Life+Gear 6-in-1 Personal Safety Device

The Life+Gear 6-in-1 Personal Safety Device is a dynamo powered device that gets its energy from hand cranking. A handy device for emergencies and disaster situations, as well as outdoor use. Includes a bright LED flashlight, emergency flasher, compass, cell phone charger, FM radio and siren. Cost: $34.95.

This flashlight from Life+Gear is similar to other hand crank devices I've tested in the past. It uses 5 bright LEDS. One click of the switch turns on 1 LED, another click turns on 5 LEDs, and a third click turns on the emergency flasher using 5 LEDs. All settings worked fine, and the brightness was adequate at full charge. Of course, as the charge goes down, so does the brightness. A quick crank and it's back to full brightness. Although the product documentation says that 1 minute of cranking will power the flashlight for 1 hour, I found it to be more like 30 minutes. The same amount of cranking powered the radio for 8 minutes or the siren for 8 minutes. I don't own a cell phone, so I didn't test the cell phone charging capabilities. The device came with a Nokia adapter, or you can get a free adapter of your choice from their site. The FM radio works only in scan mode, so you can't tune directly to a particular frequency. Supposedly, the digital display near the radio controls is for showing the radio channel you have tuned to, but the display didn't work on mine. The Life+Gear 6-in-1 SafetyLight may have its uses, but expect to do a lot of cranking. This model is not waterproof, it's a bit bulky for your pocket, and there is no way to attach a cord to it for securing it to your belt or pack. Also, there is no 12V DC input, so the only way to charge this model is by cranking.