Torches
If you are travelling abroad as a volunteer, or on an adventure trip that will take you to some faraway and remote places, then it is probably a good idea to consider travelling with a torch to help you out when there is no natural or artifical lighting available. Torches are particularly useful if you are hiking or trekking, or if you are spending time in rural areas in less developed countries.
There are a huge variety of torches. Head torches are very useful as they free up your arms and hands to do other things. Normal hand-help torches give you more control over where you point the light. Perhaps as a volunteer, wind-up or solar powered torches are particularly useful as they can be recharged on the go and you do not have to worry about finding batteries should the ones you are using expire. Regardless of which type of torch you choose, the more efficient torches these days use led lights, as they are energy efficient and thus power sources last longer.
I have reviewed some torches below. I used a magnetic shaking torch on my volunteer trip and it was vey useful in the jungle and rural mountain areas. If you have any suggestions I would be grateful for them. Thanks!
The Firefly wind up torch
The Power Plus Firefly wind-up torch is a bright, rechargeable, 16 LED light with a variety of functions. You can hang it up or use it's magnetic base to attach it to a metallic object.
It has two brightness modes, normal and high. It also has 3 LED lights which can be used as a warning light. 1 minute of cranking will give 5 minutres of high intensity light or 25 minutes of low intensity light.
A fully charged torch will give 150 minutes high level lighting and 12 hours low lighting. Find out more about this LED torch at Pack Your Bags travel store.
The Caribee Infinity Torch
The Caribee Infinity torch is a compact, lightweight, hand held LED torch, ideal for travelling with. It does not need batteries and is simply recharged using a magneto hand crank.
One minute of charging should give an hour of light from this handy little torch.
The 5 LED Dynamo Torch
The Dynamo 5 led torch has received lots of positive reviews on Amazon. One minute of winding gives 10-15 minutes of light and three minutes can provide up to one hour of light from the torch.
It contains 5 LEDs which give very good brightness and it even includes a panic alarm. It can be recharged by USB or you can use the simple wind-up mechanism.
Barracuda wind-up and solar torch
The durable Barracuda torch has a bright light and can be recharged by the sun using the solar panel on its side or using the wind up dynamo mechanism. It has the normal bright light mode and also a flashing light mode setting.
It has received good reviews on Amazon and is reasonably priced.
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