Joy of Gadgets

A while ago, I had received a TRI-L flashlight from the folks at Altuslumen for review. As far as flashlights go, it’s pretty nifty!

Unlike many flashlights, it folds up flat and recharges over USB. They include a conventional power brick if you prefer that, but it has a male mini-USB end on it. Either way, it takes about 3 hours to charge up.

This flashlight works as both an area light, where it gets roughly 2 hours of use, and a conventional “spot” flashlight, where you get about 8 hours. The lights are white LEDs and, of course, are power efficient and don’t generate a lot of heat.

One cool feature is that when the light is in area mode, if you close up the tripod, the light automatically goes off. If you open up the tripod again, the light will come right back on!

You can acquire this light direct from Altuslumen for $99.

Back in the 1980s when I used to listen to Dr. Demento, he used to tell us to wind up our radios. I don’t they think had wind-up radios like these when I was a kid, but they do now. Not to mention wind-up laterns and flashlights.

That’s exactly what you get in the Calamity Kit from C. Crane. A radio, a lantern, and flashlight–all powered through winding. Good things to have on hand when the next natural disaster hits your location!