Battery-free LED flashlight recharges in 90 seconds
Light for Life uses ultracapacitor technology.
(Credit: 5.11 Tactical)Last year, 5.11 Tactical, which makes clothes and gear aimed at law enforcement officers (but sells to civilians), announced a new high-tech flashlight called Light for Life. Only recently, however, has it become available to order.
What's special about it? Well, the flashlight uses three LEDs, but its key component is Flashpoint Power technology, an ultracapacitor energy storage system from Ivus Energy Innovations.
Light for Life recharges in just 90 seconds and shines at 90 lumens for 90 minutes per charge. The flashlight has three modes: bright (270 peak lumens), standard (90 lumens), and strobe, which is good for dance parties or scaring the neighbors' dog and kids (OK, I'm kidding, but you get the picture).
According to 5.11 Tactical, the 50,000-hour LEDs never have to be replaced and the flashlight is engineered to "offer 10 years of maintenance-free service under typical conditions." (You can recharge it up 50,000 times or one time a day for 135 years.)
I got a chance to play around with the thing at a recent event, and I have to say I was pretty impressed. It's lighter (16 ounces) than it looks, and it feels very durable. The one question I asked was: what happens when the power goes out and you have to recharge the thing? Answer: it comes with a 12V DC automotive charger, so you can use your car to charge it up in the event of a power outage.
The only drawback: Light for Life costs a whopping $169.99. But 5.11 Tactical says that when you add up the cost of all those D batteries over the lifetime of a battery-powered police flashlight, it's still a deal. And then there's all that good karma you get for not chucking those batteries into the garbage or landfill. It's hard to put a price on that.
Comments?
See one more photo after the break.
Light for Life in its charger.
(Credit: 5.11 Tactical)
Hunkered down in New York City, Executive Editor David Carnoy covers the gamut of gadgets and writes his Fully Equipped column, which carries the tag line "The electronics you lust for." He's also the author of "Knife Music," a novel. E-mail David. Follow David on Twitter. 
It has an accumulator, which is greener than rechargeables.
And ?dollar for dollar?, bear in mind HK$25 = US$3.2.
Unless you're in a situation where you really need more light (like, as you say, a cop), I'm sure the person with the wind-up is a happier camper. Especially if we're literally talking about campers, who have no electricity outlet to charge their flashlights at will. You'd never even consider winding it 90 seconds, seriously; you press the thing once or twice and it's good for five minutes or more. The grip is designed so that the wind-up trigger is right in your hand ready to use, so if it starts to dim, just squeeze it and you're good for a little longer.
Also, my point is that it's way greener, because it doesn't use ?wall? electricity; you generate your own power, therefore, lower footprint.
So really, the only point you have is situations where you need more luminance. For these cases, I'd really rather design a larger wind-up than go with a rechargeable.
I want to take it apart and prove it is an ultra cap.
D~W
A crank-up LED flashlight is still the best application for my needs and is less than one tenth the price. There is no need to recharge from an outlet or a car battery. Just burn up a few calories from the muscles and you're good to go.
Either way, this flashlight may be great if your a police officer or in a situation where you constantly need it but many people only need flashlights in emergencies. 135 year lifetime or not, $169 is a little too steep for the casual requirements of most people and for them this flashlight may never pay for itself.
A torch is useless unless it is powered, and all batteries drain over time. So in a power cut or tripped fuse you have the choice of either fumbling in the dark for replacement batteries - if you have any left or wait for the power to come back on so you can charge your rechargeable torch, or if you have a handpowered torch you can replace the fuse in the fusebox or get out of the house safely, whatever is required.
I know what I would prefer and the environment doesn't come into play at all. Unless you know when the power is going to go out and can ensure that your torch is powered, then I would say you might find your torch might be as useful as a solar powered one.
Nice try 5.11! Unless you can sell this for around $20, I'm not even mentioning the product for a waste of time, just like the atrociously-priced windmills.
Think of this as the Apple of Flashlights.
as to your notion that they could sell this for $10 you are simply uninformed. the LEDs alone cost the maker more than $8. the ultracapacitor costs more than that. and besides shouldnt they be rewarded for thier time and effort to create this prodcut in the first place?
i guess you want to save the planet as long as somone else pays the bills.
This is from a company that sells to government agencies. NEWSFLASH: we taxpayers are ALREADY paying for these with each contract 5.11 Tactical gets.
There's nothing "free market" about that. Then again, if this company thought about going mass market retail with this light a cheaper price point would make more sense just due to the possible volume that it could create...and a better price for ALL concerned, even those of us who never get to use and still are paying for it. Of course, the idea of Wal*Mart's inventory buyers trying to beat them down on margin and price might scare any U.S. manufacturer away (assuming of course that this light is actually made here).
Besides, my duty belt was heavy enough as it was- I wouldn't have minded a lighter one. For a real baton, there was always the Asp.
We've already looked at these for another project in the group I'm in, but the price was too high for what we'd be using it for.
Sunlite's website ( http://www.powerledlighting.com/Turbo.html ) says it lasts for 2.5hrs; but I probably quadruple that figure over the course of one week.
-Todd
It's not the voltage ie 3-cell, but the lamp technology (and wattage) and battery amperage that determines how much light is being produced. There is "professional" and "consumer" types of lights.
99.9% of people won't $100+ for a flashlight. But if you got your head stuck behind a plane's instrument panel trying to read a datatag with lettering 1/8" high; you'll be happy to spend $135 on a fashlight that works for you 100% of the time.
Aside from all of this... at this price, I would expect a hand crank charging cradle to be included with the product. Forcing an owner to use coal plant generated electricity or rely on a gasoline generator for a recharge defeats the whole idea of living off the grid and being green.
- by todd3617 June 22, 2009 7:58 AM PDT
- All this green crap is way too expensive. The treehugging nuts want to make us all poor by forcing us to go green. We will be forced before long. All I've got to say is Cap & Trade.
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