Flashlight that doesn't require batterie s.

“Friend of mine showed me his "Nightstar" flashlight. It's really cool... it is basically a magnet and a coil housed in a flashlight case. You shake the flashligh, and the magnet running across the coil charges a capacitor. The capacitor will run an LED light for about 4-5 minutes after shaking it for about 30 seconds. Really cool. Though... it was ~11 inches long and pretty heavy (about 3/4lb I'd imagine).

I did some looking around and it looks like they make a compact version... which is about 60% of the size and only 5.4oz. Personally I don't think it will replace my headlamps for weekenders but if you are going on extended hiking trips this might be a pretty cool alternative without lugging around a boat load of extra batteries. At least you would never have to worry about your light running out of batteries again.

http://appliedinnotech.com/nightstar_cs.php”

“Operates somewhat like the dynamo driven radios you can buy for $40. Might think about buying one myself. At 11 oz its a little heavy for a hiking trip, but it'd be a good idea for an emergency kit (like here in earthquake-prone California).”

“Wow, that's even cooler than the solar-powered flashlight my Polish friend invented.”

“Interesting.
There is an older kind of flashlight I have which has a sort of trigger you push to generate the electricity. A bit of a pain, but very useful in a pinch (again, a home and car kind of thing not great for backpacking).”

“I'm not sure about the compact... but like I said. I played with the bigger one in person. It worked very very well. Just don't keep it around anything like... credit cards... or important floppy discs :D”

“The Germans had a flashlight like that in WW 2. It looked like a little box with a handle coming off the top and extending down the side. It made a distinctive whirring clicking noise that the Germans soon found made an excellent target for hand grenades after D-Day.”

“LMAO at Magnum!”