, but what was supposed to be a very happy day getting my toys turned out to be another Amazon disappointment... I am going to cut/paste this into a review for every product I purchased that was improperly packaged.
  
  
  
• Excellent Product
  By A8NGTEWND7RRW on 2007-01-04
  We are more than satisfied with this product. It is durable, the light is bright, and it was a great deal for the price.
  
  
• Nifty toy doubles as a useful tool
  By A2FIFF1VJ9F0OF on 2007-01-06
  This is a neat toy for children old enough to not swallow the crank handle knob cover (a vinyl thing that pops off easily) and it is handy for absentminded householders who never seem to have a working flashlight. The runtime improves after a few charge/discharge cycles, typical of NiMH batteries.
  
  
• wind it up and let it shine
  By A38JDEJPU24KF5 on 2007-02-08
  nifty product and very fair price. plan on purchasing more for friends.
  
  

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