5 Best Hand Crank Flashlights (Review) In 2020

Flip on the AM/FM radio to get updated broadcasts on your conditions, and find out if it’s a widespread issue or something that will be resolved fairly quickly. In situations like natural disasters (hurricanes or tornados) where you could be without power for a few weeks at a time, it’s important to have a source of entertainment as well so you don’t go mad. With a dedicated NOAA channel as well, you’ll get weather conditions through a secure channel that’s dedicated to keeping you updated.

Now, with all the good I’ve said about this, there’s also some bad. You have to know that this is pretty bulky, so it’s not going to fit in the drawer right as you go into the kitchen. You’re going to need a safe space up on a shelf or something to keep this safe and in a spot you can reach. That’s not always an easy task.

On top of that, the radio antenna is durable, but the connection joint to the actual flashlight body is fragile. Don’t pull this up when the crank is on the top half of the flashlight, or you could bend/snap the antenna and make the next task even trickier.

The lights are out and there’s not much to do, so while you have the time to toy with the radio, it takes longer than it should to zone in on a single channel and stick with it. You have to have precision and a steady hand to get the channels locked onto. It shouldn’t take you longer than about three to four minutes, but in a disaster situation that could be longer than you feel comfortable with.

With all that said, the battery is great, but the floodlight on high will kill the battery pretty quickly. You have to be careful of that. You get a solar panel on the back which will be used for most of your charging, but keep in mind that while it works well, you need twenty-four straight hours of sunlight in order to fully charge the power bank. If you want to recharge it completely, you can plug it into a micro USB port and give it about six to eight hours on average.

Speaking of which, you get a built-in USB cable with a tether attachment that clips right onto the side. This allows you to just pop it off and recharge as necessary, while the micro USB input can be used to charge the actual power bank itself.

Coming full circle to the whole point of the unit, we have a hand crank. GoalZero did an excellent job of keeping it compact and right up against the side of the unit. Just pop it open, turn it the right way, and start hand cranking. I mentioned earlier that it’s to be used as a last-ditch effort, and that’s for good reason.

The hand crank takes sixty seconds of motion to power the flood light, on the lowest setting, for two minutes. While we can’t expect a huge power return from a little crank, it’s clear that this is the weakest part of the GoalZero torch, even though it’s still viable and works just as advertised. If you’re in a situation where you have to use the hand crank, it’s just going to take a while, especially if you have the floodlight or spotlight on during use. For more quality gear like this, check out our guide to the best tactical flashlights.

The low lumen output is enough for one person to see in the dark, which means that if you’re in a party of three, you all have to be using flashlights to find your way. You can’t just have one person leading the way.

It will also make it a little harder to use if you’re just going outside to check the fuse box. One thing that people don’t think of with flashlights is the way light transcends through water while it’s raining, effectively reducing your visible range ahead of you. These shouldn’t be used if you’re trying to look under the hood in a rainstorm on the side of the road.

With a simple clip-on design and compact size, American Red Cross Clipray Hand Crank Flashlights are some of the best miniature lights you’re going to find. The clip is good, but these are extremely small, so keep that in mind so you don’t lose them. Last but not least, the soft-touch grip on the outside of each unit gives you plenty of handling to hold this steady even in adverse conditions. You may also like some of the best rechargeable flashlights from our list, so be sure to check them out.

Speaking of that: you’re going to get the best time ratio for hand crank to minutes of light. For every sixty seconds that you wind this up, you’re going to get a full hour of light. It’s not trying to completely supply a power bank or anything like that, it’s just using short-term energy retention to light up the night for you. That does bring us to the next bit of business though.

The total energy retention on this isn’t that good. Now, it still made it onto this list because you’re not going to find a 60:1 ratio on most hand crank flashlights. That in and of itself means you can keep this on while you crank, and still have plenty of light left to spend. It’s pretty impressive.

ThorFire mentions solar in the title of this product, and I have to say, the solar panel is lacking quite a bit. It’s slow, and the total surface space of it (as well as the entire flashlight) is rather small. Don’t rely on the solar panel, but you can still use it during the daylight hours to get a bit of a charge going (about four hours worth of light). Our guide to the best self defence flashlights features more useful equipment like this, so check them out.

They’re small and weigh less than three ounces. Now that can be a good thing, but they’re also easy to misplace as a result. It’s an amount of weight you won’t notice missing from your backpack or pocket.

The other major design flaw is just the thinness of the plastic wall. You get what you pay for, so the plastic here is see-through and light. Holding the flashlight too hard while cranking could result in splits or cracks in the plastic, so try to be mindful of this during operation. If you are looking for the right flashlight for everyday use, be sure to check out our guide to the best EDC flashlights and pick your favorite.